Before reading any further, I want you to understand that I do NOT believe that Iran is a land of all flowers and sunshine. Truth is, their government
is largely unpopular, their leaders claim to be inspired by a god that the masses don't believe in, and their population is largely under-educated
(other than a handful of elites).
This all should strike a cord of familiarity to US citizens.
With that said, there has been some gross distortion of
facts regarding Iran that
everyone should be aware of.
Iranian/US History
Bush likes the phrase "to bring Democracy to the Middle East".
Did you know that Iran
was a democracy right up until 1953?
In the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in the United States and United Kingdom removed the
democratically-elected administration of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and his cabinet from power and replaced it with a monarchy. The coup was
carried out in a covert operation by Britain and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), codenamed Operation Ajax (officially TP-AJAX).
Wiki - Iranian 1953 Coup
The reasons for that coup were straight forward. The US and Britain wanted their oil. Very little has changed on that front.
Since then, Iran has been a dangerous and aggressive nation, right?
Wrong, actually.
Iran has
never invaded another country. The war with Iraq was initiated by Iraq with the backing if the US. This again is a matter of record
and not in dispute.
Iran's Nuclear Program
Iran has stated over and over that they are NOT producing nuclear weapons. There is, in fact, not a single shred of evidence that proves they have any
type of nuclear weapons program. Everything they've done to date is in-line with nuclear power programs. Even the enrichment (enriched uranium allows
for much more efficient nuclear power production and research) which they
voluntarily suspended!
They signed the
NPT and have complied with all standard accords from the
IAEA. They have not been found guilty of any violation. They have not even been
charged with any
violation!
In fact, Iran has long been a proponent for declaring the entire middle east a nuclear free zone. Since 1974, they have been pressing the UN to enact
resolutions to ban
all nuclear weapons from all Middle Eastern countries. Those resolutions have been put before the UN, but have been
repeatedly vetoed by the US (on behalf of Israel).
For an idea of Iran's real nuclear stance, as stated by Hossein Mousavian, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team:
It is incorrect to say that Iran's nuclear activities constitute a response to perceived nuclear threats from other states, such as Israel, or to a
strategic threat arising from the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is therefore also incorrect to adduce the existence of this threat as
evidence that Iran is aiming at a nuclear-weapons programme. Naturally, Iran is concerned by the fact that Israel possesses a substantial nuclear
arsenal, but Iran's possession of nuclear weapons would not reduce its fears on this score. Similarly, Iranian concerns regarding the US military
presence in the region would in no way be allayed were Iran to possess nuclear weapons. The possession of nuclear weapons would neither conduce to
Iran security nor in reality enhance the perception of security enjoyed by the Iranian people.
Global Diolog Winter/Spring 2006
I strongly recommend reading that document. Print it 'n take it with you next to you have to take a sit on the can.
Demonizing Iran in the Media
We all know that the media lies to us. If you have trouble with that concept, you've got some catching up to do here on ATS.
What we hear coming out of Iran is often sound bytes that are taken out of context or suspect to mistranslation by the only major organization that
provides translation to western media (
MEMRI, which has strong
ties to Israel).
Much of the verbal insanity to come out of Iran is suspect of being intentionally mistranslated, misquoted, and taken out of context in order to
present Iran in a bad light. This isn't surprising considering that MEMRI has admitted in the past to "putting the interests of Israel first".
Accusations of Terror
The only credibly claim against Iran in terms of supporting terrorism is it's ties to Hezbollah. These ties really are not in question since
Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, made this statement:
"Iran assists the organization with money, weapons, and training, motivated by a religious fraternity and ethnic solidarity," Nasrallah said. "And
the help is funneled through Syria, and everybody knows it."
Nasrallah Admits
However, it should now be pointed out that Hezbollah has a strong central mandate from which it does not deviate:
* To expel Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land.
* To submit the phalanges to a just power and bring them all to justice for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and
Christians.
* To permit all the sons of our people to determine their future and to choose in all the liberty the form of government they desire. We call
upon all of them to pick the option of Islamic government which alone is capable of guaranteeing justice and liberty for all. Only an Islamic regime
can stop any future tentative attempts of imperialistic infiltration onto our country. [Note that this is a "call", not a demand, for Islamic
Government. The freedom to choose is first and foremost]
It also includes complete destruction of the state of Israel. [Err...]
Hezbollah Wiki Entry
I urge you to read that entry in full as the subject of this organization is not a simple one.
While I personally cannot condone Hezbollah's call for the destruction of Israel, it should be understood that "Throughout most of the Arab and
Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement."
ref
Either way, there has not been a single official call for Iran to expel Hezbollah (strangely, not even from Israel).
Reports of Iran sending support to Iraqi insurgents have thus far been unproven and
must be viewed with suspicion considering the sources.
Again, it is true that not a single piece of evidence has been presented to prove these claims. If there is proof, why has it not been presented?
In fact, Iran has offered to help train Iraqi security forces and promotes a stable Iraq as it serves their interests better to have a stable nation
at their border (with whom they could trade and build diplomatic relations) than an anarchist state occupied by American troops.
Iran Offers to Help Train/Equip Iraqis
I could likely go on with this article for some time, but I fear I would allow it to snowball into a major project and I'd not be able to post it
until... well... until after hostilities start.
Instead, I'll hit the submit button and open this up to (rational, I hope) discussion.
