ISRAEL

منبع نوشته ها بدون لینک

دوستان عزیز،
در سایت شما نوشته های دیگر وبلاگ ها آورده می شوند و در پایین هر نوشته نام آن وبلاگ آورده می شود ولی بدون لینک آن. شما باید بدانید که این کار کافی نیست و خواننده هیچ امکانی برای یافتن منبع ندارد و باید به گوگل رجوع کند.
پیشنهاد من این است که لینک کامل منبع هر نوشته را بیاورید. اگر با پیشنهاد من موافق نیستید، از شما خواهش می کنم از آوردن نوشته های وبلاگ من خودداری کنید.
با تشکر،
نویدار
وبلاگ آقا اجازه؟
aghaejaze.wordpress.com

the effect on pregnant women

the effect on pregnant women and children not discussed
there are perhaps secondary causes of death amonst war torn people and children and woman may die or develop health problems later in life.
From this angle the war is really genocide and not a symbol of civilization but rather barbaric behaviour

The red cross should look n=into this and see the real impact

History or Present

My dear friend aynak

As I mentioned before, I am perfectly familiar with the history of this conflict

However in my argument I was focusing on now and the current situation. On the other hand, if you would like to discus the history, just pick up a period and I would be perfectly happy to point out for you, who was responsible for the conflict in both side and what did they have to gain from it.

You see the difference between our points of view is that for me the game has stayed the same although the players have changed face. There have always been a minority in both sides who did not want peace either because of their radical and looney religious views or in order to stay in power and make more money. Unfortunately for the rest of us this minority have been the loudest and overshadowed the peaceful majority

Today it is Hamas and Olmert. Yesterday it was Fattah and Sharon and before there was PLO and Beigin.

Also from time to time dictator regimes in the region like IRI, Saddam, Ghazafi, Asad family and others exploited the situation, not because they gave a damn about those poor children who were being bombed to pieces but to provoke the emotions of their own people and divert their attention from their own short comes and misdeeds. And of course in a war zone there is loads of money to be made for the West so they happily played along.

I do totally agree with you the only way to peace is for both sides to make concession and it is always the more powerful party (in this case Israel) who has to make more concession.
And IF Israelis wants piece they have to give up more. However as I told you before

That is a very big "IF"

and that is a vering big IF

You see my friend. That is the whole point IF you want democracy and peace.

However the government of Israel, Hamas and IRI do not want peace period, and as I mentioned before this is because of their radical and dictatorial nature. There is more money and power to be made in war time. And for the last time I am no supporter of Israel and I am not trying to legitimise their crimes. I am just stating the facts as I see it

Also in case you have not read my earlier comment I am perfectly familiar to the history of this conflict and for you information the conflict goes back to more than a millennium but it was intensified after the Balfour declaration and Israeli independent

Also to cap_ayhab.

Well my friend if you have a counter argument to what I said please come out and present your case other wise it is very easy to throw empty slogans and cheap insults without any valid argument or evidence to back up your claims

Behrouz: The implication of what you say

Thanks for taking the time with you response.   Your argument ignores one basic fact:  Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not start with Islamic Regime of Iran, nor Hamas.   It started in 1948.  It also ignores the fact that other than the right to return most Palestinian agree with 1967 borders.    So even if Islamic Regime wanted to create a conflict, it simply couldnt IF ISRAEL WANTED A JUST SETTLEMENT WHICH THEY *PROBLCAIM* THEY WANT.

Of course everyone is entitled to see things the way they choose, thats why I chose the screen name aynak, because I know my views go through my prisim.

But I am of the firm belief, that *IF* you want true democracy in the region, you can not prmote it while a state like Israel is committing crimes as it sees fit, and is a major source of much of tension and injustice (all the while also claiming to be the only democracy in the region!!!???". Israels policy have a very destablising effect in the region.  As you yourself said, the Majless have used the pretext of Israel war to cut subsidies while all the attention is on Ghaza.   I dont know where you live, but I live in U.S and part of my tax dollars are used to support this insane policy, which coincidentally do not help U.Ss interest neither short nor long term.

If I lived in Iran, then my priorities would naturally be different.  Still, I can and do support promotion of democracy in Iran in everywhich way I can, although in my view that does not involve another revolution.

