WHAT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD REMEMBER ABOUT IRAN BEFORE WE JUSTIFY THE BOMBINGS
- In 1953, Iran was a peaceful democracy, but when the president of that nation tried to nationalize Iran’s oil for the Iranian people, the U.S. covertly undermined Iran’s democratically elected administration and imposed the Shah as dictator because dictators tend to be friendlier to U.S. financial interests. It was because of U.S. interference that many Iranians reluctantly chose chose Islamic militants as an alternative to foreign domination.
- The U.S. blames Iran for supporting terrorism, but nothing has done as much to produce terrorism in some parts of the world as our own covert interference. We mustn’t forget that Osama bin Laden and company were armed and trained by the U.S. to murder Russians. ISIS was partly born from the shattered regime in Iraq which the U.S. subjected to ‘shock and awe” as revenge for 9-11 although that nation had nothing to do with the attack.
- Remember that the news we read about Iran here in the U.S. is often sponsored by the same corporations that profit from oil and even from war. While there are private fortunes to be made by going to war with Iran, there is no equal financial incentive for trying to help Americans understand why Iranians might be desperate to find a deterrent to U.S. and Israeli interference.
- We may forget, but Iranians remember that the U.S. backed Saddam Hussein even after he had used chemical weapons against the Iranian people. While most in the U.S. have forgotten that we shot down a civilian Iranian airliner the Iranian people have not. How is it objective news coverage to tell the story of the Iranian conflict leaving out details like the 1953 coup, the Iran Contra affair, and the shooting down of a civilian Iranian airliner, by the U.S.S. Vincennes killing all 290 on board?
- What ethical principle can the U.S and Israel invoke for attacking another nation for trying to obtain the same weapons we have? If the weapons are immoral in Iranian hands, should we not question the integrity of having them ourselves?
- Sadly, history has shown that nuclear technology is the best defense against U.S. invasion. After Libya and Iraq showed they lacked weapons of mass destruction they both suffered regime change at the hands of the U.S. The more we make nations feel insecure the more likely they will seek out more destructive weapons out of fear.
- To be sure Iran has its own political criminals, but so do most nations. Some of the same people who have called us to attack Iran these last few decades also lied about the evidence for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction leading us into that undeclared and unwarranted war. How can any American justify the killing of Iranians on the word of a government that has so consistently lied to us about the nation and people of Iran?