Dear Friends,                                                                                                                    Iran

I was getting ready to post something about the threat that Trump will declare a state of emergency for election security … and now this. Just to get this out fast I’m regressing to bullet points.

·       This is not about judging the Iranian regime or its leader, Khameini. That’s for another time, but, the US government (always) has different rules for its dictator friends.

·       If you kill the established leaders of other countries you can’t really object to them trying to kill you.

·       When a foreign power attacks a divided nation it tends to encourage unity.

·       “We” are attacking “Iran”, that is the Iranian government and its leader. On whom are the bombs falling? “We’re” supposed to be supporting the Iranian people.

·       The Iranian authorities have announced that a school was bombed, and as many as eighty-five people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed. Yes, treat what the authorities say with skepticism. If one Iranian child died then the US stands condemned.

·       Trump and other members of his administration have appealed to the Iranian people to rise up. In 1944, before the disastrous Market-Garden operation to secure key bridges on the Rhine, the British government called for the Dutch to rise up. The Nazi retaliation against the entire Dutch people was savage (Anne Frank and her family were captured during the terrible winter of 1944-45). I cannot imagine a time when it is right for leaders of one country to call on the people of another to rise up against their leaders. But when the buffoon who is our president does this …

·       Because his motive seems to have been that he was bored of peace. He actually told the Prime Minister of Norway that he no longer feels bound “to think purely of Peace” because he didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize. How can it be that such a person could hold any public office, let alone, etc., etc., etc. … How? Because we elected him.

·       Netanyahu beguiled Trump into this. It’s hard to see how Israel can gain from it, though Netanyahu may gain for the usual reason (keeping him out of the slammer).

·       Netanyahu has one goal, regime change in Iran. He doesn’t care about the Iranian people. He doesn’t care about the character of a new regime in Iran, other than that it be weak.

·       Who is going to suffer? The people of Iran. And they’ve suffered enough. The Iranian government, as many others, has used external crises to stifle internal dissent. Change must happen through the actions of the people of Iran (and yes, there are daunting problems – rural vs urban is one of the greatest). Bombs are not going to accelerate beneficial change. Bombs only do one thing, they kill people.

Love and Solidarity,

            Bobby

The Federal government no longer exists.