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From: mike@erix.UUCP (Mike Williams)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc
Subject: Re: A International subject
Message-ID: <450@erix.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-May-84 12:14:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: erix.450
Posted: Fri May 25 12:14:53 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jun-84 21:08:10 EDT
References: <410@erix.UUCP> <263@cepu.UUCP>
Organization: L M Ericsson, Stockholm, Sweden
Lines: 34

The typical western attitude about wars like the Irak/Iran one is to look the
other way and hope they go away. The combination of political/religious
fanatisism which pervades these cultures of these countries is *very* differnet
from our own brand of political and religious fanatism so we just don't 
understand what's going on (at least I don't). Acts like the Russian invasion
of Afganistan are much easier to understand, since the Russians are maybe
culturally closer to us than the Iranians/Irakies! We know what the Russians
want and condemn them for it. 

Thus trying to mediate in the Irak/Iran conflict is nearly impossible for
us Westerners - we have no grounds for understanding the problem.

Trying to intervene would cause the same problem - which side should we
support? Standing in the middle and letting them shoot at us wouldn't help
much.

Threatening them with the bomb was, I assume, a joke in rather poor taste.

The only thing which might stop them would be an international embargo on
the sale of weapons to both sides. However we need oil from them so they
could reply by stopping the sale of oil to us! However I think we should take 
this risk and if necessary suffer the consequences in the name of humanity.
Unfortunately we all know how effective international embargoes are,
remember Rodesia?

I don't suppose that any western country will react until the oil is already 
cut off by the war. However they may allow the oil tankers through anyway,
they need the oil income to buy more weapons.

--mike

ps sorry for the double posting to net.misc but net.politics doesn't often
   reach Europe. I have proposed a group for world politics - see 
   net.news.group.