Apply sanctions, not bombs, to Iran

May I recall, what I explained in detail in my initial letter on October 4: Iran is not a threat to Israel. One of the reasons is that millions of Palestinians live in and around Israel. They would also be engulfed in the conflagration predicted by Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Iranians will certainly not massacre the friends they support.

Baffled in Bang Na writes: “So it seems Israelis and Jews were about to be innocent victims once again. Would you prefer that they wait to be completely annihilated before taking preventive (okay, pre-emptive, even) action?”

Baffled’s rhetoric goes far beyond Netanyahu’s diatribe. Iran, the devil on earth, will not only eradicate the state of Israel, we can expect the extinction of the Jewish race, if pre-emptive action is not taken. The Jews cannot wait, until it is too late.

Where the devil is, is hell. Propaganda claims, the Iranians live in hell. Therefore, we must help them. More and more crippling sanctions are needed, until the Iranians realise that there leaders are starving them to death. Then, there will be an uprising and we will enjoy the Persian Spring. We will go to them as saviours and bring them the best from the West. We will tell them what to do, and they will do it; they are used to it. They will thank us for the sanctions and will really love us. And we will love them too. “Love thy neighbour.” Amen.

Reality is different. There is little enthusiasm in the US and other Nato countries for new military adventures in Muslim countries. After 11 years of war in Afghanistan, what has been achieved? The former US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates warns: “The results of an American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in my view, prove catastrophic, haunting generations in that part of the world.” Hatred of the West is deep-seated. Western support for dictators in the Middle East and North Africa prevented the evolution of democratic processes. Organised terrorism emerged first in dictatorial regimes, before it was directed against western targets.

Western powers should stop meddling in the affairs of Muslim countries. They can solve their own problems, just as the Western world did after centuries of fratricide religious wars and two devastating world wars.

Manfred Liebig

Germany