Iranian Alert -- July 9, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

The US media still largley ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” Most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Iran and Israel: Chain Reaction

July 08, 2004
The Christian Science Monitor
The Monitor's View

In an official trip to Jerusalem this week, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency was able to have Israel reaffirm its willingness to eventually support regional talks aimed at turning the Middle East into a nuclear-weapons-free zone.

Nonetheless, Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered a starkly clear message to a nuclear-armed Israel: With more nations in the region trying to build or buy these weapons, and with a greater risk that international terrorists will obtain them, Israel's atomic arsenal serves less and less as a viable deterrent to its enemies.

What's more, an unexpected opportunity has opened up. Two Arab nations - Libya and Iraq - are currently being stripped of their nuclear-weapons capability, while Iran could face strong economic sanctions by Britain, France, and Germany if it doesn't give up its nuclear ambitions.

In other words, the region is ripe for diplomacy to create a nuke-free zone - if Israel, as the only nuclear power in the Middle East, would begin the long process of taking small, confidence-building steps that could eventually lead to putting those weapons on the table.

Understandable reluctance

Israel's reluctance to even acknowledge it has had such weapons for decades, let alone make the weapons negotiable for elimination, is understandable. While Israel's conventional forces could overwhelm any combination of Arab militaries, its "weapon of last resort" has long provided an added layer of security. This weapon also reduces Israel's reliance on the United States for security.

Israel also doesn't want to end its deliberate policy of ambiguity about whether it possesses such weapons. While Arab leaders know Israel has them, openly flaunting that fact might further rile anti-Israel passions on the Arab street.

Israel insists that creating a nuclear-free-zone can be achieved only in the context of lasting peace pacts with all its neighbors, including the Palestinians. Without strong guarantees safeguarding its existence, Israel doesn't want to give up its nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reaffirmed that policy - first made at the 1991 Middle East peace talks in Madrid - to Mr. ElBaradei Thursday. The fact that an Israeli prime minister looked forward to such talks provided some hope for the IAEA's efforts to create a Middle East nuclear-free zone.

Israel is a member of the IAEA and a signatory to conventions on biological and chemical warfare, but it has not joined the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The problem for the IAEA is that it has little chance of persuading Iran to give up its weapons-grade nuclear capabilities without Israel doing so at the same time. "As long as you continue to have countries dangling a cigarette from their mouth, you cannot tell everybody not to smoke with a high degree of credibility," ElBaradei told journalists last month.

If Iran gets close to making a nuclear device within a couple years, as some experts predict, it could quickly destabilize the region. Saudi Arabia might go nuclear, or Israel could bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, as it did Iraq's in 1981.

IAEA needs some sort of real gesture from Israel that would encourage regional talks now before Iran gets any closer to making a bomb, and the region is put on the brink of proliferation, if not war. Israel could, for instance, freeze some operations at the Dimona nuclear facilities, if such a step doesn't jeopardize its security.

Also at stake in this debate is the NPT itself. If Iran, as an NPT member, flouts the treaty, it would join other nations that have ignored or left the pact, further unraveling attempts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

The US, after decades of looking the other way while Israel developed these weapons, needs to start showing Iran and others in the Middle East that it can be even-handed, asking both Iran and Israel to join talks that would lead them and other regional players to forgo nuclear defenses. Even as the US pushes its "road map" for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, it might find a way with the IAEA to open a parallel track of talks in the Middle East about nuclear weapons.

Without progress on this front, the US risks a nuclear device falling into the hands of Al Qaeda agents. For both Middle East and global security, talks on a regional nuclear-weapons-free zone should begin soon.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0709/p08s02-comv.html

Reporters Without Borders Fears Impunity Will Prevail

July 08, 2004
Reporters Without Borders
RSF

Reporters Without Borders said today it fears that impunity will prevail in the case of Zahra Kazemi, a photo-journalist with Canadian and Iranian nationality who died a year ago (on 10 July 2003) in Baghiatollah hospital in Tehran after being beaten while in detention.

"We suspect that the senior Iranian officials implicated in this murder will remain unpunished and that a scape-goat will be convicted in order to put an end to a case that is embarrassing for the regime," the organisation said.

"We nonetheless hope that the trial due to take place on 17 July will shed full light on this killing and that our Canadian section, which is still awaiting visas, will be able to attend as observers," Reporters Without Borders said.

The organisation called on the Iranian authorities to allow Kazemi's lawyers to participate in preparing the case for the trial as required by Iran's constitution and international norms, and it reiterated its call for the repatriation of her remains to Canada, as requested by her son, for an independent autopsy.

