I have been wanting to talk about Iran for months now, in the run-up to the US presidential election I cast my vote for Obama specifically because I felt Romney was more likely (with his carte-blanche pro-Israel stance) to instigate a conflict.

But after that I didn't have the energy and didn't find an interested public around me. These ideas came back to the surface when a friend sent me this video:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXYt1zJLT8g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The video is extremely alarmist, it warns of a thermonuclear war started by russia if state sovreignty is violated as it was in Libya. This warning applies primarily to Syria, but also to Iran, and in the video the bill HR 568 is mentioned, which led me to this video:

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QumAAiXurw

HR 568 is a bill passed in a bi-partisan landslide (401-11) which pushes the US to cut off diplomacy and increase pressure on Iran through sanctions and the threat and preparation of war. The video goes on to explain that the bill is a self-fulfilling prophecy which hobbles US diplomatic options to the extent that negotiations are sure to fail, and then asserts that if diplomacy fails then we must prepare for war.

Watching the first video and the vilification of President Obama I get the sense that it's audience would typically be considered "right-wing". In contrast the second video mentions that the President is being constrained by the Congress and doesn't really have much say in it. Our views on Obama is a fair indicator of the polarization of our country: many hate him and think he is terrible; many are dissappointed and disenfranchised with his lack of action on global, financial and energy issues; and many support him unquestioningly for his progress on social issues and in reaction to the haters.

But none of us want another war in the middle east.

And this moment is an excellent opportunity to push our country to avoid this course. A new Iranian president, elected on a platform of reform and western engagement, will come to power on August 3rd (#3) and more than 120 US lawmakers have signed a letter calling on Obama to engage Iran diplomatically (#4)

3. http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21579826-irans-new-...

4. http://www.rferl.org/content/us-iran-congress-letter/25051565.html

But as the fourth site reads the shift in Congress has not been total, and the general line of congress remains on the war path.

These decisions are not being made by the people, and they are not for the people. Iran poses no national security threat to the US, and this article from the Guardian digs in to what the real motivation is:

5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/02/iran-nukes-deterrence

Which it asserts is to ensure American dominance over Iran and our ability to invade their country at any time.

Given the history of Iran, most notably the CIA-backed coup in 1953, protection against US interference does make sense as a national policy.

There are very large forces at play here. The danger is not as immanent as the first video spells it out to be, but it is very much as real. As unrest in the Muslim world continues and intensifies immigrants continue to pour into European nations, increasing social pressures and sparking cultural tensions. Links 5 and 6 are accounts of this. 5 give the statistics that show not only the increase in the islamic immigrant populations, but the resentment it is generating among Europeans, while 6 gives an alarmist account of the situation to show what some people are saying, reading, and thinking.

5. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2349/european-concerns-muslim-immigration

6. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4385024,00.html

I believe that the Corporate Military Powers of the world are threatened by the effect that the internet can have on the world. Information has become so accessible that it is getting harder and harder for them to slip through the loopholes of global trade and relations and instigate the wars and exploitation that they need to maintain their power.

Because of this threat I believe that these Powers are manufacturing and intensifying crisis, using tactics such as HR 568 to push the world closer to a large conflict, where they will be able to justify martial law and re-concentrate the power they gained in WWII.

Both Christian and Islamic doctrine speak of an apocalypse (translate= revealing) in which Jesus will return to fight by their side against the forces of evil. To me this clearly means that the Christians (and Jews) and Muslims are fighting on the same side with the force of Jesus- the power of love and forgiveness- against division and violence. But the narrative promoted by the Corporate Military Powers is that this final battle will be between Islam and the West, Iran(and probably Russia and China) against Israel/Europe/US- and this would be a disaster for us all.

I know this post has been long already, but I am asking that we come together as a country: Liberal and Conservative, Socialist, Libertarian, Anarchist and everything in between and outside to call for diplomacy with Iran.

We can help each other by reading the news and synthesizing it, as i have tried to do here, then writing posts such as these and committing to reading them... we could start a redditt thread to organize them by popularity if it grows large enough to need it, and we can learn to come together around this common interest that we share.