A busy and deadly month – Opinion – The Register-Guard

Wednesday Jan22,2020at12:01AM

Who shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, killing all aboard? Obviously, the Iranians did. But wait, Iran destroyed the plane because it mistakenly thought this was part of an attack by the U.S. that killed one of its generals, so the U.S. must be responsible. But wait, the U.S. killed the general because Iran invaded the embassy in Iraq, so Iran must be responsible. But wait, Iran invaded the U.S. embassy because the U.S. killed two dozen of their fighters, so the U.S. must be responsible. And so on. It has been a busy and deadly month.

So, who is responsible for the downing of Flight 752? In my view, both governments. This merry-go-round of violence is caused by two factors: nationalism and testosterone, which are two sides of the same coin.

What both sides need, at this point, are new leaders who are willing to stand up, act like adults and offer to meet face-to-face.

In the 2020 U.S. election, I plan to vote for the candidate of either party who will make a pledge to unconditionally reach out to Iran in the hopes of bringing peace to the region. So far, no candidates qualify.

Richard Steers, Eugene

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A busy and deadly month - Opinion - The Register-Guard