From time to time I get the word about undemocratic procedures within the Islamic Republic of Iran. A group of Iranian lawyers are launching such news, and I happen to be on their mailing list. Being convinced that there is much truth in what they say about a cruel treatment of those citizens not willing to surrender to the system, and being simultaneously disgusted by the way,
official Iranian sources are dealing with the holocaust of Jews during Nazi rule in Germany, I cannot ignore the fact that the Iranian people are surely backing their government when it comes to foreign attacks on their country. Even though the Iranian society seems to be deeply divided in the frame of a conflict between secular policy and Islamic fundamentalism, there is still much patriotism to be found in Iran. Recent military and scientific achievements, though rather moderate, are acclaimed by the Iranian people, and Western counterparts should seriously consider to deal with an enemy difficult to beat in an open military conflict, at least much more difficult to beat than, let's say, Iraq or Afghanistan. Furthermore, Iran is situated at the southern frontier of Russia's sphere of influence and incredibly near to the sources of oil and natural gas that are fuelling Russia's economy. With a Russian president behind his back, rather inclined to deliver latest missile technology to Iran than to accept the installation of a U.S. defence system against a diffuse "nuclear challenge" in Eastern Europe, the Iranian president seems to be in a better position than the Western alliance against "nuclear proliferation" might even imagine.
Done with Iran ? Next target Baku oilfield ?
Nice satellite views for the NeoCons to see !
Update on December 4, 2007:
Now that a brandnew U.S. intelligence report confirmed that Iran gave up the development of nuclear arms as early as 2003, president Bush's attitude towards Iran and his obvious intention to wage war against its people becomes more and more questionable. What still remains is what many observers suspected for long: The NeoCons are
getting more and more greedy for oil !
