Distance yourself
Iranian-American politicians
must have no ties to Iran, beyond a reasonable doubt
September 25, 2004
iranian.com
It is with quite a lot of trepidation and apprehension that I
put pen to paper to write this article. It is probably the most
difficult thing I have done in
life and will hopefully be the last. It could be argued that I am attempting
a Zel Miller, have become a turncoat, but America and its values are more important
to me than my personal relationships and my ties to my family.
I am attempting
to discredit some one who was dear and instrumental in my life and one whom
I spent a great many memorable years with, in the halcyon days
of Iran’s
great past. I am attempting to portray a side of an Iranian who is running for
the Congress of the United States, this all great institution of American democracy.
Those who read an article I wrote a few months back about Ms.
Ameri recall I had asked for the full fledged support of all Iranians
for her. I even mentioned
her illustrious background so that we would know who she is and be proud
of her.
But there is also a different twist to her life from this author’s view
point that should be of interest to the Americans in Oregon who will actually
propel her into the Congress. I would still have upheld my support for Ms. Ameri
had she been receptive to my repeated attempts to clarify a few things. Only
when she ignored my pleas did I see the true intentions of the politician and
not the cousin I once revered.
I made several attempts to contact Ms. Ameri to ask for clarification
on some points that I deem necessary and instrumental to her campaign.
These points, as I shall mention below, might be trivial and insignificant
for those of us Iranians or Iranian-Americans who lived in Iran
during the 1979 Revolution, as these events were part of the daily
life and the revolutionary fervor. But in America and among Americans,
especially in the post 911 world this trivial matter becomes a
point of debate over National Security.
I had asked Ms. Ameri to clarify two points. In the primaries,
Ms. Ameri had placed and advertisement on the local Television
markets and eventually on her web site that erroneously mentions
her immediate family being persecuted by the Iranian revolutionary
government.
This in fact is untrue, as I was an observant of those
events living in Tehran at the time, and was cognizant to the
whereabouts of her family. They in fact had left the country a
few months before
Khomeini and his henchmen took over the country. So in fact they
could not have been in the country to be the subject of persecution.
It was only 17 years later that her family returned to Iran to
redeem their lost property that they had abandoned in the first
place.
I cannot classify such action as being any where near being
persecuted. Most Iranians know and it is now time that the American
public become aware of the process of wealth redemption in Iran.
It is only through direct and intimate collaboration with the
Regime authorities whereby one can and could reclaim lost property.
What
you may ask, does this have to do with Ms. Ameri running for
the Congress? She has no ties to the Islamic Republic, or at least
none this author is aware of. Then why worry?
I go back to my original
statement. We are supporting one of our own to the ascension
to the US Congress. Be it her or any other candidate, the individual
has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he/she
has
unequivocally no ties to Iran. If she is to be a beneficiary
of any of that wealth then she is guilty of the consequences. Once
can not have the cake and eat it too. If the terror of the Islamic
Republic of Iran is to be ceded we must be vigilante and forego
the things that can prolong their clinging to power.
This incident by itself has little bearing in the daily life
in America. The world is full of such acts and looking at it from
another angle once can argue that the family returned to repossess
what was rightfully theirs, albeit with questionable methods. But
when the subject matter is under direct microscope because he/she
is running to represent a group of people in a democratic way,
then such links shall and must be questioned and clarified.
The second and perhaps the most important fact that bears the
most pressure on my conscious is the Ms. Ameri’s uncut links
to certain members of her immediate family who had direct participation
in the events of the days of mayhem which lead to the downfall
of one of America’s most staunchest allies. These unnamed
people participated in anti-American demonstrations, of which the
outcome is very familiar to all of us.
As many in my generation
remember, the Iranian revolution was synonymous with chants such
as “Death to America” and “America the Great
Satan”. I want to clarify this that Ms. Ameri herself had
no participation at the time with such acts as she was a student
in America at the time. But what is unclear is her refusal to disassociate
herself from these individuals. We both know the truth about their
involvement and she could easily disassociate herself and her campaign
but a public announcement.
As most readers of this article are the Iranian-Americans in
America, and Iranians in Iran, they may question and in fact profusely
disagree with my comments on the grounds that may thousands if
not hundreds of thousands participated in these demonstrations.
Many of the same individuals are today living and working in America.
At the time Iranians were united to oust a “dictator”,
or so they thought, to replace the regime with one possessing a
more democratic undertone.
Of course history showed us otherwise
and we can only attribute it to the current leadership’s
cunningness to hijack the people’s will and replace a moderate
regime with the most hated and repressive regime the world has
seen since the Third Reich. The actions of these multitudes do
not however relinquish them of their responsibility for what they
have done.
 Those of us who live in America and have achieved success living
in this great land have a bigger responsibility than an nth generation
American, that of being more vigilante in educating the public
and questioning from any angle those who we will be elected to
positions of power. Even though Ms. Ameri’s actions may not
amount to much in the minds eye of us Iranians, but it has a great
bearing on that of Americans. We are not the ones voting for her,
it is her constituents, more than half of which do not know, or
remember, those dreaded events in 1979 that slowly lead the world
on the path to 9/11.
These individuals had a huge impact in the
world we live in, albeit in a miniscule way. They live among us
and have achieved positions of high stature in America’s
companies, some of which are in sensitive industries. Can we be
contempt that the passage of time has rehabilitated them? That
they have now forgotten and moved on with their lives? That their
actions should be forgiven of belonging to a different time and
era? Let us not forget the Mohammad Atta’s and the many Saudis
that followed his dilapidated school of thought were living the
good American life, some were even a citizen of this country.
The likes of Ms. Ameri have a duty to America and especially
the Iranian-Americans to distance themselves from such acts and
individuals and show their allegiance to the American way of life
and the values it holds. So I publicly ask of Ms. Ameri; Distance
Yourself.
 As I mentioned in my first Article on Ms. Ameri, if she has even
1% of Abdullah Entezam’s genes in her, she will pursue the
political life with the fervor and honesty that he did, but alas
her actions, or rather inaction to my repeated attempts of contacting
her has shown that she is not interested in pursuing the values
held dear in America, but rather a personal and tainted agenda.
As an Iranian-American I could not in good conscious support her
in lieu of her actions and only hope the residents of 1st district
in Oregon are fully aware of their actions.
About
Mahmoud Ghaffari is the aircraft broadband communication project
manager for Boeing and is an Adjunct professor of Network communication
and computer science and Devry and National Universities.
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