criminal calculations (US vs. Iran)

 .. freedom for what ...

   .. heaven later ...

     .. or iPod now?

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Preamble: Anyone thinking that the current US 'culture' is the end of the line; that "That's all there is," is a) presumed to be not open for argument, and b) apparently prepared to settle for *A LOT* less than even a very poor 2nd best.

-=*=-

  Janis Joplin Mercedes Benz

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV? 

-=*=-

Anonymous @ 5:06 PM ... underestimate the pull of Western culture ... McDonald's, blue jeans and Coco-Cola; and don't forget the rap music (spelt with a silent C.)

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We can see what the US has wrought in Iraq:

Middle East
Jul 11, 2009
The US takes to the shadows in Iraq
By Michael Schwartz
  «Who owns Iraq?
In 2007, Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that "taking Saddam out was essential" - a point he made in his book The Age of Turbulence - because the United States could not afford to be "beholden to potentially unfriendly sources of oil and gas" in Iraq. It's exactly that sort of thinking that's still operating in US policy circles: the 2008 National Defense Strategy, for example, calls for the use of American military power to maintain "access to and flow of energy resources vital to the world economy".» 
[atimes/Schwartz]

As usual, one should read the lot, and if one does - as obviously I have done - one finds that it appears that Iraqis have not 'just' lost their oil to the illegal, marauding invaders, but their entire economy/country 'to boot.' Not at all surprising; see Kennan's Memo PPS23:
  «Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great
...
The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.» 
[wiki/Memo PPS23]

Kennan wrote PPS23 shortly after WW2.

The US pushed-paradigm propaganda slogan is "Truth, justice and the American way," the system that they actually operate under is: hide criminal truth with lies, there is no justice, and the American way is to steal everything they possibly can, and kill any objectors.

The most recent proof is described by Schwartz above.

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Now, I'm quite willing to allow that half of the Iranian population is slavering to join "Western culture," especially since yes, they are young; they simply never experienced the US/UK-sponsored shah - 20yrs of brutality and yes, they want iPods now - and nose-jobs for the young ladies. We know that the US and UK have been propagandising as hard as they can by broadcasting into Iran; a form of cultural *AND* psychological warfare.

But, like dogs chasing cars, would it be good for the young Iranians if they got their current hearts' desires?

-=*=-

Consider what we've got: a crippled (non!)democracy; a dumbed-down sheople, a diet that sends a whopping proportion ghastly-obese, gas-guzzling cars - producing sooo much pollution it may soon kill off our life-supporting climate, and the 'summit' of our culture is mind-killing flat/wide-screen rubbish from Hollywood.

I wouldn't wish our (Anglo/Judaic/Western) version of 'heaven' on an enemy - which, not just BTW, Iran *isn't*.

[cross posted]