Skip the hype, please, on Iran and consider the reality
I sincerely hope that the media, government officials and the public in general will take a long pause before taking all the latest Iran hype too seriously. One would think that caution would be the order of the day given most recent moral and financial boondoggle of Iraq. Were a general sense of caution (and a well deserved skepticism of government pronouncements) not enough I would implore people to consider a few simple facts about the current state of affairs.
First, Iran has not threatened anyone. The most strident thing they have said is that if attacked, they would respond. Given the United States newly minted right to preemptively strike any nation it desires, in comparison Iran’s position is restrained to say the least.
Second, even Iran’s long-time enemy and neighbor (and quasi-puppet regime of the United States) Iraq has stated they want no part of a strike against Iran and would not participate.
Third, how can Iran’s weapons be considered provocative when another middle eastern country, Israel, has nuclear weapons and has stated an openness to a preemptive strike on Iran.
Fourth, how can we rail at Iran’s meddling in middle eastern affairs (Iraq’s for example) when the United States brought armed forces half way around the world to complete a regime change (of its desire) on Iran’s neighbor. Who is really the intruder in this setting? In addition, informed sources admit that the United States has been covertly involved in operations inside Iran for some time.
Fifth, how can we complain of Iran’s repressive regime when the United States has spent the past five years arresting and imprisoning at will, with no formal charges, thousands of citizens of Iraq who disagree with our presence and/or oppose the regime we installed. What kind of democracy is that?
None of the above even begin to touch on the moral and financial arguments against any military strike on Iran. I can only hope the media especially will not repeat its much regretted rubber stamp of the Iraq invasion. I implore the media to skip the hype, look at all the realities of the situation, encourage exploration of all options and, most of all, not jump on the bandwagon for another war.
Michael D. Colligan
St. Louis
Art,
Please enlighten us on how Mr. Visible is a sick man. Does telling the truth these days make you sick? Guess so. Sad.
Just because such an attack would be the most insane thing the knuckleheads in Tel Aviv and Washington could do at this moment is absolutely no guarantee that they will not do it. You have the US economy in meltdown, with banks and stocks collapsing, coupled with the Iranian bourse opening for business next week.
Israel is very certain that the next US president will not be anywhere near as carnage prone as Bush has proven himself to be.
So, you’ve got Barak and his minions coming to Washington “for talks” next week, followed by a round of meetings between US admiral Mullen and his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, the middle of this month.
From the Israeli point of view, it’s now or never.
And there’s that 6,000 lb. elephant sitting on the Steinway in the living room, and - as Shakespeare once wrote - “Aye, there’s the rub.”
This is Russia.
The question that every politician and military strategist in both Washington and Tel Aviv should be asking is this: what will Russia be prepared to do to protect its geopolitical and financial interests in Iran?