American Schizophrenia Regarding Iran
Published by BG on Monday, May 21, 2007 at 11:14 AM.The tortuous road to Tehran | Salon.com
With the prospect of a third round of United Nations sanctions in the coming weeks over Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, Ahmadinejad's government will continue to look for ways to divert attention from the harmful stagnation of its policies. Since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, Iranians have had to suffer worsening unemployment, inflation and a sputtering economy. They have been told they may have to suffer further sanctions in the name of unity and nuclear pride, but at the same time they now see the U.S. reaching out to their government, albeit while making a fist with the other hand. They are not necessarily willing to have improved relations with the West at any cost, but impatience with Ahmadinejad is growing by the day, and average Iranians want the matter settled, one way or another, sooner rather than later, so they and their government can get back to improving their lives.
An interesting one-page read on how our recent mixed-messages regarding how we feel about Iran ("Axis of Evil" vs. sending Condoleeza Rice to meet their envoy) is probably an inadvertantly intelligent way to handle our foreign relations.
A vacillation between threats of war and diplomatic engagement may hurt the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because it helps preserve a stagnant political status quo inside Iran -- and that leaves Ahmadinejad's citizens, who are suffering from a sharp economic decline under his leadership, increasingly restless. Inside Iran there has been talk of imminent war with the United States for at least two years now. But war has not come, and at some point the distraction from other concerns wears thin, allowing day-to-day problems, such as the soaring price of tomatoes, vegetables and other commodities to take over.
I'll take a win, even if it's purely accidental.
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