TJP

What’s driving Western Policy Towards Iran?

By Byron A. Ellis – September 21, 2009

It is insane to think that Iran wants to attack Europe or anyone else, regardless of Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric. Iran, unlike other nations, does not have a history of an attacking nation. Who has Iran attacked in the past ten years?

There are only a few nations that have a history of attacking other nations in the past ten years, and Iran is not one of those nations. Certainly, Iran has many internal faults, such as oppression of its people.

However, if we account for attacks on sovereign nations in the past ten years the U.S., Israel, and Russia would be in the lead. If history is our guide, Iran should be excluded as an attacking nation.

Thus, the Iranian threat is illusory. Iran has never been a threat to the West; the Iranian leadership is not suicidal. So, why are some Western leaders so preoccupied with Iran?

They’re preoccupied with Iran because Israel drives Western Iranian policy. But, why should an apartheid nation in the Middle East drive Western policy?

Israel not only drives Western policies towards Iran but also towards the Muslim world in general. As a result, the West is on a military collision course with Muslim across the globe, whereby the lives of Western soldiers are at risk.

It is time for the West to reassess policies towards the conflict in the Middle East and exercise evenhandedness. The legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people  must be addressed. And, the international community should pressure Israel to lift the economic boycott of Gaza.

Additionally, the West cannot continue to uphold Israel’s apartheid regime and pretend it is a bastion of human rights and democracy. By doing so, it makes mockery of the principles of human rights and democracy.

The question at hand is how to accommodate Palestine and Israel peacefully. Accommodation requires that the grievances of displaced Palestinians take precedence. If it does not, peace will not be forthcoming. Rather, the West will confront a perpetual battle with Muslims that might not be winnable.

Many Muslims view every strike by the West against Muslim targets as an attack against Islam, which creates pent up anger against the West and extremist recruitment.

The hope of Americans that voted for Mr. Obama, and in general the world, was that an Obama administration would understand the importance of Palestinian grievances and that addressing them was more effective than perpetuating the previous administration wars. However, it does not appear that the election ushered in the change that many hoped for.

It would behoove the Obama administration to seek fresh approaches to the Middle East problems, rather than pursuing staled and failed Israeli centered policies that tag Iran as an attacking nation.

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