For me, any sensible discussion of Iran must accept a number of facts. I will set these out as Set A and Set B. Both sets are true. But ideologues of the right routinely discount Set A, while ideologues of the left routinely discount Set B. That is why most debate on Iran is inane.
Set A
Iranian Islamic fundamentalism allied to fierce anti-Americanism was born from CIA intervention to topple democracy and keep in power a ruthless murdering despot for decades, in the interests of US oil and gas companies
Iranian anti-Americanism was fuelled further by US support for US friend and ally Saddam Hussein who was armed to wage a murderous war against Iran, again in the hope of US access to Iran’s oil and gas
The US committed a terrible atrocity against civilians by shooting down an Iranian passenger jet
Iran is surrounded by US military forces and has been repeatedly threatened to the extent that the desire to develop a nuclear weapon is a reflex
There is monumental hypocrisy in condemning Iran’s nuclear programme while overlooking Israel’s nuclear weapons
Set B
Iran is governed by an appalling set of vicious theocratic nutters
Iran is not any kind of democracy. It fails the first hurdle of candidates being allowed to put forward meaningful alternatives
Hanging of gays, stoning of adulterers, floggings, censorship and pervasive control are not fine because of cultural relativism. Iran’s whole legislative basis is inimical to universal ideals of human rights.
Iran really is trying to develop a nuclear weapons programme, though with some years still to go.
There are two very good articles on the current situation in Iran. One from the ever excellent Juan Cole. I would accept his judgement on the elections being rigged.
http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/class-v-culture-wars-in-iranian.html#comments
The other from Yasamine Mather, which puts it in another perspective.
http://www.hopoi.org/articles/elections%20June%202009.html
I am not optimistic about the outcome of the popular protest.
Living with the Conspiracy 24/7 – your puerile name says it all, but your stupid ignorant comments cannot go unchallenged. First, the 1979 revolution was broadly supported by leftists, communists and trade unionists but the medievalist Khomeini effectively launched a coup d’etat and imposed theocratic Islamism on the country, executing thousands of opponents in the process. There has been no democracy since, in spite of sham elections – the Guardian Council decides who can stand for election and they reject hundreds of candidates. When Ahmadinejad won four years ago many moderates chose not to put their names forward. So your notion that the “majority of the people… subscribe to a religious basis for the punishment of homosexuals, then that is their democratic right to do so” is garbage. As for the election, just study the polls and the mathematical studies that have been done to show how impossible the result is and then tell me it is free and fair. What has happened in Iran is another coup, the forces of backwardness triumphing over the forces of progress, with mobile networks and internet connections blocked. If that happened here you would complain of fascism, so why is it ok over there? It won’t last.
I am pleased that you accept that Iran kills more people per head of population than any other country. Other than that glimmer of hope you are a top class idiot. Nameless person on 9/11. Just stop that nonsense.
I was in the UK in 1976 amongst a large group of Iranians and other foreign students. The Iranians were terrific people. I really liked them but there was one unusual and noticeable element in their behaviour.
Other groups of students, the Africans say, hung around together between lectures. The Iranians all went their own way. They did not mix outside the teaching environment.
I asked one of them why they behaved in such an unlikely fashion. He said it’s like this. We all hate the Shah. I mean really hate the Shah…..but there might be one amongst us who is a spy for the government. If anyone says what they think their name might be in a black book at the airport when we arrive home for the holidays. Anyone whose name is there is taken out and shot.
We all know this.
We accept we can’t be friends.
I found this truly shocking…..but was not surprised when the revolution took hold in 1979.
eddie’s post disgusts me. He is a bigot and a fool.
Of course wickedness begets extreme reactions and that what you get in places like Iran and Afghanistan after the invader is expelled…..but to promote this condemnatory western (should I say Jewish) view of Iran is the action of an individual who is either very crass or positively evil.
Whoever you are you are an idiot as well. Do you think the Ayatollahs won’t be shooting many of the people who oppose them now? It sounds like you are also an anti-semite, a commonplace on these boards – what has the Jewish view of Iran got to do with anything? As I said above, some people may choose to justify what has happened under the mullahs as a natural reaction to the Shah’s oppression. You appear to be one of those people. “..wickedness begets extreme reactions”. Does it really? South Africa after apartheid? Germany after WW2? Vietnam now? You don’t know what you mean or waht you say.
