Monday June 27, 2011

Column:

Last week Iran hosted a two day international conference on nuclear non- proliferation called "Nuclear Energy for All - Nuclear Weapons for None." Honest. Only the Iranians could make up something like this.

The purpose of creating and hosting this conference was two-fold. Iran's first and real reason was to call the world's attention to Israel's nuclear program which has always been cloaked in secrecy. The second and more obvious reason was to deflect attention from Iran's own and very problematic nuclear program and nuclear aspirations.

Representatives from forty countries were in attendance at this, Iran's second conference on nuclear non-proliferation. The first took place just a few months ago and, not surprisingly, that conference, too, was called "Nuclear Energy for All - Nuclear Weapons for None."
Apparently, the Iranians believe in sticking with a good thing when you find it. Not only were they not laughed out of the international community of interested nuclear watchers when they named and called their first conference, but they actually had attendees. I won't be surprised to see more of these same-named conferences in the coming months.

Iran has mastered the art of worldwide public relations.

Pointing the finger at Israel and deflecting attention from themselves are important enough reasons to hold these conferences, but for Iran, there is more. Ultimately, Iran wants to topple United States hegemony and influence in the world. To get there, Iran is taking advantage of a double standard in US foreign policy.
Iran wants to invert the pyramid. One of the central objectives of Iran's own foreign policy is to position itself as leader of the world and topple US dominance. The world, as Iran sees it, is unjustly configured and as a result, unjustly policed. The United States and friends have an advantage and no one else even gets a fair hearing.

Only a few countries sit at the top of the pyramid along with the United States, the masses are positioned at the base. Iran thinks it can invert the pyramid so that the voices of the many are heard and so that the favoritism of the US - with all its special relationships, is relegated to nothing more than a distant, unpleasant memory.

Iran's argument resonates in many countries around the world. In the Middle East it resonates especially powerfully where the classic example of this perceived imbalance is Israel's nuclear program. Precisely because Israel chose not to be a signatory on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israel is able to deny unfettered access to their nuclear installations with no repercussions or, pardon the pun, fallout.

This is what Iran is calling the double standard and it is eating them up.

The obvious fault in the Iranian argument and with Iran's point of view is that it compares Israel, the only Western democracy in the Middle East with Iran - a theocracy. In Israel there are checks and balances and rule of law. In Iran there is no equivalent, the ultimate head of everything, the unquestioned leader of it all, is the Supreme Leader, the Grand Ayatollah. But fact and logic have nothing to do with Iran's objective or argument and little to do with the stated and unspoken purposes of the conference.

For Ahmadinejad and for Iran, it is all about illusion. Israel is the aggressor and Israel is the only country in the Middle East with advanced nuclear technology. Therefore, Iran will help and will sponsor any other country interested in obtaining or advancing nuclear technology

The plan is working. Ahmadinejad is slowly and effectively chipping away at the foundation of the agenda set by the West. Whether we like it or not, Iran is successfully challenging the United States for the position of leader of the world.

They are dividing the world in to nations who support the West and nations who support Iran. Stay tuned for many more Iranian machinations that will rally nations against US and Western goals.

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