89 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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The New American
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Review of the News Inc.
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395 Concord Ave.
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Belmont, MA 02178
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(617) 489-0605
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$39 year, bi-weekly
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AS THE CAULDRON BOILS
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(The New American, October 12, 1987, p.25)
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By John F. McManus
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Things are heating up in the Persian Gulf.
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The cauldron that is the Persian Gulf continues to boil; it increases to boil;
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it increasingly threatens to erupt into a major conflagration. Trying to
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figure out what is happening requires some historical background.
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Religion the Key.
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Iran and Iraq share a border that begins at the western edge of the Gulf. Once
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known as Persia, Iran has a history as an independent nation streaching back
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into biblical times. On the other hand, Iraq's independence was recognized
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only as recently as 1930.
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During the past 30 years, Iraq has become strongly allied to the Soviet Union.
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But Iran, until 1979, was a firm U.S. ally. When the Carter Administration
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paved the way for the American-hating Ayatollah Khomeini to take power in Iran
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by betraying the Shah, a Soviet-backed alliance between Iran and Iraq seemed
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likely. Intense religious differences not only prevented it, but led to war
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between the two nations.
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Iran under Khomeini is a Shite Moslem theocratic dictatorship. As much as
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Moslems despise the "infidels" who practice other religions, they have even
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more contempt for dissident Moslems. And Iraq, with a population that is
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almost 60 percent Shiite Moslem, is led by men who are Sunni Moslem. When
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Khomeini began to encourage the spread of his Shiite revolution into Iraq in
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1980, the Iraqi leaders took up arms against a very real threat. Thus began
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this bloody conflict that continues today.
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U.S. Enters the Fray
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If there is anything a Westerner ought to avoid, it is a holy war between
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competing Moslem factions. Yet, we have stuck our nose into this one in a
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really big way.
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One of the casualties of the war has been the Iraq oil-exporting port of Basra.
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As a consequence, Iraq now ships its black gold through neighboring Kuwait.
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Not surprisingly, Kuwait's political stance mirrors its Iraqi Big Brother's-
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pro-Soviet Union.
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Only four months ago, an Iraqi attack on the USS Stark left 37 American sailors
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dead. Amazingly, the U.S. response has included placing American flags on
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Kuwaiti tankers, thereby greatly aiding Iraq in its struggle with Iran. And we
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have beefed up our own naval presence to guard Kuwait's vessels from possible
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Iranian attack. In many ways, the United States is now a participant - on the
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side of the pro-Soviet Iraq - in the is holy war between Shiites and Sunnis.
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In a peculiar gesture of gratitude, Kuwait has refused landing rights to the
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U.S. helicopters working to protect Kuwait's ships. And a high percentage of
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those ships that our forces are protecting are leased from the USSR!
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Many Questions
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President Reagan has inserted our forces into this battle zone in order to
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protect "the free flow of oil." But why must the United States do the
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protecting? Our nation imports close to half of its oil, but only five percent
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of it comes from this area. Western Europe and Japan are the large users of
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Persian Gulf oil.
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Because the United States has chosen to side with Iraq, Khomeini's virulent
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anti-Americanism has risen to white-heat proportions. What will he and the
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fanatical hordes he controls now do? What American is comfortable having a
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husband or a son aboard one of our ships in these dangerous waters?
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Present U.S. policy is unsupportable and should be reversed. It seems as
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though we are determined to provoke Khomeini into attacking U.S. vessels. If
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he does, American pressure to topple the independent, fanatical, Iranian
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religious zealot will grow. Then, a successor will be named who is more
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acceptable to the Washinton-led builders of the "new world order," who
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installed Khomeini in the first place and turned Iran away from the West. This
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is hardly a proper use of U.S. military forces.
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Electronic reprint courtesy of Genesis 1.28 (206) 361-0751
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