Originally Posted by
psycho joe
No fantasy.
Assad has form on using chlorine gas on his own people in the past and stands to gain most by continuing that policy, it quacks like a duck. This is different to conventional weapons in so far as it is specifically outlawed. The mode of death is from inland drowning caused by severe blistering of the lungs and often causes blindness to those unfortunate enough to survive. This is entirely different to agent orange, as agent orange was a defoliant. Noone tries to commit a genocide with weed killer.
Not sure what you're specifically referring to in regard to US foreign policy toward Iran, other than the fact that the U.K. and the US backed the Shah who was modernising the Iranian economy, he was hated by the hard liners for instilling western liberal values including women's freedom. There are pictures taken after the removal of the Shah showing women protesting in the streets against being forced to cover themselves in public, you don't see that anymore. The Iranian dictatorship hates western values as they are antithetical to Muslim values. The US is viewed as an easy target as an example of a country espousing these western values.
And Israel. Palestine was Israeli long before Islam even existed. Iran and other Muslim states hate Israel because the Koran specifically singles out Jews for destruction. Mohammed demands the beheading of Jews in retaliation for Jewish scholars refusing to recognise him as a prophet in the seventh century. Everything else is just a means to an end, a justification for that destruction.
I think before you jump to conclusions about Iran and backing the Shah, you should do some research and understand how Khomeini came to power and what the 'Anglo-Persian' oil company was all about.
Anyway what is happening in the Middle East is no different than what has happened throughout history. When the hell has it even been a stable region?