I’ve been thinking about an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’.

For those of you who aren’t Star Trek fans (hard to imagine), let me recap the story and the moral for you:

Two powerful societies, close to war for hundreds of years. The good guys come to the aid of the bad guys when one of their colonies is attacked by a third party; giving their lives in the process. The bad guys, so impressed by the bravery and sacrifice of their defenders, start to talk. Peace comes, and eventually the two become allies.

Ever since I heard the story about the USS Kidd rescuing the Iranian fishing boat, I’ve been thinking about that Star Trek episode. Because sometimes in life, the smallest of events can have the most long-term effect on world history.

And that’s why I’m glad to hear that the government of Iran has thanked the United States, saying…

We consider the actions of the US forces in saving the lives of the Iranian seamen to be a humanitarian and positive act and we welcome such behavior.

With any luck, this event can be used to melt the ice a little between the US and Iran.

The story, found here, does raise an interesting little tid bit. Iran has their own version of Fox News, called Fars News.

According to Fars News, this whole story doesn’t smell right. They’re claiming that the entire thing was a put up job. They also claim that Iran has rescued foreign ships plenty of times, etc.

Personally I find this funny because it perfectly defines what’s going on.

Two nations, being led by the nose by war-mongering media empires in each country; building their profit and power model on stirring up shit between the two countries.

The nations, stuck in the middle, forced to react to the media pressure; being pushed toward war where war is not necessary.

If the US Govt and the Iran Govt could just recognize what’s going on, they could solve both problems at the same time.