Why Not Let Iran Close the Strait of Hormuz?

Article first published as Why Not Let Iran Close the Strait of Hormuz? on Blogcritics.


Listening to all the pundits on talk radio here in New York this week, I got a feeling that I do not like. It was that same feeling I had right before we invaded Iraq (the second time around). Everyone seems to be beating a drum for a confrontation with the Iranians, and it probably has more to do with Iran's nuclear program than with its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz; still everyone is acting like this is the most important 34-mile wide waterway in the world. Quite frankly, it is not, and threatening a war over it is American saber rattling of the most incredulous kind.

Depending on who is speaking, about twenty to thirty percent of the world's oil supply goes through the strait each day. More importantly, it is the Iranians themselves who depend on this shipping lane to get their oil out to the world. If they close the strait, and no one does anything to stop it, then the Iranians are going to impact themselves just as much, if not more, than anyone else. Hungry for the money that oil brings and being economically crushed by sanctions, the Iranians are going to feel the pain that action brings and that will be all of their own doing.

America should not be the world's police force in this (or quite frankly any other) matter. Many other countries will be affected by this closure, but there are alternatives for oil from Saudi Arabia and other nations, and it is perhaps a timely lesson to make big consumers of oil like China, Japan, and Europe start thinking about this for the long haul. It also wouldn't hurt for oil producing countries in the gulf to look toward other means of getting oil out to the world, like pipelines to the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea.

The most important thing to take away from this is that America should not try to stop Iran if it takes this action. The world will see Iran as an aggressor, similar to Hitler attacking Poland or Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait. Once the action is taken, then it should be up to the United Nations to formulate a plan that includes many nations and not just one.

It is time for America to take a step back, especially during this presidential year. Any saber rattling, and make no mistake there is plenty going on involving everyone from presidential hopefuls to the guy on the street, is going to defeat the purpose of stopping an emboldened Iran from essentially blockading itself from the world. We should welcome rather than inhibit this action, for it will no doubt hasten the demise of the regime in Tehran faster than any American military maneuvers that will only stoke the flames of another war that we are unable to win.

John Lennon's "Happy Christmas/War Is Over" - Sung by Angels on New Year's Day

Article first published as John Lennon's "Happy Christmas/War Is Over" - Sung by Angels on New Year's Day on Blogcritics.


As I lay in bed this morning a persistent dream kept me sleeping on the edge of awake. I do not recall the dream specifically, but there was something keeping me in there, not wanting to move the blanket to bring me out on the other side. I was aware in the dream - new day, new year, and I felt enormous contentment. Then I heard it: a hymn seemingly sung by angels on high. It was John Lennon's song "Happy Christmas/War Is Over,"  and it was being sung by my children.

I pushed myself out of the reverie of sleep into wakefulness, motivated as a sleepwalker might be to move forward, undo latches and locks, and escape into the dark cold of night. As I came down the stairs I saw them sitting there (no wings or halos present to be sure), but their little voices had captured the nuances so well, the words rolling out and into the cosmos as they left their throats, no doubt delighting my mother in heaven (and Mr. Lennon, if he was not too busy listening to a million others singing the song elsewhere in the world).

My kids saw me and kept the verse going. My daughter had an impish smile, my son singing delightfully off key. They had heard the song many times leading up to Christmas, but their familiarity is with a newer version sung by Sarah McLachlan, a singer who is associated with having quite an angelic voice.

I sat on the chair until they finished singing, clapped my hands, and felt I couldn't have asked for a better way to start a new year. My son is too young to understand the meaning of the song, but my ten-year-old daughter loves the song and what she perceives as the message: world peace is within our grasp, but we have to want it.

I think Lennon's song has never been more timely than right now. I started thinking about the last American troops that have rolled into Kuwait, leaving behind years of war in Iraq. When the song first came out, the war in question was Vietnam (and there were certainly no signs of it abating then). Happily, Iraq is concluded, but Afghanistan and wars elsewhere still loom large, so the question is as poignant as ever: "war is over" but do we want it? Of course, in a child's mind the answer is "How can we not?"

Yes, I want to think peace is possible, but after opening up this morning's paper, I saw too many reasons to think it won't happen. Number one reason is the threat by the Iranians to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which in essence will stop oil shipments to many parts of the world. Of course, America has to rattle its saber and say that it cannot allow that to happen, so more fears of an escalation of hostilities rather than a move towards peace seem to be the reality.

I know many people think Lennon's song is just a pipe dream, but I kind of hope every year that it is more of a peace pipe dream. If people all over the world can celebrate the birth of Jesus, if they can sing the song "Silent Night" and those lovely words "Sleep in heavenly peace," then that would go for not just the Baby Jesus but every baby in the world. We adults surely must know that the most important thing we can do for our children is to make certain those words can become a reality.

So when my daughter said she loved Sarah McLachlan's song, I stopped myself from going into the details about John Lennon. Besides, a great singer can make a song his own (think Nat King Cole and "The Christmas Song" or Frank Sinatra and "My Way"), and Sarah certainly makes that song hers when she sings it. There will be time for my daughter to know all about John Lennon, but for now I will let her sing that song and dream of peace and hope that sooner or later the adults of this world will get the message too.

No-Fly Zones Approved in Libya: Doesn't This Sound Familiar?

Article first published as No-Fly Zones Approved in Libya: Doesn't This Sound Familiar? on Blogcritics.
A dangerous dictator? Ruthless and willing to kill his own people? We have heard this one before: Hitler, Stalin, and most recently Saddam Hussein. Everyone in the world wants him out, or so it seems. Apparently, even Arab countries (although unnamed) have approved of his ouster. This sounds conspicuously similar to what happened in Iraq. We had no-fly zones there too once upon a time, and that really worked out well, didn't it?

If the old adage is correct - history repeats itself - then we are in for a bad case of deja vu all over again in Libya. Everyone knows Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is a few cards short of a full deck. In fact, he makes North Korean leader Kim Jung-il look like a novice when it comes to crazy. Qaddafi has been in the terror business a long time, going way back to the Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie bombing in December 1988. The same things were said about Saddam before we went into Iraq. He was a terrorist and fiend too. The connections are obvious and annoyingly apparent, so what is going on here?

Libya is about the size of Alaska. Can you imagine fighting a war in Alaska inch by inch? Throw in tons of sand from the Sahara. scorching heat, and an indigenous population that hates us as much as they hate Qaddafi, and we have a recipe for disaster. All I keep thinking is no-fly zones today, ground war tomorrow. Yes, Mr. Obama says there will be no troops deployed there. Is that now or ever? Is he crossing his fingers when he is saying this?

So, please, let us stay out of it. It is not our fight. We don't belong there. We have lost so much in Iraq and Afghanistan and we are still there. We have been at war far too long. Just give us some peace. Let France do this, and Italy, and any Arab country that wants to get in on it. Please, Mr. President, we cannot have another war where our men and women's blood runs in the desert sands.

This is not our fight, so please let it fall to someone else - anyone else - to take this on. If we get sucked in there, it will be for the long haul again, and yet another generation will be born and know of nothing but being at war. How's that for a legacy, Mr. Obama?

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