War machine revs its engines… again

Posted by devon minnema on Apr 9, 2012 in Telegram Past News

In case you haven’t noticed, the vitriolic warmongering against Iran has been amplified by the corporate media and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The three neoconservative republican candidates have criticized President Obama for not doing enough to stop Iran and/or its nuclear program, while the president has slowly ramped up for a war against the Islamic “republic” by levying more and more sanctions against it.

The unfortunate thing is that America is already falling into the hands of the military-industrial complex… again. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against the growing military industry lobby and the ability of private companies to lobby in favor of military action. One might wonder why we didn’t listen to President Eisenhower, and maybe take note of the fact that nearly every president since Eisenhower have sent our troops into at two or more military conflicts.

In fact, I’ve started to wonder if it’s possible for Americans to learn from the past. Everyone seems to agree that the Iranian government hates us, but no one ever seems to know why. Why did the Ayatollah come to power in the first place? The US had a controllable ally in Iran’s government for years through the dictatorship of the Shah. The Islamic Revolution removed the Shah. In response, the United States organized a black operation to remove the Ayatollah and force the Shah back into power so that the United States would not lose their puppet ally. The US was successful until another uprising of the Islamic Revolution permanently deposed the Shah, putting the Ayatollah in power. The Ayatollah has since been the Supreme Leader of Iran and has had an iron fist over all of the Iranian politics.

The Ayatollah and the majority of the Islamic Revolutionaries were understandably angry about the fact that the US meddled with their sovereign nation’s politics. This was simply the beginning of America’s many interventions in Iranian politics and economics. The US has implemented economic sanction after economic sanction against Iran, banning the production or purchase of medical goods or treatments, consumer goods, and even basic commodities. Not only have the sanctions stalled the Iranian economy for decades, but they have deprived families of the goods that they need. This has only made Iran hate us more.

If the United States could just look at the situation from the eyes of the Iranians, it would be totally understandable why they hate us.

Alas, the war machine has no feelings. It survives and thrives through misinformation, ignorance, and apathy. If you don’t want to see the United States go to war again, try employing empathy and explaining it to others.