We Have Iran Surrounded

I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a co-worker about Iran in which we discussed the possibility of the United States and/or Israel attacking that country and what a nuclear-armed Iran would mean. While neither of us were keen on Iran obtaining an arsenal of nuclear missiles, I made the mistake of saying that I can understand Iran's desire to have them. My interlocutor jumped on top of that comment and started lecturing me on the apocalyptic conditions that would prevail should Iran get its grubby paws on nuclear weapons. I'm not sure why he couldn't understand that I wasn't cheering Iran on but rather looking at the world through their eyes and concluding that their pursuit of them was completely logical given how the state of affairs appears from Tehran.

We, along with Britain, helped engineer a coup there in 1953 to topple a democratically elected government and replace it with a tyrant. After the revolution of 1979, things between us and Iran have been sour to say the least. In 2001 we declare Iran to be part of an "axis of evil" and promptly invade Afghanistan. Two years later we do the same to Iraq. So the Iranians find that The Great Satan is on both their western and eastern borders. Today we have quite a military presence in the Middle East as shown on this map.





And now I read that we are amassing a stealth-jet armada near Iran.

The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the world’s most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment have joined a potent mix of active-duty and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles, including some fitted with the latest advanced radars. The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war.

The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats and minesweepers enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry.

Plus we have also pledged to help Afghanistan for 10 years after we withdraw troops.

After months of negotiations, the United States and Afghanistan completed drafts of a strategic partnership agreement on Sunday that pledges American support for Afghanistan for 10 years after the withdrawal of combat troops at the end of 2014.

Imagine if Iran had initiated a coup here in the States 60 years ago and then invaded Canada and Mexico 10 years ago. We too would want to bolster our military in any way possible. We too would want nukes as part of a defensive posture.

I really hope we don't go to war with Iran. But I worry because whenever I hear about Iran and its quest for nukes, it's almost always from the view that they're just a bunch of crazies who want to wipe out Israel instead of a country acting in its own geopolitical interest.