By: Ali Baharlou, Australia
Recent and not so recent
accusations and cries of foul play levelled against Iran by the US and the
European Union lead-countries have, amongst other things, more to do with
Western mindset than the irrefutable cold facts currently seen on the ground.
The predominant characteristic of
this mindset is to process input information and come to a conclusion based on
what is termed and propagated as rational thinking. This rational thinking, in
the domain of exact sciences, yields or at least is expected to result in a
rationally explainable outcome. 2 and 2 in math is expected to yield 4 and any
other possibility is discounted. Vigorous and unrelenting attempts at the
application of rational scientific thought processes of an exact nature to
inexact social sciences encompassing human behaviour, where the possibility of
not arriving at 4 by adding 2 and 2 may exist, are still being made in academic
circles with spillage onto political and administrative circles naturally prone
to twisting and molding processes to achieve predetermined outcomes detrimental
to scientific innocence and objectivity.
No doubt 'generalization' is a
valuable ability of rational human brain to extend and apply; it saves time and
promotes further thinking. Application, however, has its limits either to kind
or manner yearning to be adapted or discarded. This is where part of the problem
lies. Countries, mainly Western, spearheading the multi-thronged attack on
Iran seemingly for its nuclear
technology program are applying the same rational scientific thinking to the
politics of nuclear technology. Nuclear science may be exact and calculable but
its pointed politics is not! Western Countries' leaders spearheading the
aggressive diplomatic assault on Iran cannot accept what they see but
see, or at least want to see, what they can't.
Geopolitics of the region added to the past and present
catastrophic events in Iran and countries surrounding Iran are compelling enough
for the rational Western mindset not accept the irrationality of the findings of
IAEA with regard to Iran's nuclear program. In a simple term, when applying the
rational and scientific thinking formulae to the findings of the IAEA in
relation to Iran's nuclear endeavor Western Leaders say 'it doesn't add up'. In
other words, they are saying to the scientists and administrators of IAEA: 'You
are incompetent fools and we don't trust you because you haven't managed to
uncover what our rational minds are telling us is there because it should be
there!'. Looking at Iran and geopolitical environ it is located today, The US
and European leaders' mindsets rationalize that Iran needs atomic weapons to
protect itself in the created chaos that
prevails in the region and
therefore it is irrational and foolish for Iran not to vie for atomic weapons.
This is in spite of the fact that time and again it has been declared, by IAEA,
that no such program has been
uncovered. Indeed no guns; let alone smoking ones!
Here's a seemingly very irrational
personal experience of mine to end the article with: A few years ago visiting
Iran I happened to share a
taxi with three other people from Azadi Square west of Tehran to Khaje Abdollah
somewhere in the east. The pleasant young guy sitting next to me started a
conversation with me all the way to Resalat, some 10 to 15 kilometers from where
I hailed the taxi. He said goodbye and got out. The taxi driver took me up along
Shariati
Ave and dropped me at Hosseinieh Ershad, the closest
to where I was heading. I asked the driver how much the fare was. The response
was " Befarma'id Agha Hessaab
shoud", meaning it's been taken care of.
I asked him what he meant by 'hesaab shoud'. He said the guy talking to
you in the taxi paid for you. How and how much without drawing my attention I am
still curious to know. By then I had lived in Europe and Australia for about
twenty years and had never experienced, heard or seen a complete stranger to
exhibit such manners, that my western oriented mindset for obvious irrationality
factor finds it hard to digest, well aware that he would most probably never see
me again. This may not be your everyday occurrence but it is the result of an
Iranian and possibly Middle Eastern mindset that is in direct challenge to the
so called Western rational thinking. Rationality, when it comes to human
behaviour as opposed to exact scientific behaviour, comes in various shades and
cannot and should not be over-generalized. When I let my rational scientific
logic take a leave, it became much easier for me to find rationality in a
complete stranger paying, on the grounds of a 30 minute conversation, for my
taxi fare. The morale of the Taxi adventure in relation to the EU and the US taking
issue with Iran's nuclear program is ... Leave it to you to draw your own
conclusion by any means you see fit including the rational scientific
generalization!
The author of the article welcomes
your comments at: baharlou@optusnet.com.au
