John McCain says that our closest allies in the Middle East no longer trust us and think that we are abandoning them for Iran. Well, maybe that’s not a bad thing, being as our closest allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia have acted like anything but allies throughout the last decade.
Lt General Michael Flynn, retired, declares that we are currently in a regional war in the Middle East and he is right. But the problem is that the nations that we have allied ourselves with, Saudi Arabia and Israel have done nothing in the years that they have been our supposed allies to calm the tensions of the area or help with establishing a peaceful atmosphere in the region, Instead the Saudi’s were principally responsible for 911 through their funding of Osama bin Laden and providing almost all the manpower that carried it out. Israel, who we have supported forever, instead of trying to achieve a two state solution to their Palestinian problem have made the problem worse by provocative settlement building in the West Bank. Egypt, our third big ally in the region has fallen apart completely and is now a military dictatorship.
Iran, on the other hand, which we have betrayed twice since 1953 is now helping us in Iraq and Syria. No, they aren’t doing it because they want to be nice guys, they are doing it because they discern a regional vacuum of power and they want to fill it. They want to be the ones to rule the Middle East and maybe they should be.
Under Mossadegh, before our CIA pushed him out of power in 1953 they showed promise of being the shining light of the region, forward thinking and westernized, but our bumbling government was still worried about them damn Commies, who Mossadegh was intelligent enough to be playing off against us, to his country’s benefit. So at the insistence of the Brits, who had lost their stolen oil rights to nationalization, we forced him out of office and installed The Shah, a weak, butt kisser, of the type we love to run countries for us and who universally fail in their mission.
All those who we expected to help settle the problems of the region have failed, so maybe it’s time to give Iran a shot. Maybe as a non-Arab nation, they will be strong and intelligent enough to consolidate the entire area into one functioning whole before it deteriorates into a mishmash of tribal kingdoms and returns to it’s 8th century roots.
Of course, one whole country, strong enough to stand up for its rights in a world where oil will soon fade into insignificance might be the best thing for the region. It wouldn’t necessarily be the best thing for America or the other western nations, who would fare much better with the region broken down into small powerless feudal tribes that could be pushed around in the traditional manner.
Part of the problem from our POV is that our military is being run by men like Flynn who may be great generals but who make statements like, “From what I’ve seen, over thirty years, we can’t trust Iran.” Really? And who can you trust General? What nation is actually trustworthy? Is there any nation in the world that will ever act in any but its own best interest, regardless of what they say and what they promise? Is there any nation out there, that no matter what it promises, and that includes the United Sates, will ever act against its best interests? If you really believe that, you are too naïve to be a corporal let alone a general.
Every nation acts in what its leaders believe, are its best interests. Sure it should be otherwise but its just not, and people like Flynn, not understanding that, is what gets the world in trouble.