A commentator on my post, "Two more reasons to crush Iran with sanctions," wonders why I "have a deep hatred for Iran." My response to this accusation is as follows: I do not have any feelings of hate for Iran at all. Iran is one of the great nations of the world... and one of the most ancient.
The people of Iran, espcially those known as Persians, are among the most educated, cultured, and literate people anywhere. Their love of music and poetry thrives and web sites can be found filled with their wonderful verse. In contrast to many other peoples in the Middle East (and beyond to Afghanistan and Pakistan) the Iranian people are forward-looking and, by nature, optimistic. They welcome the technology and advances in science and medicine that come from the West and are open to borrow and adapt and absorb much more of our culture into their own.
They do not wish to BE a western culture but they are secure and confident enough in their own way of life to pick and choose and revise and rework what they see as useful and good for themselves and their own life as Iranians and/or Persians. After suffering from the unwelcomed abuse of power by the secular Shah, they longed for greater freedom to express themselves and to have a government that affirmed and reflected their religious (Shia Muslim) faith along with their historic openness and tolerance of other native faiths, including Judaism, Baha'i, and Christianity in its various forms.
What they got instead was the revolutionary, fundamentalist, theocratic rule of sharia as interpreted by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The historic culture was replaced by a new and oppressive culture of intolerance, terror and oppression. Instead of being a nation among nations they became, overnight, a nation against the world... a nation ruled by ayatollahs consumed with a vision of turning the world into what they had created in Iran... an Islamist Shiite world order, so to speak.
To distract the people from their own oppression, the people of Iran were treated to incessant diatribes of America as the "Great Satan" and Israel as the bane of the Muslim world... a Zionist malignancy determined to corrupt and destroy the Muslim world. Enough Iranians bought into this demagoguery to provide the militant muscle needed to keep the dissidents at bay and secure the absolute rule of the mullahs and their political representatives. The rest of the Iranian people have had to tough things out and get by as best they can under extremely difficult circumstances.
The mullahs' authority was greatly strengthened when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. The war that followed served to galvanize the Iranian people behind a common patriotic cause and provided the veneer or support needed to keep the mullahs in full control of the people.
Article comments
1 - Amin
You have to understand that the cult of political Zionism has taken over the west, and it has extreme control over washington. Do a cursory search about the "Israel lobby" and see how much goes to any politician that is up against an "anti-Israel" politician. Learn about how organized this political cult is. They have supporters everywhere. No one has talked about it for decades out of fear of a torrent of accusations of anti-semitism and character assasinations.
That is starting to change. The internet, and the terrible blood cost to the US for waging a war for Israel, has made usually timid White Americans speak up.
You may fear Iran's leaders, but I tell you, they are not 1/100th as powerful as the cult that is controlling America.
Every year this cult gets enormously more powerful. Why? Because the US through grants and guaranteed loans gives Israel $10 Billion a year. That is enough to create 10,000 Jewish Zionist millionaires a year. Think about how much added influence that gives this cult every year. Every year enough money to add 10,000 more millionaires to this cult, and this cult uses this power to continue this fleecing of American taxpayers.
Americans must wake up to this or everyone will be strangled and killed by this cult through financial extortion.
2 - Amin
I just want to add that this cult is terrible for Israel, terrible for the middle east, and terrible for America.
It is a cult like the mullahs, and it must be opposed. I do not dare go up against the mullahs right now because I know what is at stake is far larger than the mullah's control of Iran. When faced with two terrible characters who oppose one another, one supports the weaker of the two, until the stronger is defeated, then one goes after the weaker one.
3 - Zedd
Its been stated many times that the idea about wiping Isreal off of the planet was a bad translation and it just took off.
Not sure if Hezbollah are the bad guys either... Some look at them as liberators.
Zionism is just as dogmatic as Muslim extremism.
Conclusion: I am not sure if you've made your argument for why you fear them?
Do you fear Isreal?
4 - Bird of Paradise
Zedd, so far as I know Israel has never threatened to "wipe" any Arab, Persian or other Muslim nation off the face of the earth. Nor, to my knowledge, have they ever threatened to remove the United States off of the map, either.
Since declaring their independence as the State of Israel they have never invaded another nation or threatened the sovereignty of another nation except in response to attacks against themselves (with the notable exception of their air attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor many years ago.)
