By Faizah Gilani

We quite often use the phrase 'some people never learn.' It is a common phrase, but true. There are such people that never learn and the President of America is one of them. During his trip to the Gulf, George Bush has been trying to rally support for the Americans and has made an important speech in the UAE about his two favourite subjects, democracy and ... Iran. The war of words has begun again after Bush called Iran "the world's leading sponsor of state terror." It seems as if America is going all out to pin down the Iranians, but one doubts whether this comment will have much of an affect on Tehran. One thing for sure is that they do not take kindly to interference and perhaps we should expect a crispy response from President Ahmadinejad. But there is no loss of love between America and Iran- because there was never any love there in the first place. The world has been an audience to the act and react sequence between the Countries for some time now and heated words have been exchanged back and forth like a tennis ball. At times the situation has been a little comical but now we must stop and think where is all this actually heading to?

Today violence and bloodshed has become a part of everyday life. We live in a global village; whatever happens across the globe will somehow affect us too. No nation can live in isolation, even if it wants to. The truth is that collectively we all have a responsibility towards each other. Yet, despite the failure of Iraq, which has made the world a far more dangerous place, George Bush has still not learnt from his mistakes. His provocative statements towards Iran simply show that the President has not quite realized the mess that he has already. The region today is more unstable than ever, yet he is prepared to show eye-balls to the Iranians. Surely he must have understood by now that getting entangled with Iran will cause more friction within the region and will certainly not improve matters, despite what he may think. It has hard to get to grips with why the American president is hell bent on expanding his list of 'them against us.'

It has also to be said, Iran has been a tricky customer. The Iranians will do what they want to do and will not bow down to any sort of pressure. Their nuclear expansion has been the main bone of contention between them and the Americans. However, the more the Americans push them, the more it will widen the cracks and hostility will simply increase. If President Bush has issues with his Iranian counterpart over nuclear ambitions then he is most certainly going about it the wrong way. He should not expect the fiery Iranians to make a U-turn, especially after he openly denounced them. If only someone would tell the American President to think before he spoke. Most importantly, Iran is not Iraq. Bush should tread carefully and remember that Iran will not play doormat. They will never allow themselves to be bossed around by the superpower and America knows this. One can only hope that tensions never escalate to anything beyond words, because the use of military would cause havoc. Bush often speaks about the national security of his country but he should not forget that his actions can have serious implications on the world in general. Let us hope that common sense prevails and that the American president remembers that he still has one foot in Iraq.

Bush, however, was right about the notion of democracy. Democracy is important if any nation wants to flourish. If democracy was to blossom in the Middle East, it would not only do wonders for the region itself, it would also benefit the global community as a whole. However, talks of democracy by the Americans have often been seen as arrogance by the Arabs. Many of them feel as if the Americans are trying to force their ideals and their way of life upon them. To a large extent, the American administration has itself to be blamed. Their choice of words as well as their praise for their own 'freedoms' has never gone done too well in the region. Lecturing the Arabs about the goodness of American society and what the region is missing out on has often left a bad taste in the Arab mouths. They feel as if the Americans are trying to impose their views on them, which has led to the Middle East further shying away from entirely embracing democracy. But it is not up to the Americans to police the Middle East. While democracy may not be flowing, there is potential. It is, however, up to the people within that region to find their path. America has already made a terrible mistake in trying to 'liberate' Iraq. After that fiasco, it is understandable why other Arab nations are wary of the Americans. Preaching democracy will not help the cause. Neither will getting into a conflict with Iran help matters.

While President Bush is doing his job in thinking about America's national security first, he should remember that conflict will not only be dangerous for the Americans, but for the Iranians too and the global community in the long run. He may not have to be the best of friends with President Ahmadinejad but this dangerous game should be stopped here. After 9/11 and the Iraq war, America should learn from the important lessons. Trying to get Iran to dance on their tunes is highly unlikely. America and Iran becoming soul-sisters may never happen either. But if America stops pushing Iran, steps back and extends a hand, not for friendship but for peace, it will ease some of the tension. No one is expecting miracles, but some sort of understanding can be reached, if only they genuinely seek it. America must change its attitude towards the rest of the world, before it decides to change others. Hatred breeds hatred and no good can never come out of it. Nothing will be achieved from confrontation, striving for peace is not only the best option, but the only option.