FIFA has been having its own share of problems for while now, primarily centered on allegations of ethics violations within the leadership. Bribery of officials, or at least the intent to do so, was one of the issues that came up to bite former FIFA Presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hamman of Qatar. Of course, Qatar will apparently remain the host of the 2022 World Cup, so perhaps the point of the allegations was simply to remove him from the presidential race against Sepp Blatter.

Sepp Blatter

Other than wanting to extend his 13-year reign as the head of FIFA, one could wonder precisely why would Blatter be so determined to stay in power at this juncture? He’s 75 years old. It’s not like anyone is suggesting an early retirement age for him, obviously.

Now, if one believes that Blatter really is a very bad man, capable of covering up unethical behaviors of certain people, while hanging others out to dry (perhaps what was done to Hamman), considering all of this in the context of the Iranian Women’s team might be much more disturbing than it is on first glance. Iran’s team was forced to forfeit to Jordan, crushing their Olympic aspirations, because Blatter and FIFA stated that their uniforms did not meet the standards of the organization for competition. This team had previously been banned from wearing hijabs, so they designed form-fitting hoods that cover their necks and hair to please FIFA’s requirements. They had practiced before the match without a word from officials about the hoods, but when it came time to compete, they were told they were unacceptable.

According to FIFA, there were concerns about safety, primarily choking hazards. This is soccer, not American football – presumably players are not supposed to be running about on the field grabbing each other, unless they have a specific desire to be ejected from the game. Given Blatter’s previous statements about having women players adopt more sexy attire on the pitch, perhaps it really isn’t about safety concerns at all, but about the fact that the Iranian team wouldn’t be offering fans the opportunity to view some skin. Arguably, Hamman would probably have been much more understanding of the Iranian women’s needs, and may not have ruled that they could not participate in the Olympic trials. So,was Hamman really guilty of ethics violations, or was this simply an easy way for Blatter to ensure his vision of sex-kitten-style-female-footballers at FIFA competitions? Since Hamman was suspended before being found guilty, perhaps the world will never know.

While intrigue within FIFA itself is interesting enough, what is perhaps even more fascinating is the response from Iran to all of this. To clarify the situation, first consider that Iran is considered a conservative Muslim nation, at least in practice on the streets. That is why the Iranian women’s team got into this whole situation in the first place. Their desire to dress conservatively in observation of not only their religious belief system, but also their societal traditions didn’t sit well with FIFA. There is a thin line that the organization is traversing here. While it may be right and good to decry politicizing the game with outward indications of one’s beliefs, it is something else entirely to require that women drop observing their religious faiths when they set foot on the pitch.

Muslim women in conservative cultures have enough trouble as it is getting involved in sports in the first place. The fact that Iran managed to put together a team at all is a statement in itself. Saudi women are still battling to get the ability just to exercise, and in spite of high rates of obesity and diabetes in that nation, are not accomplishing that goal in a meaningful way.

So, understanding that conservative Muslim cultures can and often do frown upon women exercising at all, it is particularly surprising to see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s response to the Iranian Women’s soccer team being excluded from competition by FIFA. “We will deal with those who carried out this ugly job. We follow definite rights of our girls,” Ahmadinejad said. It’s not a good sign when even the arguably crazy dictator of a generally backward nation when it comes to women’s rights starts crying against an organization for stomping on the rights of his nation’s women.

Whatever the reasoning within FIFA for this decision, hopefully the issue will not just fade away with time. Soccer is a game that brings nations together even just for an hour and a half. It is one of the few peaceful common grounds for otherwise warring factions. As for the Iranian women, simply put – let them play.

That said, I know I am echoing the thoughts of many Americans right now. While I have no love for nuclear weapons, and wish that we could get rid of all of them, that just isn’t the way it works. Reducing the number of weapons at this point also shouldn’t be considered an option. Many years ago I would joke about the arms race in terms of boys with their toys, and the race to have the biggest guns as a way to prove their manhood. That was the Cold War. Now, it is a new crop of boys – unbalanced dictators – and their envy of our “toys” is driving them to get their own.

Simplistic, facile, maybe even a bit naive, but nonetheless, true. No matter how much anyone would like to try to complicate the situation with analysis, theories, pros and cons, foreign policy debate, or whatever else the pundits would like to toss about, the bottom line remains that this is the wrong time to consider disarmament, period.

But it’s a “done deal.” Obama hashed out the details, and signed his name to the treaty. The people have no say about it now, so we’ll just have to deal with the consequences, even if they include Iran as a nuclear power. It would be nice if there was a group of people that have to sign off on this, and even better if they were even a little concerned about keeping their jobs.

1. Two wars are not enough. Let’s bomb Iran. What better way is there to gain support world-wide, right?

2. Teens are “sexting.” Current child pornography laws make it a felony. ACLU opposes new law that would make it a misdemeanor. Apparently the ACLU believes that disseminating child pornography isn’t a crime if the children are the ones passing the pictures around.

3. The Executive Branch can order assassinations of U.S. citizens if they are deemed to be terrorists by…. You guessed it, the Executive Branch! *Have no words for this one, since it speaks for itself!

4. The new most-hated breed of politician is the FCINO, aka the Demon Sheep. The new most-ridiculed breed of politician is the Carly.

5. Obama hates Catholics. Just ask the folks at RedState. Doesn’t that make you miss the good old days when everyone was terrified that the Vatican was going to control the White House if we had a Catholic President?

I was lead to a blog post that was originally written in Persian. What it missed in eloquence, it definitely made up for in feeling. In all of the talk of politicians, leaders, and official diplomacy, the people of a given nation are usually forgotten. It is a sad by-product of the process, and something I continually get angry at myself for doing. When it comes to U.S. relations with the Middle East, I berate myself more than usual, if for no other reason, I have friends residing there.

The path to peace is not only through diplomacy between leaders. The people still have their parts to play. Unfortunately, fear of the unknown tends to get in the way, and instead of embracing the possibility of building bridges between different ways of life, we tend to react with hatefulness – in speech, written words, and actions.

Many members of the media have been complaining about some of their fellows for promoting hatred and intolerance, particularly when it comes to people of Iran and the Middle East in general. Those complaints and condemnations are righteous, and should be heeded. Warmongering is not reserved to leaders of nations and armies – it often begins in the hearts and minds of the people. Be accurate when aiming venomous words, and leave the peaceful people within a nation out of range when you wish to condemn the actions of their leaders. Just as we would not always want to be associated with our leaders, they may not want to be equated with theirs.

Ok. I’ll be fair. They’re only complaining about one, but still. Time to get out some popcorn and watch the show!

Now, Iran wants the people to seriously believe that this really happened, and that this wasn’t brought up to deflect attention or otherwise muddy the waters, right? On first look, I immediately thought, “ok, this guy just decided not to go home and disappeared, or he got caught by someone in Saudi Arabia, and they kept him just because.” Heck, I’d even buy that he went there, wrecked in the middle of nowhere, and just hasn’t been found yet. But the U.S. getting in bed with Saudi Arabia to nab just one nuclear scientist who may not have been involved in weapons research and development in the first place? Yeah, right!

Sorry, Iran is important, but not that important. A slight chance of gaining some meaningful intelligence isn’t worth abducting someone in this manner. Try again on the blame game!