Aged 54 and normally resident in Canada, Kazemi was detained outside Evin prison, north of Tehran, on 23 June 2003 as she was taking photos of the relatives of detainees. Beaten while in detention, she died from her injuries just over two weeks later. After initially trying to cover up the cause of her death, the Iranian authorities recognised on 16 July 2003 that she was "beaten."

Kazemi's body was hastily buried in the southern town of Chiraz on 22 July 2003, contrary to the wishes of her son, Stephan Hachemi, a permanent resident in Canada who has French and Canadian citizenship. Kazemi's mother in Iran publicly acknowledged that she was pressured into authorising her burial in Iran. Since then, the authorities have paid no heed to the requests for her remains to be disinterred and repatriated to Canada.

A commission of enquiry to determine the circumstances of her death was set up at President Khatami's request on 13 July 2003. In a report released a week later, the commission said that between the time of her arrest on 23 June and her transfer to hospital on 27 June, Kazemi was interrogated in turn by the staff of Tehran state prosecutor Said Mortazavi, the police, the prosecutor's staff again, and finally by officials with the intelligence ministry.

The report said the skull fracture that caused her death occurred no more than 36 hours before her hospitalisation at midnight on 27 June. According to the chronology of events established by the investigation, the fatal injury could have occurred while she was in the custody of the prosecutor's staff or the intelligence ministry.

The report also said that doctors in Baghiatollah hospital determined that Kazemi was "brain dead" as early as 27 June, the day that her family was told that she was in a coma in hospital. The report did not explain why the doctors waited until 10 July, the day after the anniversary of the July 1999 student demonstrations, to officially announce her death.

The military prosecutor's office assigned Kazemi's case on 23 July 2003 to Mortazavi, but Mortazavi subsequently recused himself because of the allegations that he was directly involved in her death. The commission of enquiry had established that he personally took part in an interrogation session within hours of her arrest. The case was transferred to Judge Esmaili at the end of July 2003.

After a wrangle between reformist and conservative clans, which blamed each other for Kazemi's death, an Iranian intelligence agent, Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, was named on 22 September 2003 as the suspected killer.

Judicial service chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and intelligence minister Ali Younessi set up a committee at the end of December 2003 with the ostensible aim of reviewing all of the facts of the Kazemi case. The real aim, however, was to find a compromise. Shahroudi said at the time : "The important thing is not who killed Zahra Kazemi. Whether an agent with the intelligence ministry or a member of the Tehran prosecutor's staff, it doesn't matter. What counts is to name a suspect."

The Iranian judicial authorities rule out any question of state institutions being to blame and accuse Ahmadi of "almost deliberate" murder. This is the point on which the Kazemi family lawyer, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, intends to base her case in order to establish that the blow or blows were inflicted on Kazemi with the intention of killing her. Another lawyer, Mohamad Ali Dadakhah, maintains that the court has no jurisdiction and that the case should be dealt with by an assize court.

Dadakhah also reported that a second person has been charged in the case. It is Mohammad Bakhshi, an official at Evin prison. On its official website, www.rouydad.info, the Participation Front (President Khatami's party) had already claimed that Bakhshi took part in Kazemi's killing as an assistant to the Tehran prosecutor, Mortazavi.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10922

Iran: Five Years After Protests, Release Students
(New York, July 8, 2004) -- Five years after the 1999 Tehran University protests, the Iranian government should immediately release all student detainees still imprisoned for peaceful dissent, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Iranian government’s closure of a reformist newspaper triggered student protests on the Tehran University campus on July 8, 1999 (18th of Tir in the Iranian calendar). After a peaceful student demonstration, police and plainclothes security forces raided a dormitory, beating students and trapping many in their rooms. Protests then erupted beyond the university, growing to a weeklong event. More than 25,000 people eventually participated in the protests, making it the largest political demonstration since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the weeks following the protests, thousands of students were arrested, taken away by the busload, and held in detention centers and prisons. Initially, several students were sentenced to death, but these sentences were later commuted to time in prison. While many of those initially detained were released, an unknown number of student protestors remain in prison.

“Five years after the Tehran University protests, it’s time for the Iranian government to release the peaceful protestors,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “The government also needs to hold plainclothes militia accountable for the attacks on students that year.”

On June 7, Human Rights Watch released “Like the Dead in Their Coffins,” which documented extensive physical and psychological abuse of political detainees in Iranian prisons. A number of student protestors from the July 1999 protests remain in prison, including Ahmed Batebi, Abbas Fakhravar, Manouchehr Mohammadi, his brother Akbar Mohammadi and Mehrdad Lohrsabi.

Many of the imprisoned students have been brutally tortured in prison, barred from seeing their attorneys, and forced to provide recantations and confessions to the state-controlled media. Many students have suffered permanent physical and psychological injuries while in detention.

