by CKR
Jackson Diehl today writes of "Retreat from the Freedom Agenda."
Given my conversation yesterday with Neila Charchour Hachicha and my post on freedom in Tunisia, reading Diehl's piece just made me feel very, very tired.
Realpolitik sometimes requires working with unpleasant people and countries. That I understand, and I can live with it, uneasily. What gets me down is the evangelistic front of "spreading freedom" as "our friends" blatantly put down dissidents and rig elections.
I think I'd rather hear "He's our son of a bitch." That has some honesty.
Another downer is Azerbaijan's location. Yes, that small country sits on some immense oil resources, but that's not the whole story.
Five countries ring the Caspian Sea: Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. Much of the news from that area of interest to American consumers has had to do with the breakdown of the caviar fisheries. There's been a cultural festival, too, in Iran to emphasize similarities among the littoral countries.
The part that gets me down is the mention in some of the articles on US war planning against Iran of the Caspian Sea as an invasion route. I think they must be talking about air strikes, but I guess it would be possible to transport small naval craft by air. Azerbaijan also shares a border with Iran.
So you're wrong, Jackson Diehl! For those who want a war with Iran, Ilham Aliyev is promoting freedom and democracy!
Nothing like believing your own propaganda.