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Attacking Iran Will Not Stop the Violence in Lebanon
American neoconservatives have leapt on the current crisis in the Middle East as a way to push their anti-Iran agenda, calling for an end to the Islamic Republic as a way to mortally wound Israel's enemies. But Hamas and Hezbollah are not puppets of any nation, the writer says. NAM contributor William O. Beeman is professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies at Brown University and has lived and worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years. His most recent book is "The 'Great Satan' vs. the 'Mad Mullahs': How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other" (Praeger Publishers, 2005).
Blaming Iran for the horrific violence between Israel and the Arabs of Lebanon and Palestine is a popular stance in the world today. But such finger-pointing will do nothing to stop the destruction going on in the region. Paradoxically, however, Iran could play a role in bringing about peace.
Iran makes a convenient scapegoat. It has no defenders. Americans and Europeans are already furious with Tehran over the development of Iran's nuclear program. The Sunni states in the region -- principally Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt -- are worried about growing Iranian power as Shiite forces throughout the region grow in influence. The Sunnis are uncomfortable defending the Shiite community in Lebanon, and are quite happy to have Iran bear the blame for the war.
Meanwhile, in the United States, neoconservatives are primed with a decade-long program to attack Iran that they have conveniently grafted onto the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
Yet, the Sunni states and the neoconservatives are mistaken in their analysis and in their strategic goals.
The Sunni states seem to hope that the Shiite world as a whole will be weakened through Israel's actions. But no magic Israeli bullet will eliminate the need of the nations in the region to come to peaceful terms with Iran, which grows stronger and more prosperous every day with every American misstep and every increase in the price of oil. Nor can the Sunni states avoid accommodating the significant, growing non-Iranian Shiite population in the region.
As for the neoconservatives, their basic thesis on Iran can be found in an article by William Kristol, writing in the Weekly Standard and London's Financial Times on July 16: "No Islamic Republic of Iran, no Hezbollah. No Islamic Republic of Iran, no one to prop up the Assad regime in Syria. No Iranian support for Syria ... little state sponsorship of Hamas and Hezbollah."
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=a427acd44810466c645328ada649989c
Iran makes a convenient scapegoat. It has no defenders. Americans and Europeans are already furious with Tehran over the development of Iran's nuclear program. The Sunni states in the region -- principally Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt -- are worried about growing Iranian power as Shiite forces throughout the region grow in influence. The Sunnis are uncomfortable defending the Shiite community in Lebanon, and are quite happy to have Iran bear the blame for the war.
Meanwhile, in the United States, neoconservatives are primed with a decade-long program to attack Iran that they have conveniently grafted onto the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
Yet, the Sunni states and the neoconservatives are mistaken in their analysis and in their strategic goals.
The Sunni states seem to hope that the Shiite world as a whole will be weakened through Israel's actions. But no magic Israeli bullet will eliminate the need of the nations in the region to come to peaceful terms with Iran, which grows stronger and more prosperous every day with every American misstep and every increase in the price of oil. Nor can the Sunni states avoid accommodating the significant, growing non-Iranian Shiite population in the region.
As for the neoconservatives, their basic thesis on Iran can be found in an article by William Kristol, writing in the Weekly Standard and London's Financial Times on July 16: "No Islamic Republic of Iran, no Hezbollah. No Islamic Republic of Iran, no one to prop up the Assad regime in Syria. No Iranian support for Syria ... little state sponsorship of Hamas and Hezbollah."
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=a427acd44810466c645328ada649989c
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