Comment by pazimzadeh

10 hours ago

The absence of Iran in any of this is notable.

Almost like there was no reason to include them in the 'Axis of Evil' at a time when the US was providing cover for them in the fight against Taliban.

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pazimzadeh

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dmix  10 hours ago

Only if you ignore the 40+ years Iran has been funding jihadists and terrorist paramilitary groups. Including founding Hezbollah in 1982, the group who pioneered the VBIED car bomb tactic who along with Palestinian groups made plane and bus hijacking part of their brand, both of which Osama himself said heavily influenced Al-Qaeda.

Iran also directly funded Shia terrorist groups in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. Al-Qaeda/ISIS were just the local Sunni variety, but with less state-backing and more decentralized.

  • pazimzadeh  10 hours ago

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hezbollah was created after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978, and Hezbollah was not involved in 9/11.

    By your logic, shouldn't we be enemies with Saudi Arabia and Israel, who have incubated and funded terrorists for much longer than Iran (80 years in the case of Israel)?

    'Terror was justified' to establish Israel, Reuter, September 6, 1991

    https://www.caymancompass.com/1991/09/06/terror-was-justifie...

    • pazimzadeh  9 hours ago

      Here is the comment you just deleted:

        Of course Saudis have their finger in it too, including pushing radical Wahhabism Islamism that also inspired Osama. Which is also currently one of the major reasons UAE/MBZ is in a proxy fight with Saudis because they think Saudi's continued support of Islamists destabilizes the region (which is true).

  US-wise, geopolitics aren't as simple there, since Saudi was always a way less blatant offender than Iran and Iran/Saudi both were left untouched because of their oil power. There's a reason neither Bush nor Obama attacked Iran despite having plenty of good reasons. Trump and Israel apparently saw an opportunity to finally take on Iran. But it was always extremely risky, as we've seen... Likewise it would be risky trying to interfere in Saudi politics, especially when they serve as a counterweight to Iran and their proxies. Enemy of my enemy etc. Same deal with Israel..Israel is a complex issue which I'd rather not get into right now.

      I'm curious why you'd rather not get into it about Israel. Do you not think Iran is a complex issue?

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