Behrooz

I keep reading and reading your comments and all I can gather is that you are trying to hide and mask the real issue with your irrelavant and off the ball park remarks.

All due respect Behrooz khan, you inability to stay the course of the real issue raises great deal of issues and questions.

capt_ayhab [-YT]

Ghahr Nakon

come on Sehareh Don't behave like a child

Is it so hard to admit you got it wrong and do not have an answer for me?

Now that you have my surname and place of resident and enough history about me and my activities. What is the nest excuse.

I am beginning to wonder what kind of lecturer of political science you are as politic is all about arguing and proving ones case in a diplomatic manner. Do you also boycut your students if they ask you a though question or prove you wrong in an argument?

Anyway I have made my case and have said what I had to say and now I have to leave the rest to your other readers for their judgment.

However this is a fact that anybody who leaves a note on such public site should expect criticism and be ready to argue his/her case with a few apposite voices in a diplomatic manner as that is the whole point of democracy. On the hand other my advice to them is that
if you can not take the heat please get out of the kitchen

economic impact of the war

economic impact of the war may not have been discussed.
When the Israeli guys talked about fighting with iran a few months ago the price of oil went up and then US stock market crashed. Then the war in Gaza started and same happend.
So israelies can control now the US stock market by comments or actions.
I wonder how many of them use this to make big bucks.
Someone should ask SEC to look into this and see if Olmert or other jerks have traded before their loud words or actions.
I this is the case then poor investors may lost also in future.
But the good thing is that when SEC wants they can go after the bad guys. but the question is how many of them?
is Madoof in same club?

I have no more time to give you ....

dear behrouz khan,
you are sounding desperately boring. I have no time to read your comments over and over again. I have nothing more to say to you. try re-reading my article if you are still confused as to what I tried to say. or better yet read this article, I just read, which I find very informative and thorough:
ttp://www.juancole.com/2009/01/gaza-2008-micro-wars-and-macro-wars.html
I am not hiding. You can google me. find my email,even my phone and my place of work is on this thread and on my info page. If you are ever in these parts I would gladly see you and have chaee with you. I simply have no more to say than I already have. If you have so much more to say. write an article then you will get more people who will comment on it and engage you in discussions.
happy new year wherever and whoever you are,

Do not hide behind others

Dear Setareh
If you have a something to say to me or any counter argument to defeat my main points with most if which both Saeed and aynak were in agreement, then come out and speak for yourself.

Otherwise it is very childish and immature to hide behind others specially for someone who brags about being brave and accuse others of being a coward, and does it without knowing the first thing about them or at least having the dignity of giving them the benefit of the doubt.

However do not forget to real my messages in full before responding with real counter argument. Otherwise your article is beginning to look more and more like empty slogans which would not get anybody anywhere

Please Saeed!

Will you at least get real. Does giving my surname or any other information or even registering on this site make me any more real. How much personal information do I need to give before being counted me as a real person?

Why are you people making an issue of my surname rather than trying to defeat my argument.

Please also note that I have never intended to insult any other activists who are fighting openly for their country. In fact I have the highest respect for them and if my comments insulted them in any way then I do apologized unreservedly

Furthermore if you believe that anonymity is a right then why did you accuse me to "sit in the dark and throw stones".

The only reason that I responded to you in such manner was the fact that I did not know how much info you wanted before I became a real person. Furthermore as I told you even if you do not know me as an ordinary Iranian I deserve to have an answer to my question.

For your information I live in UK and I am a software engineer my surname is Roshan and no I do not have a blogg so there is not much of information about me on the web. This is not because I am afraid that it might endanger me but as it might make trouble for the safety of those activists in Iran who are in constant communication with me.

Also with regards to Palestinian mercenaries and the general attitudes of the whole Arab world and specially those living in the countries along the south coast of Persian Gulf I erg you to do more investigations and talk more with Iranians inside and out of Iran. Also it would not be bad if you watch and listen to their media outlet.

