The Fire Again? Iraq, Iran, And the Gulf (Perspectives‪)‬

Historical amnesia often distorts Western perceptions of the Middle East. In a manner comparable to that taken in the run-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq, Western policymakers attempting to develop an effective strategy for dealing with Iran are experiencing troubling lapses of historical memory regarding the colonial and post-colonial past. Such analytical failures could make the world pay the dreadful price of a new regional conflagration that would result from a US or Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear installations. Seasoned analysts such as Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker have already published forecasts of such an attack. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]