Tit for Tat

(And no, this isn't a belated Friday Sex Post.)

First I wish to apologize for not having posted anything in almost a week. I was suffering from outrage fatigue, so apart from random comments I basically avoided blogging and gardened until I felt better about writing something that wouldn't sound like The Rude Pundit with added psychopathies.

So what caught my eye a few days ago was an item on the NBC Nightly News where the United States Government had threatened to declare that the Islamic Republic of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was a "terrorist organization" because it has supported insurgents and other terrorist groups.

Now, with this article on CNN the Iranians have taken the traditional umbrage at our government's line, complete with bellicose language about "punching" us if we take steps against the Guards.

I just had to say something about this.

First, there is some precedent to the idea of outlawing a part of another nation's armed forces, as the victorious Allies did in Nuremburg by outlawing and prosecuting the German High Command and the SS.

But can our own actions be as closely refereed?

Let's see, shall we?

We supported the Shah of Iran's domestic terrorism of his own people (those very same Iranians).

We lent aid and support to the UNITA terrorists in Angola (to the point of Ronald Reagan praising its leader, Jonas Savimbi, as "the Abraham Lincoln of Africa").

We are currently supporting Sunni Arab insurgent groups in Iraq on the promise that they will help us in stamping out al Qaeda cells there, and will not attack either us or the Shiite majority.

We lent aid and training to insurgents in Afghanistan in the 1980s that led to the Soviet pullout, the Afhgan civil war, and the rise of the Taliban government (which gave shelter to al Qaeda).

We supported Manuel Noriega, who made a mint off of running drugs, racketeering and acting as a double agent.

We are currently giving grants to set up shelters and community centers in American cities for organizations that are fronts for street gangs (which, in my view, are exactly what terrorist organizations are).

So, can anyone tell me where we get off saying that another country aids terrorism?