Dear “June 15, 2009 9:13 AM”
Thank you for this contribution, which helps our understanding of the situation.
Eddie, you’re so tedious. Just admit it, you’re losing your grip. It’s your preconceptions that are being tested. Shout your anti-semite accusations so willy-nilly, and people will get the idea.
For people who like giving their twopence worth, here’s a new political blog. I haven’t examined it in detail, but it looks interesting. Quite possibly some people already know about it:
http://www.uk21.org.uk/
@Suhayl Saadi
Just to round off @JimmyGiro’s translation of @mashasa’s comment: the missing word “??????” is presumably “?? ????”: “I cannot”.
Full translation:
“Quite interesting, of course. I can’t subscribe to your every word, but in general I agree.”
eddie,
The British view of middle east politics IS the Jewish view. That’s what it has got to do with ‘anything’.
See here: Gordon Brown has just appointed an Israeli lobbyist as his “Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for Middle East policy, Iraq, Iran, counterterrorism and Anglo-American relations.”
We should all be shocked by this. This means that British policy is Zionist policy, because that is what this man is, a full-on Zionist. He was a cheerleader for the Israeli attacks on Gaza. That makes him a very wicked b*stard in my book.
Here’s the article:
Gordon Brown puts Israel lobbyist in charge of Britain’s Middle East policy
——————————————————————————–
By Redress Information & Analysis
11 June 2009
Britain’s prime minister has put a notorious pro-Israel lobbyist in charge of policy in the Middle East, Iraq and Iran, reaffirming his determination to continue with his Zionist policies even as his administration approaches the end of its life.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has appointed an Israeli agent of influence and proponent of genocide in Gaza to a key position at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Britain’s foreign ministry.
On 9 June, Ivan Lewis was given a major promotion in Mr Brown’s government when he was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for Middle East policy, Iraq, Iran, counterterrorism and Anglo-American relations. According to one source, he is now “just one step away from the cabinet”.
Speaking after his promotion, Mr Lewis said: “My responsibility for the Middle East peace process is particularly poignant. I have never hidden my pride at being Jewish or my support for the State of Israel”.
According to the Independent newspaper, Mr Lewis’s appointment has “raised eyebrows in the Foreign Office”. It said:
Lewis has a long history of interest in the region as vice-chair of the Labour Friends of Israel. Earlier this year, he became ?” not without controversy ?” one of the most outspoken political supporters of Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Critics can’t help but wonder how objective Lewis is likely to be in his new post.
Mr Lewis is also a trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust, a body founded in 1988 by British pro-Israel lobbyists Greville Janner and Merlyn Rees with the aim of maintaining a culture of gentile guilt and Jewish victimhood in British schools.
Ivan Lewis’s support for the racist state of Israel and for the genocide in Gaza is not the only example of his questionable morality.
In 2007, when he was junior health minister, he was forced to apologise to a civil servant, Susan Mason, after she told managers she was unhappy with the nature of their relationship.
It emerged that Mr Lewis, who at the time was 40 years old, had been sexually harassing Ms Mason, aged 23, with numerous smutty text messages. After complaining to her bosses, Mr Lewis’s victim was moved to a different job before resigning from the Civil Service. Speaking of her former boss, she said: “He wasn’t the nicest man to work for.”
A year earlier, Mr Lewis had walked out on his wife of 16 years, Juliette, and their two sons, aged nine and 11, in order to have an affair with a 50-year-old councillor, Margaret Gibb.
Don’t disagree with your two sets of facts, but am interested by this assertion: “ideologues of the left routinely discount Set B”.
I guess I’d like to know examples of people who have done or continue to do this. I mean, from what I have read, lefties (and I’d include Juan Cole in this set) tend to take the view that we in the West have to get our own house in order before we can hope to affect some meaningful change in Iran.
Agree or disagree with this position, it’s not the same thing as discounting the realities you set out.
To the extent there is a meaningful “left-right” debate to be had re. Western policy toward Iran, the central issue is how you engage/confront/undermine the “vicious theocratic nutters” running the show.
