Posted on 02/12/2002 8:22:09 AM PST by vannrox
On the other hand, I don't think any of us believe that there aren't many Iranians who hunger for freedom from oppression and who don't wish to kill us -- unfortunately, they didn't show up on Monday.
Twenty years ago, while I was in grade school I got into a fight with another person, we've since gone our separate ways. Should I now go out of my way to track him down and settle the old score?
I am reasonably certain that Iranian government can bring up all people under government payroll or direct control. Government employees, military, police, security service, public companies(utility, transportation, etc), schools, and lots and lots of students. You can give a fraction of these people a day off and bring them to a large rally. They will come in thousands. First, they have no choice and second, it is a day-off. All they have to do is to pretend to listening to anti-American diatriabes without falling into sleep and fall off a chair. Chant a slogan or two on cue. Then go home and tell your family how you made easy money today or skipped school thanks to stupid mullahs. You can see yourself on TV news footage if you are lucky(unlucky) depending on your circumstance.
IMHO the inclusion of Iran in the "axis of evil" and the reference to "unelected leaders" which excludes Khatami and the reformers was meant to send the message that a truly reformist government could end Iran's isolation. If that doesn't happen, then military action would be appropriate, not to settle the score for 1979, not to trigger an Afghan-style change of regime, but to eliminate any nuclear threat, similar to Israel's destruction of Iraq's first nuclear weapons program.
That's enough reason for me.
Now, if it's NEWS you want, let's have Iranians demonstrating FOR America. That would be news. Man bites dog. Reporting on dog-bites-man is not news. It's like the sun coming up.
Michael
The Iranian people held a candle light vigil for the victims of 9/11.
Those people that you see going to the streets on the anniversary of the islamic regime, comprise only 5% of the Iranian people. They are mainly paid agents and militia men of the regime, and their families.
95% of the Iranian people HATE this criminal terrorist regime that has been occupying Iran for 23 years ! There is an active movement for democracy in Iran fighting against these savage islamists !
International Alliance of Iranian Students
Political discussion by Iranians fighting against islamic regime
Mission for the Establishment of Human Rights in Iran
Don't blame the Iranian people, who are themselves VICTIMS of 23 years of torture, murder, assasination, poverty. blaim the criminal islamists occupying Iran, and the Europeans who support them and do trade with them, and help them in their propaganda efforts !
Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran (MEHR IRAN)
P.O. Box 2037, P.V.P., CA 90274
Tel: (310) 377-4590 ; Fax: (310) 377-3103
E-Mail: mehr@mehr.org ; URL: http://mehr.org
Iranian people have been experiencing the terror of the IRI right after its conception in 1979. They have not been able to dress, speak, write, vote, pray, dance, love, laugh, and live the way they want and they have paid with their lives, hundreds and thousands of lives, for not giving up these basic rights. They have been harassed, imprisoned; tortured, executed, stoned to death by the IRI for so long and none of these were enough to qualify the IRI as a terrorist. However, western governments and media driven by “interest” factor turned a blind eye to horrible situation of Iranian people subjected to the worst type of human rights abuses and terrorism. The “interest” factor made the European countries so eager to establish relation with IRI and a fierce competition started among them as to which one will take a bigger portion of the lucrative one-sided deals with a desperate regime to survive. The US, lobbied strongly by the financial institutions and especially oil companies, left the door open by pursuing a dual policy towards the Islamic Regime.
For IRI to qualify itself for such help, and for West to justify relations with one of the most brutal regimes of all times, both needed a wide spread cover up. While human rights abuses escalated in Iran, conference after conferences were held in Iran and abroad on issues like human rights, civil society, dialog among civilizations, women rights, child abuse, etc. Western media and government authorities publicized these events, and participated in them and argued that they should support the so called “reformists” vs. “radicals” knowing well that all real reformists are in jails.
This policy of appeasement continued even after September 11 and after President Bush’s speech regarding the terrorism of Islamic Regime. Last month, while Iranians were beaten on the streets because of their peaceful protests against the human rights abuses, the representatives of this terrorist regime were given the opportunity by the UN to take part in a conference specially organized for them to lecture the world about dialog among civilizations. Senator Specter among other US Senators and Representatives greeted IRA’s representative warmly in another ceremony and Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Colin Powel had very nice words for them.
The family of the prisoners of conscience and other Iranian people were beaten and arrested under Mr. Kofi Annan’s nose during his recent trip to Tehran for just trying to meet with him and pleading for the lives of their loved ones, and what they got from him was words of praise for the government of Iran and statements in defense of Islamic Regime for the “allegation” of terrorism made against it! The UN policy to legitimize the State of terror is quite long term and comprehensive. It is cooperating with a religious school called Mofid University that trains military seminaries in the city of Qom in Iran, to stage a conference on “Human Rights” on May 2003.
According to the US Government, IRI will lose its terrorist status and will become a US ally if it refrains from threatening America or its friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. Can any institution just forgive a regime that has been terrorizing its own nation for so long? Can the world forgive a regime that has been involved in the assassination of so many Iranian dissidents and has been condemned by a German Court in Berlin? Can we ignore its terrorism against so many American people in many terrorist activities including seven cases tried in the US Federal Courts?
Our message to all European countries that support IRI unconditionally and the US that is only concerned about one aspect of its terrorism and blames only a few “un-elected elements” within the Islamic Regime, is that even if the circumstances changed and the IRI abided by all the US conditions and would become “worthy” of being US ally, this would not change the fact that this regime is still brutalizing the freedom loving Iranian people. Having said this, it is our turn now to ask this question from the world community:
Who are you with? Are you with the terrorist regime of Iran or with the Iranian people who are fighting with this regime for their basic rights and struggle for freedom and democracy?
Although the recent comments by President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleeza Rice are very promising, the fact that there are no references to the internal terrorism of Islamic Regime is still very disturbing and leaves room for overnight change of policy.
As President Bush said in his speech after the September 11 event, fighting terrorism has a price. The demand of freedom loving Iranian people from the world community is not much. Bombing Iran wouldn’t hurt the terrorists. It would hurt the victims of the terrorism. To fight the terror of the Islamic Regime of Iran, just leave the “interest” factor out. Don’t help this terrorist regime. Don’t legitimize it by promoting its disgusting shows. Don’t make any deal with it. Let the struggle of Iranian people for democracy prevails. That is all they want. It is not much. Is it?
What he can do is to use what powers he has to move his country away from the fanatacism of the Khomeini era. In some ways there is a similarity to Gorbachev, who never really renounced communism but who nevertheless helped bring an end to the cold war. Threatening Iran with attack puts him between a rock and a hard place and is probably not in our best interests.
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