Why do people blame the USA for destabilizing the Middle East when it is actually Iran?

winemkr

The media plays a large role in shaping opinion, and they get their talking points from liberal politicians who would rather destabilize america then see a republican or conservative in office.

Curt

Because most people don't know what they are talking about. They don't know what is going on.

NONAME

You should be asking why we are being blamed because it actually has been the Middle East as a whole destabilizing themselves.

Vanessa

Why is Iran helping Iraq? They just got out of a 8 year war with iraq. They hate Iraq! Now all of a sudden they are best buddies.
Doesn't make any sense. But neighter does the rest of it.

quarterback

Everything gets blamed on America. No matter what happens.
LOL, and they want to know why we DONT listen to them.

Nikolas S

Read your history about the establishment of Israel and the Zionist terrorists of those days, right after the second world war, and you will see who what and how!

roadwarrior

The very fact that the U.S. invaded Iraq, is the reason why the Middle East is destabilized now. Don't blame Iran for this illegal American invasion.

When you look at the Iranian support for Hamas, look also at the U.S. support for Israel, who committed countless atrocities on the Palestinian people.

The USA is the world's punching bag. The Middle East has been unstable for a lot longer that the USA has been a country. So it's just mindless stupidity. Never has a country given so much and has a military that's been used for so much good as we have. Yet people still complain. I don't get it.

DAVAY

Israeli lobby is one of the most destabilizing factor in the Middle East. The issue that keep the Middle East destabilized is Israel want to keep occupying land that was never part of Israel. If you do not know that fact by now you are kept in the dark.

Corey

why do democrats say that Iran is innocent because they are just trying to defend themselves from Bush, the real dictator?

Because, just like how democrats share ideologicies with communists... democrats share extremist ideas with terrorists...

They are crooked, power-hungry animals that are trying to take over our government.

luckly, republicans are allowed to speak up due to freedom of speach.

which, by the way, one member in congress bodly stated that "Right Wing Media in this country MUST BE STOPPED!"

so, republicans, you best vote or else your right to free speach may end...

and lefties say they arent communists... hahaha...

Seattle SeaBee

So it's OUR fault? Since when has the middle east EVER been stable? Not in the 40 years I've been around. I'm sure if you asked my grandfather and my father, you'd get the same answer. If still living, grandpa would be 100 this year and my father would be 76

Lam

It's both

Stone K

Oh you cant blame Iran...

didn't you know that?

I mean it is big bad America with its Democracy and policies about reducing civilian casualties that are the bad guys.

don't you realize the Iranian officials in all those countries are actual training people in flower arraigning and line dancing?

how dare you imply that these noble souls are there to help "freedom fighters" learn to slaughter innocent civilians, use children as human shields, attack any one of a different faith or create chaos to bring down governments.

Don't you watch the news??? when car bombs go off killing people who just went to the market to buy food, it is actually the US who is responsible.

You should be ashamed of tarnishing the proud and noble Iranian government...

I mean they were only joking about nuking Israel....

I hope some day your as smart as a liberal arts student with one semester of global politics...

then you can be just as happy and clueless as them.

ursustrader

Action against Iran is nearly 30 years past due. You know something, every citizen in this country should read the following:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5277

PLEASE NOTE IT WAS WRITEN IN THE CLINTON YEARS!!!

bubble27

After reading the article (link posted by ursustrad)

quote from the article:

"Iran--not Iraq--is the primary threat to American interest in the Middle East and has been since it confiscated our oil fields in the 1950s."
The only threat Iran poses is to block American companies from taking oil.
Cant you people see it??? America is angry because they want the oil... nothing else.... they don't really care about terrorism? Actually, that wouldn't happen in the US if they were not stealing the oil from the ME. In order to keep taking the oil from there, they have to create instability and keep people worried about their internal conflicts while they "steal" the oil.

