Well, if this week has shown us anything it is that we live on a very dangerous planet.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that not only was the election totally legitimate but that the protesters are responsible for any unrest or violence. He also vowed to prosecute them. The idea that Iran is a democracy ended the minute they stopped letting the situation be covered by the press. It comes as no surprise that the pro-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rally crowd changed “Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to Britain!” Ahmadinejad has said these things before and Khamenei already blamed the west for stirring up trouble there. So while protests will continue and the Guardian Council will still look into the more than 600 complaints about the election, it looks like Ahmadinejad will keep the presidency and given how much he wants to get nuclear weapons, that’s a bad thing for everyone. I know, his rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi , also favors continuing their nuclear program but he is not bat shit crazy. He’s not perfect but he would be a step in the right direction. This situation remains dicey for the US, given our past with Iran but I applaud Congress for voting on a resolution supporting free elections there. The White House needs to be more careful. I suspect some people here will hammer me for this but it is in times like this that I am glad Barack Obama won the White House and even more that George W. Bush is gone. That’s not a partisan thing, if George H.W. Bush was there I would feel the same way. He knew his way around the Middle East.
As all of our attention has been on Iran, another crazy dictator has been feeling a little ignored. Kim Jung Il behaves
like a spoiled child. When another country’s bad deeds capture the world, he has a temper tantrum. Unfortunately for his neighbors and us, his version of a hissy fit is a threat to nuke somebody. This week he announced his plan to shoot a missile at Hawaii. If you missed it, South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak , met with President Obama this week. He said that South Korea would ‘not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea’ but I think the genie has left that bottle, too.
The rationale these countries use for obtaining nuclear weapons is simple: Other countries have them so they should, too. It’s a matter of ‘national pride’ they say. I have an idea for both countries – and this could go for any nation – how about you work on feeding, clothing and housing your people? Take that money you want to use on missiles and buy some food. The national disgrace for you is not your weak militaries, it’s your piss poor records on human rights and horrible economies.
AlysonChadwick.com 