As for the aggressive actor part, I will leave it for now ( it does not add to conversation and since I am not a historian, I can't authoritatively say that comparatively speaking Poland was the nice guy on the block ).
Argument: War takes two. Counter: No. It only takes one. See Germany invades Poland. Counter to counter: Your analogy can be extended to look ridiculous.
I know it can be, but all analogies can be.
No. I got your point. Your original comment implied that it is America that is solely moving towards war. I asked you if you thought Iran and/or China were also responsible for moving us towards war and you choose to be pedantic about a metaphor and wasted mine and your time doing so.
So to answer you directly: who cares about the metaphor.
But you do have a point. What if instead of what I think, we turn to the wisdom the global crowd ( [1],[2],[3] ), who, when recently polled, indicated that US is greater threat than China or Russia. So the world populace thinks US is moving towards war; moreso than China or Russia.
It is possible that I overstated my case. You do have a point here, but are you trying to tell me Iran is THE threat to that will pull this world into the abyss?
>So the world populace thinks US is moving towards war; moreso than China or Russia.
Not surprised. There is so much negativity around anything to do with America because America is what defines the current world order. The subtext is that if not for America we would be living in global utopia with no war and nations cooperating diplomatically to solve common goals - a state of things that has NEVER been true in all of human history. The only times of peace humanity have ever enjoyed were within the borders of some empire.
>You do have a point here, but are you trying to tell me Iran is THE threat to that will pull this world into the abyss?
No. Not into the abyss. Iran is a fascist nation that is a regional nuisance. They could join the community of nations if they abandoned their regional ambitions and stop funding terrorist groups. But their actions are leading to a war, either with America or Saudi Arabia.
Just to be clear, I'm not claiming America doesn't have a part in the state of things (America is run by humans, and humans make mistakes), I just don't see any evidence that Iran is an innocent party in this. They played their part and made their bed through the actions of their government over decades. They began existence by breaking global norms by storming the American embassy and taking diplomats hostage, and have been a terrible regional presence.
Absolutely the same could be said about Saudi Arabia.
Yes storming the USA embassy was wrong, but so was Flying two Airplanes into towers (i think you know very well ho founded Al-Qaida), and the whole Yemen-War is nothing, right?
I did not even started with the hole Nuclear-Contract that the US broke up, just to bring Iran (again) in a unbearable position.
It's funny, when the US makes mistakes then it's just 'run by humans, and humans make mistakes', but when Iran does it, then it's 'began existence by breaking global norms'
We can pursue this conversation once we agree on that simple truth.
edited: changed refuted to countered; seems more accurate