Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I Have Seen the Enemy and, Well, You Know

So apparently some Iranian scientist was assassinated by a couple of motorcyclists using a bomb with a magnet and attaching to the scientist’s car.  The Iranian scientist was working on Iran’s nuclear program, although I am not sure as to what level of influence he had in the program, and I guess that he was dangerous enough to warrant his death.

I have little doubt that the United States, Israel, and possibly Saudi Arabia had their hand in this.  Israel fears Iran with a nuclear bomb.  At least that is probably what the middle managers of the Israeli government fear.  And their fears are not without merit as there is plenty of Iranian propaganda out there where Jews are portrayed in less than appealing light.  The United States’ reason for fear stems from the 9/11 attacks and the prospect of Iran nuking a whole city.  And the Saudis may want retribution for the alleged assassination plot against their ambassador.

My advice to Iran: do nothing except prosecute the murderers under your laws.  The United States government is Hell-bent on starting a war with Iran, but they need justification.  After all, if a country with superior firepower attacks another nation without cause is usually seen as an Empire and the United States government often likes to take on hypocritical positions in their foreign policy.  They do not want to start the war, but they also want to go to war.  So they need justification.

As an American, I am appalled by my government’s actions, especially in light of the fact that we are supposed to be representing the will of the people.  But the will of the people can be manipulated by fear.  We fear a nuclear Iran, much like how Iran fears being invaded by a superpower.  However, two-thirds of the American people believe the Iraq invasion was a mistake.  Given that this is the case, there is no point in engaging in yet another war with another Muslim country, especially when we are the ones agitating them.

The murder of this scientist is nothing more than an outright act of terrorism, albeit a little sexier and cooler than what those cave dwellers came up with.  This whole incident does seem to be right out of an action movie.

In any case, I am sick and tired of my government taking the moral high ground while at the same time engaging in the very things they claim to despise.  Their mouthpieces in the media will justify it by using confusing “logic” to point out how it is different than what our enemies do.

I want to ask all the warmongers out there something: did Iran seek out alliances with North Korea, Columbia, and seek out nuclear capabilities before or after George W. Bush labeled as part of the Axis of Evil?

If a powerful nation with enough firepower to level all of your cities and eradicate your very existence places you in the category of “Axis of Evil”, do you lay back and accept the inevitable consequences of your destruction or do you build up military firepower quickly in order to either deter or be prepared for the coming attack?

Iran is acting in the same way in which any nation would act: it is seeking its own self-preservation in the face of a stronger enemy.  They may have had surrogate organizations attacking US troops in Iraq, but this may have been more the actions of a nation seeking to overtake a neighboring country that has a power vacuum, not the actions of a group of fanatics who seek a holy war with us.  Granted, it was not acceptable behavior, but let’s be honest about it rather than hype it up.

I am not denying that there is a threat from fanatical Muslim sects.  I do believe that there are plenty of fanatics out there who seek harm.  But I fail to see how engaging in a war with Iran will resolve the situation, especially since we have apparently won the Iraq War, left there, and still have to take our damn shoes off in the airport.

War does not solve the problem, unless you completely eliminate your opposition down the last household pet.  And I doubt that the majority of people in my country are willing to go through with complete genocide.  War also does not hurt the very people we are looking to hurt either.  Instead, the common man, who generally wants to live a life without strife and conflict, is the one who gets hurt.  From the war widow to the orphan whose parents didn’t get out of the house in time, war only brings pain and misery.  That is why we should not enter into war with them so readily.

And finally, to all those neoconservatives and mainstream conservatives who agree with them on Iran: if Obama is such a liar and a deceiver, why would he stop lying when it comes to Iran?

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