But to my mind, Iranians have proven before they could overthrow an ostensibly powerful government – with the right sort of Western support for democratic reformers, another coup could follow. Might not happen this week, but the regime is weaker than ever. The key calculus for the Ayatollahs now is whether they toss Ahmedinejad overboard in an act of self-preservation, or back him and try to stave off the flood of popular anger.
The Ayatollahs are in a precarious position – and hopefully Western governments can help sustain this momentum, and not for a change play into the hands of the rabid Islamist nationalists.
This is the way it works – you get one Friend of Israel to ask another Friend of Israel a planted question like this one –
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-06-10b.277763.h&s=speaker%3A11866#g277763.q0
where I had left a link to the Redress article!
From TheyWorkForYou Register of Interests –
Ivan Lewis –
6-11 April 2008, to Israel and the Palestinian Authority with Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). Travel and hospitality paid for by LFI. Accommodation paid for by LFI at a rate discounted through the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some hospitality provided by the Palestinian Legislative Council/Palestinian Authority. Travel within Israel and Palestine provided by LFI. (Registered 30 April 2008)
Anne Snelgrove –
2-7 September 2007, to Israel and Palestine with Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). Travel and hospitality paid for by LFI. Accommodation paid for by LFI at a rate discounted through the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some hospitality provided by the Palestinian Legislative Council/Palestinian Authority. Travel within Israel/Palestine provided by LFI. Some travel within Israel provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Registered 29 October 2007)
Nameless person. “Redress Information and Analysis” – proprietors R. Murdoch or J. Goebbels jnr? Come off it. Tendentious claptrap.
Edo – your blog tells me all I need to know about you, thanks.
Reports on The Guardian that honest Interior Ministry officals are revealing the true extent of the fraud. How long can the conspiracy last? Answer, not long. Today’s demonstration called off because the regime promised to use live rounds on protestors. Nice.
Eddie,
The death penalty is the death penalty. I don’t think comparing numbers is relevant. You are aware that the “lethal injection” used by the USA has been shown to cause immense suffering and uses (or used, I’m not aware that it’s been discontinued) a drug banned for use on animals.
‘You killed 5 and we only killed 3’ is not an argument that impresses anyone. It’s similar to the argument I encounter on US right-wing blogs when I mention torture by the US. They say, “And/but they behead hostages!” Is this the yardstick the US should be using? Or should it be international and US law?
And kindly refrain from changing my handle. THAT is puerile.
As for Iran’s elections: they’re frankly none of our business – UNLESS they’ve been interfered with by clandestine forces of the “West”. That’s a whole nuther ball game.
eddie,
Quote: “Tendentious claptrap”
Sorry pal.
Absolute fact and you cannot deny one bit of that article.
Gordon Brown has appointed this creep Lewis. Lewis is a Zionist jew, a labour ‘Friend of Israel’, was a strong supporter of the Israeli attack on Gaza, is now in a senior position of authority regarding OUR (Britain’s…..0.5% Jewish by the way) middle east policy.
Contradict one of the above assertions with a verifiable fact or shut up. You might like the UK being a satellite of Israeli power but many of us don’t. It would be surprising if the vast majority of British people did not regard this appointment (if they knew about it) as a gross betrayal of the British people by Brown.
I think you’ll find most British people people are not that keen on incinerating defenceless and innocent women and children (or men, come to that) nor persecuting them in any other way, as the Israeli state continues to do to the people of Gaza.
Anon at June 15, 2009 1:00 PM:
I find (as a woman) too much emphasis placed on “women and children” in these situations (incinerating people in Gaza.) So I’m glad to see you say “or men, come to that”.
We’ve seen this pattern so often now…CIA all over this scene…same as it ever was…and because of this i cant believe single word in the mainstream media,all owned by the CIA no doubt.
Drearylin
So it’s not relevant to you that Iran executes more per head than any other country in the world? The figures are given above. Capital punishment is wrong per se, I agree on that, but if I had the choice between an injection and being strung up from a crane in the streets of Tehran I know which I would choose. Your moral compass is all wrong. Whaboutery – see above.
So Iran’s elections are none of our business? That really is puerile.