In subsequent years, students across the country have commemorated the anniversary of the July 1999 protestors with peaceful demonstrations and public speeches. This year, however, with repression at its highest since 1999, the government’s message to students is clear: those who speak out will be detained, punished, and worse.

“The Iranian government is trying to sweep the events of July 1999 under the rug,” said Whitson. “Instead, it should allow peaceful commemoration of the Tehran University protests.”

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/07/iran9017_txt.htm

“WE SHALL NEVER FORGET 18 TIR” (8 JULY)

Posted Thursday, July 8, 2004

TEHRAN, 8 July. (IPS) As the Iranian government firmly stopped the students commemorating the anniversary of 8 July 1999 revolt against the Islamic Republic, stating that the event has “no meaning” to be commemorated, students warned they would take their complaints against the regime to the United Nations.

In a statement, the Office for Consolidating Unity (OCU) said “now that the voices of justice and freedom are silenced and the eye of justice is blind, we have no other choice but to take our complaint to international instances, including the United Nations”.

The date marks the fifth anniversary of the nightly attack of the Police, backed by plainclothes men from the Intelligence Ministry and security forces on the dormitories where some 300 students were demonstrating peacefully against the shutting down of a “Salam”, a popular newspaper.

The surprise raid on the student’s dormitories in Tehran and Tabriz, the capital city of the northwestern Province of Eastern Azarbaijan was terrible. Some sleepy students were thrown out of the windows, others savagely beaten. Rooms were ransacked and books and belongings burned down.

As a result, students took to the streets the days after, demanding the culprits be brought to justice. Angered by the arrogance of the regime, the demonstrations continued and as days passed, became more political.

On the sixth consecutive days of unrest, as people had started to move backing the demonstrators, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic Republic, fearing for the survival of his regime, ordered the police and all others forces of repression to crush the demonstrations “at any cost”.

On 8 of July, as the revolt had taken openly an anti-regime nature and slogans appeared against Ayatollah Khameneh'i and some other leading ayatollahs, the revolutionary guards, supported by thousands of basij forces and special units of the Intelligence Ministry attacked the students, leaving hundreds of demonstrators wounded, several dead and thousands arrested, some still in prisons.

While the students were claiming that several of theirs had been killed, the authorities agreed to only one dead, in Mr. Ezzat Ebrahim Nezjad.

But what surprised both the students and the Iranians was the fact that Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, elected president two years earlier mostly thanks to the vote of the students and young generation, had backed Mr. Khameneh'i in sending the forces against the students.

The crackdown revolted the Iranians and created outrage outside. Against repeated demands by the students for identifying those responsible for the savage attack, the authorities took no decision except sending hundreds of students to prison and a mock trial for one of the police commanders, who was later freed.

“The event, a savage operation against the student’s movement, marked for ever the rupture between the students and the regime. From the outset, the students knew well that none of the real culprits would ever be tried. The wound on the students would not disappear, nor those responsible for the brutal attack would ever sleep in peace”, warned Mr. Abdollah Mo’meni, the Secretary of the Office for Consolidating Unity, the Iranian student’s largest organisation.

Explaining the reasons the students decided to keep quiet, Mr. Sa’id Razavi Faqih, a member of the OCU said considering the “enormous” pressures put on the students by the authorities, including verbal and telephone threats and warrants sent against students activists, “there was no place we could hold demonstrations and express our views, even peaceful, as we intended”.

“Dossiers against many students were reactivated, newspapers were told not to publish anything about the 18 of Tir (Iranian month), others were contacted by phone, warned to stay at home”, he told the BBC’s Persian service.

Days before the 8 July, some senior officials, including General Mohammad Tala’i, Commander of Tehran Police had called on the students to “forget the past, whoever bitter”.

To prevent any outburst, special anti riot of the Police and plainclothes men had been deployed in Tehran and other Iranian cities, claiming it was for "helping flow of the trafic jam".

As the day passed in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran with no major incident, outside, Iranians of all ideology organised well-attended demonstrations in several major cities and capitals, denouncing the ruling “Mollahrchy” for its “brutal crackdowns” on Iranian students, intellectuals, journalists and dissidents.

“8 July of 1999 was the year President Mohammad Khatami showed his true colour, abandoning both his promised reforms and the people who voted for him. What started out as a reaction to the utter brutality of the fossilized establishment by young Iranian students has turned into a freedom movement the world should acknowledge and encourage”, Iranians said in a statement.

Amnesty International and the New York-based Human Rights Watch renewed their calls to Iran's judiciary to undertake an independent and impartial judicial review of the trials of demonstrators convicted after their arrest during the 8 July 1999 demonstrations.

