Wednesday
September 19, 2001
* Terrorism not Nazi Germany
Mr. Parsi,
In response to your letter "Nazi
threat ring a bell?", I feel that in your rush to discredit the
letter "Fucking
for virginity" (and making several personal attacks that I choose
to ignore) you have missed the point of the letter. I apologise for the
unfortunate title of the letter, I had absolutely no control over it (someone
in Iranian.com obviously chose "eye-catching" over "informative"
when titling my letter). I don't want a slanging match, Mr. Parsi, but your
response was extremely misleading and I feel I should highlight this.
You have chosen several minor points to take issue with, points that
seem to border on the irrelevant with respect to the general gist of the
letter. I understand that in order to draw attention from the other arguments
(which you cannot answer) you are forced to look to the periphery and beyond
(i.e. childish personal attacks) in order to undermine the entire letter.
For example, you take issue with the comparison to the USS Vincennes incident,
you write:
"It was not, however, a much celebrated massive, bloody, and deliberate
attack against humanity and modern civilization."
I do seem to remember the navy officers in charge of the USS Vincennes
coming home to a hero,s welcome, I recall much flag waving at their return
ceremony. But that's not the point, you're trying too hard to discredit
the comparison - do you feel the WTC disaster has been "much celebrated"?
We all know that it hasn't been - quite the opposite. I should also raise
the point that the much coined phrase "attack against humanity and
modern civilisation" can easily be applied to many recent world events,
let's not think that "humanity" or "civilisation" exist
only in the US. Israeli state assassinations are, as much attacks on "humanity
and civilisation" as the terrorist attack on the WTC -- THAT'S the
point you missed.
The next point you raise is even more extraordinary, as it doesn't address
anything I said or even hinted at;
"And as for the Arab/Israeli conflict, you should remember that
the Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas are NOT fighting for a Palestinian
state. They are fighting for their dream caricature world where they can
eliminate all the 'infidels' and rule the entire world as the Taliban do
to Afghanistan."
I'm not aware of saying any words of support in favour of the Hezbollah,
Islamic Jihad or Hamas. In fact I think I made clear what I thought of any
act of terrorism, perhaps you should reread the bit where I expressed sympathy
for young Israeli soldiers.
Again, you're trying to reply to things I haven't said in order to undermine
the letter as a whole. I was simply raising the point that there's a whole
load of suffering out there which we don't acknowledge and used the example
of Palestinian suffering to illustrate. Perhaps my letter wasn't obvious
enough.
You asked, "Does Nazi threat ring a bell?"
The Nazi threat was a completely different issue, we're talking about
a clear enemy who has already invaded several countries and seems to have
expansion on the mind. Are you seriously comparing international terrorism
with Nazi Germany?!
My friend, you're mistaken if you think unrestrained action by the US
will solve the problems we're facing. This is not an enemy that can surrender
like Nazi Germany when it's capital is invaded >>>
FULL TEXT
Ehsan Ghorani
* Do unto others...
Dear David,
This is regarding your posting, "Never
again"
You said ... "Never again do I want to hear that we Americans
need to 'understand' the root causes of terrorism." Let me tell it
to you in a different way, may be it make sense to you: "What you do
unto others, will be done unto you." That goes for love, peace, bombs,
hate...
When we bombed Belgrade, Baghdad, Basra, etc., we told the rest of the
world that it is okay to bomb cities, the famous "collateral damage"
that later McViegh also used for the Oklahoma bombing justification. You
and I didn't object to the fact that our tax dollars were paying for the
killing of civilians, and destruction of the countries infrastructure.
What we saw on 9/11/2001 was our own "lessons" played back
to us. Unfortunately, they seem to have learned our lesson all too well.
If we raise the level of violence (the next "lesson") one more
notch, the other side has to do the same, and that is "balance of life".
Your comment,
"I say openly to the Taliban, we are a good and decent people by
nature. You give us Bin Laden's head in a bag, and Kabul shall stand, resist
and you and your whole capital can join him in hell. That's it. And if
Kabul shall burn, then Tripoli, Damascus and Tehran shall draw their lessons.
They are great and ancient cities, and their people are not starving as
in Kabul.
