04-03 The Shia Crescent

The most memorable component of our two-week tour of the Soviet Union in 1987 was the war memorials commemorating the slaughter following the German invasion in WW2. People may not remember the geopolitics of war, but they never forget the deaths of family and friends. And the brides in the communities we visited always had a wedding photo taken at the local war memorial.
Well, we have a similar situation in Iraq, with local memorials linked to those who died during the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran that started in 1980. 300,000 Iran soldiers were killed, and tens of thousands are still suffering from Iraq chemical gas attacks.
And who were the big supporters of the Iraq led war? Directly, in terms of funds, it was Saudi Arabia and indirectly, the United States. The photo is a prize winner that shows Iran's forces during a skirmish. A lot of the current tension between the US and Israel and Iran can be traced to strategic mistakes made by the US in the past.
What they call the Shia crescent is the countries in the middle east that are dominated by Shia Muslims, a branch of Islam that is dominant in Iran and Iraq and Pakistan, but with sizeable numbers in countries like Afghanistan, Lebanon and Syria.
I have Iranian friends in Canada, and they do not identify with the Arab world any more than they identify with Israel. They are part of an ancient Persian empire with its own history, language and culture. The photo is a beautiful shot of the capital city of Tehran.
To try to explain the history of Israel/Iran relations or even US/Iran relationships would bore you to death. All my efforts to make any sense of the issue of Iran being “an enemy” goes back to Iran oil, the Ayatollahs, and US-Israeli geo-politics.
In simple terms, it makes more sense for the US to make friends with Saudi-Arabia than Iran. They have more oil, and their brand of Islam is the majority Sunni brand around the world.
The photo showing the more moderate President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the background. There is no doubt in my mind that if Iran became a more secular Islamic state that Israel and Iran would become real friends.
The “Death to America” noise that is so much a part of Iran’s history over the last thirty years is a product of the nation’s control by its Islamic fundamentalist ideologues.
Just look at Iran today. It has a large Jewish population that does not face discrimination. Women serve in politics and own their own businesses. And the photo shows young Iranian girls using make-up and wearing western outfits. In fact, it is women that are liberalizing the culture of Iran.
And if Iran and Israel were to resume full diplomatic relations, the side wars between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel and Hamas in Gaza would come to a halt.
The idea that Iran is a nuclear threat to Israel is silly. Israel has nuclear submarines and nuclear ballistic missiles. It is like saying Russia is a nuclear threat to the United States. Their missiles are deterrents.
Iran has a population of eighty million and an educated workforce. They need Israel as economic and political partners. And the United States needs to replace Saudi Arabia with Iran as a strategic partner in the Middle East.