By Judy Bello Sunday, November 20, 2011, 1:14pm

Iran is, and has been for many years, surrounded by US Military installations.  We talk about the U.S. strategy to encircle China, but you rarely hear about the way in which Iran is, and has been encircled by U.S. military bases for many years. 

When they you hear that Iran is a threat to the United States, you picture a us, here in the U.S. as potential victims. 

When you hear the term ‘containment’ in relation to Iran, you think, perhaps, that something needs to be done.  After all, we have bases and military trainers and other military representatives in dangerous countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.    But wait, if those countries have bases, isn’t Iran pretty well contained?

Here is a map of Iran, showing the surrounding U,S. bases around 2008.   Click on the image below to open a dynamic version of the map, where you can zoom in for a better look, and a key to the various symbols and the names of the bases.  Base names and locations from GlobalSecurity.org.   If you zoom in really close on most of the air bases, you can see the runway.

Now, a new military initiative is rapidly being deployed across the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Africa, around the world, and even here on the U.S. mainland.   New bases are being built and old ones converted to host Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAV); recently re-designated as  Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA); commonly referred to as Drones.  The largest and most used in the region at this time are named Predator and Reaper.   The MQ9 Reaper can carry several Hellfire Missiles and laser guided 500 lb. bombs.  These Drones fly so high that they can virtually hover over a target for hours, piloted by a computer operator from his office or home here in the U.S,.   Unfortunately, misinterpretation of evidence based on cultural discrepancies, pilot impatience, inaccurate target identification before the Drone is called and other similar issues make civilian casualties in the context of Drone strikes a regular occurrence.  The image below shows some of the sites known to be used for drone bases.  

When I introduce people to the use of these vehicles (I’m going to call them Drones) in Afghanistan, I often point out that “The Taliban Have no drones.   They have no airplanes.  They have no helicopters.   They have few, if any, tanks.   The enemy are riding in the back of pickup trucks, armed with kalashnikovs, and an occasional shoulder mounted antiaircraft gun. 

That’s the enemy in Afghanistan, and so far, in Pakistan as well.    But, if we were to go to war with Iran, though it’s true they aren’t well armed by our standards, they would have some resources to fight back. 

Drones could hurt them, but killing people 1, 2, 3 ….. even 10 at a time would be slow going there.   But, what difference does it make? 

None of the ‘enemies’ of the so called ‘War on Terror’ are intimidated by Drones. 

Bottom line, only the civilian population is ‘terrorized’ by these weapons. 

Women and children are killed while sleeping in their beds, walking or driving down the road, maybe in the company of a selected target, maybe not.  

Drones are already keeping Iran and the surrounding region under surveillance.  

Iran clearly isn’t the only country under threat.  The social and physical infrastructures of Iraq and Libya have been destroyed.

American Drones were used in both wars, but were especially lethal in Libya.   

Lebanon has only recently come out of civil war, and even now the international executioner’s axe is raised over the Hezbollah leadership, leaders of the strongest and most popular party of the majority Shia population in Lebanon.   

 Iran is criticized in the U.S. for their support of Hezbollah, but Hezbollah, oft accused of heinous acts of terrorism, is a product of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, and has not had a military operation unrelated to a war.   

Clearly they are a good friend to have, given today’s news from Ha’aretz, which said that Hezbollah had identified and broken a major CIA spy ring with operatives in both Lebanon and Iran.    

The countryside of Afghanistan is no longer safe for civilian residents, and Pakistan is in chaos, with military and civilian forces continually pitted against one another and against the people who brought them to power.  

Iran has a substantial narcotics problem, with most of the drugs coming from Afghanistan or through Pakistan.   Iran’s ally, Syria, is collapsing into civil war as a peaceful protest movement was seeded with insurgent gunmen, armed by international forces to lure the government into an unwinnable battle.  Meanwhile those same international forces insist that the protestors should not negotiate with the government, still supported by the overwhelming majority of the military and more than half the population.  Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama tell Asad to step down or end the violence immediately, knowing full well that their allies are maintaining the armed insurgency in his country.

The people of the Middle East are right to be dissatisfied with the status quo.  However, ‘democracy’ is more than making demands and expecting them to be instantly fulfilled.  It is more than just casting a vote, as we in the U.S. should know.  Democracy is about taking responsibility for your government and finding a way to engage with it to make a better society for everyone. This is not a task that can be accomplished by civil war.   Nor can it be achieved by the intervention of the international power clique, or self serving meddling by one’s neighbors. War does not equal peace. 

