2008 Woodie Awards
A long-awaited peace between the US and Iran is now plausible and necessary
Ismail Ayad '10
Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Opinion
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In the Feb. 12 edition of the New York Times, one of the front page issues was an article titled "U.S. Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites". For the past few weeks, the U.S. has been pointing the finger at Iran, stating that they are inciting violence in Iraq, but no one has explained why Iran is supporting the Shiite militias.
Ever since the start of the U.S. invasion, the Iranians have been on edge. Now they have U.S. bases surrounding them in the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq; George W. Bush calling Iran a member of the "Axis of Evil" certainly hasn't helped.
The Iranians believe that the U.S. is intent on an invasion of their country, and in Iranian President Ahmedinejad's mind, stopping the U.S. in Iraq would delay any war giving Iran the opportunity to strengthen itself. Given Iran's bad history with the U.S., most Iranians see it as a step in the right direction.
Although many Iranians disagree over actually using force in the Iraq situation, many policy makers in Iran see it as the only opportunity to influence their neighbor, seeing as the U.S. slapped the wrist of President Jalal Talabani for engaging in a meeting with President Ahmedinejad a few months back.
What the officials in Washington need to understand is that Iran and Iraq are neighbors, and that means that there needs to be some sort of favorable relationship between the two states in order to achieve stability. So all these roadblocks Washington has set up between Iran and Iraq essentially work only to the detriment of U.S. forces in Iraq, since Iran's only remaining policy option is to use violence and subterfuge.
What many people in Washington don't realize is that Iran has a vested interest in having the current regime in power. With its largely Shiite majority, Iraq would be much closer to Iran with a Shiite-led government.
Furthermore, the promotion of democratic ideals within Iraq would stabilize the country and ensure Iran's security. In terms of foreign policy, the U.S. and Iran overlap in that they want a stable Iraq with the current regime in place, although they have different reasons for wanting this.
Ever since the start of the U.S. invasion, the Iranians have been on edge. Now they have U.S. bases surrounding them in the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq; George W. Bush calling Iran a member of the "Axis of Evil" certainly hasn't helped.
The Iranians believe that the U.S. is intent on an invasion of their country, and in Iranian President Ahmedinejad's mind, stopping the U.S. in Iraq would delay any war giving Iran the opportunity to strengthen itself. Given Iran's bad history with the U.S., most Iranians see it as a step in the right direction.
Although many Iranians disagree over actually using force in the Iraq situation, many policy makers in Iran see it as the only opportunity to influence their neighbor, seeing as the U.S. slapped the wrist of President Jalal Talabani for engaging in a meeting with President Ahmedinejad a few months back.
What the officials in Washington need to understand is that Iran and Iraq are neighbors, and that means that there needs to be some sort of favorable relationship between the two states in order to achieve stability. So all these roadblocks Washington has set up between Iran and Iraq essentially work only to the detriment of U.S. forces in Iraq, since Iran's only remaining policy option is to use violence and subterfuge.
What many people in Washington don't realize is that Iran has a vested interest in having the current regime in power. With its largely Shiite majority, Iraq would be much closer to Iran with a Shiite-led government.
Furthermore, the promotion of democratic ideals within Iraq would stabilize the country and ensure Iran's security. In terms of foreign policy, the U.S. and Iran overlap in that they want a stable Iraq with the current regime in place, although they have different reasons for wanting this.
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