 For the sake of our adopted
& native lands
Why I will vote for Kerry
Mohammad H. Eslami
October 28, 2004
iranian.com
I just read two articles about why Iranian-American community
should vote for Bush. After I got over my nausea I thought I should
write back. I
wholeheartedly
believe that it is critical for us to
participate in the US voting to be a force in our adopted country
for the betterment of our native land. So go and vote.
Here
are my reasons why you should not vote for Bush and cast instead
for Kerry;
1- Bush foreign policy towards Iran has been disastrous. His
declaration of Iran as an "Axis of Evil" helped Conservatives to
clamp down hard on the Reformists when Reformists clearly were
hoping for an opening dialogue after the outpouring of Iranian
sympathy towards the victims of 9/11.
Allow me to take the opportunity
to say that my friends who think that US can land couple of divisions
outside of Darvazeh Ghazvin and by doing so it will crumble the
Mullah regime are as wrong as those who thought Ahura Pirouz
is going to Iran. Our native land will change only slowly, unfortunately
from within the current government and with the sweat of those
currently in Iran.
Bush has only damaged their cause several times
when he boisterously expressed his unwelcome opinion about democracy
in Iran. His comments landed squarely in all the Iranian Conservative
media who used his speech to crumble the Iranian movement.
The
policies of Clinton towards Iran as expressed by Madeline Albright
were correct but slow. You need a passive engagement policy as
Kerry advocates. Bush in 4 years has never tried to engage the
Iranian in any dialogue, except perhaps those his VP was engaged
in to dig some more oil in Iran. I believe that Kerry will change
that by following what Albright started to do albeit late in her
tenure.
Also, when was the last time that a Republican helped Iran?
Wasn't Ronald Reagan who backed Saddam? Wasn't it Rumsfeld
who was in Iraq shaking Saddam's hand after he used chemical
weapons on Iranian? And I am not even going to mention the coup
of 1953- Eisenhower- as this may ruffle my royalist friends.
2- Bush's Patriot Act is a disaster for any and all of us
who have Iranian/Arabic sounding names. Have you noticed that
the guards in the airport harass your poor relative without any
qualm
about decency because they are backed by Aschcroft/Bush government
policy?
I'll be the first to admit that when you have 19
people with Arabic/Moslem last names kill 3000 people the suspicious
of the guards should be increased towards those with similar
name. But they were freaking Arabs. Do you think that any Saudi
Arabian
get harassed as much as your 70-year-old Iranian mother?
That boldness of behavior, this harassment ,although part of
reactionary human
nature, is wholeheartedly supported by Bush and Ashcroft.
Patriot
Act II is far scarier and if it get implemented it will
be far worse. So next time when you go to Amazon.com
and order
a book about Iran, you will be tagged for sure.
Bush used
9/11 the same way Khomeini used Iraq invasion to silence any
dissent. Although I am not saying that they are equal, they follow
the
same practices and for someone who was there at the time
of
Khomeini's reign of terror, I am eerily familiar with Bush's
declarations.
Also, do you know that because of this Patriot
Act, many
qualified
Iranian students who are yearning to leave Iran,
would not get admission to graduate schools? This is all Bush's
doing; why are you supporting this guy?
3- Do you guys have not had enough suspicion about
those who constantly declare their religious beliefs
when talking
about
their actions?
I challenge you to read Aschcroft and Bush's speeches
and compare them with those of any Iranian/clergy
post-revolutionary leader. Haven't you had enough of the bastard
right-wing
self-righteous pig that claims that he has the keys
to heaven or directions from God?
Evolutionary science,
abortion,
lack
of separation
of religion and state, right of a person to follow
his/her
sexual proclivity, etc. are as much a victims of
Iranian government as they will be when Bush is re-elected
and then he has his
puppets
in the Court. These are major issues.
 4- Iraq war was wrong. I like to take this opportunity
to say that if the entire Iraqi soldiers get thrown
in the Persian
Gulf I will
not lose sleep. I was there when Saddam attacked
Iran. I did
not go to war, paralleling a story similar to that
of Bush, for which
I am ashamed, but I saw the suffering before I
left.
My stories are not unique and so I was very happy
to see the
bastard
in the hole. But when 208 Iraqi die every week
(see NYT), if you are
human with
any compassion, you need to sit down and ask
why. When 1000+ kids, mostly poor, go and die because
of the
false declaration
of a puppet
of an oil company, you need to question that
judgment.
You know that in our culture that we share with
other Middle Eastern nations
killing your cousin only makes you angry. Any
dead Iraqi ultimately will make us less safe in US.
They will come
to
our adopted
cities, unfortunately, like a nest of hornet
that you tried to destroy
by going on "offensive". Bush's reason for
going to Iraq was all falsehood and it will come and
hunt us.
5- Draft. I WILL NOT ALLOW MY SONS EVER TO GO TO
WAR. Bush's policies will make the draft
almost impossible not to implement.
6- Healthcare and malpractice; Bush will
never correct the malpractice insurance
issue despite
all the nonsense
he mentions.
I believe
that Kerry's idea of having a panel reviewing
the claims are far more reasonable and
can pass the
"constitutionality" test. This model is
tested in several states with
quite
success as it
also keeps the filing attorney responsible
for monetary damages if a claim is thrown
out.
The
idea that you
can somehow cap
the damages wills never passes the "constitutionality"
test. This is because the American Bar
Association is against that
and ABA is a large contributor to his
and Republican campaigns and
Bush
never wants attorneys in his enemy
column. So, do not believe the hype.
 As for as
his healthcare policies,
well folks,
as
a provider I have to tell you that
it is not the
first time that
there has
been a shortage of vaccines. We have
had shortage of tetanus vaccine several times
this past
4 years among
other vaccines.
This is a
man who is supposed to protect us against
biological weapons and yet cannot provide
enough flu vaccine.
You
know what
will happen
if there is not enough vaccine? Well,
next time in November-April, God forbid, if
you are in
an ER and
you have to wait
15 hours to be seen, well you have
Bush to thank for.
About
Mohammad H. Eslami, MD, RVT, FACS, is
Asstsitant Professor of Surgery,
Division of Vascular Sugery,
UMass Medical Center.
Worcester, Massachusetts.
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For the sake of our adopted
& native lands