What is Iran’s role here?   Iran has been in the bullseye for many years.  They stand up for Palestinians, the Shia underclasses and they are central players in what I used to call in high school, ‘the out crowd’. But, Iran has not intervened militarily in it’s neighbor’s affairs.  Iran’s cardinal crime is independence.  Whatever their failings, the post revolutionary Islamic regime has taken back their resources, and managed them responsibly.   They have made education, public services like potable water and sanitation, and most recently, local elections of local representatives a reality.  They brought these services to the masses, and to remote villages.  They have made both popular and unpopular decisions and, they have actively suppressed dissent, like most of the governments in the region.      

As a peacemaker, I am very disturbed by the United States’ proliferation of military bases and high tech weaponry in a fragile and largely underdeveloped part of the world.  Most of the bases in Iraq have been, or are being turned over to the Iraqi government.  However, many were left over from Saddam Hussein’s time when we took them over in the first place.  Many bases in the surrounding countries were used during the first Gulf War.   We don’t own the bases we use in Pakistan.  We just use them.  So, don’t be fooled by the fact that we are taking troops out of Iraq into thinking they would have nowhere to go should we decide to return them.  And, we have the drones in place.    The drones create an electronic occupation.   We can operate them off of other countries bases as we do in Pakistan.

We accuse Iran of inciting proliferation, while we are selling surveillance drones, armed drones and F-16 Jets (or something similar) and Apache helicopters to Israel, Qatar, The Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and who knows who else.  We are flying our own drones out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.    With U.S. assistance and approval, Israel was the original lab for drone  research.  China and Russia, India and Pakistan, and many others are building their own fleets of drones.  The NATO crowd appears to be planning on buying ours.  Even Iran has built some small surveillance drones.  Drones don’t win wars, they perpetuate them.  If you look at the picture, it is evident that the bases that support drones encircle Iran as surely as the bases associated with recent U.S. interventions in the name of the War on Terror.

Iran is, and has been encircled with U.S. forces for at least 20 years.  We and our ally, Israel, have spies and provocateurs inside Iran.   What is the point?  There is talk about encircling Russia and China.  Whether or not one agrees with the strategy, it is clear that China and Russia together are powerful adversaries, and, if I may be so bold, might be powerful friends.  They have the capacity to seriously threaten our interests.  Iran, on the other hand, has the resources to be a good friend, the ability to withstand a physical or economic siege indefinitely, but not the capacity to be more than a persistent irritant. 

The U.S. vendetta against Iran is a reflection of the true nature of U.S. aggression and drive for hegemony.   An ancient country, recently much beleaguered by Western colonial projects, the people of Iran are sophisticated, experienced for better or worse, with Western culture, and tired of being manipulated and ripped off.  Iran’s current leadership is the result of a revolution against 100 years of colonial ‘occupation’.    Iran has been the center of more than one empire.  It’s current leadership is ready to defend the integrity of their country, and to form close alliances with compatible regional entities.  We say they are meddling.  Iran’s nuclear program, popular with all constituencies within the country, is a defiant statement that they are a player, and their chips are in the game.

There are those who see Iran as a defiant upstart, but it would be equally true to say that Iran is an ancient entity, with a level of internal social integration, of integrity, that is unique in the region.   Iran’s determination to regain her lost dignity has blossomed from the ashes of a chattel nation ruled by an impotent potentate whose best effort to regain the glory of the past involved building a gaudy, Hollywood style replica of ancient structures in a country where the real artificacts of that culture stand proudly among the modern cities and oil refineries.     However one may feel about the theological bent of the Islamic regime, they have made a serious effort to form a  uniquely Iranian government, with many of the principles of a progressive society embedded in the construct, if not fully materialized.  

From the day this regime took power, Iran has been under attack.  How it would have developed in a more benevolent context, we will never know.   The colonial masters have determined that the Islamic regime should fall from the day it emerged.    I don’t want to defend any of the violations of human rights or violent suppressions of free speech that we have all heard about, or even to say that they didn’t occur.   It remains that, in Iran, a lively intellectual discussion about what an Islamic Republic might look like, and whether it could exist at all has taken place over the last 30 years.   Governments and leaders who supported the values of freedom of speech and democratic processes that the United States professes so vigorously, have been routinely, rigorously, coldly undermined by the United States.   

