Iran's Nuclear Program and the Decline of the West in the Middle East

1/24/12- A detached observer may wonder, while gazing upon the sorry spectacle that has become the European Union, why the EU continues to antagonize Iran with the threat of an oil embargo while its own house is in such grave economic disorder. Does Iran's pursuit of full mastery of the nuclear cycle represent that much of a strategic threat to the EU that the latter is willing to jeopardize its own economic recovery to hinder Iran?

The answer is yes. As has been mentioned on this blog before, Iran's nuclear program is not a military threat to anyone, yet what it does is erase any military threats that Israel or the U.S. could pose towards Iran. Once Iran achieves full mastery of the nuclear cycle, all parties in the region will have to recognize and come to grips with the fact that the much vaunted "military option" that is so often said to still be on the proverbial table, will no longer be an option. In the words of Joe Biden, that is a big f'ing deal.

And this reality is precisely why the U.S., E.U., Israel, and their Persian Gulf Arab lackeys are so concerned about Iran's nuclear program. They don't fear an Iranian nuclear attack at all. What they fear is the coming day when their military power is rendered meaningless vis-a-vis Iran. And without the threat of Israeli/American military arms, their power to contain Iran's regional ambitions will evaporate.

This state of affairs will effectively lead to a Middle East in which Iran controls a significant sphere of influence which will be rivaled only by the American sphere of influence which includes Saudi Arabia and its other client states. With enormous influence in a new, Shia-dominated Iraq, Iran will be poised to challenge the American/Israeli/Saudi axis and rival them for power and influence throughout the region.

And so given this reality, the E.U., which profits from the power of the American/Israeli/Saudi axis is even willing to harm its own economic recovery in order to attempt to delay the coming day when Iranian power forms a dominant axis in the Middle East.