Once Iran has the bomb, it will be nearly impossible to foment a revolution against the mullahs. You've got one going right now, it just needs some support to kick the loons out and replace it with a more enlightened and friendly republic.
And what are we doing? Nothing.
I hear what you're saying and support the resistance in Iran and wish them nothing but the best.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me though, that the US government has its hands tied to some extent. If our government openly helps the resistance, that provides legitimacy to the current Iranian regime's frequent contentions that the US meddles in their business. That could easily provide the impetus for Iranian citizens who are on the fence to throw their support to the current regime rather than those fighting for a more modern and (hopefully) more restrained Iran.
Even if our government provided assistance covertly, should that be revealed it could cause an international incident that would be unlikely to end in our favor.
I think our government is probably stuck doing what it's been doing. Encouraging a peaceful resolution to the situation and soundly condemning acts of violence against peaceful demonstrators.
As a side note, I call upon all the tech savvy readers of this blog to go out and set up proxy servers for the demonstrators to use, which my husband did early this morning. The Iranian regime is doing everything they can think of to cut off the resistance's access to the Internet. If you have the ability and the know-how to help, that would be a great way to do it.
If you're afraid of what might happen under a covert or even overt operation, how do you feel about an apocalyptic death cult with multiple atomic bombs?
ReplyDeleteIf you're concerned about the morality of the effort, consider this: Iranian commandos have been killed in Iraq trying to kill our soldiers. The Iranians support terrorism all over the globe. That's not going to stop once they get the bomb, it's only going to get worse.
Our family is about two weeks away from getting a cat, and then I'll feel like I'll really belong on your blog.
ReplyDeleteBack to the issue at hand. I'm sympathetic to what you want (an Iran NOT run by a Mr. Helter Skelter), but honestly, what are we supposed to do? I haven't seen many practical suggestions.
"how do you feel about an apocalyptic death cult with multiple atomic bombs?" - That would be the Bush regime, I take it? On the bright side, enlightened foriegn policy seems to have taken over from the cowboys, so hopefully we have less to fear from that than we did last year.
ReplyDeleteThe Iranian Armed Forces have been killing people in Iraq since 1988. Funnily enough they are now targetting people of the nationality that provoked and supplied weapons for that war. (I still have a copy of the Rumsfield/Saddam handshake here somewhere)
The USA has military bases all over the world as you, a former serviceman, knows only too well. What makes you so sure that everyone of those countries is over the moon about that? It's better because they are wearing uniforms and driving tanks, planes and ships? An IED is more of a terror weapon than an ICBM?
It's an Iranian problem that needs an Iranian answer. The Shah (another of America's bright ideas) wasn't and look at what happened after the over reaction to him and his corruption.
It's all in the eye of the beholder, KT. I am in contact with a young man who lives in Tehran. Ever day he goes out and joins the protests. Every day I pray for him, that he will come home safely to his family.
It's all in the eye of the beholder, KT
ReplyDeleteBut it isn't and that's what you miss with all of your moral equivalence. At the grossest comparison possible, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are not equivalent to Mao's Great Leap Forward. No matter how you slice it, 75,000,000 dead is worse than 0 dead. The US is not morally the same as Mao's China nor is it the same as the mullahs' Iran. Our mistakes and theirs don't cancel each other out. I'd rather live in Dayton, OH than any place in Iran. I'd live a freer life with more opportunities in Dayton than Tehran.
As for an Iranian answer, that answer has been given and the dudes with the guns won again. Like that's a surprise. There are (were?) a lot of options we could have used including blockades, loud protests, telecommunications support, funneling arms and supplies into the country, assisting in the organization of a resistance and so forth.
Since we haven't and it's clear that we won't, we will soon be facing off with a lunatic with nuclear weapons. This was the easiest layup revolution in the history of the world and we just blew it off.
That would be the Bush regime, I take it?
ReplyDeleteHar har! Because Bush based his foreign policy on the book of Revelation and threatened to nuke Mecca! I had forgotten about that.
Sometimes it's difficult to imagine what life is like in a 1984-like regime in which people condition themselves to believe lies. And then Aon comes along and makes it so easy.
You're quite right, KT, there is a world of difference between TheCommies/TheIslamofscists and America. Only America has destroyed two cities full of civilians with atomic weapons. Thank you for pointing that out. There is no moral equivalence involved. Just right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteThere are many (most?) Iranians who would rather live in whatever the local equivalent of Armpit Junction is in Iran than in a penthouse suite in Manhattan for the same reason that you just made your judgement. Ignorance.
In Iran the "dudes with the guns" always win, as they do in most countries. In Iran it's more a case of whether it's the CIA backed SAVAK or the Moslem backed Revolutionary Guard. Not much of a choice for the man on the street. That's why they are protesting now. To get the power back themselves, for themselves.
Let's face it, neither of us have the answer to this. All we have are opinions and we both know what opinions are like. Everyone has one.
That said it's good to debate you about world politics again. Been a while.
Regards and fraternal greetings,
Aon.
I got no problem at all with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After Pearl Harbor, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said something to the effect of, "I fear we have woken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."
ReplyDeleteHe was pretty prescient.
As for dropping the morality of dropping the bomb, dig this.
Aon, something for you to consider. Moral equivalence invariably leads you to side with evil and tear down good since that's the only way you can make the two sides equivalent. That is, your comments on this post are far more supportive of Iran than America. It's not a criticism of you, but a known side-effect of that moral point of view.
ReplyDeleteIf someone said "Go ahead then, shoot me!" and you did, you wouldn't have a legal defence purely because they told you to.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how siding against the Bomb or with those who would like to change the government in Iran causes me to side with evil. I would have thought it was more of a Pro-Life stance myself.
"That is, your comments on this post are far more supportive of Iran than America. It's not a criticism of you, but a known side-effect of that moral point of view."
Again, I am afraid that that comment was made in ignorance too.
The reason I'm not a rabid neo-con American Nationalist is quite simply that I am not American. (As well as not being a rabid neo-con as well)
Cheers,
Aon