“It’s just good style to get to know people before you bomb them.”
That’s what I said 18 years ago when people asked me, “Why are you producing this TV show?” It was 2008, and President Bush was threatening to go to war with Iran. So, I did the best thing I could to bolster peace — I produced a public television special designed to humanize and better understand the people of Iran.
Well, it’s 2026 now, and the USA under Trump has stepped into a void. What our country just did in Iran is like someone blowing up Mar-a-Lago to kill our leader…or blowing up the Kremlin to kill Russia’s. Or the equivalent in Quebec City, Havana, Taipei, or Sacramento. Regardless of how much you hated Khamenei, we’ve entered a new frontier in a world where long-established norms are crumbling. And who’s gone rogue? Pick up a flag and look in the mirror.
Sure, there are people dancing in the streets in Iran — just as there would be if our president ended up dead under a pile of rubble, too. But Americans who are gleeful today don’t really understand Iran any more than those who were fixated on (or titillated by) Ted Koppel’s 444 days of the Iran hostage crisis 45 years ago.
The world’s a messy place. But that’s no excuse. As an American taxpayer, I believe that every US bomb that falls and every bullet that flies has my name on it. In the last year, our president (who won votes by promising to keep America out of wars and is now famously agitating for a Nobel Peace Prize) has dropped bombs on seven foreign countries — and each of those bombs has your name on it, too…including the one that just recklessly decapitated a nation of 90 million people in a war-torn corner of our world.
I want freedom for the Iranian people as much as anyone. And I know that, with ICE-like forces, their government has killed thousands of protesters…thousands of Renée Goods and Alex Prettis. But I also know that, sometimes, patience and stability are preferable to saber-rattling, bombast, and chaos.
If you don’t think you understand Iran (or even if you do), and you would like to gain some context for its current misery, this show is for you. Rather than debate the issues of the day, it was designed to help you simply appreciate the rich culture and endearing humanity of this long-suffering nation. I doubt you’ll be traveling to Iran anytime soon. So, let this be your opportunity to join me on a vicarious trip there and to get to know and better understand a people that, since that 2008 trip, have held a special place in my heart.