Why should I fear Israel?
Why should Iran or Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Syria or Jordan or any other nation fear Israel?
More than anything else Israel wants to possess the land necessary to preserve its existance and to be otherwise left alone.
What is so threatening about that?
If you wish to discuss the legitimacy of Israel as a nation we could discuss that, too . . . but that is not the subject of my post and I would prefer to keep on topic. Thanks for the question, however.
5 - STM
Imposing sanctions on Iran would be a double-edged sword, really.
Right now, Ahmadinejad is disliked by his own people, and I have to say this: as a rule, Iran's brand of Shi'ite fundamentalism is a tad more palatable than some of the others.
Iran might be an Islamic republic, but up until recently it's been relatively benign (in recent years) and they've largely minded their own business. Their president is quite likely on the way out, having upset some of the more moderate mullahs - yes, they do exist.
Iran doesn't need sanctions, which only serve to hurt the ordinary Iranian. Just gives them another reason to bloody hate us all.
I say: the status quo is fine for now, and let Ahmadinejad plot his own demise by shooting himself in the foot and acting the goat.
It's also worth remembering that the Iraq fiasco began many years ago with sanctions that left Iraqi babies dying for want of medical supplies.
Why go down the same path? Whatever happened to good old Henry Kissinger-style diplomacy? Start talking, folks, that's the answer.
6 - Mein Fuhrer
Hi. Jews are Evil. They have Nuclear weapons. They are living on Occuplied Territories. They have fought wars, and they have taken even more land. Arabs are Evil. They are lazy. Jews and Arabs are all Semites. Semites suck. I am therefore Anti-Semetic. Persian Power. Bring back The Fuhrer. Thx. Bye. :)
(p.s. I'm purposely trying to sound dumb)
7 - Bliffle
"My suggestion is that the United States take them at their word..."
Always a bad idea. For several reasons: (1) your perception of 'their word' may be wrong, (2) it may change without you noticing it, and worst of all (3) you surrender initiative to the opponent. Experienced strategists use 'their word' to create feints. Only the naive take a feint at face value.
8 - Bird of Paradise
Amin, I do not support a military strike against Iran (although I am open to hearing any good reasons for a strategic strike to untrack their nuclear arms production . . . )
Also, insofar as funding for folks in Iraq I think it is clear that the Sunni "insurgents" are getting funding from Saudi Arabia and also a far less amount from Jordan. Other funding comes from Egypt. Some of these Sunni funds go to Baathists and other funds (although in decline) goes towards al-Qaeda.
It is naive to think that Iran is not whole-heartedly funding and aupplying arms to Shi'ite "insurgents" such as those of al-Sadr's Mahdi Militia.
Some of this money (both Sunni and Shia) is going into the pockets of government officials as bribes and payoffs for favors andprotections, etc.
I'm afraid I cannot agree with you on the matter of Iran desiring a stable, democratic Iraq (with a Shi'ite majority possibly holding the balance of power in the government).
Iraqi Shi'ites are, for the most part, patriotic Iraqis just as much as Iranian Shi'ites are patriotic Iranians. These two groups of Shi'ites fought against each other during the Iraq/Iran War and the Iraqi's certainly do not want to have the Iranian mullahs seize religious control over the (Shi'ite) holy sites in Iraq.
I believe that most Iraqi Shia do want a stable, secure, peaceful and unified Iraq with good diplomatic relations with their neighbors, including and especially Iran.
Iran knows this and will be playing diplomatic games with the Iraqi's for many years to come . . . tempting them with diplomacy while
undercutting and undermining Iraq's stability every way they can.
A weak and disfunctional Iraq is what Iran wants and, unless something is done to stop them, they will continue to pull out every stop they can to get it.
9 - commonsense
1. Despite rigorous inspections by IAEA officials, there is not any evidence that indicates Iran on its way to produce nuclear weapons.
2. The same people who accuse Iran now did the same in case of Iraq in 2002-2003.
3. Iran is not threatening to attack any country; whereas, both US and Israel are talking about attacking Iran. More like a pack of wolves expressing their concern about being attacked by a single lamb.
4.During recent history US has done many acts of war against Iran (and still doing) but Iran have not responded BECAUSE they know if they do any thing to US (or Israel) they will really be wiped off the map.
