Smoke Another One

Re A Template for Taming Iran by Richard Brookhiser

February 16, 2007

Sir;

Reading Richard Brookhiser's simple, eloquent and concise suggestion on how we might best engage Iran by reviewing our history with the Barbary States ("A Template for Taming Iran," February 8, 2007), I was struck by how clear the facts were presented, how easy the concepts were to grasp, etc.

A second pass, however, revealed something rather stark, and initially invisible due to my own myopia: It makes absolutely no practical sense. It is no longer the world of 1979, let alone 1789. Aside from the fact that a few (uniquely American) developments in the interim have had considerable affect upon our view of global affairs (telephones, aircraft, seeing who gets cut from American Idol this week at all costs), the tenor of the writing is pretty slanted. And, I feel, to our collective detriment. Reread the piece and see if you make it as far as the second to last paragraph - the one containing the words "Jefferson" "slaves" "greed" and "religion" all bunched together - before giving pause to the fact that we are marinated in our own superiority to the point of blindness. “Since zeal could modified by greed, their true religion was the shakedown”. Indeed, Mr Brookhiser, indeed...

The opening paragraph, after referencing the past 27 years of Iranian relations, then binds all Islam together with the "...last time we tried" closing sentence, which leapfrogs back through time and space to (North African and Arabian) Islamic brigands. Of the Mediterranean Sea, not Persian Gulf. Two centuries ago.

Is this an accurate template for victory? Perhaps a better question: What percentage of a strategy session in Tehran is spent mulling over Arabian pirates and their dealings with the Great Satan in the early 1800's? Is it reasonable to consider that present Iranian intelligence, 200 years and a couple thousand miles (in both distance and culture) removed from the Barbary States will probably not adopt a similar "template" when assessing our next move? How long would the guy keep his job who suggests some of their brighter bulbs now be pulled away from enriched uranium defense to study the tactical successes of Stephen Decatur? (Or keep his head for that matter.)

The word "taming" was no accident either - it is a very well chosen word, and fitting given the cattle-rustling mythology that greatly made this country. The implication is clear: "They" (the modern-day brigands) are wild and must be taught to heel, and this couldn't be more apparent than with the current Iranian president. While his indignant posture and incendiary rhetoric not only threaten regional stability, he clearly does not reflect the wishes of the majority of his own people. To think someone like that could get elected in this day and age...

Now, as much as ever, it is important to be a student of history. Maintaining some perspective will only help in resolute decision making that benefits future generations of Americans. And while it may be tempting to allow xenophobic tendencies to crop up from time to time, let's not forget from whence we came. You know: the country that eradicated huge swathes of Native American populations, considered Black folks property and occasionally checked our own females for buoyancy. In the name of greed and excused by religion. Let's keep that in mind while we continue to move forward.


PT
Seattle, Washington


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