Is There an Iran Strategy?

In my last few posts, I tried to decipher and guess the existence of a strategy from President Trump's actions and statements. It seems that my guess was not invalid. The commentary by Richard Goldberg, in New York Times, outlines that policy and its working strategy. What is interesting are the reader comments to the Goldberg's statement in the opinion pages of NYT. Most of these comments particularly the ones favored by NYT want to deny the existence of such a strategy. These comments seem to be coming mostly from the democratic corner. They strike me as democrats are in denial of the facts and this could be to their detriment in the coming presidential election. Recently I have noticed an increasing number of republicans, who had withdrawn their support from Trump since the 2016 election, coming back into his corner. Republicans are consolidating while the discord among the democrats is increasing. Can the democrats meet this challenge? With the rise in the popularity of Bernie Sanders democrats seem to be oblivious to this challenge, particularly the need for adoption of a clear foreign policy agenda.

The link to Goldberg's opinion "Trump Has an Iran Strategy. This Is It."

Invading Mexico!

Listen to this video discussion (link in the bottom of this post). Ed Calderon is a guest at Joe Rogan YouTube channel. Ed knows quite a bit about the border problems and the dynamics between the U.S. and Mexico. It is an extremely interesting discussion. I recommend you to watch it. The video is a movie length but it is better and more engaging than any movie that you can watch on Netflix.

In there you will get a glimpse of where Trump got the notion of sending troops to Mexico. In my last post I pointed to the new direction that his foreign policy is taking which is a big change both for the U.S. and the world. This is a positive for his administration but this does not change the fact that we have "kid" president, who cannot contain himself. I yet think he needs to be changed at the next election if the democrats can get their political act together and meet his challenge. I am not hopeful. It seems that democrats are on track to present to us a crazy left version of Trump. I will talk about this issue hopefully next.

Link to the video

Game Changer

President Trump delivered his message this morning and it was precise and clear. Either you have already seen it or you can watch the video. This is my understanding of his message and some events surrounding it. It is a confirmation of my previous couple of posts. It only expands the narrative.

The U.S. & Iran Conflict

The U.S.-Iran Conflict was escalated today, by Iran sending some missiles into a few U.S. and allied bases in Iraq. It seems that President Trump is going to address the nation tonight. From his policy direction so far I am assuming that he will clarify his position further tonight. I will hold all my comments until I hear him.

Are Tensions Rising between the U.S. and Iran?

I am already seeing ridiculous signs of "hands off Iran!" and "No war with Iran" are going up all over the place by the leftists or like minded people. Maybe you could think of it this way:

Muslims are Liars!

A few months ago my wife, reserved an AirBnB for my travel to Brooklyn, New York. My son had planned to stay with me for this visit. We arrived at our destination relatively late at night. The host, Sahr, was a very pleasant dark skinned woman who showed us the place.

Alliances and Its Consequences (I)

Do you make a distinction between these two banners?

[The left banner is the Communist banner and the right banner is the Nazis banner. Originally I had the picture of the two banners here and I had to take it down. The reason for me taking these two pictures down is, when one searched my son's name these two banners would appear as if they were associated with his name and it was concerning to him. So for now imagine that you see these two banners being here. I will put the pictures back on once his concern has been alleviated or the Google indexing mechanism has overcome this issue. After imagining the two banners continue with reading the article. Assume you are seeing two banners a Communist banner and a Nazis banner.]

Perceptions of "Capitalism"

In this YouTube video Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, talks about how our perceptions are formed by the stories we have been immersed in. Although not a new idea, but his way of relating it to our attitudes toward capitalism is interesting. His conclusions which point to a middle of the road perception while healthier than the extremes, leftist and rightist, is incomplete. But the main point is his exposition of these three stories. It caught my attention to the way it relates to my previous post.

Link to Haidt's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu_8yoqZoQ

Ephemeral Capitalism

Ephemeral means, lasting for a very short time. Am I coming to my past leftist sense thinking that “capitalism” is short lived. Therefore, it is Ephemeral!

