How to Defuse a War with Iran
Like Iraq, Iran has a lot of oil. And George W. Bush wants the U.S. to have control of that oil before he leaves office. And now, with permanent military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush has isolated and surrounded Iran — the last of the 5 big Middle East oil nations to refuse to get in bed with U.S. oil companies.
Sure, Bush and Cheney say their main beef with Iran is over nuclear arms, but they’ve lied to us so many times I’ve stopped counting. Nevertheless, consider this: Israel has over 100 nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Iran, on the other hand, halted it’s nuclear weapons program in 2003. Even if resumed, the program would probably not have a nuclear weapon before 2015. So, if not to get control of Iran’s oil, what’s the big urgency?
While Bush and Cheney request new bunker-busting bombs and talk Iran War strategy with Israel, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has this to say:
There’s no doubt in my mind that the United States is planning right now, as we speak, a military strike against Iran. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and almost every senior US military official has pretty much acknowledged the same.
Bombs With Your Name On Them
If you’re an American taxpayer, every bullet that flies and every bomb that drops has your name on it.
In the past, the crooks in charge have used fear to coerce a peace-loving population into condoning preemptive invasions, torture, and suspending the right to a fair trial. They’ve used fear of weapons of mass destruction. Fear of terrorists. Fear of anybody that looks and acts differently. And they’ll use fear again, because it works so well.
The antidote to fear is understanding, and it may take a lot of understanding to defuse the neocon agenda of bombing Iran and getting control of the oil.
Understanding Iran
As a direct attempt at helping Americans understand Iran, and to help defuse another expensive and unjust war, European travel author and TV host Rick Steves is producing a travel show about the country formerly known as Persia. Steves explains the undertaking on his blog:
I figure this adventure will cost me roughly what each household in the US is already paying for Iraq. If I can help avert an extra war — even just a little bit — this will be a brilliant personal investment — and lots of people will owe me big-time. (Do the math: $3,000,000,000,000 divided by 300,000,000 US citizens; cut the zeros = $10,000 per person…that’s about $40,000 per family. Care for another war?)
As he travels through Iran filming the show, Steve will be adding further updates to his blog: Rick Steves: Blog Gone Europe.
Even on the plane to Tehran, Rick has already made some observations leading to understanding:
These people were well off — well dressed, healthy. It was horrible to think of fighting them in a war. Then I wondered if it is easier to bomb a society ground down by years of sanctions. Are scruffy, poor looking people are easier to shock and awe? As we all settled into this wide-body jet, I wished the big decision-makers of our world weren’t shielded from an opportunity to share an economy cabin with people like this.
And who knows? Maybe Rick Steves’ exercise in understanding is already beginning to bear fruit. Just a few days ago, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, called for more unofficial contacts with Iran, suggesting that more contact might open a pathway to substantive dialogue between the governments:
My own view, just my personal view, would be we ought to look for ways outside of government to open up the channels and get more of a flow of people back and forth. There are actually a fair number of Iranians that come to the United States to visit. We ought to increase the flow going the other way.
So, here’s hoping that in the following days more people will come to know the real Iran, and some of the friendliest people in the world. Here’s hoping when people hear the country’s name, instead of envisioning a so-called Axis of Evil, they’ll think of its ancient cities, magnificent mosques, modern metropolitan urban centers, museums filled with Persian culture from the land where culture has thrived for the past 4000 years.
Tip of the hat to Xman for pointing me toward Rick Steves’ blog.
Read More: Iran, Iran War, Rick Steves, Rick Steves’ Europe, George W. Bush, Robert Gates, Middle East Oil
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May 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Very worthwhile post, Joe.
btw, if any of you really like “visuals”, here is a report/chart on how many countries and how many bombs:
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons
And then heard a VERY INTERESTING tidbit about Iranian Jews and ran it down (not hard at all).
Turns out Israel is trying to bribe Iranian Jews to leave Iran. $10, 000 - $60,000 USD each. Not many takers. There are 25,000 Jews in Iran. One even in parliment.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/13/iran.israel
hmmm….just me and my very well conditioned paranoid/conspiracy loving mind at work here….but why would Israel be trying to get the Jews to leave Iran?
May 19th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Ooops! Sorry for the double link on “wiki”.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Now THERE’s a fact that’s not advertised often (from your second link): Iran has the largest Jewish population of any Middle East country besides Israel. And what’s more, “Iran’s Jews love their Iranian identity and their culture.”
