From Rob's (initial) post
Or, seen another way, what of the Saudis and Israelis who work equally diligently to stir up anti-Iranian sentiments in the US? Or both those same states exerting rather ruthless measures against dissenting members of their own populaces under a U.S. sanction of "counterterrorism"?I think a legitimate argument could be made that if Iran continues to foment distrust against its Arab neighbors across the Gulf, and if it continues to threaten Israel, and if it continues to support terrorism, and if it continues to support proxies, and if it continues to pursue a nuclear program that seems geared toward nuclear armament, then it will create a political context that put it at odds in the region and possibly with regard to much of the West.
This is definitely an example of where one stands is very much shaped by where one sits (and watches their respective local/national news). The U.S. is a babe in the woods when it comes to Middle Eastern intrigue, and gets played like a fiddle by many of the same states that we think we are playing instead. We need to be careful or we will end up in the middle of something that we just really don't either need, or want, to be in the middle of.
Bookmarks