IRAN AND IRAQ - April 28, 2011

It is an insult to informed listeners when the US administration tells us things that we can easily know are untrue. This supposed right of the rulers to tell lies that will support their policies is a balance to their supposed right to keep us from knowing the truth, as is seen in the wikileaks prosecutions. Not only do they tell us the lies, but they claim the right to inflict punishment upon those who discover them and tell what they have learned. In the case of Iran, they long ago branded them an enemy of US, and succeeding governments have repeated their untruths as though they knew no better, and called upon the law and the patriotism of US to second the deceptions, far into the future when no legitimate grounds for them continue to exist. An outstanding example is when US labels their allies as democracies, overlooking deeds that we would excoriate in those whose offenses do not exceed the unwillingness to join an alliance against some US interest. As an example, we have the contrast between our propaganda about Iran and Sa’udi Arabia. The former is attacked for its undemocratic government while the hereditary monarchy of the latter is called a democracy, or at least we take no notice of their medieval excesses. Also, Iraq was called the worst tyranny in the world while their neighbor Syria was being excused. Now Syria has suddenly joined the ranks of the worst, while Yemen continues being mostly overlooked. In the meantime, we have supported military dictatorships of the worst sort over the decades since WW II even heaping accolades on the likes of Pinochet and Ferdinand Marcos. When Pakistan joined US in standing against the Chinese, they were wonderful, while India was treated as an enemy for decades, and Iran had its government overthrown, leading to the “choice” of the mullahs and the Shah, probably dooming democracy there for the foreseeable future. The people of Iran are due an abject apology but instead they are excoriated because they are at political odds with their natural foes in the Israelis. It is time that some respect be shown to the intelligent US people.