Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Mr. Hannity approves of our alliance with the Shah of Iran in the 1970s as well as our alliance with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s based on the principle of the lesser of two evils. But Hannity's understanding of these situations is flawed. Our real reason for backing the Shah was to secure Western mega-corporate control of the Iranian economy and oil vis-à-vis the Soviets. And it seems that our real reasons for backing Saddam Hussein were to ally with a secular Arab leader against an "Islamic" fundamentalist regime; to punish and isolate Iran for overthrowing the Shah; and to ensure Western access to Iraqi oil.

Moreover, even when the concept of balance of power and the lesser of two evils principle are correctly applied, we must not fall into a rigidly partisan outlook. In line with our foundational American ideals, which are also Christian ideals, we should still seek the good of all peoples without prejudice or exception. As the Catechism explains in Paragraph 1939:

The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of `friendship' or `social charity,' is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood. An error, `today abundantly widespread, is disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to.'

According to the next paragraph, solidarity "presupposes the effort for a more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced and conflicts more readily settled by negotiation." And Paragraph 1941 states: "International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this."

Soon after his election, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the importance of dialogue in fostering peaceful international relations: "I am particularly sensitive to dialogue between all human beings in order to overcome every kind of conflict and tension and to make our earth an earth of peace and brotherhood." Nations must "overcome the temptation of confrontation between cultures, races and worlds that are different", said the pope. Our government's first duty is the safety and protection of Americans, but the carrying out of this duty must not infringe on the rights of others. To knowingly and deliberately favor or persist in an alliance with a clearly unjust regime for selfish and Machiavellian purposes is evil--and it is all the more evil if cloaked in the mantle of freedom.
Our alliance with the Shah was strategically crucial to unfettered capitalists but ultimately a strategic nightmare for our national security.