After a while, a rational person begins to think Arabs, or at least Arab “leaders”, bar a handful of reasonably sane souls that includes Syria’s Assad and some others probably in Iraq and Lebanon, maybe in Kuwait and Qatar and even Yemen (it’s difficult to say, much less name names) are just flat stupid – especially when compared with most Iranians whatever their posture is towards the rule of Shia Muslim authorities in the Islamic Republic.
Outstanding among the stupid (and corrupt) has to be Mahmoud Abbas as self-appointed spokesperson and leader of Palestinians. He has done NOTHING for his people west of the Jordan, it appears, for decades. Arafat at least tried. The Israelis make life ever more difficult for Holy Land natives, ethnic cleansing continues unabated, colonial Zionist “settlements” continue to sprout like weeds on stolen land, etcetera, in an area now where Arabs outnumber Jews if one includes Gazans. But this is an old story.
The US has lately been trying to cobble together what’s been termed an “Arab NATO” to confront and weaken Iran. This idea is somewhat analogous to NATO itself where a host of various countries within NATO at US urgings portray a larger country by land mass, Russia, as some kind of aggressive demon aiming to expand and attack Europe when in fact Russia has no such aims but its own defense.
Any “Arab NATO” collection of countries would confront a much larger country by geographic size, Iran, similarly and for the same false reasons, one must suppose. And Iran clearly has no aggressive aims but it does intend to defend itself. What to make of the Arab NATO concept?
Well, one thing seems indisputable. That there is nothing benign about US intentions, and it’s all about dividing the Muslim world (as usual) on the back of a selfish imperialistic desire to augment US presence and control in the Middle East. John Bolton, who has influenced Trump to delay any pull out of US troops from Syria, talks about creating “a more vibrant and secure” Middle East (with the downfall of the Islamic Republic).
It’s a wonder that ANY Arabs believe this nonsense, and maybe some are beginning not to. For example, Jordan has lately called for the end of the Israeli occupation of the Golan, and some Iraqis are demanding the end that the US military presence in Iraq. Also, pompous US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has had the gall to claim that the US only wants a “better life” for the Iranian people with some sort of new governance, and at the same time has made life hard for most all Iranians with economic sanctions and other threats. Does that make sense? Of course not.
This is not a claim that ought to be in any way “bought” by Iranians generally – that the US has ANY intentions but to create discord, division and chaos in the Middle East for the alleged benefit of any country EXCEPT itself and Israel, which has so fully captured many in Washington that some “leaders” are willing to throw away the most cherished amendment to the Constitution – free speech – by making criticism of Israel a crime. In fact, if the US wants any coherent Iran at all, it wants a government in Iran that, like the Shah’s, was simply a repressive one eager to do the bidding of the US and open up Iran to the exploitation of US corporations.
However, it’s also fair to say that what the US is dangling before the Iranian people is some kind of appeal to further upset by the downsizing if not the eradication of Iran’s current rule of (Islamic) law. To be clear, there are social and political controls in Iran that have limited “free speech” and what may be termed full “democracy”.
But this is no more evident, and perhaps far less so in Iran, than in the harsh kinds of social and political controls so apparent in Saudi Arabia and even in Sisi’s Egypt, to name just two countries. And it’s interesting to note that Assad’s Syria, an Iranian ally, is in fact far more if not entirely “secular” in orientation than most all other Arab countries today. It’s a huge positive that some Arab countries are now beginning to reestablish diplomatic relations with Assad and Syria.
This apparent “dangling” by the US of some sort of “freedom” of social license from Islamic rules for Iranians, really constitutes little more than incitements directed towards Iranians generally to create division and discord inside the Islamic Republic for – ultimately – the benefit of the US and Israeli imperialism and its further consolidation.
Even if there is merit in the idea of more “democracy” for Iranians, it’s far more important to realize that the Trump Administration does not in fact give a hoot about real “democracy” in the Middle East. If it did, let’s be quite clear, it would NOT be supporting or allied with the Saudis, the Zionists or even Sisi in Egypt about whom it can easily be said are not sincerely “democracy” minded.
The real tragedy of the Middle East is that the predominate Muslim populations, tolerant of other faiths and minorities, and whether Sunni or Shia, have failed to recognize the power and benefits inherent in hanging together as a first priority and advocating for each other to create more unity and peace regionally.
Perhaps this may begin to dawn on the Arab and Muslim masses, because one thing is certain: over the last 100 years since the end of the Ottomans the “West” and particularly the US, the British, the Zionists and the French, too, have made life miserable for too many in the Middle East.
MNA/TT