STOP RUSH TO WAR AGAINST IRAN

There were several troubling developments regarding prejudice against Iran and its nuclear development program.

One was a letter published in today's The New York Times by Abraham Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, calling Iran the "greatest evil in the modern world." Foxman seems to be one of those many (not all) rabid Zionists here in the U.S. who would like nothing better than provoke the U.S. attack Iran, bomb its nuclear facilities, and in the process, kill tens of thousands of Iranians.

And what caused Foxman's latest demonization of Iran? Ahmadinejad called Israel "cruel and racist" for its actions in the three-week attack on Palestinians in Gaza this past January. Is there any doubt that Israel and its IDF shot and bombed civilians, closed borders to prevent civilians fleeing the fighting, bombed homes, mosques, schools, and yes, even the United Nations food storage center? Even today, Israel will not permit Palestinians to obtain construction materials to re-build, with the result that hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian families are still without proper shelter.

Second. Hillary Clinton, testifying before a House Committee, said that the U.S. would impose "crippling" sanctions on Iran unless it came to some acceptable agreement about its nuclear program. Viola Gienger writes for Bloomberg on Clinton's statements:

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. effort to reach out to Iran will be coupled with the threat of “crippling” sanctions should the regime in Tehran rebuff diplomacy to curb its nuclear program."

Remember this is the same Hillary Clinton who said during the campaign that she as president would "obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel. We need Barack Obama to put an end to Clinton's intemperate and bellicose language. In truth, the danger comes not from Iran attacking Israel, but just the other way around. The U.S. cannot permit or allow Israel to attack Iran.

Americans need to stop thinking of other countries having different languages and cultures and religions as "enemies." The U.S. should maintain friendly relations with all countries, including Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, to name but a few. Obama needs to make sure all his officers and cabinet members put this principle of foreign policy into place and observe it.