I have been closely watching the U.S. and how it is handling its relations with Iran. I have known two Iranian men and one woman. When I was in graduate school, my best friend in my international studies in political science was a young Iranian woman. She was one of the most intelligent and self possessed women I have ever known. I do not know what happened to her after I graduated; but I know she would have been killed by the Shah if she had returned to Iran at that time.
My next encounter was with a professor in West Virginia. He quickly became a good friend. He taught economics in a university in Salem, West Virginia. Granted his economics were socialist, and whether or not it was socialistic, I didn’t much care. I am a capitalist and can argue my point. We would get together and discuss the situation in his homeland. Once again, he could never go back to Iran, or at least not in the near future.
Finally working for Bellevue College, one of my teammates was Iranian. We had long discussions on politics and just about everything political or scientific. One comment he made sticks with me, “…who suffers when governments fight?” It seems to me the victims are the people of the country we are not on good terms with. I totally understand why our government takes the political foreign policy position it does. Nevertheless, many of the young Iranian people do not want bad relations with the United States and wish they could change their government. As my Iranian professor friend said, “…you can divide material possessions; but you cannot divide mores, norms and/or personal or political ethics.”
In an article written in the New York Times, authors Thomas Erdbrink and David E. Sanger stated, “… oil exports from Iran have dropped by a million barrels a day, and that the free fall in the currency has caused huge inflation — a result of American- and European-led sanctions as well as economic mismanagement by the Iranian government.” The article was dated February 6, 2013 and entitled,” U.S. increases pressure of economic war on Tehran. ” With all this in mind, I wonder how we can be our brother’s keeper when we are seemingly forced by our government to watch people suffer because of the foreign policy of said government. We can write Congress; but often that does little good. We can march and protest; but more often than not, we have to be the majority to change policy.
I cannot help fearing that this will fuel the fire for the Iranian people to revolt. Unlike the United States they have no constitutional protects if they do. On the other hand, there are elements in that society who relish the thought of promoting terrorist behaviors against the American government. It seems to be a sad situation either way.
I suppose I could try to analyze the politics of this situation; but I am more interested in the ethical aspects of the situation. I wish they had a leader who could compromise and lessen the hardship on the Iranian people; but even our own Congress can’t do that. While I am not fond of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran and must be treated as such, whether we approve of his politics or not. As for any opinion on this Iranian president, I will let the Iranian people decide and reserve any comments.
I would like to add that he is a well educated person. He was educated in the Iran University of Science and Technology. Our universities are not any better than other countries universities. Maybe to some degree they are even better. The pressures on this man must be horrendous and he does seem to invite more pressure by more of less kicking the U.S. in its knee caps. Or he loves to posture. I would have to say this behavior is counterproductive and doesn’t show the world how smart he is.
It has been said he is out of touch with the rank and file of the Iranian people. I would think most leaders are. For example, we could easily say this about our own Congress whose pensions and benefits are far beyond what the American people are experiencing at this time. So maybe, before we throw stones toward Iran, we might want to look into our own back yard and fix what is wrong there. In the mean time, my thoughts and best wishes are with the Iranian people.
JOYSTECHTOOL 