My Response to an Iranian Lady

I think what's driving most of the pro-war crowd is fear. That is understandable. 9/11 was a terrible event and I will just say for the sake of keeping myself out of it that it touched me more directly than I will say here.But 9/11 did externalize fears about a terrorist nuclear weapon that many esp in New York have had for a long time: at least since 1993. That has to be kept in mind.

It would of course be frightening to have a superpower like the USA determine its foreign policy on the basis of fear. That is why I don't think it will happen. But it could. The governments of Nazi Germany and particularly Stalinist Russia -- and the politics of the USA during the Red Scare, both in the teens and fifties -- were also dominated by fear.

The problem is that it is difficult to allay these fears. Nuclear weapons exist. The prospect of seeing yourself, your family, or some city in the US being incinerated in a tenth of a second is real, even if it is very remote.That is what really fueled the support for the invasion of Iraq and that clearly is what is fueling the support for the bombing of Iran, and basically, the entire Muslim world.

The problem is that we have to live with this fear. If we start trying to take out EVERYONE who might hurt us with a nuke or whatever, we will never stop. And mass hysteria, governed by fear, has a bad track record of going after its own after all the obvious external threats are neutralized. Another turn on the phrase, "revolution devouring its own children."I think we, as a nation, have a bit of a mass sickness here, a mass sickness facilitated by the nature of internet communication, which, for many serves as a sink for all of our deep down impulses, some of which are quite base and destructive.

Having said that, I would prefer no more nuclear proliferation. But I cannot endorse the promiscuous use of force. The 20th Century is about that: and if we really want to learn any lessons from history, we have to learn that.

I also have to tell you, Nargess, that, being an American, I have to rate my country higher than anyone else's. That is wrong, before God, but it is the weakness of nationalism. My country will take steps to protect itself and it will take steps to preserve our way of life and our way of consumption. Naturally, I would PREFER that this be done with a minimum of violence, and with an awareness that all life deserves its right to dignity, to flourish, and to have its day in the sun.

My best to you.