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US Accused of Exploiting Iran Quake
GoogleNews-AlJazeera ^
| 01.02.04
Posted on 01/02/2004 8:23:10 AM PST by Cathryn Crawford
US accused of exploiting Iran quake
A leading Iranian cleric has accused the US of trying to exploit the Bam earthquake for political gain.
Ayat Allah Ahmad Jannati, head of Iran's powerful supervisory body the Guardian Council, also applauded what he called a "slap in the face" given to Washington by the Islamic Republic.
Speaking to worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran, Jannati said Iran was grateful for the foreign aid pouring in to help victims of last week's quake that killed at least 30,000 people.
The United States has sent scores of medics and tonnes of aid but, Jannati said, Iran would not tolerate any "meddling" after US officials expressed interest in better relations.
"All their (the Americans) moves are political and now they offer help - politically."
Washington broke ties with Iran in 1980 and last year dubbed it part of an international "axis of evil".
"Naturally America wanted to take advantage of this situation by offering some help and bringing up the issue of relations," Jannati said.
"But it was given a slap in the face," he told worshippers to chants of "Death to America".
He was referring to Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, who on Tuesday said American aid was not a harbinger of better ties and noted US officials "talk a lot of nonsense".
Despite Khatami's comment, President George Bush on Wednesday ordered banking restrictions to be relaxed on Iran for 90 days to speed the flow of humanitarian relief to quake victims.
But Jannati, whose conservative views are closer to Supreme Leader Ayat Allah Ali Khamenei, said: "All their moves are political and now they offer help - politically."
Iran and the US have been at loggerheads since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
The US broke off relations over the storming of the United States Embassy in Tehran when approximately seventy Americans were taken captive.
The US also accuse the Iranians of developing weapons of mass destruction.
On the other hand, there is still a lot of resentment in Iran over the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the nation's democratically elected prime minister in 1953.
Iranians also condemn the US for supporting the Shah's brutal dictatorship, and bolstering Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, during which one million people died.
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: iran; iranquake; southwestasia
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To: Physicist
gratitide=gratitude
To: Cathryn Crawford
I think the attitudes of the citizens are much different than the attitudes of those who have a hold on them.I think the mullahs need to put their money where their mouths are, and tell us to take our aid and our relief workers and get out of the country. They weren't shy about telling Israel to f*** off, so they should tell us that as well if they're so worried about us "exploiting" the earthquake.
22
posted on
01/02/2004 8:48:33 AM PST
by
CFC__VRWC
(AIDS, abortion, euthanasia - don't liberals just kill ya?)
To: Cathryn Crawford
Ayat Allah Ahmad Jannati must have better spider holes.
Do you think inteligence services are not watching every screw and penny that is sent over there?
To: .cnI redruM
"Wow, we've finally heard from someone nuttier than Howard Dean." Personally they sound about the same to me. :O)
24
posted on
01/02/2004 8:52:37 AM PST
by
HarleyD
To: E. Pluribus Unum
>We wouldn't be able to
exploit it if the Iranian clerics were taking proper care of their people. When you
don't do your job, you leave yourself open to
being replaced.
I don't think it's that
simple. Giuliani told
the Sauis to shove
their millions to us
after they played politics
after 911.
The Saudis weren't
able to try that because
our leaders screwed up.
I think the truth is
in the modern world there are
many people who
have replaced God with
politics so everything
that happens they view
as political.
(It is bizarre that Muslim
"fundamentalists"
have so completely
embraced political games,
but the saying is,
When you step away
from God, inevitably
you find an idol...)
To: RandallFlagg
We should not give them a damn thing..But on the other hand this is just 1 man speaking for an entire country..
26
posted on
01/02/2004 9:31:34 AM PST
by
Independentamerican
(Independent Freshman at the University of MD)
To: Miss Marple
ping
27
posted on
01/02/2004 11:21:16 AM PST
by
boris
(The deadliest Weapon of Mass Destruction in History is a Leftist With a Word Processor)
To: Cathryn Crawford
The mullahs are pigs who have been overplaying their hand for years, revealing themselves to be corrupt brutal thugs time after time. Thus they have a large pool of domestic enemies to deal with. Fortunately for us.
The mullahs can still make points on the US government, however, which DID give Saddam considerable material and intelligence support late in his aggression against Iran from 1980-1988, which was very costly.
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/arming_iraq.php During part of the war, the US also provided covert help to the Iranian government, apparently on the theory that it was good strategy to help two potential future adversaries of US interests (Saddam and the mullahs) beat the crap out of each other, and that the US could turn the war to its advantage in maintaining control (i.e., access to) the region's oil assets. Interesting summaries of the events can be found at:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/war/iran-iraq.htm http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/arabs/iraniraq.html http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761580640/Iran-Iraq_War.html http://www.ndu.edu/nwc/writing/AY01/5602/SeminarL5602BestPaper.pdf Some specifics of US involvement:
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/united_states_iran_iraq_war1.php In spite of their hatred of the mullahs, there are still plenty of Iranians with reasons for despising the US (and the other armorers of Iraq and Iran)- - - namely their dead relatives that the US and the others helped Saddam and the mullahs to kill in that decade long meat grinder of a war.
From their point of view, our interventions in their country, going back to our support for the Shah after helping to engineer the overthrow of the validly elected government that preceded him, is a cause for resentment for many (but also a cause for celebration for those who benefited from the involvement, like many 10's of thousands of Iranian nationals who received university and graduate school educations in the US). Americans, typically oblivious to history, are likely to forget these details. The Iranians, who were directly affected by them, don't.
Perhaps the opposition to the mullahs will outweigh the resentment of past US interventions (and be counterbalanced by the appreciation of those who have never forgotten the benefits they received from US involvement in their country). In fact, if we can prevail in helping the Iraqi ethnic groups develop a sustainable polity in Iraq, the mullahs will have a lot more to sweat about.
May the mullah's days be numbered with a small number.
To: r9etb
Death chants should be a regular part of any religious service. I'm particularly fond of the midnight death chant we have on religious holidays.
To: theFIRMbss
Why
do
you
write
like
this?
It
is
an
affectation
that
is
extremely
ANNOYING
like
a
fake
Australian
accent
or
something.
It
is
so
annoying
that
I
am
not
going
to
even
bother
to
figure
out
what
the
hell
you
are
rambling
about.
30
posted on
01/02/2004 2:22:06 PM PST
by
E. Pluribus Unum
(Drug prohibition laws help fund terrorism.)
To: KellyAdmirer
It's absurd. Not absurd in that there is no contradiction. They are annoyed that the concept, the idea, America is parallel and healthy competition to their concept, the idea, Persian Paradise in the Hereafter. They reject the material Paradise, not realizing that also is Idea. We're fortunate that we can have both ideas, Paradise now and Paradise later. They have only Paradise later, their loss. Not absurd, but limiting.
31
posted on
01/02/2004 2:33:23 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
To: E. Pluribus Unum
>Why
do
you
write
like
this?
------------------------------------------------------
I don't write like that!
I am not e e cummings!
I write like this! See?
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