Azadi (Freedom) Tower, Teheran
But by what law of nature does Iran, with its resources, fall within Western dominion? The bland assumption that it does is most revealing of deep-seated attitudes toward the conduct of foreign affairs.
Noam Chomsky | The Responsibility of Intellectuals
On every point, the case made against Iran collapses upon closer scrutiny. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mandated to investigate Iran’s nuclear programs, has concluded that there is no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Furthermore, the IAEA has concluded that it is capable of monitoring the Iranian nuclear program to ensure that it does not deviate from the permitted nuclear energy program Iran states to be the exclusive objective of its endeavors. Iran’s support of the Hezbollah Party in Lebanon — Iranian protestors shown here supporting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel rally — while a source of concern for the State of Israel, does not constitute a threat to American national security primarily because the support provided is primarily defensive in nature, designed to assist Hezbollah in deterring and repelling an Israeli assault of sovereign Lebanese territory. Similarly, the bulk of the data used by the United States to substantiate the claims that Iran is a state sponsor of terror is derived from the aforementioned support provided to Hezbollah. Other arguments presented are either grossly out of date (going back to the early 1980’s when Iran was in fact exporting Islamic fundamentalism) or unsubstantiated by fact.
Scott Ritter | The Big Lie: ‘Iran Is a Threat’
Well, there you have it. Short, sharp, and succinct. No excuse whatsoever to perpetuate The Long War. It turned out to be shorter than expected. You lost. And now that Iraq's been destroyed, you can pack up and go home.
The threat of nuclear war is extremely serious, and growing, and part of the reason is that the nuclear states — led by the United States — simply refuse to live up to their obligations or are significantly violating them...
Noam Chomsky | Derailing a deal
And yes, this entry does serve merely to direct you to Chomsky's comprehensive and timely essay, The Responsibility of Intellectuals — from which I extracted the short, opening quotation. It is a wonderful article, well worth reading and digesting.
