Middle East Insecurity = Iran prosperity?

[Godfuader]

Very interesting article from today's NY Times. Basically saying that post 9/11 the US has actually helped them gain momentum in the region. The elimination of Saddam and attacking the Taliban took care of Iran's two regional enemies. Now with the shiite uprising, its all coming together for Iran. The ousting of Mubarak takes off some of the hostility towards Iran (via Hamas). Not to mention, moving their forces through the canal has given this regional outcast yet another boost in confidence. Will the series of events propel Iran to become an actual threat to anyone? Not likely. Is it an interesting perspective? Definitely!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/world/middleeast/24saudis.html

[Xtrema]

Yep, make sense.

Taliban is now irrelevant anyway as middle east is slowly waking up and US losing grip.

[911fever]

to the OP and others, article by NYT on Bush being right about his 'freedom' agenda

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/weekinreview/13baker.html?hp
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/11/133659238/egypt-shows-george-w-bush-was-right


Originally posted by Xtrema
Yep, make sense.

Taliban is now irrelevant anyway as middle east is slowly waking up and US losing grip.

I don't know if this is necessarily true.
this Middle East unrest could be positive for the US..
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/02/23/middle-east-unrest-could-be-net-positive-us-counterterrorism-efforts-former-cia-chief-say


even al-qaeda doesn't back Qaddafi!
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/24/al-qaeda-backs-libyan-protesters-condemns-qaddafi-massacres/

[revelations]

Iran is not some backasswards 3rd world country we are told.... the Persians have historically been a major world power and will likely rise again economically or militarily.

If their dumbass "president" and religious leaders would get out of the way of the people, Iran would develop and prosper as a nation because they are highly educated and industrialized.

Israel, despite the war of rhetoric, had very good relations with Iran in the 80s and 90s and may have again in the future.

[sputnik]

Think of it this way.

Economically speaking Tehran is to Iran as Calgary is to Canada.

- Oil rich
- Nearby skiing
- Banking hub
- Highly educated
- Highest per capita women with plastic surgery

Even most of the people living in Tehran are not even Muslim. Many have left the beliefs of their parents and grandparents.

Here is a GREAT BBC documentary about Iran.

Rageh Inside Iran

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9161934809152225169#

[Sugarphreak]

...

[arian_ma]

I'm glad that some people are not being brainwashed by the massive influx of utter BS the news spews about my country. Obviously, I am biased about the topic, but I'm not an idiot either. Iran has its problems, as does any other country. It just boils my blood the way the news paints the picture...I had a friend of mine's dad say to my face that if he were president, all of the M.E. would be flattened....

The actions of a country's government shouldn't be directly correlated with the way the people of that country are, especially in the Middle East where most of the countries have a dictator or imaginary elections.

[Godfuader]

There is something inherently very wrong in the original article though. It is still being written with the outdated Cold War 'us vs. them' mentality and being either 'pro-West or pro-Iran', and it is actually is not that simple. A major flaw in the article is its approach to the protest movement. The people want self-determination and DON'T want to be dictated to by foreign powers, whether America or Iran or anybody. The article makes it seem as if the only options are to be lead by an Iran'esque autocratic regime, or Americanized democracy.

[ZenOps]

What I want to know is...

Where are the US warships? Germany has sent 3? so far, the Brits have sent one.

You have to know, that if Bush was still at the head there would probably be two aircraft carriers, a dozen battleships and who knows how many subs there - yesterday.