Justice for Iran

A few thoughts:

1. John McCain singing, to the tune of the Beach Boys’ classic hit “Barbara Ann,” “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran" WHILE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

2. A country cannot chant anything. A country is a legal construct that, in general, implies a region of territory a govenment controls in some way or another. It is not a living entity capable of singing a song, chanting a chant, or even grunting a good grunt. I am sure people in Iran have chanted “Death to America.” So have lots of people all over the world — and lots of them live in countries allied with the United States. Much the same is true of any statements about Israel.

3. I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but Iran actually gets — as a country, under international law — to seek to defend itself. It is not obliged to lie down and do whatever the United States tells it to. Hence it is entitled to build AND test anti-ship missiles. It is event entitled to use them under some circumstances. (Notably, despite many opportunities, they have not used them on us. We, of course, have shot down one of their civilian airliners, and have blown up oil platforms in the Gulf, etc.) In any case, these are not illegal, and cannot in and of themselves make Iran a horrible country. As it happens, I’ll take the roughly 275 ships of the US Navy (including 10 active carrier battle groups) in that fight. You can have the fourteen ships (seven submarines) of the blue water Iranian Navy.

4. The financing of Hamas and Hezbollah are quite horrible. I will believe this truly matters to you when you call on us to attack a country whose money has caused us unspeakable harm: Saudi Arabia, whose rich people — e.g., its sheiks who get oil revenues — are the primary source of al Qaeda’s funding. 

The uncomfortable fact is that, by any fair measure, Iran has been more sinned against than sinning. To explain, we will need to dip into what George Orwell called the “Memory Hole” and review the momentous events of the 1940’s and 1950’s as well as their far-reaching consequences.

For several years after the Second World War, the U.S. had a positive image with many Iranians. After helping to convince occupying Soviet forces to leave the country, and attempting to mediate an agreement between Iran and Great Britain, the American government was generally well regarded. But these good relations were not to last.

During the summer of 1953 a major crisis developed between Tehran and Washington. At that time Iran was an emerging democracy with elected leaders. Led by the popular Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq, it was embroiled in a conflict with the British over oil. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was owned by British interests and supported by the British government. In a grossly unequal colonial-style arrangement, the Iranians were not even allowed to examine the ledgers.

As the dispute with the British intensified, the Iranians finally became determined to nationalize their country’s oil industry. The British responded by freezing Iranian assets, imposing a worldwide embargo on Iran’s oil, and pulling their technicians out of the country. Oil output slowed to a trickle, Iran’s economy went into a tailspin, and unrest grew. Britain’s destabilization efforts were working.

Although the Truman government had been sympathetic to Iran, in 1953 the new Eisenhower administration accepted the British view that the Iranian regime had to go. On July 11th President Eisenhower secretly signed an order to overthrow Iran’s young democracy. The die was cast.

Walking through the Tabatabaei House, a 19th century mansion in Kashan, Iran, we encountered nursing school students posing for graduation photos. Naturally they posed for a photo for us. Decisions being made now - over Iran’s nuclear program, over sanctions, over Iran’s opening to the world - will immensely influence the country they inherit. But this moment was less for reflection than for fun. One of the students asked for a picture with me; her friends joked that finding a man was “the number one priority.” - Steve Inskeep

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We’re always up for some good skateboarding videos.

Vatan = my country