Sometimes I think all the world’s a mess and we are merely custodians.

When it comes to Iran, I continue to be flabbergasted by the lack of understanding or complete amnesia with respect to history’s causes and effects.

Throughout much of the last century, Iran was pestered and often outright dominated by foreign powers interested in exploiting it. First the British and Russians, then the United States, then Iraq (with American assistance). Whether it was oil, gaining a geostrategic advantage in the Middle East, or ideological disagreement, there always seemed to be a selfish reason—under the auspices of the collective good—to mess with Iran.

It’s not difficult to link Iran’s revolution in 1979 directly to American and British actions during the preceding 34 years. After all, when you rip off a country’s biggest resource (oil) and subject its people to the brutal leadership of a dictator (the Shah) beholden to your every command, well, you’re likely to piss some people off. Especially those with such a long and proud heritage and culture.

After the revolution, the United States tried to turn back the clock by subverting the Iranian government, hoping to overthrow it yet again (efforts that undoubtedly continue to this day) and re-install a friendly one. In fact its very likely that America’s presence in Iraq and Afghanistan was in part guided by a desire to surround Iran.

And the world wonders why a country in that situation, with that history, might want a nuclear bomb.

Meanwhile, Iran began fighting back in the only way it could: through unconventional means and via proxies like Hamas and Hizbollah, which it continues to use against America’s proxy, Israel.

As a result of Iran’s support for Hamas and Hizbollah, and because of its delusional and big-talking President Ahmadinejad, Israel is convinced that Iran intends to wipe it off the map, literally.

But where Israel errs is when it comes to understanding the motivations behind this antagonism. It’s not just about hating Jews. I won’t sit here and say that there are no Iranians who do, but then again there are people who hate for no reason everywhere (Rand Paul, for example).

Like is usually the case, it’s more about politics and the undeniable reality that Iran may feel like it needs a nuclear bomb (even though America’s 2007 National Intelligence Estimate said it stopped trying) to counteract America’s well-funded proxy Israel, who, by the way, already has around 300 nuclear weapons of its own and won’t admit it. But as the right wing and Israel, itself, would have you believe, Israel is more capable of handling that responsibility than Iran so it should have nuclear weapons and Iran should not.

From the Washington Post:

“We are frustrated with the fact that Iran does not feel the pressure of the world, does not care about the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N., because we feel that time is running out,” Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said in an interview.

An Israeli security official recently complained of a muddled discourse on sanctions that has made the ultimate objective unclear: whether the Obama administration is trying to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb or only to roll back its growing capabilities. Israeli officials have been seeking clarity from their American counterparts on what the U.S. plan is for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear device if sanctions fail.

What I continue to find most outrageous are Israel’s demands that Iran comply with the IAEA and the UN when Israel, itself, has never allowed IAEA inspectors to examine its nuclear facilities and still is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Personally, I think the policy of ambiguity makes them look like assholes at worst and idiots at best. And as I always remind people, I don’t take any of this lightly, being Jewish and all.

Either way, the games will go on and we’ll all continue to forget how we got here.