McKinnon: US should lift sanctions, enter talks with Iran soon

American political activist and university professor Patrick McKinnon believes White House is making a grave mistake regarding Iran; must lift sanctions and enter talks with Tehran immediately.


Speaking with IRNA in New York, Professor McKinnon refereed to the history of the Iran-US relations, reiterating, “The ongoing sanctions have aggravated the disputes between the two countries, but the root of the Iran-US dispute should be sought many years ago when the United States toppled the national government of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq in a coup in favor of the oil cartels and the shah.
The American university professor said, “That move raised the hatred of the typical Iranians against the United States for the first time.”
McKinnon believes one of the problems with his country is overdependence on military force and weapons, arguing, “Our economy has become addicted to war, which is why diplomacy and rational reasoning have both been relatively abandoned in favor of blind militarism in Washington.”
He said, “We need to turn to green economy in order to rid our country of the war economy, because so long as we rely on a war economy the only way to make money would be exporting weapons and making wars here and there in the world.”
McKinnon added, “The US administration has become too arrogant, otherwise who has appointed it as the international judge to decide about the other countries’ nuclear programs, being the only country in the world that has ever used the atomic bomb against civilians?”
The US professor reiterated, “Look at all the atomic bombs we have stockpiled in the United States. We speak of nuclear disarmament but act otherwise. The US administrations’ conduct has disturbed the ethical status of the typical Americans around the globe, presenting an ugly image of the United States to the world nations, as well.”
McKinnon said, “Everything is at the service of capitalism in the United Sates and everyone is mobilized to increase the capitals of the American companies.”
He added, “We must heed the point that the United States’ entry into various wars is not a sign of our country great power, but a sign of our national economy’s weakness, since the United States would not have waged wars anywhere if Washington was capable of competing with the world economic blocks.”
IRNA asked whether Professor McKinnon believes the US foreign policy is racist and discriminatory.
He replied, “Of course. The United States did not use its atomic bombs against Germany, or Italy, but used it against Japan.”
The American university professor reiterated, “They wage wars in the name of promoting democracy.”
He added, “Saddam was serving the US interests in the region for many years and Washington had supported Baghdad throughout the Iran-Iraq war, but he was suddenly demonized to serve the warmonger polices of Washington. Likewise, Osama bin Laden was a step son of America, but we call him an enemy now.”
IRNA asked Professor MacKinnon’s idea about President Barack Obama administration’s foreign policy regarding Iran and whether he sees any difference between his policies and the former US president George W. Bush’s.
He replied, “I see no major difference. Obama has greatly disappointed everyone. Of course I did not expect great changes, but at lease I expected more of Obama. I don’t know why. Is he worried lest someone would assassinate him, or is he working for being elected for his second term at the White House?”
The American professor added, “But if you would compare the Democrats and the Republicans, you would notice that the Republicans prefer war without butter, but the Democrats prefer it with butter!”
The IRNA correspondent asked, “Don’t you think Obama administration’s policies regarding Afghanistan, Iraq and even Iran are quite the same as the Bush administration’s respective polices?”
McKinnon said, “I am quite agreed with you on that. Of course I still think he really wants to usher some changes, but he is not capable of finding an appropriate framework for that.”
He added, “As a human being I believe Obama is a hundred times better than Bush, but in his practical policies he differs very minimally with Bush, and that is regarding the two presidents’ internal polices.”
McKinnon ended the interview with the sentence, “They say President Obama is a socialist, which is not true. I believe they call him a socialist because they would rather not call him a Niger!”

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