The Election is over, and Barack Hussein Obama II has been re-elected as the 44th President of the United States! However, America is still divided despite the fact that Obama won by both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The Senate remains in the hands of the Democrats while the House remains in the hands of staunch Republicans who are determined to challenge this President. The economy, of course, persists to be the number one issue for most Americans in the next four years.
Internationally, Obama faces a war in Afghanistan, conflicts in Africa and Latin America, tense relations with Russia and China, deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, rise of radical Islamists in the Arab countries, civil war in Syria, and nuclear showdown with Iran. Despite Iranian policy condemning the possession of nuclear weaponry, Israel and U.S. insist that the ultimate Iranian intention is to produce such a weapon.
Nevertheless, Obama must now deal with the Republican House of Representatives, some of whom are neoconservatives who feel that we must subdue any nation that challenges American hegemony. “Military so strong that no nation ever dare test it,” said Mitt Romney at 2012 Republican National Convention.
During the George W. Bush Administration, the neoconservatives led us into our debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their fervor caused not only thousands of Americans’ deaths but also hundreds of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages in those less fortunate countries. Our veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq who survive and return home are struggling with acute and chronic combat trauma, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual manifestations.
Once determined to eradicate the Taliban in Afghanistan, America is now begging them to sit and negotiate with us. Once determined to eradicate the Saddam’s leaders, America is now pushing Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to recruit them back into his government. Like the war in Vietnam, we have also lost these two wars.
These wars have tarnished America’s reputation worldwide. Once considered a compassionate nation under God, America has dropped down to now being perceived as a brutal and belligerent nation that worships power and greed.
We would think that we would have learned some lessons. If we want to get into the people’s hearts, we don’t kill their loved ones. We must show compassion and love. We must realize that we are one people on this beautiful earth, and we need one another to achieve peace and harmony.
The neoconservatives who pushed us into Afghanistan and Iraq are now pushing us to go to war with Iran. They are oblivious to the fact that Iran is a much more complex war theater than either Afghanistan or Iraq. If we couldn’t win the war in either of those two countries, what makes us think that we can win it with Iran?
Despite American, European, and Gulf Arab States’ economic, military, and aerial support of the Saddam forces during the Iraqi eight years of invasion of Iran, Iranians put their differences aside and fought to the end defending their territories. Iran is nearly 2.5 times larger than Afghanistan and 4 times larger than Iraq. Its terrains are mountainous, just like those of Afghanistan. Iran’s defensive forces include regular military and Revolutionary Guards, many of whom are well trained in guerrilla warfare. These revolutionary troopers make Afghanistan’s Taliban and Iraq’s insurgents look like amateurs. "The results of an American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in my view, prove catastrophic, haunting us for generations in that part of the world," warned Robert M. Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Teddy Roosevelt’s “carrot and stick” does not work with Iran! Iranians are proud and want to be respected. The “carrot and stick” approach to Iran would prove disastrous.
"The regime in Iran is a very rational one," said the former Israeli ex-Mossad Chief Meir Dagan. Let us be rational as well. Just like in America, Iranian politicians are also elected. Like their American counterparts, they cannot appear weak in public. We could negotiate with Iran in such a way that the agreement is mutually beneficial to both parties. Instead of threatening Iran, how about approaching Iran with compassion! Kindness always works!
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