“The organization also calls on the authority to carry out investigations of allegations of torture made by these prisoners and ensure that anyone found responsible for the torture is brought to justice” Amnesty International said in a statement released on Thursday from London.

“Five years latter, the authorities have taken no measure against those who conducted the savage attack on students and we are certain that like in the case of the serial murders, those who ordered the raid would never be identified”, one scholar told Iran Press Service, hinting indirectly at the very person of Ayatollah Khameneh'i who actually ordered the forces to put down the revolt, the largest ever against the 25 years old Islamic Republic.

Iranian analysts said the authorities preventing peaceful manifestations by the students would further damage the already difficult relations between Tehran, now firmly controlled by the conservatives, with the rest of the world, mostly the European Union, which, in a recent statement, had strongly condemned the Islamic Republic for its handling of human rights.

ENDS STUDENTS COMMEMORATION 8704

http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/july/students_commemoration_8704.shtml

Letters to the People of Iran # 5
Masood Nazemzadeh
Jul 8, 2004, 20:31

As we approach the anniversary of the students uprising in Tehran, it is crucial to realize that the Mullah Khatami, the once darling of the students, is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing. The so called reformist movement which he championed is dead at its door step. In fact, Mullah Khatami never had any intention of stepping out of the boundaries set by Mullah Khomeini and guarded by Mullah Khamenei.

He was (is) nothing but a puppet who was cleverly chosen by the Mullahs and their European masters to make the hopeless Iranian population into believing he was a different Mullah. His masters, through an elaborate PR campaign, talked about his so called education, understanding of the Western culture and values, mild temperament and steady hands, charisma, and the desire to abolish social constraint established by his predecessors. He became the light by which the darkness imposed by Mullah Khamenei and his Council of Guardians would lead to the only Islamic shinning city in the region promised by Mullah Khomeini and his band of tugs.

Therefore, he was embraced by millions of people in Iran, including this writer's family, as the messiah who would deliver his people from the oppressive chains of Khamenei and his likes. Once again, the Iranian people fell for the promises of the religious coyotes who had sold their souls to the European devils. They naively believed that this black hooded, well spoken, well dressed, and well groomed Mullah was different form the previous white hooded and uneducated cemetery Mullah who always looks as if he slept in his gown. The truth is very different. Now everyone knows that he is a sham, a fraud, and an imposter.

He is nothing but a big lie and his promises of reform are as genuine as Mullah Adabi, the so called freedom fighter and the newest member of the European hand picked puppets. His becoming to power was as staged as the shameful submission of the Noble Peace Prize to Mullah Adabi whose promise of hope for Iran and the Iranian people is written by the same pen which for years deceived Iranians into believing that Islam and individual liberty can coincide. Khatami and Adabi are created and molded by the same philosophy whose sole intention is designed into creating the illusion that there are forces within the Islamic government who favor reforming the existing regime. The European three, fearful of losing their foothold in Iran, have selected a female Mullah who can articulate their lies and deceit to the Iranian people.

They spend a few lousy minutes talking about the human rights violations of the Iranian government while their representatives spend days conjuring new contracts for their governments and private businesses. They talk of supporting the global fight against terrorism while they keep the founders of Hezballah and Hamas in power in Iran to protect their interests. They, very cleverly, introduce individuals like Khatami and Adabi to the Iranian people who, like broken records, keep promising to reform a seventh century Arab ideology which has survived numerous religious and political reformations around the world and is today as static as it was when created in the hopeless deserts of Saudi Arabia.

The fact is that reform and Islam are about as compatible as screen doors on submarines. Islam is about the total submission of one's body, mind, and the soul to the religion. It is more than a belief and religion. It is a way of life. It is the philosophy by which the believers determine their destinies. It is a hog pug of Arab tribal laws, ideas stolen from the Old Testament, and revelations dictated by an Arab sheep herder who spent the early days of his life in search of personal fame and fortune. It is a belief that does not allow its followers to seek any knowledge beyond what is permissible by the religion and its so called guardians.

Islamic laws do not recognize the rights of individuals to be free thinkers. They are designed to display a total domination over one's life. If one wonders why the so called reform movement in Iran has not been able to find its tracks, the reason is very simple. The so called reformers are in a continuous internal struggle to convince themselves that their static ideology is capable of reformation. The fact remains that they are incapable of reforming, because what the world sees in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim countries is the true Islam, filled with hatred for none-believers, merciless, intolerance of other beliefs, and incapable of allowing its followers to embrace progress.

