Iranian Extremists, American Chickenhawks: Can’t Tell the Players Without a Program

This article is titled “Ignore the Extremists in Tehran and on Capitol Hill.”

A failed Iranian presidential candidate says “fighting the global arrogance and hostile policies of America is a symbol of our national solidarity.”

A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee calls Iran’s newly elected president “a slick snake-oil salesman.”  Another member of the same committee says Americans are “making fools out of ourselves” by negotiating with Iran.  And Rep. Tom Marino (R—Inbred) says “I'm so upset over the fact that this administration thinks that if they put their arms around these terrorists, we're going to sing 'Kumbaya' and everything's going to be fine.”

In other words, Iranian militants and American warmongers are mirror images of each other.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps — the government “Enforcer” that terrifies most of the population — gets most of its wealth and power by smuggling “forbidden” goods into Iran.  This lucrative smuggling business would not be possible without America’s continuing sanctions against Iran.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Revolutionary Guard Corps — the two mirror images — are cooperating closely to maintain hostility between the two countries.

Americans haven’t gotten over the 1979 takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran by Iranian fanatics.  Iranians haven’t gotten over the CIA’s overthrow of Iran’s elected president in 1953.  As the linked article says:

“If emotion is the worst guide for diplomacy, cool assessment of national interest is the best…No step the United States could take anywhere in the world would strengthen U.S. national security more quickly and decisively than reconciliation with Iran.”

Just three examples of America’s and Iran’s common enemies:  Afghanistan being the source of most of the heroin in the world; al Qaeda; and the Taliban.  (Both of those groups are Sunni.  Iranians are Shiites.)

The article concludes with:

“Reconciliation between Tehran and Washington would be a turning point in modern Middle Eastern history. Those in both capitals who seek to block it are undermining the long-term security of their two countries.”