Polls show Americans consider Iran to be the greatest global threat to peace and security, but the US bubble warps our perceptions of the world. Perhaps to our surprise, the US regularly tops worldwide polls of the same question.
Somehow we manage to be one of the most aggressive countries in the world while believing that we do so reluctantly and only for the well-being of the world. Delusions come in all shapes and sizes. We seem to perpetually recreate some version of the white man's burden, to feel we have to be the saviors of the world. Freedom isn't free after all.
Though Iran has consistently refused to use weapons of mass destruction, and was a victim of US-supported chemical weapons attacks in the 1980s from Iraq, we still project onto them our own desire to dominate. The very notion that global opponents can have their own legitimate interests is generally deemphasized even among liberal circles. The rhetoric always seems to be about being tough.
As many have already recognized, the alternative to a deal is war. I'm not willing to kill for my country, and I'm not willing to have someone to kill on my behalf. Is Iran a just regime? No. Is the United States a city on a hill? I don't think so. Many here wanted other concessions as pre-conditions to a deal, but Iran could just have easily demanded an apology for the Shah!
What this deal does more than anything is weaken hardliners in both Iran and USA, which is why there is such intense opposition. Yet hardliners in one country just prove the point of hardliners in another. Threatening countries and refusing to negotiate is the easiest way for zealots to justify the need for nukes in the first place. I'm praying for cooler heads to prevail over our political hyperventilation and national narcissism. In the meantime, I think I'll give our officials a call. I urge you to do likewise.
Broad is the path to destruction,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director
P.S. The National Council of Churches has released a letter in support of the diplomatic agreement with Iran. Read it here.