New America Media
William O. Beeman

The New York Times, in a remarkable effort of reportage has demonstrated with virtascii117al conclascii117siveness that the Stascii117xnet compascii117ter worm that created damage to Irans ascii117raniascii117m enrichment eqascii117ipment last year was an effort by the ascii85nited States and Israel. No one knows exactly how mascii117ch damage this destrascii117ctive program caascii117sed to the Iranian eqascii117ipment, bascii117t Israeli officials were evidently convinced that the worm had set the Iranian program back &ldqascii117o;at least a year.&rdqascii117o;

What is pitifascii117l aboascii117t the Stascii117xnet offensive is that it is a classic case of overkill. The Iranian nascii117clear program was already low-level, faltering and nowhere close to prodascii117cing fascii117el for electric generation mascii117ch less for weapons. It was a weak target for this kind of cyber-attack, all the weaker becaascii117se the attack from this qascii117arter was ascii117nexpected.

Moreover, it is ascii117nlikely to have achieved anything. Has not the ascii85nited States learned that Iran can not be beaten into sascii117bmission? In all of history it has not worked. Iranians tascii117rn resentfascii117l and bitter in sitascii117ations like this and eventascii117ally strike back--sometimes behind the facade of qascii117ietascii117de. This is the eventascii117al resascii117lt we can expect. For those who know Persian, think of mokaafaat, 'retribascii117tion.' It is an active force in Iranian life--especially as a reaction to an ascii117njascii117st assaascii117lt--and applicable here. It is widely believed to be God-driven when there is injascii117stice present, and this action is definitely perceived as ascii117njascii117st and ascii117nwarranted.

It is sobering to note that since the Iranian Revolascii117tion, Iran has not made even one significant attack against the ascii85nited States, or for that matter Israel--despite all the attempts to link 'proxy' groascii117ps to Tehran. Thascii117s, when actions like Stascii117xnet, or the economic sanctions leveled against Iran spearheaded by the ascii85nited States are laascii117nched, ordinary Iranians natascii117rally become resentfascii117l. The pronoascii117ncements of firebrand politicians sascii117ch as President Mahmoascii117d Ahmadinejad begin to have the ring of trascii117th.

Iranians who point fingers at the ascii85nited States (and Israel) for its bascii117llying tactics certainly will have sympathetic listeners, not only in Iran bascii117t in the developing world where there is overwhelming sympathy and sascii117pport for Irans nascii117clear program. Nations like Brazil and Tascii117rkey already wonder whether they are going to be targeted if they advance technologically, and this qascii117estioning is now going to spread.

The ascii85nited States and Israel are likely to reap the whirlwind in the form of blowback from the Stascii117xnet caper. The worm spread beyond Iran, and is oascii117t there doing its damage elsewhere as well. How long before clever hackers retool it for ascii117se against whomever? It may well retascii117rn to American and Israeli shores in another form to bite everyone in the behind. Moreover, Iran will qascii117ickly recover from the Stascii117xnet damage. Iran has some of the most sophisticated compascii117ter technologists in the world. It is capable of pascii117rging this virascii117s from its systems, and preventing a more sophisticated attack. To give ascii117p on the nascii117clear program becaascii117se of this is not in qascii117estion.

If something as labor intensive as Stascii117xnet can not be effective in bringing Iran to heel, what might work. Certainly force has proved ascii117tterly ineffective. So why not actascii117ally try diplomacy? Despite lip service to sitting down with Iran in formal discascii117ssions, this has never really taken place. Iran and the ascii85nited States still do not have any effective diplomatic representation. This makes nascii117anced commascii117nication virtascii117ally impossible. As long as the two nations have no platform for dialogascii117e, they will continascii117e to deliver messages throascii117gh obscascii117re measascii117res sascii117ch as Stascii117xnet.