So now, today, we are talking about bombing Iran.  Iran is the greatest threat on earth, we are told.  This is clearly absurd.  We have sold Iranian neighbor states Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, tiny Kuwait and smaller Qatar a level of armaments that Iran can only, in today’s market, dream of.  Israel, a country that has held the entire Arab world hostage for 60 years through the occupation of Palestine has more Nukes than the France.  We give Israel three billion dollars a year in aid to make sure that arsenal continues to grow.  China and India have huge populations, and divergent interests from those of the United States, yet we regularly train and employ their scientists.   Both have nuclear power and nuclear weapons.   Pakistan, a third world country that acquired nukes on the sly, ever locked in political standoffs both internally and externally, receives a steady flow of weapons and military aid from the U.S.  And of course, our old adversary, Russia, still has as much nuclear capability than we do.   China as a few nukes and owns a big wad of our economy.

Iran has the capability to reintegrate a large swathe of the Middle East through trade, mutual assistance and cooperation.  This would be devastating for the United States.    We would no long have control, and our allies would no longer be dominant in the region.  It might, however, be a great boon to the people of the region.  Perhaps the Islamic regime would overplay its hand.  But maybe they would, as so many nations on the brink of democracy have done, moderate and liberalize, just as, while under threat, they become more rigid and conservative every day.  And, there are counterbalancing forces in play.  Perhaps, instead of arming our allies to the teeth, we might consider encouraging them with more productive kinds of projects.  Or maybe we should leave them alone to work out their differences.  Unfortunately, we have already sold them more arms than they know what to do with.

As a peace activist, and a believer in the power of reconciliation and diplomacy, I am dismayed by the current policies of the United States towards Iran.   As an individual who believes that love and peace are mutually reinforcing, I believe that we all have to reject the manufactured threats and magnified accusations directed at Iran, and look at the country and it’s people with an open mind.  We have to balance our vision of the failures of the Islamic government with an awareness of their not insignificant successes.  We have to look at the people and the culture that produced it, to see that they are capable of managing their own affairs. No, we can’t fix all their problems.   But we can begin to know one another.    In that knowing is the end of war.  

http://forusa.org/blogs/judy-bello/us-military-encirclement-iran/9909

Pisao Judy Bello Nedjelja, Studeni 20, 2011, 13:14

Iran je, je dugi niz godina, okružen američkih vojnih postrojenjima. Govorim o amerilčkoj strategiji okruženja Kine, ali se rijetko čuje o načinu na koji je Iran okružen američkim vojnim bazama već mnogo godina.

Kada čujete da je Iran prijetnja SAD-u, možete zamisliti nas, ovdje u SAD-u kao potencijalne žrtve.

Kada čujete izraz 'zatvorenost' u odnosu na Iran, mislite, možda, da se nešto treba učiniti. Uostalom, imamo baze i vojne trenere i ostale vojne izaslanike u opasnim zemljama poput Pakistana, Afganistana i Iraka. Ali čekajte, ako su te zemlje imaju baze, ne Iran prilično dobro sadržane?

Ovdje je karta Irana, pokazuje okolne U, S. Baze oko 2008. Kliknite na sliku ispod za otvaranje dinamične verziju karte, gdje možeš uvečati za bolji izgled, a ključ različitih simbola i imena iz baze. Baza imena i mjesta iz GlobalSecurity.org. Ako zoom u jako blizu na većini zraćnih baza, možete vidjeti pistu.

Sada, novi vojni inicijativa brzo biti razmještene preko Bliskog istoka i jugozapada Azije i Afrike, širom svijeta, pa čak i ovdje na američkom kopnu. Nova baza se gradi i stare pretvaraju ugostiti bespilotnu Ariel vozila (UAV); nedavno ponovno odreden kao daljinski upravljano zrakoplova (RPA), običcno se nazivaju trutovi. Najveća i najviše se koristi u regiji u ovom trenutku su pod nazivom Predator i Reaper. The MQ9 Reaper može nositi nekoliko Hellfire rakete i laserski vodene bombe 500 㮠Ove Brujati letjeti tako visoko da gotovo moޥ lebdjeti cilj satima, upravljano pomoču računalnog operatora iz njegova ureda ili kuće u SAD-u. Na žalost, pogreša interpretacija dokaza na temelju kulturnih razlika, pilot nestrpljivost, netoćne identifikacije ciljane prije Drone se zove i druga slična pitanja koja bi civilne žrtve u kontekstu trut uspostavlja redovitu pojavu. Donja slika prikazuje neke od stranica koje se zna da će se koristiti za bordunska baze.

