Could Calling on Iran to Broker a Peace in Lebanon Work?
This may be hard for some to understand, but calling on Iran to broker a peace settlement in the Lebanon/Israeli war may be just the solution.
Iran craves world acceptance and would relish the opportunity to be perceived in a positive light in by the international community but, could this peace be accepted by others, that may be the sticking point.
To read the full article and very persuasive viewpoint on having Iran broker a peace settlement, you must read this article by William Beeman, author of The "Great Satan" vs. The "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other . He is a respected scholar. You may or may not agree with his point of view, but at this juncture without another realistic plan for a ceasefire, his idea may not be a bad one.
What William Beeman lays out in his article is that although Iran supports Hezbollah financially they do not have oversight or political control over the group, nor do they have control over Hamas. What Iran might be able to do is to leverage guidance in much the same way that the US does with Israel.
In fact, let's discuss that a bit. This is a nearly parallel situation, if you believe that Iran does not control Hezbollah as the first premise. The Americans provide Israel with a significant amount of support both financially and militarily, yet do the Israelis do what the American government requests? No, not unless it is in their own self interest, they are totally self directed. Does America exert leverage behind the scenes and is their point of view important, you bet! Okay, now change the names of the parties involved to Hezbollah and Iran. See the parallel?
So a peace brokered by Iran may be hugely beneficial at this point for several reasons:
Is it worth asking Iran to broker a peace settlement? Yes, at this point I think that we are running out of real options to prevent the additional slaughter of civilians on both sides. Should the US ask Iran to broker a peace settlement? No, absolutely not, this is an area for France and the UN to take control. There is no current effective means of communication between Iran and America, diplomatic ties have been nearly all severed, and most importantly any Iranian who works with the Americans takes a political black eye for doing so.
So, in closing, we in the world community needs to take a very hard look at getting Iran involved in the Middle Eastern peace process.
Iran craves world acceptance and would relish the opportunity to be perceived in a positive light in by the international community but, could this peace be accepted by others, that may be the sticking point.
To read the full article and very persuasive viewpoint on having Iran broker a peace settlement, you must read this article by William Beeman, author of The "Great Satan" vs. The "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other . He is a respected scholar. You may or may not agree with his point of view, but at this juncture without another realistic plan for a ceasefire, his idea may not be a bad one.
What William Beeman lays out in his article is that although Iran supports Hezbollah financially they do not have oversight or political control over the group, nor do they have control over Hamas. What Iran might be able to do is to leverage guidance in much the same way that the US does with Israel.
In fact, let's discuss that a bit. This is a nearly parallel situation, if you believe that Iran does not control Hezbollah as the first premise. The Americans provide Israel with a significant amount of support both financially and militarily, yet do the Israelis do what the American government requests? No, not unless it is in their own self interest, they are totally self directed. Does America exert leverage behind the scenes and is their point of view important, you bet! Okay, now change the names of the parties involved to Hezbollah and Iran. See the parallel?
So a peace brokered by Iran may be hugely beneficial at this point for several reasons:
- Hezbollah may actually listen to Iran
- Iran may be looking for a world stage on which to appear as an international leader in peace for the Middle East and to garner positive press
- Hezbollah may be looking for an exit strategy and looking to shore up support and not lose face
- With a Iranian peace brokered plan, Iran may be able to change world opinion and even benefit from involvement in the peace process on other topics such as economic exchange, cessation of sanctions, and even acceptance into the World Trade Organization
Is it worth asking Iran to broker a peace settlement? Yes, at this point I think that we are running out of real options to prevent the additional slaughter of civilians on both sides. Should the US ask Iran to broker a peace settlement? No, absolutely not, this is an area for France and the UN to take control. There is no current effective means of communication between Iran and America, diplomatic ties have been nearly all severed, and most importantly any Iranian who works with the Americans takes a political black eye for doing so.
So, in closing, we in the world community needs to take a very hard look at getting Iran involved in the Middle Eastern peace process.