"Having something to lose can make one suspiciously rational. They
must understand that we are not afraid of making them suffer. It is not
our choice, but theirs. But if they continue to give refuge, provide false
passports, send weapons in diplomatic pouches and we continue to bury our
dead... then they write their own epitaph."
I think you need to be reminded that the innocent people of Kabul who
live under the Taliban dictatorship, are less guilty than residents of NY
(who live in a democracy) for the action of their government. No action
against them can have any justification, as the action of the terrorist
were not justified.
To whomever was behind this crime I say targeting civilians for the grievances
one may have toward foreign policy of a US is plain wrong.
And to you I say, the "lessons" that you would like to teach
to people who live in Tehran, Damascus, Tripoli are being learned by victims
of your previous "lessons". We should not be surprised when they
learn the lessons and repeat it for us. When you learn a foreign language
it is always "listen and repeat".
Ask yourself one other question, Do you feel more rational now after
the tragedy of last week? Why do you expect others to be rational when
faced with "loss"?
You said,
"Having something to lose can make one suspiciously rational. They
must understand that we are not afraid of making them suffer."
We have a lot more to lose than any one else in the world. And I don't
think they are afraid to make us suffer.
And you are wrong when you say: "It is not our choice, but theirs."
The choice is all ours. It would be a sad day if bunch of rag tag terrorist
can limit or dictate our choices. If you really feel that it is their choice,
then we really need to understand the "root cause of terrorism"
to see how and why we lost our choices.
Best wishes,
Daryoush Mehrtash
* Ounce of thoughtful prevention
Dear Omid, ["Annihiliating
those who want to annihiliate us"]
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my thoughts. You are right
about the differences between the war on drugs and the war on terrorism.
But I would like to draw your attention to their similarities.
1- Terrorists are like drug runners in so far as they are a clandestine
network of operatives that slip across borders. Thus declaring war on them
can not be taken literally but symbolically. Our dismal record in fighting
one group must cue us to the difficulties in fighting the other.
2- We do not have the intractable problem of demand in the case of terrorism.
But we have other problems that are just as intractable. Instead of demand
we have the hatred of the United Sates in the Middle East. I maintain that
these two problems are similar as root causes. In both cases we must think
and listen and plan rather than act impetuously.
3- I share your hatred of terrorism and hope that civilization can overcome
the barbarity of attacking innocent non-combatants that is the essence of
terrorism. But I am afraid this victory must be achieve with an ounce of
thoughtful prevention rather than a pound of violent remedies. I will expand
on this in my next piece for iranian.com.
Once again, thanks for writing.
Best,
Ahmad Sadri
* True and wise
Dear Mr. Khorsandi,
I read your poem "Ahoo,
jangal, jaadeh" in iranian.com. It is so beautiful, poetic, cinematic,
and at the same time so true and wise. It brought tears into my eyes.
YOU are a genius.
Mahvash Shahegh
* Hit the nail
Thank you for your eloquent article ["Wrong,
regardless"]. You hit the nail in the head. I, for one, would love
to see more informed and sensible discourse from analytically minded and
highly educated people in Iranian.com. It is a forum of great potential
for this purpose.
Omid Parsi
New York
* Truth hurts
You are wrong 100% about the Vincennes incident. ["Vincennes:
Thorough investigation"]
In fact the US Navy and the US Government never fully or fairly investigated
the Vincennes "incident". It was covered up and lied about. It
took 4 years before a RETIRED Admiral Crowe finally admitted that the VIncennes
was NOT in international waters, as both the Pentagon and the State Department
had been claiming. THey lied about that fact (among many others) because
the truth was that the US was engaged in an illegal war against Iran on
behalf of Saddam Hussein, who the US later said was "worse than Hitler".
Captain Rogers of the Vincennes had been specifically warned that his
target may be a commercial airliner, and he even raised his hands to acknowledge
the warnings, but fired the missiles anyway. The Navy's white-wash investigation
conducted by Admiral Fogarty went as far as to ERASE an Iranian island off
of the map they presented to the public. Crowe only confessed after a NEWSWEEK/NIGHTLINE
joint investigation disclosed that the Vincennes was the aggressor and was
not "defending itself" from Iranians attacks, as the Pentagon
and State Department had claimed.
