Regards, Ivan
Posted on 03/30/2006 9:28:49 PM PST by MadIvan
The all-in-one cameraman, lighting assistant, soundman and anchor of Hakha Television tweaked the maroon handkerchief in his breast pocket, glanced around his secret suburban studio and began his latest peroration to his fellow "Persians" thousands of miles away in Iran.
"I want to see that you can hear me," he said. "Come out on the streets. Bring flowers, chocolates and anything friendly. If the police come to attack you, look at their eyes and say, 'I love you. I love you'."
For three and a half years Ahura-Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi has been broadcasting a daily two-hour blend of Zoroastrianism, music and political chitchat from a variety of private addresses in and around Washington.
His grandiloquent predictions of revolution in Teheran are irresistibly reminiscent of 'Comical Ali', Saddam Hussein's florid and deluded last spokesman.
He has been mocked by fellow exiles as irrelevant, derided by the mullahs as a charlatan and all but ignored by the American authorities. Aged 63, he has only lived in Iran for a few short spells.
As is often the case with political exiles, analysts believe that he and other émigré Iranian broadcasters have minimal support back home. "They have no traction at all," a long-time observer of Iran said.
Yet the debate in Washington may finally be going their way, after the administration's decision to take a leaf out of the Cold War play book and promote such broadcasting to try to undermine the mullahs.
"The trouble with the US government is that by the time they digest what is happening, they are a few years out of date," said Mr Yazdi, who also runs an aviation consultancy.
"But I am glad they have woken up after 27 years [since the 1979 Islamic revolution]."
In a sign of a new determination to confront the regime, the administration wants to take its message directly to the people by exploiting the internet and satellite television.
Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, has pledged £45 million for the new drive.
"This will make a lot of difference," said Zia Atabay, a pop star in the Shah's day who is now general manager of National Iranian Television, one of a dozen Iranian satellite stations in Los Angeles.
"Up to now we have not had any help," he said. "I don't want cash, otherwise people will say I am taking American money for myself. I want equipment. We broadcast 12 hours a day but if something like this happens we will broadcast 24 hours a day."
Iranians have seized on the new initiative to lobby for their cause in Congress. Although now is not the best time to be a Middle Eastern exile in Washington: officials are still smarting from the false intelligence that Iraqis propagated before the war.
Nevertheless, an excited Mr Yazdi said: "We are only a few months from total freedom from the mullahs."
He has predicted this before - to the mirth of Teheran - but this time, he says, will be different.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Democrats Promise to Take Osama Out
Democrats say Americans deserve "real security," and if Americans vote for Democrats, that's what they'll get. The Democrats' plan calls for a team of representatives to take noted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, out for a dinner and a Broadway show.
"The Republicans say we don't have a plan," said Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. "Well, we do have a plan. Our entertainment advisors recommend a traditional New York experience: dinner at Sardi's and a Broadway show--maybe 'Fiddler on the Roof' or 'The Producers'--since Osama is reported to be interested in the topics these shows deal with."
Representative Murtha (D-Penn.) and Senator Durbin (D-Ill.) have already agreed to participate. Tentative commitments have been obtained from Alec Baldwin and Barbra Streisand. "If we can bring bin Laden together with America's best and brightest we should be able to achieve peace for our time," said Dean. "All the Republicans want to do is ratchet-up the hostilities. We want to extend the hand of peace to this much maligned man."
read more at...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
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