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22nd
MAY
I Huff and I Post
Posted by Kevin Sullivan under Uncategorized
The lovely people at The Huffington Post have allowed me to contribute a post to their site. Here’s a snip:
This narrative — or rather, exploitation — of American security dominates foreign policy discourse to this day. As a result, we get this week’s kerfuffle over the imminent (or not so imminent) threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Referring to Iran’s capabilities as “tiny,” Senator Barack Obama shook the proverbial beehive that passes as foreign policy dialogue in this country today. As a result, we get rather puerile debates over the size of Iran’s economy, or whether or not they’ve acted in a fashion similar to that of the Soviets or the Nazis. Not only does this litmus blur the legitimately horrible actions of these aforementioned regimes, but it makes dealing with lesser threats far more difficult.
The reality is that Iran has been contributing to regional instability in the Middle East for over 25 years. Attempted coups, assassination plots and terrorist finance are just the tip of an unstable iceberg that is revolutionary Iran. The Islamic republic founded by Ayatollah Khomeini extended what likely would’ve been a two year border incursion with Iraq into a nearly decade’s long war of attrition against what he viewed to be the Arab apostates in the region. The plan, from the Supreme Leader’s perspective, wasn’t merely to repel the Iraqis, but to also march on Lebanon and Jerusalem “through” Iraq (also known as “Operation Ramadan”). The girth of the regime’s economy has never prevented it from exporting their revolution all over the Middle East, nor has it given solace to our allies having to deal with Iran’s surrogates on the frontlines.
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May 22, 2008 -
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Kevin,
What you so wonderfully leave out here is that we, the US government and thus people, orchestrated the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government in 1954 and put the dictatorial Shah in power. That is what set the stage for the Revolution and all the horrific consequences we have today. People need to know all the facts and background on these issues.
Charles
Kevin, you really ought to rebrand yourself as "The Lone Liberal Who Has Retained the Capacity for Logical Thinking" or something similar….
Seriously, this is good stuff- and I’m glad you’re getting wide coverage with it.
A little quibble on the part about Obama talking to us like we’re adults, because as you even point out, he might be reframing the narrative away from the fearmongering about our enemies, but he then slips into the mode of childishness that flips the liberal voters’ switches (pretending that we shouldn’t fear our enemies at all.) Plus, even the nuanced talk about who the real leaders of Iran are is pretty transparent as an attempt at damage control for whata Biden calls a ’shorthand answer in a debate.’
OT a bit, but have you seen this from McCain? I see a running theme, where the McCain doctrine will involve marginalizing the dictatorial leaders and stressing that they don’t speak for the people of their countries, while Obama will attempt to engage more with those leaders (which in the end marginalizes the people of those countries.) I also can’t help but see in the left’s current posturing (including Obama’s position) on Cuba some similarities to the disarmament movement of the eighties which fought Reagan tooth and nail on his hardline approach- an attempt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in regard to the Berlin Wall and USSR’s stranglehold on the Eastern bloc nations.
Facts are important, Charles. Mossadeq was overthrown in ‘53.
I’m not sure what this has to do with our diplomatic efforts there today (certainly, they have a psychological bearing on our current relationship, but not much else). Mossadeq was also widely unpopular by 1953, and had lost the support of most factions, with the exception of the Soviet-endorsed Communist Party of Iran. He had declared indefinite emergency power and was halting the Majlis from checking his power. He was attacking the judiciary. He never got out of bed. The guy was, quite possibly, out of his mind by that time.
The U.S. gradually decreased its aid to the Shah throughout the 1960’s. Truth is, by the time of the revolution, we had lost control of him. He was in negotiations with the Soviets to supply him more weapons, when the Kennedy administration had early cut him off a bit.
Etc. Anyway, not sure what your point was.Â