Secondly, the "reparations" you refer to were made explicity
without accepting liability. To this day, the official US position is that
the downing of the Iran Air 655 was justified, and it was Iran's fault,
because the Vincennes had come under attack in international waters by Iranian
patrol boats so the Captain of the Vincennes was forced to react while he
was in a tight spot. Of course, the fact that he had illegally placed himself
in that tight spot was classified. No one has been held accountable for
that terrorist act, or the subsequent cover-up, just as no one has been
held accountable for the fact that the US was providing Saddam with weapons
and targetting intelligence as he attacked Iranian civilians. Talk about
"state-sponsored support for terrorism"!!
And the fact is that whether YOU like the Hezbollah or Hamas or not,
the Palestinians like them and support them, and its their country. Certainly,
life under the Hezbollah or Hamas in can't be any worse than life under
the jackboot of occupying Israeli racist thugs, who have been known to engage
in the worst forms of human rights abuses in modern history, including ethnic
cleansing, massacres, assasinations of political opponents, forced deportations,
"bone breaking", shelling UN compounds, legalized torture, etc.
etc. etc.
So get your facts straight before you get so indignant. The truth hurts.
All this talk about a US "war on terrorism" is yet more of the
same hypocritical foreign policy as before. If you'd like more information
about the FACTS of the Vincennes incident, I suggest you read the July 13,
1992 Newsweek article called "Sea of Lies", for a start: //www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4654/
J Mohammadi
* People are so ignorant
I am an Arab-American who lives in NY state. My beautiful husband is
Iranian. I don't find humour in what happened in my country. And please
do not assume that Iranians are all so much more superior than Arabs that
they had no involvement in this horrible ordeal. On that note, I wear my
Allah pendant everyday with pride. This was not the work of Allah or any
Muslim who truly believes in Islam. We are a religion of peace.
I heard many comments at my place of employment. The most popular appeared
to be to "kill all the desert people". Most people are so ignorant
that they do not understand any difference between Iranians, Libyans, and
Siekhs. This is most unfortunate. I worry for my family as they have darker
skin and look typically Middle Eastern.
I am lucky in the sense that no one would think me as anything but Scandanavian...
some genetic foray made me a blond haired, green eyed, fair skined Muslim.
But I do not hide behind my mask. I do understand why these acts were committed.
I know what the repercussions will be. It is always innocent people that
we sacrifice. And for what price? To choose the lesser of two evils...
Jeni Armanedez-Ziarati
* No different
I'm curious as to where iranian.com is located (I'm not looking for your
address, just country). I am white, American born of Irish decent, living
in LA, and friend to many Iranians, Pakistanis, etc. I work and socialize
with these people on a daily basis and find them to be no different than
anyone else I know. I have deep sympathy for them and their families and
friends who still reside in their country of origin.
I keep asking "Why can't we all just get along?" I find this
whole situation very frustrating.
Peace to you/us all,
Robert Joy
* So touched
Dear Mr Makhmalbaf:
I have just spent the last two hours reading your "Limbs
of no body" and also sending it to friends. It is ironical to be
reading this now, when so many thousands of the people you describe are
fleeing their homes. Ever so powerless...
I am singer songwriter of contemporary Bengali music, living in London
for three years now, but my home is in Calcutta. I have seen some of your
films and loved "Gabbeh" (I have a copy) and the "Noon o
Goldoon" ("Moment of Innocence" -- I wish I had a copy) and
"The Cyclist" I only know about from Kiarostami's "Close
Up".
I wonder what you are thinking now about last week's events and the history
that awaits us all, particularly Afghanistan. To think that only three
months ago you wrote this piece -- it must make you feel strange. I wonder
why you did not write more about the US' direct role in the Talibanisation
of the country, about the import of men like Bin Laden. Surely in their
eyes we cannot see any hunger for bread. You have repeatedly asked why the
US does not come to Afghanistan? Now it is coming (it has come before too,
hasn't it?), not as a giving friend or healer of course.
I am so touched by the pain of "Limbs
of no body" that it has propelled to write this letter, just as
I have been touched by the beauty of your art in the past.
