I have long struggled to understand my country’s views on Iran. Throughout my career as a professional naval officer, the official position has been demonization, with words and actions roughly equal to those applied to Cuba. I have done a lot of reading over the years about our involvement in the country dating back to the early 1950s, and I have talked with a number of people who have lived and worked there.
Without using emotionally charged language like imperialism and corporate greed, it is hard to explain how we arrived where we are today.
If you are interested in a perspective that is not often found in US media outlets, I highly recommend Oil and social gains: WHY U.S. IS TARGETING IRAN.
After reading that blog I realized why I had mentally equated the US treatment of Iran with its treatment of Cuba – both seem to have the same root cause. In both cases, a revolutionary regime came into power that nationalized assets that had been the legal possessions of large, politically connected corporations with long memories. In both cases, the revolutionary regime used those assets to fund programs that raised education levels, provided medical treatment, and improved the lot of the poorest people in the nation. In both cases, the regime essentially thumbed its nose at “the international community” as led by the United States and declared that it wanted to make its own choices.
I have trouble disagreeing with those decisions, but I can see why they offend monied interests to the core of their being.
