2 Jan 2006 roozbeh   » (Master)

America's War for Petrol: More of the same patterns that led to Bush linking Saddam Hussein with Al-Qaeda, or that of linking North Korea with A-bombs are being repeated for Iran.

The important question about Iran is not "Is she?", but that even if the answer to that question is yes (which I doubt), the question should be "But why? But how?". I believe these have happened because of what the United States has done, directly helping the matter.

I will only write about the very recent case, the case which became a very important question for me, "should I leave Iran before our new business blossoms in full?" (Presently, the answer is undoubtedly yes.)

It was the recent election. Several media supported financially by the United States government, mostly including Iranian satellite channels operating from California but also official US media like VOA and Radio Free Europe, persuaded possibly millions of voters to not vote in the presidential elections. Who would have these voters voted for if they had voted? Very probably Moeen (who would have continued Khatami's program in a way) in the first round and Rafsanjani (who would have continued his own presidency's program from eight years back) in the second. Very few of them would have voted for Ahmadinejad.

The short result? The new Iranian administration, being so inexperienced, is digging its grave by acting incompetently both nationally and internationally. Internationally, they are starting to diverge from Europe and work only with close allies like Syria and Venezuela instead. The famous example is Ahmadinejad's remark about the Middle East conflict. Internally, business is declining badly, with several companies almost bankrupt and several people with shares in public companies in their hands who can't find new buyers. Everything is in a stalemate, and this is five months after the new administration has come to power.

All I can point to, is Ebrahim Nabavi’s “Why is President Ahmadinejad not afraid of America?” It may not be as funny as his Persian satires, but is undoubtedly enlightening. Just a quote: “If the US attacks Iran, many innocent people will die, which would eliminate many of Ahmadinejad's opponents.”

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