IRAN IS NOT THE "ENEMY" EVEN THOUGH BUSH & CHENEY SAY SO

Mark Gregory of the BBC writes that the United States is waging a financial war against Iran:

"The United States is waging an undeclared financial war on Iran as part of efforts to persuade the Tehran government to abandon alleged plans to acquire nuclear weapons . . .

"Since September 2006, US officials have been travelling the world talking to banks and company bosses. They aim to persuade business to voluntarily abandon or scale back all dealings with Iran . . .

"American financial pressure shows up in small ways. For example, international banks have become reluctant to issue letters of credit on Iranian trade, or only on exorbitant terms.


"Letters of credit guarantee payment in international commerce. The alternative is paying in cash.

"Consequently, Iranian companies often find themselves unable to carry out transactions in dollars, still the most important currency for trade.


"The aim is to squeeze the Iranian economy so that the nation's leaders will decide the price of developing nuclear weapons is just too high - although Iran, of course, denies that it is trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal in the first place."

My question is why does the United States need to engage in such acts? Why must Bush and Cheney provoke Iran and treat it as an enemy?

Instead of trying to make Iran a pariah of the financial world, I have a better idea. Let the U.S. sit down with representatives of Iran and discuss and negotiate. Bush and Cheney profess friendship for Russia and China and VietNam. Yet twenty years ago I dare say Bush and Cheney and many other Americans considered these countries "enemies" because American leaders said they were. Therefore, now, instead of treating Iran as an enemy, I want the United States to resolve its differences through dialog and negotiation.

War is almost always the wrong answer. Yet the United States seems to go to war about once every ten years. It seems that American leaders, especially Republicans, think they can solve all "problems" with guns and war planes. This is why I hope that George Bush's last 17 months in office go quickly. NO WAR AGAINST IRAN.