The true face of Islam is seen day after day on the streets of Iraq and Israel. Islam is Osama bin Laden, Mosaeb Al Zarqawi, Yaser Arafat, Ayattolah Khamenei, and others who embrace the Jihadist movement throughout the Middle East. These individuals are the true followers of their faith and those who tell the world otherwise and try to introduce a friendly and tolerable faith to the world are nothing but liars and traitors to their own religion. We, the Iranian people must recognize that fourteen hundred years of Islamic oppression will only come to an end when we, the children of Kurosh, tell the truth about what is in our hearts.

We must admit to the world that Islam is the religion of the sword and not compassion. We must tell the world that Islam is the only religion which denies its followers to have a personal relationship with their creator. We have to finally realize that the words uttered by us during our prayers are the words of our conquerors and not those of our fathers. Most importantly, we must begin to eliminate all Arabic words from our daily vocabulary. We are the proud people of Persia whose words and actions were the example for the world long before the Arabs of the Saudi desert stopped burying their female offspring alive. We have a rich history filled with magnificent pure Persian names and vocabulary. Why should we name our children after those who have brought us nothing but misery, shame, the destruction? Why should we use names such as Ali and Hussein while names like Kurosh and Daryoosh are truly who we are?! Why can't we eliminate these names and other Arabic words from our daily vocabulary? Who are we trying to impress? Who are we afraid of? For once in your life, be honest with yourself. Tell the world what is truly in your heart. Let the world who you really are and free yourselves of this Arab domination.

Rid yourselves of this shame once and for all. Admit that for all of your lives you have been muttering words that you don't understand, and you only say them because you, like a robot, learned them from the robots before you. Be truthful to your heart. My dear Iranians, I like millions of you, struggled with these very same questions for most of my life until I finally realized that the first step into finding a solution to my problem was to admit that there was something fundamentally wrong with my upbringing. I, blindly, (although with good intentions) was brought up by my parents to cherish the faith and the superstitious of their parents and their parents before them. But, I found the truth to be much different than my childhood teachings. I was, am, and always will be Persian, the offspring of the first Persian King and the founder of the greatest civilization Kurosh. I adore my faith, heritage, culture, and the values which have been the center stone of all of the contemporary civilizations. The words spoken by Zoroaster centuries before Moses are clearly found in Torah and the Old Testament.

I reject the Arab faith, its teaching, and its demand for the total submission of body, mind, and soul. I call upon all of you who know the truth to be different from what you have been taught, those of you whose hearts are filled with different words than those uttered from your mouths, for once in your life, to be honest with yourselves. This is your life, your body, your mind, and your soul. Your faith should be about your personal relationship between you and your creator. If there is an after life, no one is going to hold you responsible for the mistakes of your parents', but you will be responsible for mistakes inflected (by you) upon your children. Do not allow this madness to go on. Speak the truth; tell your children about what is truly in your hearts. Admit to your mistakes and those inflected upon you by your parents. Allow your children to be their own persons. Let them make up their own minds about which path they should follow.

Make them aware of who they really are. Tell them about the glorious times when the world was the envy of our culture. Tell them about the Persian scientist, poets, and philosophers who filled Iranian minds with their knowledge and their words of hope amid the period of Islamic inquisition in Iran. These great minds did not appear in our history, because of the existence of Islam in Iran as it is sometimes suggested by Islamic apologists, but rather despite this faith and its anti knowledge superstitious. We don't see this parallel in any of the Islamic nation in the world but only in Iran. It was the Iranian culture that produced Ferdosi, Khayyam, Saadi, Hafez, Sina, and Razi and not the Saudi culture. Where is the evidence that anyone even close to these great minds ever existed in the birth place of Islam? It is the freedom to explore one's mind and embrace progress which allows one to discover new ideas. Where is the evidence of that in the Arabian Peninsula? How are the people of these people different than they were two thousand years ago? Take the discovery of oil and the material riches that it has brought to this region out of the history and what do you have? Shouldn't have Islam had the most impact on the minds of the people of its birth place? So you see my friends, it was not Islam who gave us these great minds, it was Iran. It was our ability to step beyond the limitations set by this fourteen hundred years old static idea. It was the rejection of the idea that somehow a black hooded uneducated Mullah who claims to have divine intervention is the "master" and should be worshiped as such. The same ideas are alive and well today, but are in the hearts and the minds of Iranians around the world. The truth has to be known. These ideas have to be publicized.

