Iran, and the Rest of the World

Just finished reading Stephen Kinzer's All the Shah's Men, which is going on the recommend list. It's an account of the CIA-backed coup against the Iranian prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in 1953. 

I'm young, of course, so my knowledge of Iran has been relatively limited to wondering why the utter crackpots Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayattolah Ali Khamenei were allowed to run the country. After reading this book, though, Iran's feelings about the Western world make much more sense. We (being the U.S. and Britain, though the others certainly helped) destroyed the nation's chance at successful democracy. Iranians were so long opposed to the U.S. and the U.N. because we represent a threat to their sovereignty and their traditions.

Of course, to some extent, the tide has changed in Iran. While Ahmadinejad and the government still seek to remain independent, as with the secrecy of their nuclear operations, many younger Iranians have become pro-West. This is not unusual to see: young generations are naive and forgetful and do not understand the tragedies of the past. For now, though, the elders are still in power and it will be sometime before an Iran that does not resent us comes to be. 

Inadequacy and the Afghan Army

Speaking of the Afghan army, I just saw this on Al-Jazeera English. Not the most comforting of news.

And now that I've actually seen it...

To begin with (so you know where I'm coming from) you can:

• watch President Obama's speech at West Point, or read the full text at MSNBC
• read commentary and opinions from military and defense experts on The NYT

Obama seems truly apologetic about the choice he has made. Not to extrapolate too much, but he spoke in a tone that revealed his hesitancy to sacrifice the lives of more countrymen. Obama appears to have a level of respect for the military which is often missing from the left. 

In spite of my confidence in the man's moral stance, I still have doubts about the new strategy. Obama and his advisors seem to be overestimating both the efficacy of the American troops and the efficacy of the Afghan government and Afghan security forces. Corruption and stability are rife in Afghanistan. There is little base for the foundation of a  functioning military and police. I also have troubling believing that 30,000 more troops will be able to achieve what the first 70,000 couldn't.

Obama did reference investing in agriculture and other positive economic assistance, which I would love to hear more about. He is, however, opposed to nation building. Obviously this is a signal that we will no longer be forcing Western-style democracy and values on other nations. However, Obama seems to view the building of any kind of infrastructure, perhaps even schools and hospitals, as a violation of that promise. I had hoped to hear more about improving life for the Afghan people.

No clear-cut plan was offered for supplementing the ongoing cost of the war and the additional troops. Obama said repeatedly that he would "address" it, but did not mention anything about attempting to reduce it. It would be nice if some progress could be made in getting those costs under control, especially given our precarious financial state.

Obama ended on a note about our duties not only to the international community, but to ourselves. It got a little obnoxious, but it's true that we must all work together to build peace and security. He's right when he says that we went into this war united, and we should leave the same way.