i read this and just shook my head. nobody wants this war that's coming--not the iranian people, nor the israelis, nor the americans.
nobody.
except for the military-industrial complex and its shills (because that's what they do), the american president, perhaps (because, when it comes to war, even disillusioned voters rarely change horses in mid-stream), the israeli government (because they seem hell-bent on playing into the hands of the enemy), and the iranian government (because what better way to rally the people behind a regime on the verge of collapse than to present them with a common threat from without?).
it's always been that way, of course. the people never want to fight, suffer deprivation and die, unless they've been whipped into a sufficient frenzy of bloodlust against the "enemy" by the master propagandists who lead them.
* * * * *
i remember the night of 9/11, when, in contrast to the images of the rest of the wildly-celebrating muslim world flashing across my TV screen, the iranians held candlelight vigils in somber unity with the americans.
and even as filled with rage as i was that night, it was so clear to me--it was right there for the asking. all we had to do was bury the past we had done so much to create, drop the sanctions and offer this literate, cultured people the helping hand needed to allow their fledgling secular government to take hold and flower. and we'd have had it: that holy grail, a large, stable, oil-rich democratic ally in the middle east.
ah, but where was the money in that? no, much better to ramp up the rhetoric and the sanctions, declare iran part of the axis of evil, rebuff its government's repeated efforts at rapproachment, enrage its populace and create the climate that would allow the fundamentalists to sweep into power, and thus set the stage for what's coming.
and, meanwhile, far better to squander countless lives, a trillion dollars and our national prestige in order to impose an ephemeral, phony democracy upon a neighboring people ill-equipped to handle it, which will survive only so long as we're there to enforce it, after which the country will descend into the sort of chaos which will happily ensure our continued military intervention unto perpetuity--perfect, right?
seriously, anybody left out there who still doesn't believe that war is choreographed long before it happens should have his head examined.
5 comments:
As we found out through the refusal of Peter Jennings to allow certain footage to be shown on the news he anchored, not all of those "wildly-celebrating" Muslims really were dancing in the streets and/or doing so at the time of the 9/11 attack. ABC news was using year-old video of some other celebration and Jennings called them out on it on air, yelling "No, not that one!" to the control booth.
After Iraq and Afghanistan, I cannot conceive of any sane person in this country wanting to begin another conflict at this time. But the operative word is "sane, a quality I don't see much of at this time.
will:
(1) i didn't call 'em master propagandists for nothing.
(2) as has been the case throughout most of history, the world is currently run by sociopaths.
I suspect your personal relationships with young nubile Persians in the greater LA area may have distorted your view.
But there are the obvious political interests that guttermorality so skillfully points out.
The Netanyahu government, in particular, is very hard line and this is like a gift for electoral victory for the Likud party.
Having said that, the idea that Iran would have nuclear weapons is very serious. It would destabilize the entire Middle East region.
Israel in particular has a lot to be concerned about where Iranians leaders state publicly their intention to wipe Israel off the map.
Is a military attack the best way of preventing the Iranian government from obtaining nuclear weapons? I certainly have my doubts. But I do not think this is the same as the beginning of the Iraq war where there were misrepresentations of Saddam Hussein having WMD.
noblesavage: i love the way you always presume that my opinions can only be the result of some delusion or distortion or other. for your information, my experiences with iranians have not always always left me with the sweetest taste in my mouth, a case in point being the one for which i worked for six years straight outta architecture school (just ask sandra bullock and her lawyers if you need details as to what i'm talking about).
but my concern about iran nuking israel and thus assuring its own annihilation pales in comparison to the potential for provoking world war III by imprudently attacking them now. the world is ripe for a big ol' war, noblesavage, and the players are forming up on each side of this particular line of scrimmage as we speak.
The negotiations look like they are progressing. The problem is political: Netanyahu is pushing an attack (at least in public) and Obama is caught needing to look like he supports Israel in a tough reelection battle where Jews are an important swing vote particularly in Florida (and will make a big difference in the money game -- see Sheldon Adelson).
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