Nameless person – I’m not going to respond to your anti-semitism I’m afraid.
Basic rubric: The USA wants to dominate Iran, it will use any tactics to achieve that domination, if not yet through open war, then through destabilisation and the usual bag of ops tricks.
When it suits its aims, the rulers of the West often use human rights as a propaganda tool and a screen for conquest – this is an old imperial tactic, going back at least to Lord Palmerston’s gunboat diplomacy of C19th. It is used continually, for example, in relation to China.
Study history. Have some humility. Remove the plank from your own eye.
The Israeli military-political establishment (Israel arguably is the most militarised state in the world with enough illegal nuclear weapons to destroy the entire Middle East, several times over) is obsessed now with Iran, as once it was obsessed with Iraq. In this strategic view, Iran must be neutralised – or at least, hobbled – as a significant regional player. This is in the perceived interests of the military-political elites of both the USA and Israel – and more than ever, in foreign policy terms, the two are essentially one. It is also in the perceived interests of the rulers of many Arab states – the divide-and-rule modus operandum playing out successfully and multi-dimensionally, as usual.
The West has screwed-up the ‘Near’ and ‘Middle East’ for too long. Better they got out. But they won’t. And there’s the rub. The struggle will continue.
eddie,
Knew you couldn’t. Thanks for shutting up. Appropriate.
Calling me ‘anti-semitic’ is cowardly. With this man running middle east policy there is no answer to the charge that the UK is now a Zionist state. I don’t like it. If that’s anti-semitic, so be it. Actually there isn’t a semite among these people. They’re ethnic Russians. Great deceivers though. They can convince people like you of anything, even that they are semites when they are not. For your information eddie,(I like to be helpful) this is just like Gordon Brown claiming he is an arab. I suppose all it will take for you to believe that is for him to say it.
Dear Craig
Nice put, if you keep kicking someone often enough evenually they will fight back and then there is no going back.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Dear Craig
Nicely put, if you keep kicking someone often enough evenually they will fight back and then there is no going back.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Dear Craig
Nicely put, if you keep kicking someone often enough evenually they will fight back and then there is no going back.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
“Edo – your blog tells me all I need to know about you, thanks.”
You’re welcome eddie. Needless to say I couldn’t give a **** what you ‘need to know about me’.
Know this,
whatever it is you’re trying so desperately to defend; Ideology, self righteousness, the state of Israel, Zionism, whatever, you’re so blatantly transparent only someone as indoctrinated as yourself would fail to notice.
eddie: pointing out the inappropriateness of making a declared Zionist responsible for the UK’s contribution to the Middle East peace process is not “anti-semitic”; it’s merely stating the bleeding obvious.
With respect to the nuclear bomb; why should Iran pursue a very expensive weapon which she is hardly ever likely to use, it does not make any sense, and is as much use as a chocolate fire-guard when it comes to defending their home lands?
This line of thought is never explored for the reasons that the neo liberal attitudes making the set A probable and prevalent, are now busy plotting another tack for the same old, same old domination objectives of the yesteryear.
Interesting abstraction in the forwarded article, however, having touched on set A then set B somehow is tinged with the bias that made set A probable, and prevalent in the first place, and brought us to this mess that we are in now, but hey who is arguing?
The neo liberal tenets of unquestionable “values”, and its dogmatic notions of “democracy”, “freedom”, etc. promoted as the “absolute and universal values”, of course would leave very little room for any other interpretation of the events on the ground in Tehran. Therefore the usual assertions, and baseless assumption being arrived at yet again from a differencing route.
The current shenanigans of the neo cons within the Iranian hierarchy that includes Mr. Mousavi, who comes with the credentials of having once before been the Prime Minister, and a very good friend of Ghorbanifar, an Iranian exile and former CIA informant … …. becoming a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government .
Coincidentally the “faster please Mr. President” ( title of article exhorting George Bush to attack Iran faster, and get on with changing the mid east into a haven for democracy!) ex rabbi Michael Ledeen the arch neocon is also an acquaintance of Mr. Mousavi, whose murky credentials have served him well in muckraking and causing mayhem in the current situation .
The facts before us are, the worryingly deeper implications of the onslaught of the neocons from both of the quarters, and the terrible outcomes that would be the result of of any such unholy alliance.
