Iran -- A good friend of our good friend

Remember the United Arab Emirites, the country which --- according to President Bush -- is our great "committed ally in the war on terror," our "valued and strategic partner," the Middle Eastern country that is so moderate and responsible that we can even trust them to control our ports? One of the UAE's closest and most important allies is Iran, the Nazi Germany of the Middle East. How can that be? How can our "committed ally in the war on terror" possibly maintain such close relations with the crazed, homicidal, genocidal Islamofascist Terrorists of the Middle East?

Yesterday, according to an Iranian news agency, Iran's Deputy Minister and the UAE's Prime Minister met and celebrated the two countries' great relations, which they both said they were committed to expanding "in all areas":

Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi and Deputy Emir and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammad ben Rashid al-Maktoum stressed Monday expansion of relations between Iran and UAE in all areas.

Mostafavi lauded al-Maktoum on his efforts in strengthening bilateral ties and invited him for a state visit to Tehran.

Mostafavi also briefed the Dubai's ruler on the Iranians positions on Iraq and Palestinians developments, and described the trend of Iran-Russia talks on Tehran resolve in acquiring peaceful nuclear technology. . . .

And Iran's Deputy Minister even arrived bearing an official greeting and invitation from the deranged, murderous, bloodthirsty Muslim Adolf Hitler:

The official started his regional tour by traveling to Qatar, where he submitted a written message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on Friday, inviting him to pay a visit to Tehran.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi in a meeting with the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan on Monday submitted the written message of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to him.

None of this is really new. Our good friend, the UAE, has long had great relations with Nazi Germany Iran, and that relationship is only blossoming:

According to Al-Bayan newspaper, statistics issued by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry show that the value of the total non-oil exchanges between the UAE and Iran hit $3.3 billion last year.

Meanwhile, an official at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) called for enhancement of bilateral relations between the two sides. In his visit with a trade delegation from the Iranian province of Mazandaran, director of public relations and events of the DCCI Sultan Majid Lootah noted, the non-oil trade between the two states has hit $3.300 billion. Also, Hamid Reza Qadi deputy chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mazandaran Province referred to the province’s good trade and commercial relations with the Emirates and said Dubai was one of Iran’s most important trade partners.

It's not only their government leaders who meet, but their business leaders frequently do as well, forging all sorts of new commercial interaction. Of course, the countries have many things in common, including their virtually identical policy towards Israel. Neither recognizes its right to exist, neither allows Israeli citizens to enter their country, and both of them boycott all Israeli companies.

If Iran were really the Ultimate Terrorist Evil, the new Nazi Germany, would one of our "most committed allies in the war on terror" maintain such friendly relations with them? For a reasonable, moderate, responsible anti-terrorist country like the UAE to maintain such a close alliance with Iran, mustn't there be some rationality and stability in the Iranian government?

And why is the UAE's extreme hostility to Israel -- to the point where it denies Israel's right to exist and bans its citizens from entering the country -- consistent with our close alliance with the UAE, but Iran's extreme hostility towards Israel (admittedly with more inflammatory rhetoric) compels us to view Iran as the new Nazi Germany?

It is clearly not in the interests of the U.S. for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, and there are an array of measures which are being pursued, and should be, to prevent that. But we can't and don't have a policy of waging war on every country that is trying to proliferate. The only way to justify a war on Iran is by trying to depict them as some great evil, and more so, a completely irrational and deranged world actor beyond the standard constraints of rationality and self-interest. But there is no evidence that they are guided in their actions by anything other than rationality and self-interest, and we need only talk to our good friends (and the Iranians' good friends) -- the UAE -- in order to know this.