Iran has admitted that the Ukrainian 737 airliner was unintentionally shot down. Tony Burman writes that the admission is just another in a series of violent acts and missed opportunities:
To an astonishing extent, the story of the past four decades of Iranian-U.S. relations is one of selective memory and missed opportunity — by each side.
An example of selective memory occurred this week in a sharp exchange between the country’s two presidents, Donald Trump and Hassan Rouhani.
Trump warned Iran that the U.S. had identified 52 Iranian sites, some “important to Iran and Iranian culture” and they would be “hit very fast and hard” if Tehran carried out revenge attacks on them.
Iran’s president replied that “290” is actually the proper number to stress, referring to the Iranian passenger plane shot down accidentally by the U.S. military in 1988, killing all 290 civilians on board.
The American hostage drama of 1979 is probably the only historic Iranian event that most Americans remember, but it is rarely mentioned now in Iran. In contrast, the U.S. downing in 1988 of an Iranian passenger jet — unknown to most Americans — is etched deeply in Iranian history.
People forget that there have been several times when the Americans and Iranians could have buried the hatchet:
In 2003, as respected Iranian-American scholar Trita Parsi once reported, Iranian officials secretly offered the Bush Administration a “grand bargain” that would have limited Iran’s aggressive actions in the region and lead to the recognition of Israel — as long as the U.S. abandoned any notion of “regime change.” The offer was rejected as not serious.
And then, of course, after years of negotiation, there was the historic nuclear deal of 2016 between Iran and the world’s leading powers. It provided stability for more than a decade and was being adhered to by Iran — until Donald Trump blew it up.
The two nations are like the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Both families come to church on Sundays -- rifles in hand -- and sit on opposite sides of the aisle. But, as they leave, they tell the preacher they were impressed by the sermon -- on brotherly love. Each side has forgotten the reason why the feud between the two families started. Nevertheless, they're certain they must uphold the family honour.
And innocent people continue to die in the ongoing tragedy.
11 comments:
So nice to hear an adult voice in the midst of our media hysteria.
Sorry I posted too quickly. The US coup that brought the Shaw and Savak to power in the early fifties is also part of the story.
These days, the global public square sounds more like the schoolyard, rumley.
Quite true, rumley. This is an old story.
Juan Cole, over at Informed comment has an interesting post up about the air support the Americans gave General Soleimani's forces when they attacked Tikrit, when they were trying to remove ISIS from the town. The Americans did not believe the American trained Iraqi army was up to the job, so General Soleimani took care of it. Just like the Kurds, who did the hard fighting in Syria, Soleimani forces did the same. Just like the Kurds, who he abandoned, and some were killed, Soleimani was also of no use to him any longer and had him murdered to deflect from other problems he had at home. When Trump abandoned the Kurds one of their leaders was stopped by the ISIS FORCES, dragged from her vehicle and shot and killed along with those with her. I think it not unreasonable to conclude once you are of no use to Trump or he thinks you're a threat, you die. His American Cabinet members are fortunate, he only fires them.
NATO countries are best to stay out of any mess Trump creates. You could wind up dead.
.. 2016 to today is a decade.. ?? Or a brief era or respite .. ?
Trump demands loyalty, e.a.f. But, clearly, he doesn't give it.
The deal set out a ten year time frame, sal. After a decade, it would be re-negotiated.
I see Trump as growing into the job in a role that he's always been anxious if somewhat hesitant to play. Now he's joined the club. That wasn't too hard, was it? He can now commiserate in comfort with Kim, Vlad, Rod, Xi, MBS, et al. as a fellow callous killer. No more, or at least a little less, timidity will be on call when dealing with these guys from now on. I'll bet each of them will spot the difference in his demeanour the next time he calls. Maybe he'll even dare to treat some of them as no-accounts as he does with the likes of Merkel and Justin. Watch for the high-fives and backslaps at the next G20.
I'd like to publish your comment, Anon. But it needs to be initialled.
Trump's rhetoric has always been the rhetoric of a tyrant, John. Now, his actions confirm that he is one.
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