Hypocrisy:

According to Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, once celebrated as the ‘most powerful woman’ of the world, Iran is the greatest danger to America. Senator John McCain, the red blooded Republican, added: the only thing

worse than military action against Iran is the nuclear armed Iran. Credit must be given to the Senator for he admitted it would be bad to attack Iran.

The hypocrisy and double standards replete around the Iran nuclear issue is naked. Is it a sign of desperation when the American secretary of state sounds angry and frustrated? Such undiplomatic rhetoric plays into the hands of born again imperialists on the one hand and the revivalist bigots on the other. By the way, the doctrine of American ‘exceptionalism’ seems to have outlived even its presumed utilitarian use (legitimacy it never had).

The issue is not who is pushing the crisis to the brink; that is clear enough. Both parties are driven to the point of no return; the script of the play, the reference to the ‘international community’ and the rhetoric of ‘time is running out’ or ‘patience wearing thin’ are all too familiar. The issue is whether we need or can afford yet another ‘mistake’ as in Iraq, even if that is claimed to be sole prerogative of what has become of the ‘international community’. — Bangladesh Observer