http://blogs.abcnews.com/jim_sciutto_frontlines/2010/04/iran-calls-us-worlds-only-atomic-criminal-calls-for-its-suspension-from-iaea.html
Yep. Hard to refute their point of view, the US is the only nation to have used a nuclear weapon on another country. No matter how we may justify that action, it is fact.
To me, this is another example of Iran's ability to manipulate the headlines. We have a hard time understanding their culture, and their point of view, simply because it is not western at all. We're blinded by our perceptions, but it is an even worse situation than we thought, in terms of diplomacy, because while we have a hard time looking at things their way, they are perfectly attunated to our way of thinking. They know how to play our game, and raise the stakes.
Iran can screw around with the international community and know that all America will do is threaten to "impose crippling sanctions." All Iran has to do is say in a public forum that their uranium is for peaceful purposes, meanwhile denying anyone any significant way of verifying that because they are clearly lying, and then just continue on with business as usual.
For them, all they need to do is get to the point where they have nuclear weapons, and then, just like North Korea, they can shut themselves away from the world and not worry about the repercussions.
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I completely agree with the fact that the middle east is good at using our tactics against
ReplyDeleteus. Yet, when we look at our inablity to play "their game", it is all too easy to say that we don't look at things through their eyes. Yet, the issue is bigger than that; these nations are founded on religion and strong central governments. We cannot use their on tactics against them because we cannot pull the religious card. While we did use atmoic weapons and still have been the only to do so it is much like when two kids fight. The second agressor, usually the kid hitting back in defense is caught and blamed for wrong doing. By no means do I not understand the difference in severity between the weapons used against us at pearl harbor and the damage done by the atomic bomb in Japan. But, the comparing the distruction of the weapons is like comparing apples and organges... it just wasn't fair from the start. Consquently, I feel comparing the tactics of the middle east and the U.S is the same, we simply cannot compete in the same way without violating our principles. Our nations are just built upon different foundations and ironically I feel our's is far more limiting the press arena.
I remember a scene in the movie Team America when Hans Blix tells Kim Jong Il to let him inspect North Korea or else "We will be very angry with you and we will write you a letter telling you how angry we are." Same with Iran. They know they can say stuff, but we can't really do much to interfere. We're already stuck in two countries, and our money situation isn't ideal. How could the United States get the money and power to invade yet another (larger than Iraq) country? I think at this point all we can do if we don't like something they do is wag our finger at them. And this I'm glad of. The thought that people have mentioned going to war with Iran makes me uneasy. How can we really say that Iran is planning to build a nuclear weapon? They say they're not. Couldn't they be telling the truth? And if Iran did actually build one, do you think they'd be dumb enough to use it? Would any country be dumb enough now that we know the horrors that just one small atomic bomb can do?
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