Dissidents in Iran shunning the US

I think this really shows how low the USA's credibility has gone down when Iranian dissidents who want to create a better democracy in their country don't want America's help :

"they all agree that the chaos and violence that have come with US-imported democracy in neighboring Iraq and a US Middle East policy that Iranians view as uncritically supportive of Israel -- especially during the war in Lebanon -- have darkened Iranians' view of the United States."

I wouldn't blame them either for feeling that way. They want democracy on their own terms. Iranians know that the US deposed a democratically elected government through CIA activities in 1953 and installed the Shah. These events led to the theocracy we see in Iran today.

The US has done nothing in the Middle East but create chaos through both direct inteference and also lack there of in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. That is the true failure of the "Bush doctrine." The fact that we are viewed as aggressors, especially in Iraq, and again I wouldn't disagree. Iran has even benefited, as a recent British think tank reported, from our "War on Terror" which solidified the country's position as a regional power.

What is hopeful in Iran is the internal social reforms that are taking place:
"Over the years, the carapace of government restrictions imposed in the name of Islamic purity has loosened, under popular pressure that Vatanparast compares to a chick bursting from an eggshell: 'People are pushing from inside. [The shell] is getting thinner and thinner.' " It is slight but hopefully there will more to come in Iran. It would certainly reduce tensions in the Middle East and calm the neocons who keep calling for war in Iran.

Scary enough though, Israel may be taking military action against Iran. This is despite the fact that the US intelligence on Iran's nuclear capabilities have "significant gaps". Many experts and politicians agree that a military attack on Iran is not an option and couldn't be utilized without harmful drawbacks.