For a long time now, there have been calls from prominent Americans for bombing Iran. After the Pentagon briefing, Senator Joseph J. Lieberman said, "The fact is that the Iranian government has by its actions declared war on us" and that "a credible threat of force" against Iran was necessary. While he fell short of previous calls to bomb the country, he reiterated the often heard remark that we must keep open "the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran."[5] The consequences of the U.S. use of violence in Iraq are not enough; we must also wage, or at least threaten to wage, violence against Iran.
While the resistance movement against the U.S. occupation is predominantly comprised of Sunni Muslims, various Shiite militias-most notably the Mahdi Army-have also taken up arms against the occupying power. It is the Shiite groups that Iran is said to support. The truth of the allegations is uncertain, but the interesting thing about the debate is the assumption, accepted as a truism, that it is wrong for Iran to do so while the legitimacy of our own actions is unquestionable. We support various groups and militias, but it's condemnable when Iran also does so. We invade and occupy a foreign nation on the other side of the world, but it's an outrage when Iran interferes in the affairs of its neighbor. We wage violence and cause immense suffering, throwing an entire nation into chaos, and yet somehow we are still capable of pointing a finger at Iran, projecting onto Iran our own image-the image of a monster.
That the discussion coming from the government and media could continue as long as it has under this basic framework, the incredible hypocrisy as the proverbial elephant in the room, speaks volumes about American society and the willingness of people on such a massive scale to deceive themselves about their own role and the role of their own government in the world.
It's understandable that nobody likes to look in the mirror and see a monster. But it's unjustifiable for a nation of people to see what they want to see instead of facing up to reality when the consequences of such self-imposed delusion are so real, so profound, and so deadly to other people of other nations.
[1] Jeremy R. Hammond, "Truth and Lies in Media Reports on Iran", Yirmeyahu Review, March 27, 2007
http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/truth_lies_media_iran.htm
[2] Jeremy R. Hammond, "The US Propaganda Campaign Against Iran", Yirmeyahu Review, February 15, 2007
http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/us_propaganda_iran.htm
[3] John F. Burns and Michael R. Gordon, "U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.'s", New York Times, July 3, 2007
[4] Jeremy R. Hammond, "Alberto Gonzales and the Rule of Lawlessness", Yirmeyahu Review, January 9, 2005
http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/alberto_gonzales.htm
[5] David Lightman, "Lieberman: Iran Has Declared War", Hartford Courant, July 2, 2007
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