Its become fashionable to mock and disparage Iran’s and Venezuela’s leaders and any other country that defies US hegemony. Iran has every right to defend itself against US and Israeli aggression. Iran has never invaded another country. The US on the other hand, well, we lost count. As for Israel, the US is intent on propping it up despite its extremist and racialist policies.
Yes, Ahmadinajad’s rhetoric is not always to my liking, but hey rhetoric is just that. And, yes, Iran has done things that I do not support such as support Hezbollah. But on that, Hezbollah would not exactly cease to exist; it is an organization that enjoys tremendous support among a segment of the Lebanese.
It is US policy that does more to breed support for Hezbollah and other extremist groups in the region. The media should stop accepting as given that US has a tendency to be fair in its treatment of political issues in the region. It does not. It has supported an apartheid regime, Israel, for decades without any regard to the basic rights of the indigenous people who have been decisively erased from Palestine.
As for the excuse that Iran has disputes with neighboring Arab states; well, there is no country in the region that does not have land ongoing land disputes with its neighbors. What is unique in this case is that the US has pressured its Arab gulf allies not to negotiate with the Iranians; the spot needs to remain hot.
I remember just a few years ago the gulf countries were eager to talk to Iran and iron out issues; yes, Iran was not an easy nut to crack, but then they need to look out for their interests; and that includes, sadly, protecting itself from US and Israeli evil intent.
