Sordid history

With war likely sitting on the horizon, somewhere, if Bush gets his wish, Robert Parry thinks it'd be a good idea for Americans to learn the "full history" of US-Iranian relations.

Unfortunately, Parry concludes, that probably won't happen. Americans will thus remain "in the dark about their own history, like the subjects of some hereditary dynasty. Without the facts, they also face the possibility of being more easily manipulated by emotional appeals devoid of informed debate.

"That moment has come sooner than many expected," he continues. "The United States appears to be on the brink of a war with Iran, while many government officials and the citizenry are operating on historical assumptions derived more from fiction than fact."