Some Questions All Americans Should Ask Themselves
We should all be asking ourselves some important questions today.
Why did American leaders feel the need to “obliterate” Iran again? Didn't our Nobel Prize-seeking president stand before this nation just eight months ago and brag about obliterating the entirety of Iran's nuclear program?
If there's no longer a threat, why bombard again?
Did the administration exaggerate the success of that previous military action, or did our president not extract all the profits he intended to gain? Why else would the two nations have been hunkered down in diplomatic negotiations for weeks?
Or was diplomacy a mere pretense, the face of sincerity while plotting strategic bomb drops?
More important, how will this war benefit American citizens? Will seizing Iran's oil supply lower our gasoline and electricity costs? Will it lower our mortgage rates? Will it lower rising inflation?
Or is it just another rapacious notch on our president's belt?
Should we ask his Board of Peace?
Should we ask members of Congress who were not given the opportunity to debate the so-called merits of this war or approve it?
And why now, at this moment? Is it another public distraction to take our eyeballs off the Epstein files?
In a civilized world, isn't war a last resort, and only undertaken to protect a nation's security? Trump cited Iran taking Americans hostage in 1979 as justification—but that was nearly half a century ago. What world is he living in?
So, what's the real truth behind this high-risk, unprovoked, first strike assault on a sovereign nation that, according to the president, will create new American casualties of war? What are its true motives?
America's foreign policy has only one purpose. As explained in this 1978 documentary below, it has never been about helping society, satisfying people, or improving life around the globe. It's about helping corporate America make greater profits year over year, any way it can, everywhere it can, despite undermining the nobler ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
As our nation sinks deeper into darkness, understanding the chief, underlying cause is the most important action any citizen can take. Only then can we join together to solve this deterioration of nation. Or we can look the other way and blame everyone else.
Controlling Interest: The World Of The Multinational Corporation
Wonderland
Admittedly, I am not as well read and informed as most of the people I see post on this site. That said, I will give my two cents about the American involvement in Iran.My view comes from close friendships with Iranian Americans. My friends have never been more proud to be an American. They are so grateful that the United States finally came in to rescue their people. My very good friend was a young girl when the Iranian government came to a family party and took her cousins and herself to a government building to physically check to see if they were virgins. She will never forget. She came to America with her brother and mother, and they became American citizens. Her father still lives there. She has been praying for so many years that her country would one day be saved. She is so grateful to this administration that Khoumeni has been taken out. Even though her father is still there, he joins her in praying for their freedom. I think it is about more than corporate greed.
Evangel
Thanks for taking time to comment on this. I think your friends are fortunate to have gotten out of Iran when they did. I couldn't believe anyone would want to stay there when the Ayatollah Khomeini took over. It was shocking to me how many Iranians were happy--many were worried about American values corrupting their daughters. It remains an extreme and oppressive regime to this day...straight out of the dark ages.
That said, having grown up in the foreign service, this documentary is reality. Our diplomats are clear about what their job is: make the region safe for American business and profit--and Trump is a business man. In fact, over 90% percent of the test questions on the exam to get into the foreign service are business oriented. There was also an earlier coup d'état conducted jointly by the CIA and Great Britain in 1953. It was to assist a British oil company recapture its oil production operation that was nationalized by the Iranian government.
Honestly, despite what he says to make this palatable to the American people and especially his MAGA base who are largely opposed, I can't imagine that Trump cares one bit about Iran's ongoing extreme repression or rescuing women from being searched beneath their skirts. You and I care about human rights, but Trump is strictly about money, power, and control. It's also about Israel, oil, and hotels. But, mainly it's about getting what he wants and taking down those who get in his way, just like he's done to Anthropic right here at home.
Homeless Valley
This article raises some good questions. Like Wonderland, I'm not so informed on foreign policy stuff, but I don't like the way Iran treats women. It's hideous. I also think Trump treats women poorly and got rid of DEI.
My guess is that this attack on another nation is illegal but Trump doesn't really see it that way though it's in the Constitution, but mainly I would say this is about the upcoming election and him trying to look strong and in charge, but it's hypocritical on his part since he accused Obama of that even though Obama never attacked Iran, and Harris who never got elected. I'm disappointed in all our "leaders" right now. And I'm worried about this nation being attacked any time now. We have enough problems with our own homegrown terrorists and ICE.
