General Discussion

eridani

(51,907 posts) Tue Sep 8, 2015, 05:08 AM Sep 2015

Scott Walker, Meet Noam Chomsky: Here's the Real Iran History Republicans Need to Learn

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/32250-scott-walker-meet-noam-chomsky-heres-the-real-iran-history-republicans-need-to-learn

But in the eyes of U.S. commentary, Iran remains the supreme evil. It’s instructive, for instance, that without any irony or self-awareness we charge Iran with interfering in the Iraq War – a war we instigated from the other side of the world, against massive international protest, on Iran’s doorstep. Actually, Iran’s involvement in the Iraq conflict has necessarily increased with the growing threat of ISIS, a group that only exists because of the immense power vacuum and destabilization caused by the U.S. invasion.

With all the trouble Washington causes in and around Iranian borders, it’s a wonder Tehran has as much restraint as it does. Iran has launched zero invasions in modern history. Its alleged support for terrorism mostly concerns the aid it provides to secure its regional interests and to Hamas and Hezbollah, groups that emerged as resistance against Israeli aggression in Lebanon and the West Bank.

Even more fuss is made in Western commentary over Ayatollah Khomeini and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s alleged threats to “wipe Israel off the face of the map.” As historian and prominent Middle Eastern commentator Juan Cole clarifies, such a literal threat was never made. “The actual quote,” Cole writes, “does not imply military action, or killing anyone at all … [Ahmadinejad] quoted Khomeini that ‘the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time.’ It is in fact probably a reference to some phrase in a medieval Persian poem. It is not about tanks.”

It would be nothing short of suicidal for Iran to make such a threat. But Israeli/Iranian tensions are real, and nuclear weapons are part of the problem. Three states within three or fewer borders of Iran possess nuclear weapons: Israel, Pakistan and India. Unlike Iran, none of them have signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Also unlike Iran, all three are U.S. allies.

Not only has Israel not signed the NPT, it doesn’t even admit it has nuclear weapons – though its arsenal is one of the world’s worst-kept secrets. Meanwhile, even U.S. intelligence indicates Iran has not tried to develop a nuclear weapon. Our fear of terrorists getting hold of a nuclear bomb via Iran is borderline hysterical, but the far more realistic possibility that they might acquire one through our ally Pakistan is hardly ever brought up.