It is really fine if people want to use the comments to go back-and-forth about Israel and Iran. Really it is OK. But I want to remind you that that has very little to do with the intention of the article itself.
Thanks for the reminder. I know that my feelings are pretty close to the surface. I’ve found it very helpful to keep talking with people who see things differently, though it’s most helpful when I’m actually curious. : )
Yes, I agree with these comments. Viewpoints are everywhere. It is not that hard to understand the rage of Palestinians and Iranians post-WWII, and that too is a valuable opinion to consider. And there we are, in a mess.
I wonder if we have the capacity to understand how Iran thinks of this. Do they think of themselves as evil? Do they say, "well, we are the bad guys, so I guess we deserve this?" Or does this merely convince them that Israel is an aggressive nation that doesn't want Iran to have a clean technology that can wean them off of oil and become economically self-sufficient?
I think there’s been a lot of effort to understand Iran and, specifically, to help them feel secure through negotiated agreements. Ultimately, though, I’m more concerned about what Iran actually does and doesn’t do. They have supported terrorist networks focused on Islamist supremacy and violent attacks on the west. Their own people are suffering and are seriously oppressed. Iran is feared and disliked by many of their Arab neighbors. I find myself wondering if you think Iran’s own responsibility - and we all ALWAYS make some contribution to our own circumstance - for this situation matters? I get the distinct impression that your primary concern is an abstract theorizing about empathy, and I don’t see much effort at practical response to the malign facts on the ground.
It's always fascinating to speculate. I just read an article in The Free Press that began with, "How to interpret this seismic event—and unfolding war? The alarmists are already penning their op-eds prophesying World War III. The BBC and most European media will doubtless portray Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a callous warmonger—as opposed to his nation’s Bismarck. The professional Middle East experts will churn out the usual pablum about avoiding a wider conflagration, despite the fact that those experts almost all failed to foresee the beginning of that conflagration on October 7."
It is really fine if people want to use the comments to go back-and-forth about Israel and Iran. Really it is OK. But I want to remind you that that has very little to do with the intention of the article itself.
Thanks for the reminder. I know that my feelings are pretty close to the surface. I’ve found it very helpful to keep talking with people who see things differently, though it’s most helpful when I’m actually curious. : )
Yes, I agree with these comments. Viewpoints are everywhere. It is not that hard to understand the rage of Palestinians and Iranians post-WWII, and that too is a valuable opinion to consider. And there we are, in a mess.
I wonder if we have the capacity to understand how Iran thinks of this. Do they think of themselves as evil? Do they say, "well, we are the bad guys, so I guess we deserve this?" Or does this merely convince them that Israel is an aggressive nation that doesn't want Iran to have a clean technology that can wean them off of oil and become economically self-sufficient?
I think there’s been a lot of effort to understand Iran and, specifically, to help them feel secure through negotiated agreements. Ultimately, though, I’m more concerned about what Iran actually does and doesn’t do. They have supported terrorist networks focused on Islamist supremacy and violent attacks on the west. Their own people are suffering and are seriously oppressed. Iran is feared and disliked by many of their Arab neighbors. I find myself wondering if you think Iran’s own responsibility - and we all ALWAYS make some contribution to our own circumstance - for this situation matters? I get the distinct impression that your primary concern is an abstract theorizing about empathy, and I don’t see much effort at practical response to the malign facts on the ground.
It's always fascinating to speculate. I just read an article in The Free Press that began with, "How to interpret this seismic event—and unfolding war? The alarmists are already penning their op-eds prophesying World War III. The BBC and most European media will doubtless portray Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a callous warmonger—as opposed to his nation’s Bismarck. The professional Middle East experts will churn out the usual pablum about avoiding a wider conflagration, despite the fact that those experts almost all failed to foresee the beginning of that conflagration on October 7."