Kad sam uvesti ljude na korištrnje ovih vozila (Ja ću ih nazvati Dronovi) u Afganistanu, ćesto istiću da "Talibani nemaju dronove. Oni nemaju zrakoplove. Oni nemaju helikoptera. Oni imaju nekoliko, ako ih ima, tenkove. Neprijatelj se voze u stražnjem dijelu otvorenih kamione, naoružan kalashnikovima, a povremeno montiraju protuavionski top.

To je neprijatelj u Afganistanu, i do sada, u Pakistanu, kao dobro. Ali, ako želimo ići u rat s Iranom, iako je istina da nisu dobro naoružani kao naši standardi, oni ćce imati neke resurse za borbu protiv nazad.

Dronovi mogu ih povrijediti, ali ubijat ljude 1, 2, 3 ..... čak 10 u isto vrijeme bi se sporo dešavalo da idemo tamo.

Ali, kakva je to razlika?

Dronovi ne zastrašuju nikoga od "neprijatelja" takozvanog "rata protiv terorizma".

Donja linija, samo civilno stanovništvo je 'terorizirano' sa tim oružjem.

Žene i djeca se ubijaju dok spavaju u svojim krevetima, hodaju ili voze niz cestu, možda u društvu odabranih meta, a možda i ne.

Dronovi već su nadgledaju Iran i okolno područje drže pod nadzorom.

 Iran očito nije jedina zemlja pod prijetnjom. Socijalna i fizička infrastruktura u Iraku i Libiji su  uništeni.

Americki Dronovi su korišteni u oba rata, ali su posebno smrtonosni u Libiji.

Libanon je tek nedavno doڡo iz gradanskog rata, pa cak i sada medunarodne krvnik je sjekira je uzdignut iznad Hezbollah vodstva, voda najjace i najpopularnije stranke stanovniڴva vecinom Shia u Libanonu.

Iran su u SAD-u kritizirali zbog njegove potpore Hezbollahu, ali Hezbollah, često optuživan za grozne terorističke akte, proizvod je izraelske okupacije Libana i nije imao vojnu operaciju koja nije povezana s ratom.

Očito da su dobar prijatelj s obzirom na današnje vijesti iz Ha'aretza, u kojima se navodi da je Hezbollah identificirao i slomio veliki špijunski krug CIA-e s operativcima i u Libanonu i u Iranu.
Selo Afganistana više nije sigurno za civilne stanovnike, a Pakistan je u kaosu, a vojne i civilne snage neprestano su se suprostavljale jedna drugoj i protiv ljudi koji su ih doveli na vlast.

Iran ima značajan problem s narkoticima, a većina droga dolazi iz Afganistana ili Pakistana. Iranski saveznik, Sirija, propada u građanski rat, pošto je miran protestni pokret zasijan pobunjenicima, naoružanim međunarodnim snagama kako bi namamio vladu u nezakonitu bitku. U međuvremenu, iste te međunarodne snage inzistiraju da prosvjednici ne bi trebali pregovarati s vladom, a još uvijek ih podržava ogromna većina vojske i više od polovice stanovništva. Hillary Clinton i Barak Obama poručuju Asadu da odmah odstupi ili prekine nasilje, znajući u potpunosti da njihovi saveznici održavaju oružanu pobunu u njegovoj zemlji.

Narod Bliskog Istoka s pravom je nezadovoljan statusom quo. Međutim, 'demokracija' je više od postavljanja zahtjeva i očekivanja da će se oni odmah ispuniti. To je više od pukog glasanja, kao što to moramo znati u Sjedinjenim Državama. Demokracija je preuzimanje odgovornosti za vladu i pronalaženje načina da se s njom utječe na bolje društvo za sve. To nije zadatak koji se može postići građanskim ratom. Niti se to može postići intervencijom međunarodne klike moći ili samoposluživanjem miješanja svojih susjeda. Rat ne izjednačava mir.

