Whether or not Trump is going to throw everyone under the bus is old news. It's dog bites man, it's beating a dead horse. Whether it's worth our while to actually pursue a "regime change" in Iran, if by that we mean killing the current leadership and helping Iran to restore the democracy we toppled in 1953, is the actual question, and it…
Whether or not Trump is going to throw everyone under the bus is old news. It's dog bites man, it's beating a dead horse. Whether it's worth our while to actually pursue a "regime change" in Iran, if by that we mean killing the current leadership and helping Iran to restore the democracy we toppled in 1953, is the actual question, and it should be debated. You Bulwark folks are among those who should be debating it, not simply using this our latest war as the basis for criticizing the Trump admistration. Consider Trump and his minions disgraced! Okay, now move on to the issues at hand.
The Iran of 1953 doesn’t exist anymore and there’s no way to go back there and make amends even if we wanted to. Regime change was a disaster in Iraq with a more competent administration than we have now and a much smaller population. I’m all for Iranian self determination free of the mullahs, but we’re hardly in a position to midwife that particularly given our own backsliding on the democracy issue. I’m not sure the child that might arise out of us trying to create democracy in Iran is one anyone would want.
No one ever knows what the consequences of acting morally will be. However, we’ve experimented extensively with acting immorally in our global affairs and we’re well able to assess how that has worked out for us and everyone else concerned. An argument that reduces to “it’s too late to do the right thing,” can never reach a moral conclusion. It’s intrinsically flawed.
I am not saying we shouldn’t do the right thing, however, trying to elucidate the right thing to do is tricky and not straightforward. There are those who believe bombing Iran’s nuclear sites was the right thing to do. Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know the long term outcomes and we don’t know if this was the right or wrong thing to do and may not know that for a long time. I’m not sure the Iranians are waiting for us to come and atone for the signs of 1953 either. Sometimes the right thing to do is stay out of other countries period.
Whether or not Trump is going to throw everyone under the bus is old news. It's dog bites man, it's beating a dead horse. Whether it's worth our while to actually pursue a "regime change" in Iran, if by that we mean killing the current leadership and helping Iran to restore the democracy we toppled in 1953, is the actual question, and it should be debated. You Bulwark folks are among those who should be debating it, not simply using this our latest war as the basis for criticizing the Trump admistration. Consider Trump and his minions disgraced! Okay, now move on to the issues at hand.
The Iran of 1953 doesn’t exist anymore and there’s no way to go back there and make amends even if we wanted to. Regime change was a disaster in Iraq with a more competent administration than we have now and a much smaller population. I’m all for Iranian self determination free of the mullahs, but we’re hardly in a position to midwife that particularly given our own backsliding on the democracy issue. I’m not sure the child that might arise out of us trying to create democracy in Iran is one anyone would want.
No one ever knows what the consequences of acting morally will be. However, we’ve experimented extensively with acting immorally in our global affairs and we’re well able to assess how that has worked out for us and everyone else concerned. An argument that reduces to “it’s too late to do the right thing,” can never reach a moral conclusion. It’s intrinsically flawed.
I am not saying we shouldn’t do the right thing, however, trying to elucidate the right thing to do is tricky and not straightforward. There are those who believe bombing Iran’s nuclear sites was the right thing to do. Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know the long term outcomes and we don’t know if this was the right or wrong thing to do and may not know that for a long time. I’m not sure the Iranians are waiting for us to come and atone for the signs of 1953 either. Sometimes the right thing to do is stay out of other countries period.
I’m glad to see that you’re taking a position on the issue.