Dear editor:
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, once an aide to Gen. Colin Powell, said this about his Republican Party: "But I know what my political party wants. My political party, at least some of them -- the 47 (senators), for example, who signed the letter to the Ayatollah -- they want war." And it seems to want loot for its contributors. After writing his infamous letter, Tom Cotton went to the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying group for defense contractors. Consider this also: the price of oil declined when the peace process with Iran was announced, but increased about 5 percent after the letter's contents were made public. A few years ago, Wilkerson reported that shortly after America invaded Iraq in 2003, Iran sued for peace on all fronts: nuclear weapons, support of Hezbollah, etc. The Bush administration refused, putting Iran in the "axis of evil." So the Bush people could have gotten a really good deal, but Iran had been put on the neoconservatives' hit list in 1998. I wonder why the right-wing propagandists ignore the reliable reporting of a Republican military man like Wilkerson.
Presidential candidate John McClain sang, "Bomb, bomb Iran." And the ayatollahs have gotten their people out numerous times to chant, "Death to America." But average Americans want the return of good paying jobs, which have been outsourced by right-wing billionaires. And Iranians who fled Iran report that the people left home want a more prosperous life after years of sanctions. Leaders throughout the world seem to be controlling their people by different versions of hate/fear Kabuki theater and religious nuttiness that could be potentially dangerous to mankind's survival.
Sometimes the media mention the devastating effect of our snatching of Iran's democracy in the early 1950s. But they gloss over the fact that the oil company, now known as BP (British Petroleum), went back to taking Iran's oil after the democratic leader was overthrown and the shah was put back into power. If the CIA and British were really serious about communism in Iran, they would have given the shah most of the oil profits to relieve the grinding poverty of many of his people. The shah, a charming and well-intentioned man, relied on his modernization and support of women's rights while the CIA kept him in power by supervising the torturing and imprisoning of Iran's dissidents. The ayatollahs misled the Iranian people by promising to use oil profits to better their life. Instead, they killed the CIA and KGB station chiefs and went on a reign of religious intolerance -- their method of keeping power and control as they have failed to keep their promise of prosperity and genuine democracy.
During the Bush administration, right-wing propagandists easily talked the American people into a $3 trillion war in Iraq. Such a war caused the death of over 5,000 Americans and thousands of seriously injured soldiers. If it wasn't for the right wing's skillful use of religious culture wars and made-up scandals, Americans would be enjoying prosperity and freedom from unnecessary wars.
Linda Woodbury
Hot Springs
Editorial on 05/03/2015