Democratically elected politicians are not averse to lubricating with flattery in their dealings with the electorate. They often call upon, and state an admiration for, the common sense of the people in whichever country they hope to gain or retain power.
Personally, I wish there was more un-common sense at play. However, in the matter of Iran’s quest for nuclear power and it’s possible (though common sense might say “probable”) quest for nuclear weapons; common sense insists that, though unwelcome in the political arena, ethics, in this case fair play, is involved in any rational overview.
The importance of this ethical nuance is rare, verging on absent, in media examination of the issue. The aspect in question is this: If it’s OK for India to have the bomb and OK for Pakistan (a fountain of “terrorism”) to have the bomb and OK for Israel, with the connivance of the west, to have the bomb (and other WMDs?) why can’t the Iranians have the bomb?
When “the international community” places neon lit double standards at the summit of their policy mountain, while posturing on a moral high ground soap box, common sense impedes my support and, I suspect, the support of others.
I, from the democratic west, don’t want theocratic Iran to have the bomb. I don’t like the regime. I don’t respect the regime. I don’t trust the regime. But in light of the west’s double standards (primarily in regards to Israel’s nuclear arsenal) if I was Iranian, I would take no notice of me, the USA, Britain, the UN nor of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Of course, in the event that we take military action against Iran in this matter, common sense and common decency should (but won’t) prevent us from wrapping ourselves, with an air of gravitas, in that tattered, musty, dangerously infected cloak of moral respectability.
Common sense aside, facts exist. One of them is, that no matter how resolutely we avoid looking backwards; and no matter how fast we “move forward” – as ever, history persists in keeping pace here and now, resolutely beside us.
___
Recent Comments