A se păstra la loc uscat, întunecos şi rece...

Un articol limpede, moderat şi intens

by Hossein Askari
Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Copyright Requests Here Please !

Fragments, first published in the National Interest as
" America, Supplicant to Iran? "

(Hossein Askari is an Iranian Professor of International Business and International Affairs at the George Washington University.)

Am dat peste un articol demn de investigat. Cele mai clare puncte sunt acestea :

The United States has deployed its forces over 6,000 miles to surround and threaten Iran from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, some former Soviet republics from the north and from an ever-increasing armada in the Persian Gulf.

It is waging a colonial-style war on Iran’s border in Iraq.

The United States tolerates a nuclear-armed Pakistan, embraces a nuclear-armed India and does not mention that Israel is nuclear-armed; but it bullies Iran to forego what its leadership claims to be peaceful enrichment, and Washington will not even talk with Tehran unless it first suspends that enrichment. Meanwhile, Washington continues to back pliant and “moderate” Arab dictators.

Iran sees a United States that has not adhered to the rule of law, reserves the right to overthrow regimes, does not follow the Geneva Convention, has been belligerent toward Iran and now surrounds the country on all sides—can anyone blame ordinary Iranians for feeling insecure?

Further, over a span of fifty years the United States has overthrown one of Iran’s constitutionally elected governments; gave enthusiastic support to the oppressive, Shah-led government in Iran; and backed a madman that killed over 500,000 Iranians.

So how should Iran now perceive its interests? Should it be friendly and complacent or should it take precautions, in case the United States should seek a sequel to Iraq in Iran?

A war with Iran will further solidify the rule of the mullahs in Tehran and stoke further animosity towards the United States and towards America’s so-called Arab “moderate regimes” in the Muslim world. If Mr. Bush truly wants to serve U.S. interests he could try putting hubris aside and learn statesmanship from Nelson Mandela and his efforts at reconciliation in South Africa. After years of foreign interference and regional conflicts, the West needs to adopt humility and contrition if it wishes to bridge the chasms it has created in the region. At a minimum, the United States needs to understand Iran, in order to determine how to pursue dialogue and avoid a war.

Should Bush decide to change direction and support pluralism and regional peace, then he has nothing to worry about. Announce the new goal. Show remorse for past actions. Change directions. Iran will stand down. And Mr. Bush is right about one thing: an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces would result in more death and hardship in Iraq. But so will the continued U.S. presence, in its current posture.

Când eram pionier, mă jucam cu vechi cutii de medicamente. Scria pe toate un îndemn sonor, invariabil, ce mi se părea a fi incongruent -
„ A se păstra la loc uscat, întunecos şi rece... ”.

A venit vremea, cred, de pus astfel şi pe acei energumeni care împing omenirea la război, ignorând chemarea la intensitatea limpede, şi moderată, din extrasele de mai sus. Dumnezeu să ne ierte, că noi i-am făcut aşa, cu fariseismul sau neştiinţa noastră, şi să mă păstreze şi pe mine la loc uscat, întunecos şi rece, dacă nu ţin porunca de a-mi iubi vrăşmaşii. Dă-mi, Doamne, să fiu viclean ca şerpii, doar dacă păstrez inimă de porumbel! Acum, la început de an, lasă-mi mie, nevrednicului, să aflu vicleniile târătoarelor, dar să fiu crud cu mine tot atât pe cât sunt de crud cu lupii ce mă opresc a fi blând cu Mielul.