Re: “Shooting off at the mouth and shooting off missiles,” 07/10When did firing inaccurate missiles on your own soil mean you want nuclear holocaust? I guess testing a defense system against possible invasion – like what happened to the countries on Iran’s eastern and western borders – is a crime now.

Columnist Jason Olivero’s lack of regard for the facts scared me. The inaccuracy of Iran’s missiles is one issue, but infusing an opinion column with non-factual information is just good old fashioned American scare tactics (see: Papa Bill O’Reilly). He must realize that there is not one single shred of credible evidence that Iran is seeking or has nukes, as pointed out by Patrick Clawson, deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Is America so wrapped up in its own propaganda that the people are no longer able to see fact from fiction?

Just because a BBC news journalist said he knows what Iran’s intentions are doesn’t mean he’s right. I think the United States already went down this road with a smaller country in the same region, running around making hasty decisions that got it into trouble (like the deaths of innocent Americans).

Yes, Iran’s missile testing drove up oil prices, but there is nothing that goes on in the Middle East that doesn’t spark a hike in prices. Here is a prediction: Oil prices will never go down, so it’s time for the U.S. to move on – alternative fuels, anyone?

The only way Iran is at risk is by being located between Iraq and a hard place. The U.S. government is the one putting troops on its borders while one presidential hopeful is singing the new Beach Boys hit “Bomb Iran” (your parents will get it, and that’s all old man McCain cares about).

Iranians are not clueless about human rights, freedoms and liberties. There are organizations that promote freedom and democracy operating within Iran’s borders with no outside help, such as Jebhe Demokratik Iran. Things are going to change there, but the people of Iran need to change them, not the United States. If history has revealed anything so far, it’s that democracy and freedom don’t come from the outside but from within.

I may be right or wrong in my opinion, but I know for a fact that this columnist and others are wrong for ridiculous rabble-rousing, scare-mongering and presenting misleading and false information to the public as common-knowledge fact. While Americans read the paper and then run screaming into the night in terror, what is left unmentioned are the facts – or should I say, the lack thereof.

David Fleege is a senior majoring in applied cultural anthropology.