I wish you all the best for the future,
(Ms) Moushumi Bhowmik
* Knowing more about Afghanistan
Dear Mr. Makhmalbaf, ["Limbs
of no body"]
I am an Indian living in Hungary and have been rather interested in knowing
more about Afghanistan (I must confess ever since September 11th.!). Your
article gave me an insight into this issue which is much more comprehensive
than any of the Western or for that matter Indian newspapers or magazines.
Thanks a lot for taking time out to write it and believe me -- you have
NOT given statistics ONLY in this article but also a different perspective
to me as an interested observer of that region.
Thank you very much once again and all the best for all the subsequent
films you would make on all those subjects you found littered on the roads
of Kandhar, Kabul and Peshawar.
Best regards,
Sanjay Gupta
* Services to USA
Will you offer your services to the USA anytime soon? There has been
a call for those who speak your language. I hope you will call someone and
offer your assistance and knowledge to our country straightaway.
Kauila Polu
* Disinformation
In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks we have been bombarded with
disinformation from all corners. One source tells you that 400 workers
of a particular WTC company did not show up to work on September 11. Very
intriguing!
But then what is the name of that company? On which floor of which of
the two towers was their office? The source is mysteriously quiet about
the details, and all of us are thrilled to know that 400 people -- and their
families -- are guarding a secret the whole world wants to know. And then
there is disinformation from the FBI.
The FBI has repeatedly told us that Osama Bin Laden (OBL) is the prime
suspect in this case, but they don't give any proof to support their claim.
The so-called independent US TV media is busy in its own acrobatics. They
are telling the American public that the Taliban Government is not agreeing
to hand over OBL to the US. They never truthfully say that the Afghani
Government has a principle stand: the Taliban are asking for evidence.
What kind of evidence the Taliban want to see? Well, any logical person,
any court of justice would like to see a hard evidence directly implicating
the accused with the crime: written instructions, a recorded phone call,
or a bunch of witnesses testifying that OBL himself ordered people to carry
out the terrorist attacks.
Do you think such an irrefutable proof exists? Do you believe there
is anything even close to an irrefutable proof in this case? I can hear
the million-dollar secret being whispered in my ear: there is no hard proof.
The proof immolated itself with the terrorists.
The world has come to know that these terrorists have a very loose association
with OBL's organization. These people hate the West and wish to destroy
the US. Different terrorist groups devise their own strategies and carry
out their own operations; OBL just smiles on seeing the job done well.
You want to punish someone for smiling? No! But OBL needs to be unplugged,
right away, for two very good reasons.
1. In a number of interviews OBL has urged his followers to kill the
Americans. Kill any American you find, period. No discrimination between
soldiers and civilians. Allegedly, there is a videotape that shows him
reading a religious decree of that nature. That is the proof! Not of his
direct implication in the September 11 attacks, but proof of a much bigger
crime against humanity: of shaping the terrorist mind. Regrettably, the
Western media has been giving a lot of publicity to OBL making him a "celebrity."
A "famous" person harboring such hatred against a country will
undeniably draw uninformed bigots towards himself. Because of his beliefs
and because of the extensive media coverage given to him, OBL has gradually
become the God of hatred. He needs to be immediately removed so that the
cult of hatred could be deprived of its leadership.
2. Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center were not an attack on
the US, they were an assault on humanity: people hailing from 60 different
countries, representing all major religions, were killed in those attacks.
Those terrorist attacks and the ensuing media coverage have brought OBL
and his message of hatred out in the limelight. If OBL is not arraigned
this time, the inaction of the peace-loving people of the world will convey
a negative message to the terrorists.
Terrorists' belief in the political fragmentation of the world will become
firm assuring them they can get away with anything; they would think that
people will condone their most heinous crimes just because people have their
own political differences. Promptly removing OBL will send a powerful message
to the terrorists: civilized world takes attacks on civilians very seriously.
We may have our political differences but against terrorism we are all
united.
Peace-loving people of this world must realize that we have a chance
to transform the recent tragedy into the dawn of an era that separates politics
from the violence. People adhering to different ideologies and political
beliefs must unite together in fighting terrorism.
They could very well be saving their own lives--lives that otherwise
would be ridden by fears of getting killed in an attack by terrorists fighting
for a "holy" cause which the victims did not know anything about.
Cemendtaur
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