5. An unstable Iraq is not in Iran's interests. This is a grand scheme to divide middle eastern countries into small states like Kuwait so that they can never stand up to the Israel and also US can change any unfriendly leader just by sending 500 troops.
6. Iran’s president does not have any real power. The Zionist media needed somebody to be a poster representing the enemy(evil). When his predecessor (moderate Khatami) talked about "Dialog of Civilizations", they dismissed him as somebody who is nobody in Iran's power structure; now that there is a clearly ranting idiot in his place nobody talks about his limited power!
7. I am going to sleep and will come back tomorrow to read your feedback and respond if necessary. Thanks.
10 - Mick
As an American Baha'i, I am aware of the treachery and evil of the leadership of Iran. I would believe every threat they make. I would not believe any of the promises they claim. I simply do not trust any of the Irani rulers. They have decimated a loving community with glee and celebration and continue to do so, even though they deny their activities to the world. I pray for the world to understand their deviousness and their threat to the peace of the world and to act accordingly.
11 - defender
to bird of paradise:
the government of iran either good or bad,is up to the the decision that the citizen's of that nation will make,it does not include you and or anywhom else. the peaceful use of nuclear energy is willing to be used in positive purposes and will not be satatused for any inapropriate matters. iran is fourth oil-trading country in the world and cutting ties with other countries and urging them to stop trading with iran will not block iran from it's nuclear enrichment programm. syra has strong both strong and economical ties with iran to the point that president ahmadinejad said that even if united states tried, couldn't cut the relationship between syra and iran. and from some reliable sources iran is expecting an attack from quatar, where the united states largest and strongest millitary camp is based. there has been rough disagreements between united states and quatar recently and they may remove the millitary base off the quatar soon. and russia has recently sold 29 Tor-M1 missile systems to iran for 1.4 million dollars( 1.06 billion euros) and the air defence systems are being stationed around iran's civilian nuclear sites which are high ranges and will automaticaly lock any air craft and destroy it according to ITAR-TASS.and the head of the weapons maker engineering design bureau of china has made a recent contract to iran for it's oil exchanged by mass-destructive weapons and high performanced arms. with all that i cleared, you should know by now that iran's power is not a threat to any regional country and it's power is at service of region's peace. by imposin insecurity and ethnic clashes in iraq, united states just wants to strenthen their presence in the region. the U.N. resolution against iran's atomic work has no validity for iranians.it is illegal and politicaly motivated. it is up to the government to decide whether it wants to pull out of the NPT.i, defender am officialy inviting you to cooperate and let iran makes it's own decisions because it is not up to us to decide either iran has the right to produce fuel cycles. supreme leader ayatollah khameney has the final say in nuclear and other matters. iran is a free country and will not let any OUTSIDER force to solve the coflicts for them. iranian nation is wise and will stick to it's nuclear work and is ready to defend it completely.
12 - Zedd
Bird sez: so far as I know Israel has never threatened to "wipe" any Arab, Persian or other Muslim nation off the face of the earth.
Uhmm I think they've already done that. It was called Palastine. Remember??
The "wipe" of the ..... statment has been said to be a misinterpretation. I think you want Iran to have said it in order to support your position.
Also, the countries you named don't have to fear Israel, the issue is they don't LIKE what Israel is doing.
13 - Zedd
Bird said: Since declaring their independence as the State of Israel they have never invaded another nation or threatened the sovereignty of another nation except in response to attacks against themselves
What just happened in Lebennon? Don't dare name those 3 soldiers as a reason to bomb a nation. Those soldiers were captured like so many Palestinians have been captured. They were on the wrong side and they got caught.
What warrented blowing up and killing civilians in Lebennon??
14 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I have stayed away from this thread, largely because of the stupidity bruted about on the comment thread by some who have no clue of what they are talking about.
Before I continue saying anything, I wish to clarify with some definitions, all of which are badly needed.
1. Zionist movement: a largely secular movement to bring Jews home to the land of Israel.
2. State of Israel: the political expression of the Zionist movement.
3. Children of Israel: the descendants of Jacob (Israel), son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of TeraH, a high priest in Sumer, in the city of Ur, who left when the king he served died.