Kakva je uloga Irana ovdje? Iran je dugogodišnji u oku. Oni se zalažu za Palestince, Shia potplatnike i oni su središnji igrači u onome što sam u srednjoj školi nazivao "vanjska gužva". Ali Iran se nije vojno miješao u susjedove poslove. Iranski kardinalni zločin je neovisnost. Bez obzira na njihove propuste, postrevolucionarni islamski režim vratio je njihove resurse i upravljao njima odgovorno. Uputili su obrazovanje, javne usluge poput pitke vode i sanitarnih usluga, a nedavno, lokalni izbori lokalnih predstavnika, stvarnost. Donijeli su te usluge masama i udaljenim selima. Donijeli su i popularne i nepopularne odluke i aktivno suzbijali neslaganja, poput većine vlada u regiji.

Kao mirotvorca, veoma me uznemirava širenje američkih vojnih baza i visokotehnološkog naoružanja u krhkom i uglavnom nerazvijenom dijelu svijeta. Većina baza u Iraku bila je ili je predana iračkoj vladi. Međutim, mnogi su ostali iz vremena Sadama Huseina kada smo ih prvo preuzeli. Tijekom prvog zaljevskog rata korištene su mnoge baze u okolnim zemljama. U Pakistanu nemamo baze koje koristimo. Mi ih samo koristimo. Dakle, nemojte se zavaravati da mi iz Iraka izvodimo trupe misleći kako oni neće krenuti dalje ako odlučimo da ih vratimo. I, imamo dronove na mjestu. Dronovi stvaraju elektroničku okupaciju. Možemo ih koristiti u bazama drugih zemalja kao u Pakistanu.

Optužujemo Iran za poticanje širenja, a mi prodajemo nadzorne bespilotne letelice, naoružane bespilotne letelice i mlazne avione F-16 (ili nešto slično) i helikoptere Apache u Izrael, Katar, Emirate, Saudijsku Arabiju, Kuvajt, Tursku i tko zna koga još. Letimo vlastitim bespilotnim letjelicama iz Iraka, Afganistana i Pakistana. Uz američku pomoć i odobrenje, Izrael je bio izvorni laboratorij za istraživanje bespilotnih letelica. Kina i Rusija, Indija i Pakistan te mnogi drugi grade svoju flotu bespilotnih letjelica. Čini se da gužva u NATO-u planira kupiti našu. Čak je i Iran izgradio neke male nadzorne dronove. Dronovi ne pobjeđuju u ratovima. Ako pogledate sliku, vidljivo je da baze koje podržavaju bespilotne letjelice okružuju Iran sigurno kao i baze povezane s nedavnim američkim intervencijama u ime rata protiv terorizma.

Iran je i okružen s američkim snagama najmanje 20 godina. Mi i naš saveznik, Izrael, imamo špijune i provokatore u Iranu. Koji je smisao? Govori se o opkoljavanju Rusije i Kine. Bez obzira slaže li se netko ili ne sa ovom strategijom, jasno je da su Kina i Rusija zajedno snažni protivnici i, ako mogu biti tako hrabri, mogu biti moćni prijatelji. Oni imaju sposobnost ozbiljnog ugrožavanja naših interesa. Iran, s druge strane, ima resurse da bude dobar prijatelj, sposobnost da izdrži fizičku ili ekonomsku opsadu u nedogled, ali ne i sposobnost da bude više od upornog iritanta.
Američka osveta protiv Irana odraz je prave prirode američke agresije i težnje za hegemonijom. Drevna zemlja, nedavno opsjedana zapadnjačkim kolonijalnim projektima, narod Irana su sofisticirani, iskusni za bolje ili gore, sa zapadnom kulturom, i umorni su od manipuliranja i otimača. Trenutno iransko vodstvo rezultat je revolucije protiv 100 godina kolonijalne „okupacije“. Iran je bio centar više carstava. Trenutno je vodstvo spremno braniti integritet svoje zemlje i uspostaviti bliske saveze sa kompatibilnim regionalnim entitetima. Mi kažemo da se mešaju. Iranski nuklearni program, popularan u svim okruglima u zemlji, prkosna je izjava da su igrači, a njihovi čipovi u igri.