We must speak out and let the world know that we are not of the same race and background who kidnaps and brutally beheads innocent people so joyfully. We are the children of a race who for the first time in the history of mankind spoke of and promoted good words, good behavior, and good deeds. We reject this static ideology and all of the misery that it has inflected upon our people. We demand our freedom from this bondage. Keep hope alive, because if hope dies Iran dies.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/printer_2871.shtml

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_2861.shtml

Cast an educated Vote
By: Slater Bakhtavar
Jul 8, 2004, 03:52

Judging from the recent wave of politically charged articles on various discussion boards the 2004 President Elections are rapidly emerging. According to various acclaimed political columns, the Iranian-American vote is positively charged and sure to make a dent in the elections. Furthermore, according to the wave of emotionally charged propaganda the well-established Persian community in the US should support the Democratic candidate John Kerry for President.

Course, the political elite have shown little lee-way and a horrendous record for their agenda. The neo-Liberal Iranians often cite three or four reasons for supporting Presidential hopeful John Kerry.

Those reasons typically include:

a) The Iraq war which they portray as a miserable failure resulting in a failed democratic system,
b) President Bush's tax cuts which they claim have resulted in unfair compensation to wealthy Americans and have severely damaged the economy,
c) the Patriot Act which they claim has unfairly targeted Middle-Eastern, and finally,
d) Farenheit 9/11 - which portrays President Bush as a die-hard lunatic in bed with the Saudi Terrorists.

However, I'd like to remind those unsure of their ideology that while the war in Iraq has resulted in hundreds, if not thousands of deaths, freedom is not free and democracy has to be earned. Recent polls shows that 70% of Iraqis support the Interim President Allawi and his administration and the majority of Iraqis have a positive view of their future. Further, according to recent economic assessments the US economy is on a massive upsurge, with consumer confidence at a three year high and the jobless rate taking a near one percent drop. Also, while it's true that the Bush Administration encouraged and established the Patriot Act after 9/11, by all indications former President Clinton would have done the same thing to safe guard the United States. [In fact, in 1993 former President Clinton signed papers to ready the United States for a war against Iraq, and to encourage Acts similar to the Patriot Act in case of a domestic backlash]. Finally, those identifying themselves as Democrats should reminded that Mr.Moore recently slammed the Democratic party as a "miserable, pathetic party that can't win an election even when they win an election".

To further solidify my own understanding of the current political climate within the community. I recently interviewed ten Iranian-Americans on their political affiliation and ideology. First, I wanted to research political identification within our ethnicity. According to the statistics five identified themselves as Democrats, two as Republican and two as Independent. I then inquired about their political positions on ten pressing issues; those issues were taxes, gay marriage, social welfare, abortion, relations with various governments, business, environment, foreign policy, education, and civil rights. After surveying the results and comparing the answer with each parties political ideology, I concluded that nine out of ten people surveyed were far more consistent with the Republican Parties platform.

It's interesting to note that the Iranians I surveyed overwhelmingly supported strong family, hard-work, lower taxes, business, support for a democratic ME, vouchers, and are were largely against gay marriage, abortion, and abundant social welfare - virtually every single question they identified with the Republican Party, but yet claimed themselves Democrats.

This November, I'm not asking you to switch political parties, I'm just asking you to make an educated vote and not base things on sheer ignorance. Please vote, but please make an educated vote.

8th of July and Student Movement's recent Developments

SMCCDI (Public Statement)
Jul 8, 2004

8th of July and Student Movement's recent Developments

This year we are welcoming the arrival of 8th of July, the fifth anniversary of the university students' epic uprising for democracy in 1999, at a moment when the student movement itself has arrived at the threshold of a very significant development. This movement which suffered from the influence and control of the Islamic Republic's ruling apparatus and its related branches in the past years, has come to full grasp of the fact that the realization of its democratic ideals and objectives are only possible in lieu of critique of the ruling system and abandonment the groups and currents the system sponsors.

After the failure of the so-called "reform movement" we have witnessed great changes within the universities' Islamic and reformist groups. Their radical and fundamental critique of the "reformist" current, which mostly focused on its ideological beliefs and principles, has resulted in great changes for the student movement.

The plan for formation of a Student's Parliament by the OCU (Office of Consolidation of Unity), which until very recently was regarded as the student arm of the reformers and one of their most important bases, and publication of a 10 page proclamation which emphasizes necessity of political independence of universities, unity and formation of a unified front participated by all student groups, indicate important changes within the student formation. The students' departure from the reformists' camp and their radical ideological stance against the ruling power and declaration of presence and participation of all student and secular groups in the Student's Parliament clearly underscore fundamental changes in OCU and their allegiance with the democratic political currents.

Failure of reform and, subsequently, the student movement's rejection of the reformers' beliefs and views, and also their thrust towards modern and secular concepts can be very much witnessed in their current literature. Even a casual glance over the statements of the Islamic councils associated with the universities is enough to see that a new chapter in their political dialogue has been opened.