4. People of Israel: the descendants of the sons of Israel, who were divided into a number of tribes.
5. Kingdom of Israel: This has two definitions.
a) the Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon which extended as far as the Euphrates River at the height of its power.
b) the secessionist kingdom of ten tribes that separated from the tribes of Judah and Shim'on after the death of Solomon and accession to the throne of his son ReHavám. With time, this kingdom weakened and the territory of the tribe of Benyamin became part of the southern kingdom of Yehudá (Judah).
6. Jews: Originally, the descendants (tribe) of Yehudá, one of the sons of Israel. With time, the tribe of Shim'on merged into the tribe of Yehudá, and with time, the tribe of Benyamín merged as well. At the time of its fall, the Kingdom of Yehudá represented the tribes of Yehudá, Shim'on, Benyamin and those people of the tribe of Leví who lived within the borders of the kingdom. The descendants of these people are the Jews mentioned in definition #1.
7. Israeli: This has two definitions.
a) one who lives within the State of Israel, and who is subject to its jurisdiction.
b) an artificial cultural construct, a creation of the Zionist movement, an attempt to create a new Jew, one uninfluenced by the rabbis and the decadent culture of Eastern Europe.
8. Palestine: This has two definitions.
a) The territory of the Land of Israel under the name given it by the Romans in 100 CE or so, Syria Palestina. This name was given the territory to insult the Jewish inhabitants of the country, as the name Palestine recalls the name Philistine, an Aegean people that fled to this country, settling in the vicinity of what is now Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gath.
b) the territory covering both sides of the Jordan River granted to the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the states purpose of creating within it a "Jewish national homeland."
c) the political construct of Arab terrorist organizations who wish to end the State of Israel, and to end the Jewish presence in this region.
9. Palestinian: This has two definitions.
a) resident of the territory of Mandate Palestine, an individual under its legal jurisdiction. Under international law, the successor state to the Palestine Mandate is the State of Israel.
b) an artificial cultural construct of the terrorist movements representing the Arab refugees who left the Palestine Mandate during the war that broke out in 1947-49. A great deal of "academic" work was done by the Husseini family to construct a history for this non-existent nationality.
Now.
I am a Jew. I am a citizen of the State of Israel, and therefore an Israeli under definition 7a above. But when I express my own opinions, I am not talking as an Israeli, under the artificial construct of 7b) above. I speak as a Jew, and as a member of one of the tribes of Israel.
As for me, I believe that the State of Israel is collapsing of its own corruption and lack of purpose, as it has already served its purpose. But it will be replaced, not by a "Palestine," but by a Jewish entity far different from what we have seen, and one that is able to cope with the coming reunification of Yehudá (the Jews) with the brother tribes that appeared lost to history. Nothing is lost under the sight of G-d. I refer you all to the book of Ezekiel Chapter 37.
15 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
A quick note to comment #14. Definition 8 should read:
Palestine: This has three definitions.
16 - Zedd
Ruvy
You forgot the many Jews who are not genetically linked to Abraham. You know the Europeans who converted to Judism.
17 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
As I said, I posted the definitions I did in comment #14 in response to the rampant stupidity on the part of some of the commenters, and we see more of it in comment #16.
There was no mass conversion in Europe to a religion that was as persecuted as we Jews were from the Dark Ages to the 1900's in Europe. There was no mass conversion of Jews in El Andalus, the Arab territory of Spain until the late 1400's.
Stick to what you know Zedd. You do not know Jewish history.
18 - defender
bird of paradise words will not do anything unless they are taken into action. what ahmadinejad did was just theorizing an idea about wiping israel off the map but what israelies administration itself is doing is simply taking the words of ahmadinejad into action, the state of israel government attacked leobnan last summer for no reason, they are still killing women and childrens in palestine and firing up the holy places such as mosques.is that war against terrorism or do you consider that of justice? and recently avigdor liberman, foreign spokesman of israel has sent a letter to the u.n. security council and urged them to revoke iran's license, and impose harshest and the most extensivet sanction the world has ever seen in order to stop iran's uranium enrichment.
19 - Mark Edward Manning
There is always a shimmer of hope in Iran that, one day, may amount to something positive and be a force for good. In 2002, young Iranians were involved in an anti-government riot that spilled into the streets of Tehran, and recently university students in Tehran held a protest against their President.
