Letters
Jan 11-15, 1999 / Dey 21-25, 1377
Today
* Persian Gulf:
- The good guys & the bad guys
Previous
* War:
- Iraqi pilot showed mercy toward Shirazis
* Photos:
- In spite of
* Mojahedin:
- Rajavi & his "lunatic cult"
* Music:
- Wonderful "Scenes"
* Shah:
- Revolution's secular nature changed
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Friday,
January 15, 1999
* The good guys & the bad guys
I want to commend Ali Nikseresht's letter, "Not the Arabian
OR Persian Gulf." It's about time someone
brought this issue to the surface. I don't want to reiterate his points
here, but here in America you have a media and an entertainment industry
that's quick to point out who the good guys and the bad guys are. America
and its military, of course, are the good guys. And everyone who hasn't
yet made peace with Israel is the bad guy.
It's sad how Americans -- educated and uneducated
alike -- can't see beneath the surface. I had an uncle who worked for
U.S. Air Force intelligence (point should be made that he only joined
the Air Force because he needed money for college), and he was told by
his own superiors that everything that the U.S. does overseas is underlined
solely by America's natural interests; whatever serves their interests.
Which of course, makes sense.
But people actually think the United States does
what it does because of moral obligations, which is completely ridiculous
and in fact laughable. Morality means nothing to the U.S. government
or its military. As Mr. Nikseresht said, they do what they want, where
they want, and when they want. They go into another country and tell the
government of that country that they cannot fly their planes in their own
airspace (never mind the legal basis of it), and then have the audacity
of riding the moral high horse for doing so.
The U.S. regularly condemns other countries,
especially Iran, for developing and amassing "weapons of mass destruction,"
but never says a thing to Israel -- a country with not just a large stash
of their own dangerous weapons but also a country with one of the worst
human rights records in the world.
I am an Iranian who has grown up in America all
my life, but I'm not stupid. All you need to do is to get your information
from the right sources and keep your eyes and ears open to know what's
going on in the world; and then and only then will it emerge who the good
and bad guys really are.
Nariman Neyshapouri
narim7@hotmail.com
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Thursday
January 14, 1999
* Iraqi pilot showed mercy toward Shirazis
Reading the introduction to the article titled "Kuzestan
in San Diego", I was reminded of an Iraqi whom I met in Pittsburgh
through a good friend, who also happens to be Iraqi. His name was Adnan
and he had sought asylum in the U.S. after being captured by the American
forces during the Persian Gulf War. He had escaped from Saddam's army but
not before being shot in the back as he fled. Fortunately, due to his great
physical stamina he had made it alive to make it to the American (Saudi)
border to surrender. However, it was not his ordeal that left an impression
on me, but rather his uncle's, about which he told me as soon as I told
him that I was originally from Shiraz.
During the Iran-Iraq War, Adnan's uncle had been a pilot for the Iraqi
Army. His last mission had been to bomb a bridge in Shiraz, but when his
plane had neared the target, he noticed a large number of people on the
bridge. So he started firing into the air with the hopes of warning the
people and dispersing them from the bridge. However, the people remained
in place and after circling for a few minutes, Adnan's uncle decided to
return to Iraq without dropping his bombs. Unfortunately, upon landing
in Iraq, Saddam had Adnan's uncle executed for disobeying orders and not
carrying out his mission.
Mehdi Ghajarnia
megst20+@pitt.edu
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Wednesday
January 13, 1999
* In spite of
Stumbled onto your site. I lived in Tehran from '70 to '73 as a child.
I have fond memories of the country. Thanks for the images. They brought
back good times "IN
SPITE" of...
Julian Vail
jvail@w3gm.com
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Tuesday
January 12, 1999
* Rajavi & his "lunatic cult"
[In reply to Roshanravan's
letter],
After reading your
letter posted in The Iranian, I was astonished to notice your
mentioning of the so-called "egg-throwers." You see, the Iranian
people are not stupid. There is a distinction between traitors that cozy
up with Saddam (during the war years and even today) and the people that
are struggling to change the nature of Iranian society.
We have a chance with Khatami, we have our hopes with Khatami. No matter
how much the Iranian exile community today hates the Islamic Republic,
we will never ever consider Rajavi, his lunatic cult, and their Iraqi overlords
as a possible alternative.
Mahmoud-Reza Hussaini
hussaini88@hotmail.com
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* Wonderful "Scenes"
I just received Tabrizi Zadeh's "Scenes". I bought his CD
after listening to the RealAudio
clips you have on the music page, so thanks for the recommendation.
It's a wonderful album.
D. B. Little
dbl123@peoplescom.net
Monday
January 11, 1999
* Revolution's secular nature changed
[Regarding H. Jalili's letter: "The
Shah made mistakes...":]
I completely and angrily object to your attempts at glorifying the previous
regime and despising the 78-79 movement. I may agree with you in part,
but would not attempt to forget about the crimes of the past dynasties.
The current reime did steal the revolution from the people and changed
its historical, secular identity. It's hardly any justification for the
ill deeds of the Shah and his N. American supporters.
Hamid Tadjvara
A left-oriented Persian & citizen of the world
allende@asuwlink.uwyo.edu
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