The Iranian Parliament Calls the CIA and Army Terrorists

The Iranian parliament has voted to label the CIA and the U.S. army terrorist organizations. Earlier this week, in a post I wrote reacting to the United States Senate’s misguided decision to label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard a terrist organization that one of the real problems with the vote is that it would give the government of Iran a political advantage at home. When the Senate took it’s irresponsible, uneducated vote it was thumbing its nose at the Iranian government, but also at many Iranians who do not trust the United States.

In response, the Iranian government has felt inclined to pass its own ludicrous resolution condemning the United States. At the end of the day both votes have only helped further the divide between the two countries and increase the likelihood of war. It would be nice if, for once, our elected leaders would at leased try and understand the consequences of their actions before taking them. Additionally, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask of our elected officials that they spend time reflecting on the consequences of their actions from the point of view of some of those that they are impacting—rather than focusing solely on what will play well in America. If we are going to continue playing a leading part in the world we must try and understand how our actions are being and will be interpreted. Perhaps, if our leaders had an idea of the deep religious divides in Iraq they would have understood some of the many pitfalls their utter lack of sophistication led us into.