US, Iran, and the Axis of Friendship

BERKELEY, Calif.
A REPUBLICAN National Convention video used a series of crises, from the Iranian hostage crisis to the Sept. 11 attacks, to inspire defiant fervor against America's enemies. US leaders have used the attacks as a pretext for war and are at it again. Now, House Resolution 362, with 268 cosponsors to date, proposes a naval blockade on Iran, a provocation of war that would feed the power of the most right-wing factions of the Iranian government and potentially mire the already overburdened US military in a war with Iran, which is more than three times the size of Iraq. Politicians use Sept. 11 to stir our worst aggressions and fears and to unleash the dogs of war. It would behoove them, and the citizens of the United States to remember, instead, the day after.

On Sept. 12, 2001, America's tragedy elicited sympathy from all over the world, including places as unlikely as Tehran. Thousands of Iranians spontaneously lit candles in solidarity with the families of victims and the American people. The Bush administration squandered the goodwill that poured out to America after that devastating day, when a vast Axis of Friendship emerged from both people and governments that might have helped the United States to create an effective strategy to combat global terrorism, instead of plunging it into two long wars. Instead, President Bush later coined the term "Axis of Evil" and put Iran on the list for war.

Should the resolution pass and war ensue, the cost of gasoline in the United States would probably hit $10 a gallon, according to Robert Reich, former secretary of labor. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said a third war theater would stress an already thinly stretched military. If the Iraq war is any guide to the cost of a war and we multiply by three, the American people could lose another 10,000 soldiers and be asked to care for hundreds of thousands of wounded troops. Taxpayers would foot the bill for yet another ill-conceived, avoidable conflict.

Using propaganda against enemies is an easy substitute for thinking. However, if the United States can make peace with former enemies - Britain, Japan, Germany, Nicaragua, and Vietnam - then it must negotiate peace now. Iran made peace with Iraq, its archenemy, and if Iran can buy arms from Israel, its other arch enemy, then these pragmatic arrangements give the lie to ideologies of enmity. Continuing diplomatic negotiations between the governments of the United States and Iran are essential and must continue.

Americans have an opportunity to reignite the remaining embers of the international goodwill of Sept. 12, 2001. War between Iran and the United States is not inevitable; it would be stupid, senseless, tragic, and expensive. It is time to provoke a perceptible shift in attitudes in Washington and Tehran toward peace and defeat the resolution designed to provoke war. If we do not, the costs of political gridlock and diplomatic failure may be considerable, including a broader regional war or even a nuclear conflict.

Over the years, the American people have opened this land to hundreds of thousands of Iranians. California has become the friendliest and one of the largest homes to Iranians outside of Iran. Neither Iranians nor Americans welcome the prospect of burying our children because our leaders lack imagination and courage. On Sept. 12, many Americans and Iranians will reignite the embers of the Axis of Friendship. People in Iran and the United States will place candles in their windows after sundown to remember the global friendship that has been so arrogantly and cruelly ignored.

The question is whether or not Iranian and American leaders can seize the moment and turn from certain death toward life. With the risks so high, the case for friendship and peace has never been stronger.

Rita Nakashima Brock is coauthor of "Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire." Amir Soltani is a member of the US-Iran Alliance.