By César Chelala
(COMMON DREAMS) — In discussing international political events, a friend told me, “Countries are like people: they react in the same manner.” I didn’t quite realize the full import of her words until now that I view the seemingly inevitable path to war between the United States/Israel and Iran.
There are abundant historical examples to prove that an effective weapon in creating antagonism between countries as a prelude to war is by dehumanizing the enemy. Although the Holocaust during World War II and the Rwandan genocide are extreme cases of enemy dehumanization, a similar process exists almost every time there is war.
This is also true in the case of Iran, whose leaders have described their enemies in painfully demeaning ways. However, that same language has also been used by their enemies to describe Iranians, which further exacerbates an extremely delicate situation.
