Spreading Freedom

I'm not the slightest bit surprised to learn that Iran suspended it's nuclear weapons program in 2003, nor did I raise a brow when I read that the U.S. has known this for years. Despite this knowledge, BushCo has been busily trying to lie us into attacking Iran under the pretense that they might be building bombs.

Bombs that aren't there.
Does that sound familiar?

After invading Iraq, we learned what was already obvious to anyone who paid attention to reality: Iraq presented absolutely no military threat to America. None.

BushCo should have been impeached, disbanded and jailed for starting that war, but instead there was a general consensus that well, maybe there weren't any WMD, but "the world is a better place without Saddam."

How? In what real, human terms has the removal of Saddam improved the world?

More importantly, BushCo has yet to provide a satisfactory reason for our invasion of Iraq.

Our mission is to spread freedom/democracy? Give me a fucking break. A 3rd grade history student could knock down that spurious claim:

The region now known as Iraq is home of one of the earliest civilizations in human history. The people who live there have had roughly 5,000 years to 'invent' democracy. They have had over 2,000 years to adopt Christianity and Western ideals. That they haven't done so speaks volumes as to what they want in their homeland.

Our hypothetical 3rd grader would point out that the Christian West has a long history of trying to spread freedom on the Muslim East and that it has always ended badly. Always.
Our imaginary student could use their cursory knowledge of world history to give true, supportable and specific examples; something that our real President seems incapable of. Our real President is painfully, dangerously ignorant of history.

He also seems oblivious to basic human psychology and motives. He apparently doesn't understand the direct cause-and-effect relationship between war orphans and suicide bombers.

I would wager that the odds of one of these kids growing up to be a suicide bomber increased dramatically the moment they started seeing body parts strewn about the streets of their neighborhood.


One of the many sad, overlooked facts in this whole debacle is that before the American invasion, it's quite likely that these kids liked America.
They wanted their MTV.
They wanted to play WoW.
Now they'd be lucky if they have two living parents, indoor plumbing and a roof.


You don't need to be a spy to understand why Iran doesn't have a nuclear enrichment program- they don't have one because they don't need one. If Iran really wanted a nuke, they could get one on the black market- if they haven't already done so...North Korea and Pakistan both have the bomb and the collapse of the USSR has led to some serious security concerns regarding nuclear warheads...the demand will inevitably create a supply. It will. The weapons already exist- it's merely matter of time and espionage until one falls into the wrong hands.

In the real world, it is extremely unlikely that Iran would ever launch a nuclear first strike against anyone- Israel included. The inflammatory rhetoric coming from Iran re:Israel is mere rhetorical demagoguery- American politicians do not have a monopoly on political bloviation and lies. The Iranian Mullahs are fully aware that to launch a nuke would spell the utter destruction of them and their nation. They would lose everything. Being in charge, they stand to lose a lot.

War orphans, on the other hand, have nothing left to lose. When Kris Kristofferson wrote, "freedom ain't nothing but another word for 'nothing left to lose'", he wasn't referring to the kind of freedom that we are spreading on Iraq, but he was right.

Unlike despotic heads-of-state, war orphans understand the liberating freedom of nihilism, even if they don't know the word. They understand that they have lost all hope and that just maybe if they wear this special jacket and press this magic button, they will have some part of what they have lost restored to them.
The technology has changed but the psychology has not. If you kill someone's family and destroy their home, the survivors will want revenge. That should be obvious. Violence begets violence.

Believe it or not, the #1 reason for Iran wanting the Bomb is to deter an American invasion- the Mullahs are very aware that we haven't invaded North Korea- a nation that sorely needs freedom if there ever was one...we haven't invaded because of Lil Kim's atomic deterrence and Iran knows that. The entire world, with the possible exception of 250 million Americans, knows this.

The next time a nuclear device explodes in a civilian area, it will probably be the work of individuals, not of nations. It's not unreasonable to speculate that the perps will be war orphans with the new freedom to have nothing left to lose.
Freedom that was spread on them by America.

If Bush actually wanted peace, he'd have greeted the belated 2003 security report with relief.
"Thank God", he would say," there is now one less threat to worry about. Now we can start concentrating on fixing our real problems without this additional distraction."
That is what a real leader would say.

This is what Bush said:

"“I think it is very important for the international community to recognize the fact that if Iran were to develop the knowledge that they could transfer to a clandestine program, it would create a danger for the world,” he said."

What he means is: We should start a war now because it's possible that at some future time Iraq may acquire a nuclear bomb. Or something. And that would be bad.
In any case, he's still hell-bent on beating the war drums...he's created a trillion-dollar for-profit war machine and peace would ruin all the hard work his cabal has done over the last seven years. For example,100,000 Blackwater mercenaries would be out-of-work. Those people are trained killers - I don't look forward to standing in the unemployment lines with them.

With any luck, this development will derail BushCo's war plans. The American people are growing visibly tired of endless, pointless war and it's unlikely that the average Iranian citizen has much interest in fighting yet another war-they know they will lose, and badly- given time, luck and a bit of clarity, both nations will eventually replace their leadership -from within.
We can do it here in 2008.

It may take a bit longer for the Iranians to make a wholesale change in their civics- if ever- but that is up to them, not to us. Normalizing relations with Iraq would be a possible first step. I am convinced that we could win more hearts and minds with Shrek DVDs, MySpaces and music videos than we could with depleted uranium shells, land mines and laser-guided smart bombs.

It would be cheaper too.