Quote of the Day: On Iran, Human Rights and Democracy

As the hudna (cease-fire) comes to an end, what can the world expect to happen next in the current war between the United States, Israel and Iran? The Islamic republic has been doing all it can to draw other nations into this war and has been attacking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates among others, with ballistic missiles and drones, attackng military, commercial and civilian targets. Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to deprive Europe and Asia of needed petroleum and has not hesitated to utilize illegal cluster bombs on civilian populations. The proposed two week hudna may or may not lead to an end to this war. Meanwhile, the Islamic republic has already violated the cease-fire by refusing to open the Strait. Iranian proxies, especially Hezbollah, the Shiite state within the state of Lebanon has been busy firing rockets into Israel with heavy Israeli retaliation; currently a hudna exists on that front as well. Israel, a nation defending itself from non-state aggressors, has been condemned by France and others of our Article V allies. who care only about cheap oil. The US has also faced withering criticism from the French and British leadership and NATO has been unsupportive. Particularly shameful is the behavior of France's lame duck unpopular president, Emmanuel Macron, who continues to play the cynical French game of caring only about France while the world is on fire. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Macron's main accomplice, is another failed leader; he probaby will be ousted as PM by his own Labour Party due to his incompetent leadership. These are examples of the kind of European leadership available at this time of world crisis.

An important quote is presented for the reader's consideration. In a speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on February 22, 1985, Secretary of State George Shultz made the following remarks:

"How can we as a country say to a young Afghan, Nicaraguan or Cambodian: Learn

to live with oppression; only those of us who already have freedom deserve to pass it

on to our children. How can we say to those Salvadorans who stood so bravely in line to

vote: we may give you some economic and military aid for self-defense, but we also will

give a free hand to the Sandinistas who seek to undermine your new democratic insti-

tutions... what we should do in each situation must, of necessity, vary...But it must

always be clear whose side we are on-the side of those who want to see a world based

on respect for national independence, for freedom and the rule of law and for human

rights. Wherever possible, the path to that world should be through peaceful and

political means; but where dictatorships use brute power to oppress their own people

and threaten their neighbors, the forces of freedom cannot place their trust in declar-

ations alone...we must, in short, stand firmly in the defense of our interests and principles

and the rights of people to live in freedom. The forces of democracy around the world

merit our standing with them; to abandon them would be a shameful betrayal- a betrayal

not only of brave men and women but of our highest ideals."

Secretary Shultz made these remarks at the height of the Cold War but they remain valid today.

Iran has behaved in an unaceptable aggressive manner for forty-seven years, engaging in actual warfare as well as sponsoring warfare and terrorism through various proxies. State sponsored terrorism has murdered thousands of people thousands of miles from the territory of Iran. An energy rich country blesssed with almost unlimited supplies of oil and gas, it has embarked on an effort to enrich uranium for the purpose of using nuclear weapons against so called ideological and religious enemies as it seeks to redo the Battle of Karbala (680 AD, 61AH). They have developed ballistic missiles as delivery vehicles for nuclear blackmail and/or actual attacks. They have conducted this behavior with impunity for nearly half a century as any nefarious deeds they do are not condemned in the United Nations as they are supported in their mischief by Russian or Chinese vetoes in the Security Council.

One can reasonably ask for what purpose does Iran need nuclear weapons? Who is threatening Iran? Their imagined enemies are countries that do not have a common border with them and are no threat. Christians, Sunni Muslims, Jews and others whom they classify as infidels are their target as they seek the appearance of the hidden twelfth Imam and people die in the twenty-first century over who was the legitimate heir of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Much of the world tolerates this because of Iran's energy wealth. But someone must tell them, in a paraphrase of William Jenning Bryan's famous Cross of Gold speech " You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold", nor drown mankind in a barrel of oil.

Enough is enough. The European Union bears particular responsibility and guilt for the current situation. They evaded the opportunity to establish peace after World War I and stood by lamely as the Hitler regime violated the Versailles treaty and made demand after demand on other nations which the "peace loving" United Kingdom and France acceded to. If war guilt for World War II needs to be assigned, Nazi Germany started it, but guilt must be shared by the UK, France and the USSR. Pope Leo XIV, ably speaking for peace, simultaneously causes us to re-evaluate just what is a "Just War". In this time of the ability of nuclear weapons to cause unlimited and unimaginable death and destruction, one inevitably must classify the current war with Iran as both just and necessary. It ultimately will save lives as well as civilization. Evil is not equal to goodness. Any assignment of equality between them is evil.

The United States still suffers from the Vietnam War and its associated syndrome as well as the Stockholm syndrome. Let's be clear. No one sane wants war, but not defending one's self is criminal in itself. The world cannot afford a nuclear Iran and the Iranian people deserve freedom. Now is not the time for erroneous and misplaced sympathy for the Iranian tyranny nor is it the time for Oxford oaths. The American media and academic community bear particular responsibility in not succumbing to Vietnam and Stockholm syndromes and pursuing veritas- truth. Re-read Secretary Shultz's comments. They are as relevant today as they were when he spoke them.

N.B. As this essay was completed, news that President Trump has extended the hudna for an uncertain duration. It is hoped that the US will keep its goals intact as a nuclear Iran remains unacceptable and a danger to world peace and humanity. We must realize that negotiations with Iran leads up a blind alley. The US demanded unconditinal surrender from Nazi Germany and imperial Japan for good reasons. Truly, can we negotiate with Iran?

Garry S. Sklar

Las Vegas, NV

April 21, 2026

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