{"id":2659,"date":"2015-07-17T16:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T21:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/teachingnonviolentatonement\/?p=2659"},"modified":"2015-07-17T22:02:33","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T03:02:33","slug":"the-iran-deal-and-american-self-deception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/teachingnonviolentatonement\/2015\/07\/the-iran-deal-and-american-self-deception\/","title":{"rendered":"The Iran Deal and American Self-Deception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Copyright:<\/a>
Copyright: kagenmi \/ 123RF Stock Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Politicians and pundits on both sides of the American political divide are debating the merits of President Obama\u2019s deal with Iran. While Obama claims he has forestalled an Iranian nuclear weapon for at least another 10 years with unprecedented weapons inspection, Republicans state that the deal will only encourage the world\u2019s most dangerous sponsor of terrorism.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell us about the merits of the deal. For now, I\u2019m interested in the response from our Republican presidential candidates.<\/p>\n

The Republican candidates are swirling around, trying to point the finger at the greatest enemy of the United States. Is it the dreaded Mexican immigrants? (Gasp!<\/em>) Or is it the terrorism that Iran threatens to unleash upon the globe? (Double gasp!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

American Terrorism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forgive me if it looks like I\u2019m picking on the Republicans. After all, this is American politics per usual. And maybe it\u2019s just human politics. But Republican candidates in particular are trying to convince us that there is an extremely dangerous enemy out there that threatens our freedom. But that\u2019s not all. They are also trying to convince us that the Democrats are enabling our enemies. And so we should vote for Republicans because they will be tough on our enemies.<\/p>\n

This response from the Republicans is an act of American self-deception. They, and we the American people, should know better.<\/p>\n

The United States has met our greatest enemy that leads the world in global terrorism. And it is us.<\/p>\n

To prove my criticism of violent American foreign policy is bipartisan, I\u2019ll point out that the Obama Administration\u2019s indiscriminate drone strikes are terrorist crimes against humanity. While the Obama administration rightly criticizes al-Qaeda\u2019s practice of attacking enemies during a funeral as morally heinous acts of terrorist monsters, nothing stops Obama from using drones to kill our \u201cenemies\u201d as they attend funerals.<\/p>\n

I put \u201cenemies\u201d in quotes because they ended being regular civilians<\/a>, many even children<\/a>. You know, \u201ccasualties of war.\u201d Aka, \u201cOops!\u201d<\/p>\n

And Iran is the most dangerous supporter of state terrorism in the world?<\/p>\n

No, we are. And Republicans are trying to gain our vote by criticizing Obama\u2019s terrorist policies and promising that they will be far better terrorists. Which, our politicians claim, will keep us safe.<\/p>\n

A Relationship of Fear and Desire for Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fact is that Iran wants to be just like the U.S. We fear Iran and Iran fears us. A relationship of fear is a recipe for disaster. But the U.S. and Iran want the same thing. Iran has a fearful political regime that just wants peace. Iran feels threatened, and it has learned from the U.S. how to respond to threats \u2013 by mimicking those violent threats with violent threats of its own.<\/p>\n

We are enemy twins, who, even in negotiations, won\u2019t take violence off the table.<\/p>\n

The way that the U.S. can free ourselves from this relationship of violence is through honest self-criticism. Instead of accusing Iran of being a great threat to global security, we would do well to have the courage to admit our own terrorist acts of foreign policy.<\/p>\n

American Honesty and Genuine Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is the height of American self-deception to claim that we are completely innocent and Iran is completely guilty. Just look at our modern history<\/a> with Iran. In 1953, the U.S. orchestrated a coup to topple the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh. Why? So that the U.S. would have<\/a> \u201ca major ownership in the strategic and highly lucrative trade of Iranian oil \u2026 with the additional bonus of a pliable client state in the heart of the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1985, the U.S. secretly shipped weapons to Iran and sent profits to Nicaraguan rebels. In 1988, the U.S. warship Vincennes <\/em>shot down an Iranian civilian airplane. The U.S. says it mistook the Airbus A300<\/a> for an Iranian fighter jet.<\/p>\n

Our greatest enemy is not Iran. It\u2019s not Russia. Nor is it China. Our greatest enemy is ourselves. We have modeled for the world how to gain temporary peace through violence, which is a pattern that will only ensure a future of apocalyptic destruction.<\/p>\n

The only alternative is to model a different method to achieve peace. American politicians must have the courage to stop deceiving the American people about our perceived innocence. Rather, we need our politicians to be honest about American involvement in terrorism and lead us in repenting of our violence. Modeling that honesty and repentance to other nations is the only possible way that the U.S. can help foster genuine peace in the world.<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop! Like Teaching Nonviolent Atonement on Facebook!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians and pundits on both sides of the American political divide are debating the merits of President Obama\u2019s deal with Iran. While Obama claims he has forestalled an Iranian nuclear weapon for at least another 10 years with unprecedented weapons inspection, Republicans state that the deal will only encourage the world\u2019s most dangerous sponsor of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1651,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[808,549,809,129,416,329,532],"class_list":["post-2659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-america","tag-enemy-twins","tag-iran","tag-mimetic-theory","tag-obama","tag-politics","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Iran Deal and American Self-Deception<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Politicians and pundits on both sides of the American political divide are debating the merits of President Obama\u2019s deal with Iran. 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