My title asks for it — United States, please don’t invade Iran.
 
And it’s everyone’s duty to beseech the American government to not do this.
 
So check your compass, turn yourself to Washington’s direction and pray for enlightenment to fall on our leaders.
Let’s be honest — the invasion of Iraq was a major disaster.
 
As opposed to Iraq, Iran may very well have nuclear weapons — the International Energy Agency estimates Iran possesses enough uranium to be enriched to manufacture nuclear weapons within a year. Iran also happens to have a populist lunatic dictator who likes to pose as anti-American for the international media — much like Iraq had.
 
Let’s add to that “begging to be attacked cocktail” the three American hikers who’ve been held hostage for more than a year for no real reason other than crossing the Iran border during a hike in Iraq territory.
 
Were Bush still president this request would be useless and most likely too late.
 
Even in President Barack Obama’s administration, I’m pretty sure such an endeavor is the focus of Mrs. Clinton’s dreams each and every night. A brand new war under her name, wow! What a turn on!
 
But this call for peace concerns more than just reason and fact. Looking at the Iraq invasion now, there are plenty of counter facts and arguments that would feed the crude logic of military wagers. People die, everyone loses, and little is learned.
 
If we are concerned with worldwide public opinion, may I say the U.S.’s international image doesn’t look too good to the rest of the world right now. I know these things — I’m a foreigner (please don’t come after me, Tea Party fanatics and racial profilers).
 
I’m calling for a better course of action than wanton violence and unjustly imposing military authority this time around.
 
Opinion editor Andrew Robertson clearly showed the facts in his Aug. 31 column, “War of — ‘war on’ — terror ends with Operation Iraqi Failure.”
 
Some reiteration can’t hurt: “We lost 4,500 soldiers in Iraq with another 32,000 wounded in action. If those numbers don’t shock you, then perhaps the more than 1 million Iraqi deaths will. Consider this: The cost of the Iraqi war will total around $1 trillion. The American economy is out about $3 trillion.”
 
Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once had a high level of popularity, though this is in serious peril of late. People being killed in the streets during rallies against his doubtfully fair reelection certainly didn’t help.
 
Ahmadinejad represents a threat to the conservative Islamic clergy currently in power with his economic reform ideas. He’s his own worst enemy.
 
But the trade sanctions the Iranian government is going through mostly affect common citizens in their everyday lives. Stimulating the impoverishment of a population based on the madness of its leaders definitely has unintended consequences. Iranians are having a hard time both from internal and external standpoints.
 
A week after Sept. 11’s ninth anniversary, reflection brings us to a new rift in the jungle of bad decisions. They always lead to more bad decisions.
 
Like the one suggesting the burning of a Quran, or trying to explode a landing plane.
 
So, let’s sing in unison to the tune of “Please, don’t invade Iran.”
 
Another war would just trigger a new stream of bad decisions and actions on an even larger scale.
 
And I’m hopeful all of us are tired of seeing the results of hasty military decisions come to fruition.
 
Marcelo Vieira is a 32-year-old jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_MVieira.
 
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