Politics and Policy Ban Iran from Soccer Tournament? (May 2, 2006) Yea, that would work! Ban them from soccer. Boycotting the Moscow Olympics sure worked to get the Soviets out of Afghanistan, right? (Getting their heads handed to them by Islamic Fundamentalists for ten years didn't have anything to do with it?) (Sarcastic sneer intended, but unable to locate that font in this software program). These guys just don't get it. You don't "confront" Islamic fundamentalism. These guys derive their power base by stirring up hatred of the Israelis and the Americans. When we react, they say: "See, they hate us, just like we said they did. Everything we are doing - suicide bombings, etc. - are in defense of Muslims everywhere. Now send us more young men and money so we can defend Islam everywhere". If they can show pictures of bloody bodies of Muslim women and children caused by U.S. bombing, all the better for them. The more we react, the stronger they become. The reason they bombed our embassies, our ships, and the World Trade Centers is that they were trying to get us to react. Our reaction is their goal, not the attack itself. I don't think we should just take it, but we should be a lot smarter at how we handle this. The reason the current President of Iran won the election was because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. If we had gone in and gotten out quickly, we could have limited our damage there. But by building permanent bases in Iraq and giving every indication we are planning to stay there for the indefinite future, and including Iran in statements regarding the "axis of evil", we gave the Iranian public a reasonable fear that we planned to invade them next. So they elected a hard-liner, someone they felt would "stand up to the Americans". I just don't get why the Republicans don't understand this. It's the same tactic they use in elections in the U.S., finding "wedge issues" to motivate their base, and demonizing their enemy. So the only thing banning Iran from a soccer tournament is going to do is give them one more thing to talk about when they claim that the U.S. and Israel are acting illegally to keep them frustrate their economic and scientific progress. Don't forget, the Iranians have done nothing illegal under international law. They have the right to exit the non-proliferation treaty if they choose to do so. The Iranian President is either a certifiable lunatic or simply a fear-monger, but he hasn't YET done anything illegal under international law. So our talk of bombing and invasion, at this point, seems like rather naked bullying to the rest of the world - especially the Muslim world. Our best defense is to not give them a visible enemy to fight. It worked in Afghanistan because Arab fundamentalist fighters, recruited by Al Quida, found that the regime they were supporting wasn't all that popular in Afghanistan, and that they were fighting fellow Muslims, not Americans. Iraq was different. The Bush administration, in its rush to complete "unfinished business" in Iraq, forgot this point, and played right into their hands. Posted by RHP6033        Copyright 2006-2007 - Brookridge Associates Inc. All rights reserved.