In 1953 Iran had a democratically elected president, Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh was deposed by the United States CIA and Britain’s MI6 because he wanted to change Iran’s position on how Iran’s oil revenues were being unfairly taken, mainly by Britain but also the U.S.A. The CIA and MI6 instigated riots and protests among the Iranian people, then without allowing the Iranian citizens to choose, installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as their absolute dictator whose repressive and corrupt regime led to a popular revolt in 1979. The citizens who took American hostages did so because they blamed America for deposing their president and imposing the Shah. Then, ironically, the foreign intelligence agencies fomented what became the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that ousted the Shah. That revolution continues today and pits Iran’s current repressive religious leaders against progressive reformists.
Iran’s current political situation is theocratic, not democratic and much of the population lives under repression of rights. Such are the fruits of the various regime changes we have arbitrarily forced on the Iranian people. They know we are to blame and are understandably upset with us, much as we would be if Iran attempted to change our regime by subterfuge and/or assassination. Israel just murdered the leaders of Iran’s government so the Iranians may wonder why they should not seek to respond. Now, President Trump wants another regime change in Iran but he wants to select the new regime leader while Israel wants to turn Iran into the same type of rubble it has wrought in Gaza.
Two hundred and fifty years ago we Colonials sought regime change from King George III’s control. After great strife and hardship our Founders adopted the U.S. Constitution that is the gold standard for regime change. It was and is the light that kept a rag-tag group of British subjects from disintegrating into a mob of warring factions and, while far from a perfect union, led to a country where religion is supposed to have no say in our government and our government is to have no say in religion. Both press and speech are to be unfettered while due process is required to take our lives and our property. When it comes to war, our military is to be only for OUR national defense, not ill-advised adventurism. And that self-defense is to be entered into ONLY with the advice, consent and authorization of our elected representatives in Congress.
We Americans have frequently lost touch with the wisdom that took regime change to freedom. Unfortunately, we have occasionally lost sight of our own experience and convinced ourselves we know how other countries should govern themselves. Such entanglements almost always have resulted in disaster for America and those we deign as inferior to our culture. We normally work our way into these briar patches with no way for either the other countries or ourselves to escape without losing our dignity, our treasure or even our lives. Such is our current stumble into starting a war against Iran because we, once again, have violated our Constitution to our detriment.
If our Constitution is carefully followed, our collective goodwill and good judgment will help us remember to remain humble and to choose right over wrong. To see what is right is what our founding document guides us to. It is then up to us to do what is right in the face of our natural human frailty of choosing to impose our will on others. We should remember we are neither Nazis, Zionists, Marxists, Communists, Fascists, monarchists nor a theocracy and we should not allow ourselves to be misled by any such flawed systems of government. We are a republic based on a constitution and when we fail to follow our Constitution, as in Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Palestine or Iran, they suffer and so do we. Of course, when our country becomes untethered from its core principles, the first issue to be addressed is which principles have been cast aside and why.
Donald Trump based his campaign promises on two worthy goals: avoid offensive wars and improve America’s standard of living. Trump had looked at our foreign military entanglements in the devastating, pointless and baseless wars since WWII and campaigned on their immorality and multi-trillion-dollar cost; Trump was right about our failure to adhere to our core values then. But, as we humans often do, Trump succumbed to the same hubris as some of his predecessors. We Americans are not the saviors we see ourselves to be, but are mere humans who have lost our way because we drifted from our Constitution, core values and our true Volksgeist.
President Trump has fallen victim to what almost all of us has from time to time. When we are cursed with power, we cannot resist abusing it. That is the danger our Founders knew and guarded against 250 years ago. One of those worst dangers is unbridled military power fueled by blind belief in the rightness of a cause and/or the belief in the evilness of someone else.
Donald Trump is caught up in that trap many of us are in danger of falling heir to. He has the reins of immense power and cannot recognize that he is much like a child with an irresistible opportunity of exerting it over virtually defenseless victims. His is the psyche of a boy with a new BB gun and a helpless bird in his sights. It is the immorality of one who simply cannot resist the exhilaration of killing, especially of anyone who asserts their own views and independence.
That is the frailty of human nature our Founders recognized most of us are in danger of should we ever have the opportunity to force our will on others. That is the basis of our Constitution. Our President, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the News Media and each American citizen need the constant reminder that the separation and equality of our three branches of government are the raison d’etre we are nearing our 250th birthday.
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