The simplistic and childlike view regarding the roots of terrorism and the western hatred displayed by much of the Middle East is that these people simply hate us for our freedom and that Islam is religion of hate that is bent upon the destruction of all other belief systems. This is a partial truth and few buy into this Orwellian Newspeak.
While true, there have been, are and will be groups of nutjobs who will hate for hate`s sake, it is only a part of the entire equation. Much of terrorism is of our own making as a result of the past 60 years of our foreign policy in the region. As we get spoon fed the propaganda of "fighting them over there so we don`t have to fight them here" we loose sight of the reality of the whole picture and will continually fail to make real progress toward solving it.
With current talk of attacking Iran looming and the possibility that a McCain win will simply be a "third term for Bush" we really need to stop and think about reality for a change. We need to ask ourselves if this simplistic view of the problem really feels right in our gut. It is my opinion, that to truly make progress in solving the global terrorist threat, we need to look at our own behavior at least as closely as we point the accusatory finger around the region.
No better place to start this introspection is Iran. Just as in the buildup to the Iraq war, we are being spoon fed the lies, distortions and manipulations in order to drug us into unquestioning zombie like support. Our actions in Iraq have sown the seeds for a millennium of future terrorism and I do not have much hope that this is a genie we can put back into the bottle. Before allowing Bush or McCain to uncork yet another, larger genie, we need to review some history and get a clearer picture of how we got into this position in the first place.
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Posted by Snowolf
This whole mess is so complex that there is no "magic bullet" that will fix the problem quickly. First off, the western world needs to educate themselves better on the idea logic differences between our cultures and realize these two belief systems are non compatible. We need to try to repair the damage that we in the west have done in that region that got so much of this Jihad going. A good start is to read about the modern history of Iran and how American and British oil companies strong armed their respective governments to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran in the early 1950 when Iran decided to nationalize it`s oil industry. America with the aid of the SAVAK (Iranianan counterpart to our CIA) installed the Shah Of Iran who was as much a brutal dictator as Saddam Husein (who we also installed). In 1979, the Iranian youth had had enough of this and backed they Ayatollah and Iran became what it is today. American foreign policy is directly responsible for the unrest and instability of that region. This isn't a "I heard it on the internent", this is World History 101, but Conservatives don`t read any part of world history that doesn't paint America in the a Rosy light.
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Video background of Iran
YouTube - The Folly of Attacking Iran: Lessons from History
Sadly, Iraq looked a lot like this prior to "shock amd awe" What a crime against humanity it would be to let it happen a second time. Meet the Iran that some would have us "obliterate" The world cannot, must not let it happen again.
Iran 2008
This is Iran
Iran: Another Perspective
Skiing and snowboarding in Iran
It is interesting to note that Iran also has the largest thriving Jewish community in the entire Middle East outside of Israel. It makes one wonder how the pro war crowd will attempt to justify killing Jews and destroying Jewish holy places as somehow "protecting" Israel.
Jewish Communities of Iran
History of Iran
Brief History of Modern Iran
Iran: History
History of Iran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FOIA declassified documents of the American lead overthrow of Iran`s democratic government in 1953:
Electronic Briefing Book: The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup
New York Times Special Report: The C.I.A. in Iran
As Newtonian physics points out "for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction" Our actions do in fact have consequences. Perhaps we don`t see them immediately, but they do happen. Today`s terrorism may in fact be the result of yesterday`s policies. As part of a comprehensive plan to truly attempt to solve this issue, we must as a nation do a little soul searching and look at our past and see where our action have escalated the problem. Until we do that, we are doomed to an ever escalating problem that will consume us and the world.
Iran, Terrorism and America`s Role
Iran, Terrorism and America`s Role
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