Evangel
I think it's wonderful when citizens take an interest in public and foreign affairs and have the courage to comment. It's proof of a concerned citizenry, and that's what democracy is all about. No one needs to have a degree in history or political science. It's enough to care about what's happening and form an opinion about whether or not our leaders are promoting human welfare or putting people in danger. So thank you for your comment.
What's happening in Iran is no different than what happened in Venezuela, but this time it's more aggressive, dangerous, and the stakes are much higher. More innocent people will lose their lives and I'm sickened by it. Nobody is a hero here. This won't help America. Whoever leads Iran in the future, whenever that may be determined, and whether or not it's another Ayatollah or the son of a former monarch, it won't be any more democratic than it is today or has ever been. The only potential advantage is that it might be less oppressive toward women, but it will take years to see any such improvements if they ever come at all. I hope they do come, and I hope the women of Iran rise up and claim all the power they can. I believe only they will create stability in that country, because they seem to be the only people who care about stability.
Wonderland
So…here’s my question. How do you know so definitively that it won’t be any more democratic than it has been? You are probably right, but, I still have hope that things can change. If you listened to the jubilation of my Iranian American friends, you may have more hope. They have never been more optimistic!
Evangel
Tehran once was considered the Paris of the Middle East. So, I would love to be as optimistic as your Iranian friends. But history is in the way of such optimism. For instance, Iran did have a short period of democracy in the early 1950s under Prime Minister Mossadegh, but when he tried to control the oil, pulling it out of the hands of the Brits, we (the U.S.) joined with the British army in 1953 to create a regime change.
The new leader we installed was the Shah of Iran who ruled as a monarch and autocrat. It was no longer a democracy. It was a dictatorship that catered to British oil and U.S. interests, until it became an Islamic Theocracy under the Ayatollah Khomeini. Islamic radicals came to power because the Shah was undoing long held traditions. I read the Shah's autobiography when it was published after his ouster.
So the vast majority of people who currently live in Iran were not even alive in the early 50s to have experienced democracy. It's a foreign ideal, not one their leaders lean toward. There are also many political and religious factions in the country who will vie for power. Remember the Arab Spring? Any imagined democracy never took hold there despite all the hoopla, promise, and hope. I can hope things turn out differently, but right now it's a stretch for me. Unless forward-thinking women are liberated and become part of a coalition government.
Democracy is not easy to achieve anywhere in the world. It takes decades and conditioning. It never happens overnight. American democracy was a novelty, an experiment admired by the world. We are rooted in our history to the point that it's engrained in our culture. Many countries have tried to copy it, but few beyond European countries have succeeded.
Another important consideration is the reality that the U.S. and Israel are both in charge of this operation. Any leadership that emerges in Iran won't be democratic anymore that it was when the U.S. and Brits created the 1953 regime change--mainly because neither Trump nor Netanyahu care about democracy, even if the nation is ready for it.
Venezuela is no less autocratic since that regime change. That's how I view the future, through the lens of the most recent past.
I hope I am wrong. Nothing would make me happier.
Wilsons Grave
Thanks for posting this old vintage film. I enjoyed all the honesty from the corporate leaders. We don't see that kind of open admission these days. They make no bones about their pro-business philosophy and don't apologize for their m.o. in other countries. They grab and exploit what they can...they profit off we the people who get to use it up, like gasoline, so long as we pay for it. I'm truly sorry for the people of Iran and surrounding countries. What a mess. But i got some advice for our President: You got one hand tied behind your back in this operation fury, not because you don't have the power or gear, you just don't have the hearts and minds behind you. But they do. That's their country and you're destroying that population's lifework, embezzling their homeland, and taking all their loot. That population will hit back hard and make your way forward anything but a hop, skip, and a jump.
Evangel
Thanks for your comment. War used to be confined to a battlefield. Men signed up for it more often than not. Today, the battlefields are in and around hospitals where women are giving birth, and children are having their tonsils out. It's in restaurants where bombs are dropped, exploding heads and limbs off innocent families in the middle of dinner. I won't go on. It's a heartbreaking disgrace and a crime against humanity in every sense of the word. Israel and U.S. bombs are doing in Tehran and other cities what they did in Gaza. Killing innocent children, mothers, fathers, grandparents. It is pure evil.
Slipstream
I don’t like what the leadership of Iran has done over the past decades, especially regarding the rights of women and girls. But the reasons we bombed Iran are not humanitarian. The reasons are listed in this article: https://youtropolis.com/city/youtropolis/news-flash/notable-quotable-djt.... Just substitute the current president’s name for Obama.