It is an act of faith that Iran should not have nukes and the major candidates have issued fatwas against Iran ("no military option off the table"). I would suggest that Iran’s having nukes is a good thing and could hasten what we all want, a nuclear free world. When one group (Us/Israel) is all-powerful in a region, the result is highly destabilizing. Lord Acton’s famous quip that absolute power results in absolute corruption has been proven in social psychological experiments, e.g. Zimbardo’s prison study which showed that when one group has absolute power over another, the result, even when the group holding power is "good," is domination, cruelty, and degradation. On the other hand, we know that when there is rough parity in power, the potential for dialogue and negotiation is enhanced. It is significant that the parity in nuclear power between the US and the Soviet Union during the cold war did not result in a nuclear Armageddon. MAD (mutually assured destruction) kept each player in line.
The US and Israel is seeking total domination in the Middle East. Because of their asymmetrical power dominance the US and Israel have in recent years destroyed the civilian infrastructures of Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. The US has killed probably close to 2.5 million Iraqis since it started its long war with that country in 1990. Without some counterweight to prevent the US/Israeli terror machine, the remaining independent Middle Eastern countries, Iran and Syria will, like Palestine, be dominated, occupied and raped of their resources.
Anti-Islamic Propaganda and the thought terminating cliche are the chief weapons used US and Israel to demonize Iran and Islam in order to maintain hegemony in the Middle East. Already our everyday speech is rife with propagandistic phrases:
--Hillary in her fatwa against Iran (Foreign Affairs) states that a "radical theocracy" should not have the bomb. "Radical theocracy" (why not call them religious fanatics?) is a thought terminating cliché: propaganda designed to spread fear and demonize Iran. (If Iran is a radical theocracy then what is the USA? A proto-fascist state? In the last so many years we have lost habeas corpus, we have embraced torture, eavesdropping (is this blog monitored by the FBI—do they know my ip address?), etc.)
--Intellectual leaders such as the Times Tom Friedman routinely slip misinformation into their columns. For example, he writes that "no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden." The fact is that hundreds of esteemed Muslim scholars and influential theologians have categorically condemned al Qaeda terrorism as unIslamic. This misrepresentation has never been retracted.
--Ahmadinajad is compared to Hitler in the tabloid press, by the president of Columbia and by Bush administration when he has a constitutionally weak position unlike that of Hitler who, in fact, a dictator.
But facts don’t count when mass hysteria is the end goal.
Beginning Oct 22, "Islamo-fascism Awareness Week" will begin on college campuses around the country. Backed by right-wing think tank money, (the brainchild of one David Horowitz, professional "former leftist" and Fox News commentator, proponent of the Iraq War who called one antiwar demonstration in 2002 "100,000 Communists), it is a calculated effort to demonize Islam, place Muslim students on the defensive, and generate support for further U.S. military action in the Islamic world.
Islamofascism is another interesting thought terminating cliché dreamed up by the neocon and felon Elliot Cohen. It is designed to explicitly link Islam with Hitler. (All those who get so upset at the linking of Naziism and Israel might look at how Neocons routinely link Islam with Hitler.) "Islamofascism" is a term devoid of content that is designed to induce fear and hysteria rather than spread "awareness." Indeed, statements that Islamo-fascism is bent on extending a world wide caliphate and taking over the world sound a lot like the canards about Jews spread by Hitler. Replace Islamo-fascist with Jewish conspiracy and you’ll get the drift.
The point is that propaganda is being used to demonize Islam and Iran, forestall understanding, and maintain US/Israeli hegemony. Islam is powerless before the merciless American press juggernaut. If Iran had the bomb the American press would out of wanton fear show Iran and Islam some respect. With respect, dialogue can begin.