Hey there.
As you may have noticed, this channel has a bit of a Saudi Arabia obsession.
I describe that country’s leadership as the main problem with Islam.
They are the root of worldwide Islamic radicalization, and almost every high profile act of terror
since and including 9-11 is rooted in Saudi ideology.
I believe that the US should back off its traditional alliance with Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, I am a big fan of peace with Iran.
I want that country to be welcomed back into the community of nations, and I think an end
to Iran’s isolation would be great for everybody.
To some viewers It looks like there’s a contradiction here.
Because superficially, Iran and Saudi Arabia look kind of similar.
Though Iran’s system is much more democratic than Saudi Arabia’s, the two countries positions
on radical Islam are somewhat similar.
Both countries support radical groups.
Saudi Arabia supports radical Sunni thought everywhere, and Iran supports radical Shia
thought where it can.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are also the only two countries of note that try to run their countries
by the letter of the Koran.
I obviously think that’s a nutty thing to do.
So why am I so pro-Iran, and so anti-Saudi Arabia?
Here are three reasons.
1.The Shia world is tiny.
As I’ve mentioned before, this is the greatest flaw in the Eternal Shia Sunni struggle narrative.
The vast majority of the world’s Muslims are Sunni.
Of the 50 or so Muslim majority countries.
four are majority Shia. 75 to 90% of all the world’s Muslims are Sunni.
Iran had one big opportunity to radicalize another Shia country, Iraq.
That already happened thanks to George W. Bush.
In the poor Muslim countries of Asia and Africa that Saudi Arabia has damaged so seriously,
there are almost no Shia to be found.
Iran’s radicalism can be ugly, but Its arena of action is constrained.
Washington DC’s fantasy of Iran’s hegemonic ambitions is, put simply: Dumb as Dog Shit.
I’ll refer you to the rest of this series for the catastrophic world-wide effects of
Saudi Arabia’s radicalism.
This is an important point.
Even if Iranian radicalism was weaponized to the degree that Saudi radicalism has been,
it wouldn’t have anybody to radicalize.
2.The United States
In the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the United States is the most important factor.
This should be obvious.
Saudi Arabia is as damaging as it has been because of US support.
On two wars specifically, and in the wider world for half a century, we’ve worked intensively
with Saudi Arabia to turn Sunni radicalism into a world-wide force.
It’s not like I want to give Iran that position.
I don’t want to give anybody Saudi Arabia’s position.
And I don’t want to isolate Saudi Arabia either.
What we should do here is put both countries in the same position.
Neither should be isolated and invaded, but neither one should have US support for its
radical program.
I want both to be treated like normal countries.
One of the most frustrating things about the Discussion of the Iran Nuclear Deal in the
US is the assumption that it somehow gave Iran a bunch of money.
That’s utter hogwash.
What the deal did is let Iran access its own money from foreign accounts.
The Plane load of cash that people talk about was money that was owed to Iran.
This was a vital and brave first step that the Obama administration made towards peace
with Iran.
The fact that the Trump administration and the US congress has chosen to piss all over
this progress is a tragedy, but it’s certainly not Iran’s fault.
Some of that money absolutely did go to organizations that the US and Israel consider to be terrorist
groups.
But not a single dime of that money has supported an attack on the US or Europe.
We know this because there haven’t been any attacks Iran-linked attacks on the US
or Europe since the deal was signed.
The same cannot be said for attacks based on Saudi ideology.
In fact, a lot of the Iranian Nuclear deal money was probably used to fight ISIS.
Iran did a lot more in that fight than the United States did.
So what I want is normal treatment for both countries.
An end to support for Saudi terrorism, and an end to Iran’s isolation.
This shouldn’t be too much to ask.
3.Iran is a Real Country
Iran is just more of a real country.
Even now, after massive growth since the end of sanctions, Iran produces less than half
as much oil as Saudi Arabia, and it has more than twice as many people.
It has to be more than a petro-state.
Decades of isolation have meant that Iran has to actually produce things for itself.
Don’t get me wrong Iran’s non-oil economy is a statist, corrupt mess.
But Iran’s non-oil economy exists.
Saudi Arabia’s does not.
Iran’s radicalism is a self-defense mechanism.
They reach out whenever the US dials our aggression down from 11.
Saudi Arabia’s radicalism was undertaken voluntarily, from a position of great power
and wealth.
It’s insane that we continue to punish Iran, a country that has done us much less damage,
while supporting Saudi Arabia.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are similar in some ways.
So let’s treat them the same.
Thanks for watching.
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