The trick is to get the religious moderates -- who relucantly side with the government -- to side with the younger, more secular population of Iran. They just need a gentle push in the right direction.
20 - STM
"The trick is to get the religious moderates -- who relucantly side with the government -- to side with the younger, more secular population of Iran. They just need a gentle push in the right direction."
Yes, and it would be a really good idea if none of us administered the shove.
21 - arashk
i am an iranian boy and i want to comment on the article .first i am sorry because of my bad inglish .i want only say that iranian are people just like the rest of nations are ,we respect human rights and peace .we hate war as many of other people do .it is not fare to punish us just because of action of a little group of us .we are looking for freedom where ever it is .we dont want to invade israeel or enywhere else .we are still suffering from the attack of saddam hosein .the movies like "300" lie. but i am agree that we had mistakes too.
22 - zingzing
bop: "Why should I fear Israel?"
because if any nation on earth, other than the u.s., is going to be involved in a nuclear exchange, it will be israel and one of its numerous enemies. the very existence of israel, in its current location, is a reason to fear for the world's continuing livability.
i'm not saying that israel doesn't have a right to defend itself. i'm just saying that israeli policy makes it hard to believe they aren't relishing the religious/territorial conflict some of the time.
23 - Clockwork Allen
It looks like we have enough enemies right here in our own country. With all of the left-wing pseudo liberals spreading their hate for America, we really don't need enemies abroad. The first war will be fought right here in the United States between people who love and hate this country.
Ignorant pseudo-liberals join the bandwagon and take an anti-American stance. It's the trendy thing to do these days and it is deep-rooted right here in the USA. Regardless of how much we help other nations, we always seem to be taking the blame for things old and new. Perhaps if we went isolationist again (like pre-WWII) and brought all of our jobs back home, stopped sending troops to help other nations, stopped shipping medicine, food, spare parts to potentially rogue nations (China, Russia, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, N. Korea, and all other anti-american nations) and began a massive buildup of our military, nations would be forced into limited cooperation with us and all of a sudden 'fake respect' would once again be given to us by all of our 'friends' abroad. US government has become very Hollywood and PC and is full of people ready to make decisions that will bring this nation down. In an isolationsit period, we could weed out all of the traitors that live in this nation and in radical cases, perform public executions for supporting treason against our country. Many Arab-Americans and Arab-Europeans secretly contribute to the Arabs through their proxy support organizations, but many of us see right through it. Many Arabs seem to think that they will spread Islam across the whole world and engulf every nation. I think many nuclear devices would contend with that philosophy.
We have become weak and care too much about other people's politics. What ever happened to doing what's best for the USA? I think we should ship all Pro-Arab Americans to the middle east so they can realize their Islamic dreams and die when we bomb their new found Islamic friends (IT WILL HAPPEN). Pseudo liberals will only be able to prevent it for so long.
Just remember that it is all of you pseudo liberals (pseudo meaning: uneducated, ignorant and people who follow like sheep) that causes our country to fall simply by taking an anti-American stance in your own country because you sympathize with some foreigner who is just using you as a pawn in their own political game. Thanks a lot losers! What kind of Americans are you? Perhaps the kind that back down to Arabs with little boxcutters on airplanes! Wimps! You know who you are!
24 - zingzing
psuedo doesn't mean that.
we care too much about other people's politics? what, exactly, is politics then? are we supposed to ignore... wait. what's politics again? hmm. you seem confused.
now, if our country is going "to fall simply by taking an anti-American stance in [our] own country..." what? wait. damn man. criticizing your government does not mean you are against your country. you think anyone wants to see their country fall to bits? that's why you become an expatriate... unless you are talking about expatriates, you are really misjudging someone's intentions.
"Thanks a lot losers! What kind of Americans are you? Perhaps the kind that back down to Arabs with little boxcutters on airplanes! Wimps!"
i'll just let that one stand. [personal attack deleted]
"In an isolationsit period, we could weed out all of the traitors that live in this nation and in radical cases, perform public executions for supporting treason against our country."
ok. you must be kidding.
right?
25 - rjduke
I do not think you should fear Iran or any other Arab country. The current Muslim scare in the west is not unlike the cold war with communist nations, we won because our ideas are better. In the end all nations will elect there leaders just like those in the west. I say let those Mullahs rage on on, there ignorance and hate will defeat them in the end.