Wednesday, February 27, 2008

U.S.-Iranian Relations: The Bottom Line

Noam Chomsky summarizes U.S.-Iranian relations in this video on Real News.

What constitutes "interference":

suppose it was true that Iran is helping insurgents in Iraq. I mean, wasn’t
the United States helping insurgents when the Russians invaded Afghanistan?
Did
we think there was anything wrong with that? I mean, Iraq's a country that was
invaded and is under military occupation. You can't have a serious discussion
about whether someone else is interfering in it. The basic assumption underlying
the discussion is that we own the world. So if we invade and occupy another
country, then it's a criminal act for anyone to interfere with it.
What about
the nuclear weapons? I mean, are there countries with nuclear weapons in the
region? Israel has a couple of hundred nuclear weapons. The United States gives
more support to it than any other country in the world. The Bush administration
is trying very hard to push through an agreement that not only authorizes
India's illegal acquisition of nuclear weapons but assists it. That's what the
U.S.-Indo Nuclear Pact is about.


The real reason for Washington's hostility toward Tehran :

The real reasons for the attack on Iran, the sanctions, and so on…Iran is out of control. You know, it's supposed to be a U.S.-client state, as it was under the Shah, and it's refusing to play that role.



If it were desired to prevent solving a problem, the easiest way would be to prevent the problem from being understood.

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