Archive for the ‘Middle East’ Category
The United States is Missing a Golden Opportunity
This will be a very short post because I am damned tired today. I got lots done but am still at the office quite late and I am beat…
I want to say that it seems to me that our government is far too quiet on Iran right now and our citizens don’t seem so eager to push either. Iran’s neighbors have definitely been closed lipped and so have the other “powers” (Russia, China, etc.) It seems for once the European countries are showing more cojones on this issue than we are. And I partially blame our short-term thinking on this. The week before last there was a red hot fever pitch going on, almost a flash point. Neda had been killed and the whole world gasped at the brutality going on. The entire Iranian plebecite seemed to be turning against the government. But we all played the waiting game and stood by while Ahmadinejad persisted in applying his pressure, some officially and the more brutal side of it unofficially, and while he did that Ahmadinejad finally got the break that he needed…
Michael Jackson died.
Yep. When Michael Jackson died most of us concerned Americans back home and around the world moved on to the next. I see this as being part and parcel to the fact that we Americans have been losing freedom after freedom without a fight. First under the Bush Administration and now under the Obama Administration. I suppose that if we can’t be bothered to really fight for our own rights then it would be expected that Iran’s plight would lose our attention when the King of Pop passes away unexpectedly.
The opportunity that we are losing is humongous. Iran is not only a major agitator in the volatile Middle East but they also border Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are major backers of Hezbollah in Lebanon and to Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran is working on nuclear capabilities against the wishes of nearly the entire planet and their leaders publicly state that Isreal should be wiped from the face of the planet. A change of government there at this point and time could only be a good thing. I will say that Iran was a bit more of a flash point when George W. Bush was still alive but their incredibly flawed election should have been giving an opportunity for us to do much more for their opposition. Instead the extent of the Obama government’s support has been to ask Twitter not to close for two hours scheduled maintanence.
As a Libertarian I get this terrible helpless feeling. Nobody wants this. How did we get disinterested so quickly? And why are we again letting such a golden opportunity slip through our hands.
