Iran's So Far Away (Flock of Seagulls Pun)

I have been in "It's Over" mode for about a year now.  Every day the news has been getting a little worse. Iran is going to continue enriching uranium Then comes the day that you wake up and the worst things are going on, the US is accusing Iran of providing materials for constructing sophisticated roadside bombs, and 8 US solders were killed this morning in Iraq and you say to yourself, "wow it can't possibly get worse than this".  But then you wake up the next day and Iran is ignoring UN threats and says they will wipe the Zionists off the map. Then finally, you wake up and watch CNN and you say "the news is the worst it could possibly be". And the next day it's even worse.  So you can see maybe why I have retreated into a politically catatonic state.

I have always enjoyed being "up" on current events.  I awoke politically at a younger age than most.  During the Iran Hostage crisis, I remember sneaking out to the TV to watch Nightline.  My 6th grade mind could not comprehend how our nation with the military might could let this group on fundamentalist hippies hold our people hostage and burn our flags and call us the Great Satan; Too young to remember or understand Vietnam.

Now in all fairness, I was unaware that old, grandfatherly Eisenhower had toppled the democratically elected leader Mohammad Mossadeq and installed the Shah, who's father supported the Axis powers during the Second World War.  The US wanted a friendlier regime so they could keep a better eye on Soviet missile tests.  The Shah, as ruthless as any dictator, ruled with an iron fist and used his secret police and dungeons  to torture and kill anyone who stood in the way of his policies.

Fast forward to 2001, where the winds of change were beginning to blow in Iran, and the movements for reform and secularization were starting to form.  After the September 11th attacks, Iran was one of the nations where spontaneous candlelight vigils appeared.  The US was on the verge of turning the page to a new chapter and perhaps forging a new relationship with Iran.  In once fell swoop, George W. Bush, doing what he believed to be the military and morally right thing to do invaded Iraq with the forethought of a teenager pushing Risk pieces from Europe to Asia.  The goodwill that had built up was squandered.  The neo-cons (con short for condescend) acted more like the radical Islamists they claimed to be protecting us from.  Who needs a plan to win long term stability, if God is for us who could stand against us?  Well I'll tell you who.  An organized and well funded insurgency.  Iranians came across the border with increasingly sophisticated weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices and training.

What did the Bush administration counter with?  "The insurgency is in it's last throes".  What's worse than a bully?  Six bullies fighting for control in the power vacuum after the bully has been expelled.

This war in Iraq has the makings of a good old fashioned two-hundred year power struggle.  The only thing this fubar-stew is missing is Arch Duke Ferdinand, and the Holy Grail.  The good news is when you finally stop worrying about the things that are out of your control, you get an Eagle's Hotel California-like Peaceful Easy Feeling.  I don't worry about what things will be like in 10 years.  I just treat every day that goes by like a gift.  It isn't easy to set down this burden like I did, but once you do, you'll breathe in the refreshing air of political apathy and you will thank me.
 

DOB 9/21/2006

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