Whatever differences our government has with Iran, we do not have differences with our brothers in Iran, people who work hard, play by the rules, and are just like us. They are brothers and sisters in spirit and are our friends. Many Iranians, like much of the rest of the world, admire Americans and American culture. In order to prevent war with Iran, we must bury the hatchet with our brothers and sisters in that country and work together for the common goal of world peace and universal human brotherhood.
It turns out that Iran's threat to this country has been blown clear out of proportion. Instead of rational discussion, what we see now is lies, hysteria, and crackpot conspiracy theories against a nation whose people admire this country and our way of life, despite all of the negative propaganda that their government has said about us.
We were facing the exact same situation with China in 1963 -- we were facing a country that our intelligence people said was about to develop a nuke. Like then, there were people who advocated preemptive warfare with that country. But let us suppose that Iran is on the same path as China -- it does not follow that they are therefore militarily a threat to this country. In fact, a few years after they tested their first nuke, Nixon went to that country to make peace.
So, the main question that we have to ask ourselves and ask other people is, how is it these peoples' faults that our relationship with Iran is at such a low ebb? For a party that purports to be guided by God, the Republicans conveniently forget their own Bible and its commands to love ones' enemies and to forgive others.
If we are to regard Mother Earth as a living sentinent being, then the earth is crying out in fear and pain at the harm that Bush, blinded by rage and frustration, is about to inflict on Iran. It would be a gross violation of everything that we stand for as a country, of everything that we have held dear as a country. If we were to attack this country, then the moral basis for our country's power and legitimacy would be eroded.
Ron Paul (wrong on many issues, but right on this one) said last year that Bush would not attack Iran because he would need to build legitimacy first. That is still the case, but time is running out. Bush has just a little over a year left in office. Blinded by defeat in Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Bush is under overwhelming temptation to save humanity from a nuclear Iran:
The temptation is almost overwhelming. In another year, his term in office will come to an end. After eight years, he has nothing to show for it - except a continuous series of failures. But a man who (he says) holds daily talks with God cannot leave the stage of history like that.
He is longing for some sort of success in Annapolis. At the most, there will be an empty declaration signed by the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. There will be some good photo opportunities, but that will not satisfy the lions. Something much bigger is needed, something that will leave its mark in the annals of history.
What better than saving humanity from the Iranian nuclear bomb?
There are three people who are standing in the way of an invasion of Iran -- Condolezza Rice, Robert Gates, and William Fallon. Rice has always been an internationalist; furthermore, she is a member of Bush's inner circle. If Bush were to attack Iran, he would risk losing Rice, as she might quit in that event. Gates has always been an advocate of closer relations with Iran, and under his leadership, the Pentagon has subtly undermined any case for a war with Iran. Generals are threatening to revolt, and the Pentagon has people in it who have shown a surprising amount of dissent against a possible invasion or air strike.
And William Fallon would refuse to obey any order attacking Iran -- he is the one who called Patraeus an "ass-kissing chickenshit." The problem is that he would be the person who is directly responsible for the theater.
We cannot depend on those people to stand against Bush -- we must add our voices as well. We must act quickly, and we must destroy any moral basis for an invasion and occupation of Iran before it crosses a critical breaking point. Once that line has been crossed, it will be too late.
We must think small so that we can get big results -- change all starts with us. It will not do us any good to petition our leaders to do the responsible thing if we do not change ourselves first. If we call for change without changing ourselves, then we will be inauthentic. The Republican Party has engaged in the mainstreaming of hate ever since the 1968 election and the adoption of the Southern Strategy; they pick on people whom it is acceptable to hate, such as Muslims, for instance.
In order to defeat that, we must transform ourselves. We must get rid of every vestige of hate, of sexism, racism, homophobia, intolerance, and bigotry that is in our hearts. We must change the way that we act towards others in this community and in our daily lives. We must see people around us as our brothers and sisters and try to understand them when they do things that we don't understand. We must learn to be advocates for the earth, who is groaning from the cries of the suffering people all over the world. The earth cannot be an advocate for herself; we must be her advocates. If there is a god in heaven who created this world, then we must treat this world and her people as sacred -- if you hate people because of their race, religion, or nationality, then that is an act of hatred towards God who created them in his own image.
But even if there isn't, then that would not change what we have to do. We can either live normal lives and barely follow the news, and we will be remembered for 2-3 generations after we are gone. Or we can step forward and leave our unique mark on the world for thousands of years. Maybe when people look back on this era, they can turn to each other and say that this was the point at which the left found its voice and stopped the madness before it was too late. They will look at us and see that the pen was stronger than the sword and laugh at the foolishness of the ancients, who thought that war was a valid way to solve problems. This is all about how we want to be remembered.
The Bush administration is at a crossroads -- despite the fact that the three people that I mentioned are adamantly against any attack on Iran, John Dean has pointed out in the past that Bush is one of those people who likes to take brazen gambles. And couple that with his grandiose dreams, such as his prediction that democracy would sweep over the Middle East, and it is entirely possible that Bush could attack Iran.
We must remember the words of the Declaration of Independence, which stated that all people were created equal, and not just all Americans. And some people are not more equal than others. As John Edwards said, we have to become patriotic about something other than war. We need to become patriotic about defending the Constitution and the values that this country was founded on.
Our moral authority is not founded on a religion or the Bible. Our strength is not based on the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, or the Marines. Instead, they are contained in the Constitution and the Declaration. They have inspired millions of people to throw off the yoke of tyranny and to follow our ways. The French Revolution, Simon Bolivar, the collapse of Communism, the Orange Revolution, and the Cedar Revolution were all inspired by our values. In the latter three cases, they were all accomplished without a shot being fired with the exception of Romania.
Reach for the stars.