Put yourself in someone else's shoes for a minute

Imagine some foreign government launches a covert operation, and deposes our popularly elected leader.

Imagine that the new leader imposes a brutal, repressive regime that shuts down all opposition, and installs a cult of personality for himself.

Imagine that the leader is eventually overthrown due to a popular uprising.

Imagine that the country that previously overthrew the government then supports our neighbor, which is ruled by an oppressive dictator.

Imagine that this dictator launches an unprovoked invasion against us, which is financed by the foreign government.

Imagine that he uses weapons of mass destruction on our civilians.

Imagine this war lasts for 8 years, and kills about half a million of our citizens, including many civilians.

Imagine the foreign government shoots down one of our civilian airliners, killing all of its passengers.

Imagine our emerging economy is destroyed as a result of this war.

Imagine that, after all of this, the foreign country demonizes us in front of the world, calling us evil, and declaring us war mongerers.

Imagine that one of the biggest leaders in the foreign power jokes about bombing us.

Imagine that for the last 30 years, the foreign power had issued unilateral economic sanctions, which have hurt us gravely.

Imagine the foreign power unilaterally invades our neighbor, overthrows their government, and threatens to do the same to us.

I can't imagine this. But Iran can.

I'm dead serious. Look it up. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here.

People wonder why Iran hates the United States. Well, I'll give you a hint. It's not because of our freedom. We've done far, far worse to Iran than the U.S.S.R. ever did to us, over the course of its existence. I'm not a fan of Iran's government, and I'd like to see someone else running the place as much as anyone. But we're doing a good job at playing the boogeyman, which probably helps keep Ahmadinejad in power.

Did you not know these things? You're not alone. Most Americans probably don't, because most Americans are never taught these things.

Imagine that.