Thursday
September 21 2000
If Arabs had not invaded Iran?
Regarding dAyi's article "Okay,
I'm a racist", it never seizes to amaze me when Iranians wonder
"what would have happened to us if the Arabs never invaded Iran?"
Well, let's see...
India was not invaded by the Arabs. China and Greece were never invaded
by the Arabs, and by any yardstick these ancient civilizations were at
least equal to - and in the case of China and Greece far more superior
to - Persian civilization.
As far as I can tell, China, India and even European Greece haven't
turned into social, scientific or cultural centers of modern world. In
fact one could easily argue that today's Iran fits right in the middle
of this pack (and perhaps near the 'center-bottom' in the list of nations).
What has held Iran back is not a 1,400-year-old invasion by the Arabs,
or a 50-year-old coup by the CIA.
To see the real culprit, just take a hard look in the mirror. We've
done it, it's our fault, and only we can fix it. So let's not take the
easy way out.
Sassan Behzadi
Los Angeles
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