However, with respect to the rigged elections in Iran etc. and oppression of the Iranians, these unsubstantiated assumptions and assertions somehow finding traction due to the selective vision of the Western Audiences.
This simply put, is turning a blind eye to; hanging chads of Florida and the selection of the former US President Bush by the supreme court, and his subsequent “re-election” through the miracle of Diebold (counting a possible maximum of six hundred votes of an area, as ten thousand, and they talk about loaves, and fishes?) On the other hand the minority vote that is counted as an overwhelming mandate of the British for our esteemed neo Labour, and the ballot box stuffing practices thereof, which are are not an tissue at all, because no-one in these countries dares to come out and vent anger, and kick up a fuss, for these DNA printed, Finger printed, and photographed souls would be either picked up under the terrorism prevention act, and or be subject to Cattling and held under arrest until they are dispirited, and dejected enough to be processed as the future potential “terrorists” and trouble makers.
So talking about the oppressed Iranians, whose freedom of action includes disrupting traffic, burning bins, and buses, and security forces vehicles, coming from a bunch of people whom cannot so much as fart without permission from the relevant authorities is somewhat rich. Furthermore, considering the levels of the electoral fraud in US/UK again for anyone to sit in judgement begs the question of the whomsoever has not sinned to cast the aspersions.
However, as ever, I like the anarchy in the Iranian psyche, and the fact that the government is kept on its toes, and reminded of whomsoever is the boss, and it should not forget about it either. Therefore the crowds turning up on the streets bent on mischief are tolerated by other Iranians whom have so far been letting the losers to vent their anger, but let it be known that if any such demonstrations result in any changes to the elections outcome, the silent majority would be lynching the instigators from the nearest trees and lamppost, including Mr. Rafasanjani the sponsor of the current mayhem.
This is not 1953, and the Iranians are not as dumb as they used to be.
http://tinyurl.com/mlemap
http://tinyurl.com/ks6dc3
VamanosBandidos,
A bomb would be useless as a weapon for Iran but would be a serious deterrent to Israel. That’s why Israel doesn’t like. The possibility that they, a very small country, can be hit back hard and effectively destroyed.
Can’t blame them.
Can’t blame Iran either. Who wants to be bullied forever by these fiends.
Edo – Your’re obviously touchy about your website. I didn’t think it was that bad.
I’m not trying to defend anyone or anything, least of all the state of Israel which can look after itself (as I’ve said before I favour a two state solution and the removal of all settlements so your accusations of a Zionist agenda are piffle – I grew up in the C of E). All I am suggesting is that Iran is a theocratic tyranny where a lot of people are likely to die as a result of a stolen election and that people like you, if you had any decency, should support those people in Iran who want freedom. If you spent only a tenth of the time that you spend on attacking Israel and the West in opposing oppression in Iran and other countries then the world could be a better place.
Ahmadinejad came third. Huge rally in Tehran.
Posted by: at June 15, 2009 4:22 PM,
Israelis are of no consequence, with respect to Iran, they cannot under any circumstances take on Iran, and win. Israeli military prowess has been much the subject of Hollywood exaggerations, seeing as in reality the Israeli all out war against Lebanon resulted in a defeat at the hands of Hezbollah (a militia, not even a proper army so to speak of). Simple fact is; Israelis are only good at shooting fish in the barrel and killing unarmed Palestinians, their forces are not the stern stuff the “Hollywood Media” would have you believe.
The notion that Iran is engaged in production of Nuclear Weapons, is the hook that the meddling neo liberals have found the most convenient excuse to hang their imperial aspirations onto. Thereafter the narrative goes on with further vilification of the Iranians to bring about the conducive environment to either result in an attack Iran, and or force changes on the Iranians’ internal/external policies that is least likely to benefit Iran in the long term.
Although as events have proved the military option against Iran is a non starter, hence the much talked about attacks that never came to pass. However, to find Iranians, committing the same mistake as Pakistanis, and Indians by spending their hard earned cash on useless weapons is an attribute that the West has endowed Iranians with, for the Western purposes, and end games. Therefore, Iranian Nukes are only the stuff of conjecture, and propaganda.
