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After engaging in counterproductive conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and creating havoc in Nicaragua, Somalia, CaribbeanIslands, Central America, and a host of other places by supporting unpopular leaders and governments, the U.S. is headed towards dispatching its sons and daughters into another venture with the usual reason - to save their freedom.
Although U.S. policies can be shaped so that Iran becomes a force for peace, the present trajectory of policies tends towards another counterproductive and destructive engagement. In its descriptions of what constitutes a malevolent Iran, the U.S. State Department defines itself. By demolishing the myths that U.S. governments dramatize, we can more clearly observe a path for peace and stability in the Middle East.
The State Department Press Briefing on Terrorism Report, August 5, 2010, depicts Iran as the leading supporter of international terrorism. Why?
The report states "Iran remained the principal supporter of groups that are implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace Process," meaning Hamas and Hezbollah.
If the principal supporter of groups "implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace Process," equates to support of international terrorism, then U.S. support of implacable Israel positions the U.S. as international terrorism's leading supporter. Charges that Iran is arming Hamas don't seem relevant. Hamas has not displayed significant quantities of useful weapons, and in the aftermath of the Gaza war, the IDF did not display any captured armaments.
In response to a question of why Hamas is classified as an international terrorist organization if it has not killed any Americans, a State Department spokesperson haltingly stated; "Hamas, in the past, has killed Americans," without specifying who, where and when. American travelers, who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, have been killed in bombing attacks against Israel, but never specifically targeted.
Then there is Hezbollah. The U.S. State Department claims that "Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support to Lebanese Hizballah and has trained thousands of Hizballah fighters at camps in Iran. Since the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict, Iran has assisted Hizballah in rearming, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
These statements are undoubtedly true but are understandable and highly exaggerated. The Shia in Lebanon and Iran are closely related by ancestry and by Lebanese Sh'ia cleric travels to Iran to attend schools of teaching. Iran supplied funds to rehabilitate a Lebanon destroyed by Israeli attacks. Not helping their relations would be considered odd.
Arms! Training! Hezbollah has mainly defensive weapons; no aircraft - no tanks, no guided missiles, no fleet - only anti-tank Russian missiles, some anti-aircraft weapons and the famous rockets, which are mainly non-guided Katyusha, and are more revenge weapons than effective offensive armaments. After Israel seized an arms cache heading to Lebanon, the U.S. administration quickly accused Iran of supplying the arms. Britain was guarded, saying there is only a "suggestion that Iran has been caught illegally exporting weapons."
In response to a similar question asked of Hamas, "Why is Hezbollah classified as an international terrorist organization if it has not killed any Americans?" a State Department spokesperson replied; "Hezbollah, in the past, has killed Americans."
Hezbollah, in the past? Americans were killed twenty-five years ago, during the early 1980's in Lebanon by militants who claimed they were revenging the killings of Lebanese civilians by U.S. forces, and these actions (25 years ago) occurred before the formation of an incipient Hezbollah. The perpetrators have never been identified as definitely being Hezbollah, or acting under orders of the Lebanese Sh'ia organization.
Meanwhile the United States gives Israel two billion dollars each year to purchase the latest weapons, and although by U.S. law the weapons are to be used only for defensive purposes, the fighter bombers, drones, tank provisions and other armaments are used in severely punishing offensive engagements.
Which nation has killed the most Americans outside of a war zone? Answer is Israel, whose military has killed, wounded and apprehended many American civilians who have tried to assist Palestinians from being evicted from their land. The Israeli Air Force murdered 34 U.S. naval personnel in an attack on the U.S.S. Liberty in international waters on June 8, 1967, during the Six Day War.
The U.S State Department continues to dig itself in deeper: "Despite its pledge to support the stabilization of Iraq, Iranian authorities continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to Iraqi Sh'ia militant groups that targeted U.S. and Iraqi forces." All said with no proof furnished!
The U.S. started the civil strife in Iraq, is in the middle of the civil strife, polarized Iraq's religious factions and then complains that it is a target in the civil strife. If the U.S. is concerned with dubious Iran support that might have caused American deaths in Iraq, imagine how Iranians feel about documented U.S. military assistance to Saddam Hussein in Iraq's war with Iran, which caused hundreds of thousands of Iranian deaths.
Finally our tour arrives at Afghanistan. According to the same State Department, "Iran's Qods Force provided training to the Taliban in Afghanistan on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives."
