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comment by mk
mk  ·  4500 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Israel's Fading Democracy
Fear is a poison, and the politics of fear are alive in Israel and the US.

The US has virtually no need at all to fear Iran. Israel has more cause, but it still isn't nearly as dire as they are made to believe. Iran's government fears its people, and Israel is a good distraction. The plight of the Palestinians helps maintain the effectiveness of an anti-Israel stance by despots in the region.

Netanyahu (and Romney last week) uses fear of Iran to look strong. It really doesn't need to be that way. The Iranian people are actually pretty fond of the US on the whole, and their government is in a precarious position. Persians harbor liberal history and culture. Without their government, the US and Iran could be close friends in a generation.