Ima onih koji Iran vide kao prkosan napredak, ali jednako bi bilo istinito reći i da je Iran drevni entitet, s razinom unutarnje društvene integracije, integriteta, koji je jedinstven u regiji. Iranska odlučnost da povrati izgubljeno dostojanstvo procvjetala je iz pepela brbljave nacije kojom vlada nemoćni potencijal, čiji su najbolji napori da povrate slavu prošlosti uključivali izgradnju lukave, holivudske replike drevnih građevina u zemlji u kojoj su stvarne umjetnosti ta kultura ponosno stoji među modernim gradovima i rafinerijama nafte. Iako se može smatrati da je teološki islam iskrivljen, oni su uložili ozbiljan napor da formiraju jedinstveno iransku vladu, s mnogim načelima progresivnog društva ugrađenim u taj konstrukt, ako ne i u potpunosti ostvaren.
Od dana kada je ovaj režim preuzeo vlast, Iran je bio pod napadom. Kako bi se to razvijalo u povoljnijem kontekstu, nikad nećemo znati. Kolonijalni gospodari odredili su da islamski režim treba pasti od dana kada se pojavio. Ne želim braniti nijedno kršenje ljudskih prava ili nasilno suzbijanje slobodnog govora za koje smo svi čuli ili čak reći da se nisu dogodili. Ostaje da se u Iranu u posljednjih 30 godina vodi živahna intelektualna rasprava o tome kako bi mogla izgledati Islamska Republika i može li uopće postojati. Vlade i čelnici koji su podupirali vrijednosti slobode govora i demokratskih procesa koje Sjedinjene Države tako energično ispoljavaju, Sjedinjene Države rutinski, rigorozno, hladno podrivaju.

Dakle, danas govorimo o bombardiranju Irana. Iran nam je najveća prijetnja na zemlji. To je očito apsurdno. Prodali smo iranskim susjednim državama Saudijskoj Arabiji, Emiratima, malenom Kuvajtu i manjem Kataru razinu naoružanja o kojem Iran može, samo na današnjem tržištu, sanjati. Izrael, država koja je cijeli arapski svijet držala taoce 60 godina okupacijom Palestine ima više Nukesa nego Francuska. Dajemo Izraelu tri milijarde dolara godišnje kako bi se osiguralo da arsenal i dalje raste. Kina i Indija imaju ogromnu populaciju i razlikuju se od interesa Sjedinjenih Država, a mi redovito osposobljavamo i zapošljavamo njihove znanstvenike. Oboje imaju nuklearnu energiju i nuklearno oružje. Pakistan, zemlja trećeg svijeta koja je lukavo stekla nuklearne organe, ikad zatvorena u političkim sukobima i iznutra i izvana, od SAD-a dobiva stalan protok oružja i vojne pomoći. Naravno, naš stari protivnik, Rusija, još uvijek ima toliko nuklearnog oružja sposobnost nego mi. Kina kao nekoliko nuketa i posjeduje veliki dio naše ekonomije.

Iran može ponovo integrirati veliki dio Bliskog Istoka putem trgovine, uzajamne pomoći i suradnje. To bi bilo pogubno za Sjedinjene Države. Dugo ne bismo imali kontrolu i naši saveznici više ne bi bili dominantni u regiji. Međutim, to bi moglo predstavljati veliku blagodat za stanovnike regije. Možda bi islamski režim nadvisio svoju ruku. Ali možda bi i oni to učinili, kao što su to učinile mnoge nacije na rubu demokracije, umjerile i liberalizirale baš kao što, iako su pod prijetnjom, svakim danom postaju rigidniji i konzervativniji. A u igri su i sile za protutežu. Možda bismo, umjesto da naoružamo saveznike do zuba, mogli razmotriti njihovo ohrabrivanje produktivnijim vrstama projekata. Ili bismo ih možda mogli ostaviti na miru da riješe svoje razlike. Nažalost, već smo ih prodali više oružja nego što znaju što s njima.

Kao mirovni aktivist i vjernik u snagu pomirenja i diplomacije, prestrašen sam trenutnom politikom Sjedinjenih Država prema Iranu. Kao pojedinac koji vjeruje da se ljubav i mir međusobno jačaju, vjerujem da svi moramo odbiti proizvedene prijetnje i povećane optužbe usmjerene prema Iranu, i gledati zemlju i ljude otvorenog uma. Moramo uravnotežiti svoju viziju neuspjeha islamske vlade sa sviješću o njihovim neznatnim uspjesima. Moramo pogledati ljude i kulturu koja ih je proizvela, da vidimo da li su sposobni upravljati vlastitim stvarima. Ne, ne možemo popraviti sve njihove probleme. Ali možemo se početi poznavati. U tom znanju je kraj rata.

http://forusa.org/blogs/judy-bello/us-military-encirclement-iran/9909