"Dwell in possibility."
-- Emily Dickinson

An interesting....and disturbing piece...

Despite current leadership, I think there is much to say positively abour Iran and it's people.

It might be bold, but it may be that our best hope for a non-Jewish ally in the Mid-East could be a more secular Iran.

Tom:

Your geopolitical instincts are right on target!

Iran with a population of over seventy million mostly young people is the 18th largest country in the world. It has special geostrategic significance due to its central location in Eurasia.

Further, it is an important regional power in the Mid-East, in great part due to its important position in energy security and the world economy. It is OPEC’s 2nd largest exporter of oil, right behind Saudi Arabia, and it sits upon the second largest reserves of both natural gas and oil in the world.

More than two-thirds of the population is under the age of 30, and the literacy rate is 82%. Today, Iranian women compose more than half of the incoming classes for universities around the country and increasingly continue to play pivotal roles in society.

Iran has one of the highest urban-growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002 the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 60%.The United Nations predicts that by 2030 80% of the population will be urban.

America's road to ultimate geopolitical success in Baghdad, Kabul and the entire Near East, lies through Tehran. The key foreign policy, national security, and regional political realignment challenge for the Obama administration during the next four years will be how best to transform American-Iranian relations, and keep the Mullahs from achieving nuclear weaponry, creatively, quickly and successfully.

One important tactic will surely involve the skillful use of geopolitical diplomacy, grounded in American values and culture to inspire, engage and support Iran's youthful population in support of greater democracy, increased global mercantilism and bilateral cultural exchanges.

If successful, this effort will serve as an effective socio-political counterweight to Ahmadinejad’s insane Holocaust-denial, the ultra-fundamentalist proclivities of the Supreme Leader and his cadre of aging Mullahs, and the dangerous military threats posed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

After all, care to guess what American TV show is by far the hands-down choice of "bootleg" video buyers in Tehran? Dallas, featuring Ventura County’s very own Larry Hagman, as “JR.�

Ciao Commendatori

NostraDemus

Iran is dangerous and I like this idea better then starting a war with conventional weapons and tactics.