Some ME countries don't really like that - taking their oil, jobs and closing their companies, so, they bomb the US, England etc...

KCBA

I believe you are really asking two questions here, the first as your title, and the last in your comments, so I will address them seperately.

Why do people blame the USA for distabilizing the ME when it was really Iran?

Let us look at the Middle East as a whole. There is the continuing conflict in the Israel-Lebanon region, which has been going on since 1948. There have been different groups on the Palestinian side: the PLO and Hamas being the two most noteworthy.

Hamas began as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and stressed charitable work. According to the Israeli weekly Koteret Rashit (October 1987), "The Islamic associations as well as the [Islamic university - founded in 1978 in Gaza] had been supported and encouraged by the Israeli military authority" in charge of the (civilian) administration of the West Bank and Gaza. "They [the Islamic associations and the university] were authorized to receive money payments from abroad."

When Hamas changed to a terrorist organization in 1987, it received funding from many Gulf states. It appears that Iran only got into the funding game when Hamas won elections in 2006.

The Institute for Counter Terrorism says this about Hamas:
The Axis of Destabilization
by KSENIA SVETLOVA
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 21, 2006

"On the same note, the alliance between Sunni Hamas and Iran is not a given - it's a strategic coalition, and it's important to remember that although Teheran gives full backing to the Hamas-led [Palestinian Authority] government, it also supported the attacks of Islamic Jihad against [Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh's cabinet, playing a double game based on its own interests in the region."

So it would seem that whatever Iran is doing in Palestine/Israel is protecting its own interests, but not necessarily fomenting unrest.

The other section of the ME that has become destabilized is, of course, Iraq. No matter what your own opinion of the war, much of the world has looked upon it as an unprovoked aggression by the US, which is why so many blame the US for the destabilization in that part of the ME.

Now, to answer your second question: How and when should Iran be dealt with?

This is a far more difficult question to answer. Experts appear to agree that the creation of a bomb by Iran is years off; but then again, there is always the possibility that Iran could purchase a weapon from a rogue state such as North Korea. Right now, the US armed forces are stretched thin; we literally do not have the trooppower to invade Iran. The only way we could stop what is going on there now would be by bombing, either conventional or nuclear. Let's look at these two options.

Conventional bombing has the advantage of taking out the nuclear facilities without causing the widespread nuclear contamination that dropping nuclear weapons would cause. The disadvantages are that, once attacked, Iranians would unite in support of their government, and might well join their Shia brothers in Iraq, thus expanding the ground war and further stretching our troops to the limit.

Nuclear bombing would take care of an attack by Iran on our troops in Iraq, but it would also poison the entire area, our troops included. I don't know if it would contaminate or even distroy oil fields, but this would be a distinct possibility. Also there is a distinct possibility that if Iran does indeed have a nuclear weapon already, it would use it against Israel, a close ally of the US.

Should Israel be brought into the picture, acting as a surrogate for US troops? Israel is a sovereign nation, and they would have to see that it is in their own best interest to do so.

GreenBeansRevenge

Irans actions today are reactionary to US occupation. Iran today is actually pretty freindly to the US compared to the late 70's when millions of religious fanatics followed khomeni in ousting the US puppet state that was actually very mean to them and used the military to suppress civil protests that were very common at that time around the world. It wasn't just hippies at woodstock, these gatherings were happening all over the world in the 60's and 70's. The US govt in Iran gassed and shot these protestors in 1978. This led to great hate of the US and the overthrow of the US placed Shah.

Today much of the youth teens and 20's do not hold the grudge of thier fathers and would very much like to be friends.
Here as there the youth do not control the govt. So what we must all do together is try not to let the hate and fear of our fathers create wars and problems for us.

As powerless youth, foot soldiers. The only recourse we have is to refuse to fight, you know quite well that the middle aged politicians aren't going to actually do any fighting themselves. Let the politicians blow thier wind bags, if the soldiers stay home on both sides there will be no war.

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