So, I wonder if this money Israel is throwing at Iranian Jews is part of the $3.1 billion per day in financial aid the US gives to Israel? Nice to see money well spent, huh?
May 19th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
A simple solution. An amendment to the constitution, that whenever there is talk of war all members over the age of 18 of legislators and diplomats are immediately drafted into the service along with any family members of those who support it and profit from it. Once the war starts the president and all those legisators, will then lead the charge. If they are so hell bent on protecting us, lead the way.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I agree, Pelmo. I’m against the draft, but at the same time, if everybody had to sign up for 2 years of military service no matter what…no exemptions based on family standing, college education, marital status, no exceptions…I’m guessing peace would reign like it hasn’t reigned in a long time in the US. Most people just don’t want to run into a swarm of bullets unless there’s a very darn good reason for running into a swarm of bullets, and “helping old draft dodgers get richer” doesn’t qualify as a very good reason in most people’s books. ;-)
May 19th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Pelmo and Joe,
I like it. A contest.
Let’s do a hybrid of the Inquisition, Salem witch trials and Gauntlet.
Throw the chickenhawks into a pit of alleged terrorists/alleged freedom fighters, and if the chickenhawks survive, then it is God’s will that we go to war. After all, God should have a vote, since so many seem to be ignoring the 10 Rules thing anyway.
Or we could do it a less bloody way (just for you for Joe).
Little George and Aminadinajad (can’t believe I spelled it right) have to take a grammar and composition test in their own language.
Ahhh, shoot! The chickenhawks lose again.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Joe and Xman,
I couldn’t sleep as this is my last day in Lithuania, and will be off for Ireland for five days. Why don’t both of you dust off your passports and join me in a pub or two as we tip glasses of our favorite beverage and toss around a few ideas on how to solve some of these problems our country is facing. Love these sidewalk cafes and pubs of Europe, where a person can sit, drink, think and talk without being interupted by a hundred blaring TV’s.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Would love to be there, Pelmo. Sounds truly inviting. Alas, for the mean time, I’ll have to tip a glass here and have a virtual long-distance drink to your health. Funny you should mention “passport” because I’m heavily into a post about a passport at this very moment…some sort of synchronicity or ESP going on there…you’ll see it posted in a bit.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Hey Pelmo, nice idea. Made me smile.
Great beer and might be elbow to elbow with real revolutionaries.
I bet they bash Bush very creatively, over there.
Then I thought about beer and driving on the wrong side, talking to terrorists and ending up on the no-fly.
But, if I wasn’t on my way to climb Whitney, I might think about it.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:09 am
George Bush and company could do nothing—nothing—without the efforts of all of our men and women in the military. If they all refused to participate in any more illegal wars—as Lt. Watada has done—there would be no invasion of yet another country.
I’m not waving the flag in blind patriotism any longer. I have realized that to kill someone who has done nothing to you merely because someone else tells you to is the definition of insanity.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
From what I’ve heard, that’s a big part of boot camp…breaking a person down so they don’t question orders. And I can see where that’s necessary for an Army to work efficiently and properly…you need a chain of command and total trust. But, the recent Commanders In Chief have totally destroyed the majority of reasons to trust them, so I agree…blind trust should be out the door until they rebuild that trust, and hopefully China or Russia won’t invade during that period of rebuilding trust (and I’m not holding my breath that any Command in Chief will actually bother to seriously rebuild trust in my lifetime…)
As for patriotism…I feel much the same as you do. I’m grateful to live in America, and I appreciate all those who have sacrificed to give me the freedoms we have, but I do not appreciate the apathy that has led to BushCo running roughshod over my country’s constitution the past few years, and I do not appreciate the work of the terrorists at the CIA (a terrorist by any other name is still a terrorist…) over most of the past century. It is high time for people to cautiously question everything until America sets some sort of track record for moral high ground again. And I don’t think asking questions is traitorous…in fact, it’s one of the responsibilities our founding fathers suggested most.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 am
I was drafted into the Army during Vietnam. Bootcamp was pretty mellow compared to what I hear the Marines are/was. But, it was pretty easy to turn me - a nineteen year old - into a “gook hater”.
Totally agree with you guys on major reasons not to trust our government.
btw, have I shared with you our place in the democracy rating index?
We are #17.
www.economist.com Look at “Democracy Index”.
For some reason I can’t copy/paste a pdf for you.