As a result of an internal process, a significant portion of the student movement body that had suffered great losses by following the reformers, engaged in a critical analysis of the ideological foundation of the reformist currents. Concepts such as religious democracy, religious enlightenment, function within the framework of the constitution, fighting the agendas through the parliament, adherence to law, government accountability, invincibility of reforms, and many of the reformist slogans and mottos are now subjected to serious doubts by the student movement.

Experiences of losses of past years became the impetus for revising and restructuring the ideological foundations within the student movement; so much that now Islamic political literature have been replaced by modernist views.

The so-called reformers who by insisting that the "system can be reformed," tried to maintain their political hold on the society, weren’t able to deliver with their claims and rapidly lost their status and position within the society and headed towards political annihilation. The analysis of the reasons of the reformists’ failure is indeed a very educating lesson by itself. Their thought process which was a product of two contradicting elements, religion and democracy, eventually failed to meet the society’s heavy demands and was subjected to severest criticism.

The reformers’ haphazard views that lacked any originality garnered no more than confusion and chaos for themselves and their followers. In a way, utilization of conjoined contradictory terms had effectively transformed them into strange amphibious political creatures during a period of transition from tradition to modernity! Their beliefs were supposedly based on worldly and rational interpretation of religion, and they aimed to structure a socio-political system based on Islamic concepts. But the results were that the paradox of religion and democracy denied them a clear and realistic observation of the truth and the important fact that it is the human’s own volition that forms the basis for a political establishment.

With the view of government as an organism, within the context of modern philosophy, and rationalism, as the sole provider of order in the social arena and rejection thereof of any connection between the human mind and the supernatural, the basis for the modern government as a product of man came to being and citizens right of participation, which is the pillar of democracy, came to stand against the traditional world of a heavenly prescribed system relying on guidance from above! So therefore, by a comprehensive observation it can be said that the modern political school of thought, which is the vehicle for democracy, by departing from religion and “heavenly power” and arriving at concepts of self-belief, earthliness, and refuting sanctities through critical rationalizing, rejects any point of basis outside of the confines of society. Hence terms such as “Islamic Republic” or “Religious Democracy” can only be products of pure rational disarray.

In another aspect, the reformers failed to reform the system of Islamic Republic due to existence of unbreakable bonds that they enjoyed with the system. They knew very well that taking steps towards changes could cause the collapse of the totality of the system and that was not an outcome they desired. So they consistently chose the side of the system against establishing the rule of people. It became apparent that the reformers sole objective had been to come to power and to realize that goal they set aside fulfilling the needs of people. They were not true to their mottos and eventually met defeat. Undoubtedly, the reformers’ defeat wasn’t only because of the conservatives’ disruptive interference, rather it was due to their own dishonesty with the people.

The incident of 8 July 1999 was by itself a telling example of the reformers’ political double standards. While people were out in the streets supporting the students, the reformers by bringing pressure on the student movement and forcing the students to just conduct a sit-in in the campus, effectively separated the students from the people and laid the grounds for the crackdown on their uprising. In this midst, the role of Khatami and his explicit orders to crackdown on people is also very important to note as he always hurries to support the government of supreme jurisprudence whenever there is a popular action.

But what is sprouting today out of the ruins and ashes of the reform movement, is the growth of modern thinking, rationalism, and humanism which will push religion out of the political arena. We can definitely call today the end of tradition and beginning of the modern era in which the role of the student movement and their transition out of the reformism is very significant. A secular current, which in the beginning was called the Third Force, has emerged out of the depth of the society and is going to become a powerful replacement to the current rule by reliance on secularism and rejection of religious interference.

But it must be kept in mind that what is being called the critique of reforms isn’t just an analysis of a bankrupt political current. Rather, it is a critical look at the path of a historic evolution that is to bring about a great social renaissance. So therefore, the results of the student movement has now climbed in status from the level of change and reform to a greater level of society’s push towards modernity and rationality. That can be a historic turning point in the entire eastern world.

In this venue, the most determining factor is existence of an organizational and structural function within the student movement that must take more than 1.5 million students into its mold. Success in a political struggle can not be achieved without group and organizational work. So creation of student organizations and expansion of theoretical and analytical work within the universities, and dissemination of ideas out of the universities through an organized mechanism for the purpose of elevating people’s level of political knowledge and creating hope and a sense of belief in self among them and a purpose to fight amongst the youth are of the most important affairs that must be integral parts of the student organizations agendas.

As it honors the 8th of July event and cherishes the memory of all freedom fighters and political prisoners in Iran, The Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) requests from the noble nation of Iran to keep alive the epic struggle of this great day with their all out presence in the ceremonies and shout their slogans for freedom of political prisoners and liberation of Iran from the clutches of despotism.