Once There Was a Shah

I was seven when my father entered my life permanently. Before that he was an elusive figure who would appear for a day or few hours and then he was not there, with disappearances and durations that I could not keep count of and measure.

1953 Coup and Democracy in Iran

The month of August is the anniversary of the 1953 coup in Iran, the overthrow of the government of Mohammad Mossadegh, then premier of the country. This coup has been widely labeled as the “1953 CIA coup”. CIA stands for the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. Alternatively the 1953 coup has been called the “1953 CIA led coup”, a milder version. Mohammad Reza Shah which reinstated his rule through this coup and his supporters have called this event as the “Shah and People Uprising”.

American Myth

Semi woken a thought had me in its grip and uncontrollably began to utter these words: “Now I understand what it means. It is very simple. From now on I am an American. It does not matter that I am not a citizen. It would not matter even if I get denied citizenship. It would not matter if I am thrown out of this country or where I end up living in this world. I am an American! From this moment on I am an American!” Maureen’s voice woke my other senses, “OK! OK! Now go back to sleep!”

"Black Lives Matter", What is it?

"Black Lives Matter" (BLM) is a frivolous movement. This slogan is a leftist dream come true. It works as if it is designed to hide the actual racism in the U.S. instead of revealing it. BLM clouds the forward movement of the society to overcome racial distinctions as a political and social issue. BLM is the brainchild of the leftists in the U.S. and it camouflages their indirect complicity in the existing racism lurking in our law enforcement units. Obviously, I have a different view of this movement than what BLM propaganda portray itself to be. How do my assertions stack up against the reality?

Kurds and John McCain

I could not believe that I would come to agree with John McCain and I agree with his position on Kurds as outlined in his op-ed in the NY Times.

Can a Conservative Court Reject Anti-Abortion Laws

These days supporters of abortion rights have a nagging concern that the next Supreme Court appointment by Mr. Trump would create an opportunity for the majority "conservative" members to reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade (RvW) ruling. This reversal presumably could lay the groundwork for states to completely ban abortion or restrict it so severely that it would not be accessible anymore.

Cuban "Socialism"

The other day a good friend approached me and said, "I agree with all that you have said in your last post [Fidel Castro's Legacy], but you should not have called him an idiot, Fidel Castro was not an idiot."

Fidel Castro's Legacy

Most of my friends on FaceBook (FB) are socialists, who profess Marxist-Leninist concepts of communism. That is where I come from, we shared the same beliefs. We fought for a "classless" society, a society of plenty for all and we were for the suppression of any form of "exploitation". We shared these concepts and most of them yet believe in these ideas. This entire spectrum of my FB friends also come from small socialist groups from which they have been expelled or resigned from. They all attest to the authoritarian nature of their party leadership which expelled them. These comrades from the relative comfort of their retired life or near retirement in the U.S., freely mock and criticize their past leaders.

Trump, Clinton & Sanders

The silhouettes of the three candidates could point one to certain political possibilities. Are these names, Trump, Clinton and Sanders the outlines of a three party system? A right wing party searching for strong man politics, a center party trying to reconcile multitudes of interests by developing policies that has an eye to the future, and a left wing party raising socialist slogans for bringing down the rich. Are we witnessing a process of split in the well entrenched Democratic and Republican parties?

Women in Iran

Masih Alinejad often talks about her experiences growing up in Iran. On what it is being a woman in Iran. Her experiences is becoming more typical if it is not already typical. She talks about simple truths and that is powerful. Iranian regime is mortally afraid of these simple truths.

Dignity of Women

In my post in October 14, 2013 I wrote, "What if every Western country would assign a female ambassador to Iran who would introduce her credentials to the Iranian government, in Tehran, in her own traditional attire, dressed professionally as a female without any head cover or hijab, as a practical working woman." 

It seems that the french public is way ahead of the Western politicians. This is what the politicians in the West should push as part of lifting the economic restrictions on Iran. To read the whole story click on this link.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/02/air-france-stewardesses-mutiny-over-order-to-wear-headscarves/