It’s the West That Needs To Gain Iran’s Trust

Iran has not fought an offensive war for more than one-hundred-and-fifty years. On the other hand, the West, including the United States, have initiated and been engaged in hundreds of major and minor political, economic, religious, and imperial wars and conquests during the same span of time

By Dallas Darling
First Published 2010-06-15
Courtesy Of "Middle-East-Online"

Even though the Western press labeled Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as being “defiant” when he said Tehran does not need to gain the trust of the United States, deep down inside we all know a better label would have been “correct.” President Ahmadinejad was referring to how the United States seldom observes global rules, especially in regards to its massive nuclear arsenals and pre-emptive wars around the world. He could have also added numerous conflicts and imperial wars fought by the United States and the Western Powers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From a historical perspective and from past experience, and I am not sure if anyone has noticed this truth, Iran has not fought an offensive war for more than one-hundred-and-fifty years. On the other hand, the West, including the United States, have initiated and been engaged in hundreds of major and minor political, economic, religious, and imperial wars and conquests during the same span of time. It was truly astounding, even stupefied, then, when the United States and the West made such a claim, namely, that Iran should gain the trust of the world.

Spurred by the onset of industrialization and consumerism, in the 19th century the Western Powers and the United States invaded and conquered many parts of the world, like Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The 20th century witnessed the Western Powers and World War I, in which 20 million people were killed or wounded at a cost of $340 billion. World War II, once again started by the West, caused the deaths of 40 million people, and at a cost of almost $1 trillion. It produced horrendous weaponry, like the Atomic Bomb, which was used by the United States on civilian population centers.

The enormous suffering and apparent pointlessness of the Great Wars left a deep mark on Western society. For the West, the politics of disillusionment, insecurity, cynicism, and despair were internalized. The United States and Western Powers projecting such views and emotions rest of the world, as did the Soviet Union. This was the real reason behind the Cold War, and it would be the foundation for much of the West. It is also why the United States distrusts Iran’s quest to produce nuclear uranium for peaceful purposes.

President Ahmadinejad was right in chiding the Western Powers for not seeking to build trust with the Islamic Republic. He was also speaking the truth when he said that Iran was committed to international regulations, and it was the West who used nuclear weapons and have stockpiled nuclear arsenals. Not only is the United States and the West trying to monopolize weapons of mass destruction, but the disarmament and trust issues. This is why for the last forty-years the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty has been a failure, and it is why nuclear weapons have never been completely eliminated.

It is the reason too that the United States and Israel-the only nation in the Middle East that has a nuclear arsenal-has continually threatened military action (including using nuclear weaponry) against Iran. Was President Ahmadinejad right to claim that such intimidation and terrorization should be met with swift reaction by the United Nations, such as being suspended from the board of governors of the United Nations nuclear watchdog in Vienna?

In writing this article, I am reminded of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Just before the revolution, and after many years of oppression and resentment against the US-backed Shah’s dictatorial rule, demonstrators in Iran were being massacred by the Shah’s troops. Dissenters were jailed, tortured and beaten to death by the CIA trained SAVAK. After the revolution, the United States encouraged Saddam Hussein to attack Iran, and then aided him with weapons and intelligence data. In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane killing all 295 civilians on board.

Again, who needs to gain whose trust?

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John‘s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.