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Nations develope a reputation just like people do that can be hard to live down. Just for the sake of argument, suppose Iran was building nuclear weapons only for self protection, censored all Muslim extremists, rounded up all terrorsts within its borders and accepted Jesus as its savior. Would the rest of the world think Iran was now our friend? Maybe, but I doubt it.
The US has managed to accumulate plenty of ill will in the Muslim world, and we will have great difficulty undoing the harm this and other administrations have done. The US has the blood of 100,000 Iraqi civilians on its hands. Frankly, I don't blame Iran for building nuclear weapons. If the tables were turned and Iran had just invaded Canada and we had no nukes, wouldn't we busily be trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal to defend ourselves? Would we beleive Iran if it told us that it came in peace after watching footage of bombed Canadian cities and injured or killed Canadian children on the nightly news?
The scenario may seem ridiculous, but its how and neighboring Muslim countries view what happened in Iraq. The US has a lot to live down and we don't seem to be trying very hard to do anything different.
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