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Khayyam
Afghanistan
We don't need this
Polemic on a seemingly impending war with Afghanistan
By Laleh Khalili
I don't want another war, no matter what the excuse. I don't want us
to march on Herat or further afield. No reason that has been stated by
the Iranian government is good enough basis for an invasion of Afghanistan.
I was devastated when I read the Amnesty International report stating that
the 11 Iranian diplomats in Mazar-e-Sharif were killed after the fall of
the city. The image of the bodies left in the Consulate for two days without
burial shattered me. I thought of the rubble, I thought of the sound of
artillery in the background and of rivers of blood. But even this atrocity
and the humiliation attendant to it is not a reason good enough for a war.
Nor is the Iranian government's crying foul of the brand of Islam practiced
by the Taleban. It is NONE of their business.
Iran has finally arrived at a place where it seemes it can step out
of the dark damp caverns of isolation. Speech can now be heard in Tehran
even in dissent. Voices are now a cacophony of ideas, rather than the monotonous
drone of a monolithic state apparatus. Investments seemed to be pouring
in. Iran seems to even have lain to rest old grudges with its Arab neighbors.
And a war shall lay waste to all that. Saudi Arabia and UAE are sure to
support the Afghans. The precarious rapprochement between Iran and the
West (read U.S.) will collapse. Accusations of sedition and propaganda
of unity will be used as a vise-grip to clamp down on the expansion of
free speech... go to feature
Anyway
An Alta Vista search for "Iran, Afghanistan, war" today turned
out 292,780 pages. The search for "Iran, Afghanistan, peace"
turned out 242,030 pages.
History
Revolution: 1979-1999
More Letters
* The past is still in me
Reza Mirkhani writes: I was just listening to
the song "Aayeneh
haa" by Farhad off the net. I was at his
concert in San Francisco when I lived in the San Francisco's Bay Area.
I cried then and I cried now. I am not sure why, but tears sometimes find
their own way down.
It is 6:30 pm in a gloomy night in San Diego.
I listened to the song while looking outside our office window which overlooks
rolling hills and some other commercial buildings. It is a strange feeling
listenting to certain songs that take you back... FULL
TEXT
* Such hyprocrisy!
Ali writes: And this is supposed to be a good thing ["Iranian-Americans
donate to Clinton defense fund"]? Bill Clinton, the liar, murderer,
adulterer? What an honor to be associated with him! The same guy who calls
Iran a terrorist nation? And you are proud of Iranians who suck up to this
son of a bitch? Such hyprocrisy!... FULL
TEXT
* Fellowship: Travel
Fellowships for Iranian Scholars
* Stamps: Iran
philately seminar, Los Angeles
* Conference: Dialogue
of Civilizations?, Tehran
* Conference: Challenges
for Iranians Abroad, Indianapolis"
New section
Music CDs
Persian and
general music CD store
* Persian Classical Music
Hossein Omoumi / Audio CD / Released 1993
* Persian Classical Melodies, Volume 1
Maroufi & Khorram/ Audio CD / Released 1996
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More
news
Three-day mourning for slain diplomats
TEHRAN, Sept. 11, (IRNA) - the office of the leader of the islamic
revolution and the supreme religious jurisprudent ayatollah seyyed ali khamenei
here thursday night issued a message of condolence over the martyrdom of
the iranian diplomats at the hand of afghan taliban group in mazar-i sharif
and announced a 3-day mourning period ... FULL TEXT
Iran in new war games as Afghan tensions
boil
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taleban militia
Thursday pledged to punish some of its fighters who ``acting on their own''
killed nine Iranian diplomats, an apparent attempt to appease an angry Iran
which is preparing a second round of major war games on their common border.
The Sunni Moslem Taleban, which rules most of Afghanistan, said renegade
Taleban guerrillas acting without orders killed the Iranians in an incident
which has provoked the huge military buildup by Shi'ite Iran ... FULL TEXT
Iranian dissident denied bail
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A former
deputy prime minister and long-time political prisoner is being detained
without bail or access to his lawyers, an Iranian newspaper and a human
rights group say. Abbas Amir-Entezam was arrested Tuesday, apparently on
defamation charges, according to Iran's Akhbar daily ... FULL TEXT
Jadidi is world champmion
TEHRAN, Sept. 10, (IRNA) - abbas jadidi, the iranian freestyle
wrestle in 97 kg catagory bagged the first gold medal for his country at
the 33rd world freestyle wrestling championships here thursday afternoon
... FULL TEXT
Iranians stand for U.S. anthem
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranians stood today as
the American national anthem was played here for the first time in 19 years
when a U.S. wrestler took first place in the World Wrestling Championships.
The more than 12,000 spectators, among them Iranian Vice President Mustapha
Hashemi Taba, stood as a recording of the Star-Spangled Banner blared from
the arena's sound system and the U.S. flag was raised above the Azeri and
Iranian flags ... FULL TEXT
$ Rate
Up five tromans,
now offered at
up to 615-620 tomans
Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) 602-595-0777
Quote Unquote
Respect
I never imagined Iranians were like this. You are the best fans in the
world. I really respect you.
Sam Henson
U.S. wrestler at world championships in Tehran reacting to crowd applause
Associated Press
Sept 10, 1998
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