Iranophobia

The American and British military establishments have reacted with alarm to news that Iran has launched a satellite into orbit over the earth.With dismal predictability, the Atlantic powers fret that the delivery system or the satellite technology, or both, could be used by President Ahmadinejad for malevolent military purposes. But I suspect that sometimes a communications satellite is just a communications satellite. I can understand the concern over Iran's alleged nuclear weapon program, hypocritical as such concern may be in some quarters, because that technology isn't supposed to proliferate. But to begrudge the country a satellite is pathetic. Americans often decry the Islamic Republic and accuse its rulers of wanting to take their people back or keep them in the Middle Ages. On occasions like this one, it sounds like we want to keep the Iranians backward and primitive. And we wonder why they hate us....

I take that back. Few Americans wonder or care about the reasons. If foreigners do hate us, that's their problem as far as most of us are concerned, and they can go to Hell -- they can go to Hell and they can die for having such an attitude. It only shows that they hate freedom, right? So naturally, if they build a rocket and launch a satellite, it must be part of a plot to kill us and take away our freedom, or to hurt our poor little pioneer pals in Injun country -- er, I mean Israel. The thought that Iranians might have perfectly practical, purely domestic reasons to launch satellites simply won't occur to some people, since for them Iranians exist only to hate and threaten us."And hey, what do they need a satellite for if all they do is ride camels in the desert, huh?" I hope that the President knows better, but I don't think I can take that for granted.