From an op-ed in the LA Times (definitely read the rest):
"The U.S. is already allocating funds for the destabilization of the Iranian regime and reportedly sending Special Forces teams into Iran to stir up non-Iranian ethnic minorities in order to fragment the Iranian state (in the name of democratization!). And there are clearly people in the Bush administration who do not wish for any negotiated solution, abetted by outside drum-beaters for military action and egged on by full-page ads hyping the Iranian threat.
...
It is true, however, that an eventual Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons would heighten tensions in the region and perhaps prompt imitation by such countries as Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Israel, despite its large nuclear arsenal, would feel less secure. Preventing Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons is, therefore, justified, but in seeking that goal, the U.S. must bear in mind longer-run prospects for Iran's political and social development. Iran has the objective preconditions in terms of education, the place of women in social affairs, and in social aspirations (especially of the youth) to emulate in the foreseeable future the evolution of Turkey. The mullahs are Iran's past, not its future; it is not in our interest to engage in acts that help to reverse that sequence."
6 comments:
The Iranian mullahs and other religious zealots will continue to thrive as long as their fellow backward thinking Christian brothers run this country with the majority of both sides firmly believing that this is some kind of holy war.
A partial remedy for all of this would be the placement of our current religious figures like God and Allah alongside the likes of Zeus, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but these outdated beliefs directly affect many of the issues raised on Kwotebel - drugs, war, etc. While I do believe that there is probably something - God, for lack of a better term - that connects us all, our current explanations for this are severely lacking. As long as we maintain the religious status quo and the farce of spirituality we are years away from a vision of the holy trinity that should be embraced: Reason, Love, and Curiosity.
BTW, I recently read Sam Harris' "The End of Faith" and, uh, I liked it to say the least.
you mentioned that book again...i guess I should get it and put it next to Baldwin's Just Above My Head...that and Wolfe's Look Homeward ANgel are sitting on my night stand just waiting for me to read them...i am such a loser for not reading.
great comment...where would we be without religion?
Rob, why the interest in Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel? I was just looking into getting that book last week when I saw it at a bookstore for $4.95 and adding it to my collection.
Eric--my bro loved it and told me to read it...and last month i realized for the first time that Juliette Lewis' character in Cape Fear (with Robert Deniro) was reading it...DeNiro's character talks to Lewis about it in the movie...so that plus my bro's recommendation have placed it along Baldwin's book in my TO EVENTUALLY READ LIST!
:-D
I just bought it. :)
With my "To Eventually Read List", I should be getting to it by March 2008. Right now trying to decide between Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
interesting article....International Outlaws....that's us
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