We Are the Change

Another Big Lie

According to a recent CNN poll, 43% percent of Americans still believe that Saddam/Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks. Wow! I think this bit of information may be the primary determinant of whether someone thinks the Iraq war was a good idea or not. If I had thought there was a connection between Saddam/Iraq and 9/11 then I would have supported the war – but even though I did not have access to top secret information, I knew all along there was no connection.
Here is why:
1.    Saddam ran an atheist government that was diametrically opposed to the fundamentalist religious wackos that were the terrorists.
2.    Saddam survived by keeping complete control – he wasn’t about to share power with terrorists.
3.    The terrorists hated Saddam. Osama bin Laden had labeled Saddam an infidel and called for his assassination.
4.    If Saddam had given weapons to the terrorists, they would have been as likely to use them on him as us.

Knowing these self-evident truths served to immunize some Americans from the lies of the Bush administration. Remember in the run up to the war, how Bush and his cronies always included Saddam and bin Laden or Iraq and al Qaida in the same sentence? They did this incessantly for months – over and over on the propaganda shows on FOX and right wing radio, on every appearance on every news show they would hammer this association into the minds of the American people. Is it any wonder that by the beginning of the war, 80% of Americans thought there was a connection between Saddam and 9/11?
There was a lot of parsing of words in these implications of linkage between Saddam/Iraq and the terrorists. You could say that I am linked to Kevin Bacon (because I know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows Kevin Bacon) but it would be fundamentally dishonest to make the association. The 9/11 Commission stated categorically that there was “no collaborative relationship” between Saddam and al Qaida.
Bush recently admitted there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11 and he said no one in his administration ever implied there was. That is another big lie.

A Sane Policy Toward Iran

I have previously criticized the Bush administration for their shortsighted policy of confrontation with Iran but now I will offer a constructive alternative.

A sound policy should be based on these self-evident assumptions:

1.    The government of Iran is pragmatic and invested in their self-interest as is demonstrated by the fact that they have held on to power for 27 years.
2.    The notion that Iran is crazy with self-destructive zeal is not borne out by the facts. For instance, in their 27 years of rule, Iran has never invaded another country. Iran’s military expenditures are 6 billion per year; compared to 25 billion for Saudi Arabia and 300 billion for the U.S.
3.    Even if they were to achieve a nuclear weapon in the next 5 to 10 years, there is no reason to believe they would use it and assure their own destruction.
4.    Seventy percent of Iran’s population is under 30 and most are moderates that want the benefits of western culture. Time is on our side as long as we avoid radicalizing the population.
5.    Iran wants very much to be accepted as a respected member of the community of prosperous and influential modern states.
6.    An Iran that was indeed a trustworthy member of that community would be an enormous benefit to America and to the world.

The objective of American policy therefore should be accommodating and eventually modifying the legitimate national aspirations of a self-interested and pragmatic Iran - not launching a potentially catastrophic preemptive war against a potentially powerful and influential Muslim nation of seventy million people.
Coaxing Iran down a path leading toward successful achievement of international respectability and acceptance is the single most important "carrot" that we have to offer to today’s Iranian leadership and tomorrow’s new Iranian leaders.
The potential value of positive incentives has been completely squandered; however, by the pointless hostility and belligerence of the Bush administration. It started with the "axis of evil" speech and proceeded downhill from there to the most recent threats and ultimatums. This has greatly diminished our own bargaining power while making the job of arriving at a reasonable accommodation with Iran infinitely more difficult.