Tehran, July 8, 2004 (18th Tir 1383)

The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI)

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7005.shtml

Bit-by-Bit Surrender to The Mullahs

July 09, 2004
FrontPageMagazine.com
Reza Bayegan

The released videotaped footage of blindfolded British soldiers captured by the Islamic Republic was evocative of another Western humiliation in the hands of Iranian religious fanatics. On November 4, 1979, when the militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran, they also paraded their hand-tied, blindfolded hostages in front of the television cameras. Today, an analytical approach to Middle-Eastern terrorism cannot be complete without due consideration paid to that watershed event that kept the world transfixed for 444 days. During that crisis the militants kept pressing their luck to see how far they could go, and with the political school of moral vacillation then well represented in the White House, they soon recognized that they could go as far as they wanted to. They managed to accomplish an outright victory for anarchy and hooliganism from which the world has not yet recovered.

Prominent American historian J. Rufus Fears, in a lecture delivered in Princeton on October 8, 2003, points out the dangerous consequences of the Carter administration's mishandling of that far-reaching crisis. Answering a question put to him by one of his listeners, Professor Rufus remarked:

In 1999, I told an audience that our failure to act decisively at the time of the Iranian hostage controversy has left us with a bitter harvest that we will one day reap, and I have never been so sorry to be so right.

In fact, the seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran presented itself as a possibility to the terrorists by a lesson they had learned from a preceding event. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution and his fanatical supporters had the shrewdness to realize that an America that lacked the backbone to stand by a long-time friend like the Shah, could not muster enough resolve to stand up to ruthless terror and blackmail.

Western democracies today are harvesting the lethal fruits of their past failure of judgment and their inability to foresee what was in store for them with the advent of Islamic fundamentalism. Furthermore, 25 years into the Iranian revolution with all the inherent lessons they still seem to be unable to face up to their enemies and back up their true friends. So-called “constructive engagement” and “creative diplomacy,” when applied to terrorist states, can only result in further exposing every citizen of the free world into the potential danger of being blown up or becoming a helpless, blindfolded hostage teetering between life and death.

The British government's policy towards the Islamic Republic is not a policy put together in the light of what the Iranian regime in reality stands for. It is rather sketched on the basis of what Jack Straw and some others in the Foreign Office hope one day it might evolve into. It is grounded in self-deception, bewilderment and irresponsibility. The mullahs on the other hand have no illusions about their enemies and their allies. Like all well-trained, well-experienced terrorists they can immediately sense the moral confusion and intellectual perplexity of their victims and use it to their greatest political advantage. They are toying with Jack Straw the same way they manipulated the weakness and confusion of the Carter administration.

Having successfully flexed their muscles in the Arvand Rood waterway (Shatt al-Arab in Arabic) by seizing the British vessel, the mullahs know full well that they face no retaliation. They are complacent in their assurance that all the dismay expressed by London over the abduction of their sailors will amount to nothing and is a mere face- saving exercise. As The Guardian reported in its July 2 issue, the Foreign Office is unlikely to consider a drastic response “since it cherishes its diplomatic links with Tehran.”

Accordingly the British government has adopted the same cringing, guilt-ridden, apologetic attitude as that of the Clinton administration (remember Madeleine Albright's apology to Iran for “past American errors”). Jack Straw is banking on what he calls “bit-by-bit, progress” in relations between Iran and the United Kingdom. In fact, what we witness seems increasingly like bit-by-bit surrender to the Islamic Republic of Iran rather than a clearly thought out and integrated foreign policy.

The British unwillingness to stand up to the regime in Tehran is partly due to what is taking place at the moment in Iraq. The war waged against Saddam Hussein with its obvious benefit of ridding the world of a cruel dictator has incurred huge human and material loss. The mullahs, instead of waiting for their turn to become the next dispatched member of the Axis of Evil, have been fighting the war for their survival on Iraqi soil by supporting the terrorists and sabotaging the establishment of democracy in that country. Their diabolical efforts have paid off. Fatigued both militarily and economically by the war in Iraq, the United States would have great difficulty in commencing a war on a new front.

This allied exhaustion has offered the clerical dictatorship a new lease on life, which the mullahs are using to push forward with their plan to acquire of nuclear weapons. On June 27, 2004 – in defiance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the Iranian government decided to resume centrifuge construction. It is only a (brief) matter of time before the most dangerous regime on earth will be armed with the most destructive means to destroy human life. If such a nightmare is realized, Jack Straw's “bit-by-bit, progress” with Iran can only mean inching toward Hell on earth.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14150

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