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Chris: "The US kept sanctions on Iran even after the UN lifted its sanctions. There are exemptions which have allowed some deals. But why have sanctions at all if Iran is such a great ally? I think it has something to do with Iran's support of Hezbollah against Israel." My argument was not that the US and Iran were "great allies." It was that they are, *in practice*, in most of the main theatres of conflict in the Mideast *at present*, allies, in sharp contrast to Trumpist rhetoric. The reasons for the long-term war of rhetoric, as well as the mild sanctions that Chris notes, are, as I said, an interesting topic for research. I'm more than open to suggestions. I have no hard and fast opinions. However, Chris' view, probably a common one, that "it has something to do with Iran's support of Hezbollah against Israel" only creates more questions, not answers. That would have been a good answer up till Hezbollah's liberation of southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000. Actually, the Iran-Israel "conflict" is, even much more than the US-Iran one, a blatant war of rhetoric, mediated by geographic distance which makes it all the more harmless. It is the Arabic peoples living in between who get slaughtered by Iran and Israel while they shout at each other. However, due to the lucky coincidence that southern Lebanon just happened to be heavily populated by Shia, the Iranian-backed Shia militia Hezbollah took the lead in the national liberation struggle. This enabled Iran to appear to be "fighting Zionism", in an actual hot war, when in fact this was an entirely rational liberation struggle. Hard to imagine how different history may have been if southern Lebanon were populated by Sunni, and the Shia were unaffeced up north somewhere. But once Lebanon was liberated in 2000, Iran and Hezbollah itself were then a a loss as to how to continue to justify the "resistance" ideology that had grown as a result, which for one thing facilitated the mullah regime terrorising its own population via the use of bullshit. The brief and bloody flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, when Hezbollah kidnapped a few Zionist troops and Israel destroyed half of Lebanon and killed 1500 Lebanese civilians in response, perhaps briefly gave the rhetoric a bit more "meat," however, and ironically, but even Nasrallah had to admit that the punishment meted out on Lebanese civilians was not worth his games. But regardless, since 2006, the Israeli-Lebanese border has been stone-cold quiet (not sure if it was as quiet as the Syria-Israel "border" on occupied Golan for 40 years under Assad, but almost as much). No-one claims Hezbollah did jack "against Israel" over the last 11 years. Instead, since 2011, and especially 2013, Hezbollah has turned itself into a death squad for Assad engaged in mass murder and sectarian cleansing of the Syrian Arab population. I'm sure they shout some "anti-Zionist" slogans while they do this. So, given that Hezbollah does nothing against Israel, it is unclear why Iran's support for Hezbollah "against Israel" would be a reason for any *real*, as opposed to rhetorical, US hostility to Iran - except in as much as historical grievances die hard and slow, with wounded pride and credibility and all that at stake. Therefore, the case is still wide open for me. On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 4:21 PM, Chris Slee <chris_w_s...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Michael says: > > "But more broadly, what is behind the ongoing “war of rhetoric” between > the US and Iran that has never led to an actual war is a good question > for research. I suggest Obama understood the real long-term interests > of US imperialism much better with his policy of engagement of a major > regional capitalist power, with a large population/market, a > relatively developed economy, plenty of oil and plenty of potential as > a regional killer-cop." > > But it is not JUST a war of rhetoric. The US kept sanctions on Iran even > after the UN lifted its sanctions. > > There are exemptions which have allowed some deals. But why have sanctions > at all if Iran is such a great ally? > > I think it has something to do with Iran's support of Hezbollah against > Israel. > > Chris Slee _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