However, the fact that Iran will no longer be reliant on Western companies for its nuclear material needed in the fields of; metallurgy, agriculture, medicine, etc. As well as her abilities for separation of various isotopes of various materials, such as copper, zinc, etc. through the mastery of nuclear technology bringing her into direct competition in the lucrative markets thus far highly monopolized by a very few companies is the crux of the arguments forwarded against Iran going “nuclear”. Also, Iranians expanding their energy business through the sale of either electricity power generation (already they supply Turkey), or nuclear fuel for other countries to use in their reactors further hampers the aspirations of the energy giants whom loath admission of any new competitors into their highly lucrative and monopolized field of commerce.
Simple fact is Iran is bucking the trend and is not subscribing to the hegemony of US/UK, going so far as questioning the unquestionable “values” of the currently dominant neo liberal ideology. Hence the constant stream of propaganda against Iran and the outright lies which have come to be taken as facts concerning Iran in the West these days.
The truth of the matter is, we need more Irans if any of our freedoms are going to endure in the current climate of fear, and trepidation that the neo liberal crowd have induced, and thereafter set in place their constructs of control to cater for the risks arising from the state of fear and trepidation brought on by these in the first place.
Thought Craig would like this from medialens reference Blackburn!
Cartoon lion urges Lancs kids to dob in terrorist classmates
Posted by Tim Holmes on June 15, 2009, 4:02 pm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/10/lancashire_terror_school_film/
“We need more Irans” – yes, right. More tyranny, more despotism. This is newspeak. This is moral bankruptcy.
What evidence do you have that Israel would welcome the election of Mousavi? Ahmadinejad is a useful hate figure for them. I haven’t seen any public pronouncements on the matter, but perhaps you can enlighten me.
Perhaps it would have been useful if US cities had gone up in unremitting mass stone-throwing and and petrol-bombing demonstrations after George W. Bush was fraudulently elected in 2000. It would’ve saved a lot of lives.
It could’ve been called, ‘The Fluorescent Revolution’ and Lindsay Hilsum (and maybe Frank Gardner, too) could’ve put on a basball cap and reported from the Washington Monument on how Americans were ‘taking back their democracy’ and rescuing the 50% of their budget that goes to the Pentagon.
What alerts me to vigilance about the current reported fracas relating to the Iranian Presidential election results is not the possibility that (speaking in the general sense) politics can be corrupt – everyone knows this, and in the UK we’ve just had several weeks of exposure of political corruption among British MPs on a massive scale – or that there are not socio-economic and other problems in Iran or that we all have to love every regime in the world, but that the entire unholy chorus of Western leaders and their side-kicks are queuing-up suddenly, as though they were on-cue on a stage, to bellow their ‘concerns’ about the Iranian Presidential election results, when the same people – the SAME people – have been actively arming and funding countless dictators and monarchs for decades!!! The hypocrisy is overwhelming and is so obvious, one would have to be either thick-as-a-brick or disingenuous not to see it.
This is what makes me very suspicious of ulterior motives. I saw the same tactic deployed against China in 1989 at the time of the Tiannenmen Square protests. China had problems which needed to be addressed and the young students had valid concerns, but the movement was hijacked and maldirected; teh aim was to stoke confrontation and discord and to destabilise China – remember, the Soviet Union was imploding at that point. It didn’t work with China. This is not to say that I am a supporter of the Chinese regime, etc., but this is how it (the CIA) works.
The CIA has been pumping squillions into ‘black operations’ in Iran over the past several years. The mosque explosion, remember that? I know how these colonialists work, they way they destabilise, it’s always the same. Afghanistan, 1928; Chile, 1972-3; Pakistan, 1977. Oh, the list goes on…
This is not so that Iranians become fearful, one has to be wary of joining a giant media psy-op aimed at inculcating fear into the hearts of the Iranian people and I have no wish to join that caravan, either. I’m just fed-up with the manner in which the military-political regimes of the West treat other people as though they are dirt.
I repeat: one way or another, military-political regimes of the West are responsible for most of the violent death in the world and are most certainly responsible for deliberately making a mess of the Middle East over the past 200 years – and over the past thirty years, and over the past six years and right now.