As I made it clear in my past responses my first priority is Iran and I hold no ill will towards any other country Arab or otherwise. But one can not expect to insult my people and try to steal our land resources and rights without getting a piece of my mind

Thank you

jenabeh mohammadi khodaa as dahanet beshnaveh,

I am your mokhless, chaker and sepasgozar. will you also google ms. farah roostah. thank you for being the voice of reason in this thread. maghlateh tamim as joz be kol. simply means, for those who are not well versed in arabic or farsi, generalizing from a specific to a general point or in lay terms simple fallacy of generalization! here is how it goes, they do it to us all the time: an iranian or muslim commits a crime, he is iranian/muslim, therefore all Iranians/muslims are criminals. first lesson in logic freshman year! Here is to you Professor Thompson if you are still around!
we care about Iran that is why the situation in Gaza moves us more than if we were from Austaralia. Israeli atrocities fortify the extremists and hinder the cause of secular and moderate moslems, not to say anything of those of us who are out of the closet anti-islamists who support the cause of Palestine and abhor the mullahs! get used to us. we exist and the more Palestinian children they kill the more of us you can count!
thank you mr. mohamadi for posting your email if I ever come that way I will drop you a note and maybe we can have a moule/frit together with a nice pint of belguim beer!

You have to be real to be counted as opposition

Baa doroud,
Dear Mr. Behrooz Anonymous:
As I said in my first comment, I agree with you that we should spend most if not all of our energy on Iran and its issues. However being anonymous in doing so means nothing to the cause that we claim we care about.

Your long article has many fallacies (Maghlateh) one of the many I mention here.
When you compare the Arab mercenaries of IRI with the whole Palestinians and Arabs, you are doing what is called "Maghlateh Tamim-e Joz be Kol". This alone can discredit your whole article as a valid argument.

Also when you argue why you should stay anonymous by saying " there is a great distinction between being honest and being down right careless and stupid." you are calling all of our students in Iran who are openly opposing the IRI regime "down right careless and stupid." . Again you got be careful about what you say to protect your right of being anonymous. Do NOT INSULT others who decide to be different.

You can write 10 books about your past and why you should be anonymous now and it is YOUR RIGHT to be one but the bottom line is that you are scared of something.

There is a price for democracy and freedom and as long as we are not ready to bear the cost of it, we will never get there.

I live in Brussels-Belgium and here is my email saeed_mohammadi@hotmail.com. If you need to know more details about me, just send me an email and I give them to you.

Once again, I agree with your points but not your way.

By the way, I searched on Google for you and I got over 461,000 hits for Behrooz, which one are you. 
//www.google.be/search?hl=en&q=Behrooz&meta=

Best regards,

Saeed Mohammadi
Brussels-Belgium

Just an observation

I was just reading the exchange between Setareh and Farah. so I found it necessary to mention a few point to our friends

Please not that note every body who is in disagreement with you hates you or is out there to get you I find this to be every unhealthy attitude.

We are a nation of 70M individuals with many different opinions and that is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact the very reason for such sites to exist is for people from different backgrounds and with different opinions to come together and exchange ideas otherwise there would be no point if we were all in agreement.
No one can be right all the time and that is why we need to learn to listen and learn from each other. The fact that I am in disagreement with you about a single issue does not mean that I do not like to as a person or am not even proud of you as a fellow countryman. In fact on the contrary. the very fact that we have all been drawn into a site like this instead of an American French or even a Palestinian site is a testament to the thread of common love respect and nationhood that runs trough all of us

All we are doing here is exchanging opinions and ideas and learning from each other. So in order to be able to do this successfully we need to first lighten up and learn how to give ant take criticism without making or taking it as personal. In this way we can all learn from each other and take out at least as much as we put into such forums

Secondly I do not think becoming a hobby of other people is necessary a bad thing for a writer. In fact on the contrary this is the main reason that people like me do it. To attract attention and provoke debate. I would personally be honoured to know that someone is regularly checking my work and commenting on it. As this would mean that I am doing a good job and attracting other peoples attention and even revoking their reaction or even in a small way influence their way of thinking and that is the most one could wish for

Thank you again and keep up the good work

Lack of love and compassion or absence of a viable strategy

First of all I have never accused anybody of not loving their country. I did not even claim that I love my country more than any you. I think the very fact that we are all here discussing the events in the region and its effect on our country is a testament to the very fact that we all love our country and care about its people otherwise we could all have gone to Armani or Vesachi site to check the latest fashion or gone to the MTV site to check the latest gossip on our favourite pop star. So as we should all agree that is a given.

You see the problem of our country and people have never been lack of love and compassion. It is rather absence of a clear and effective strategy. That is why more often than not our misinformed friends with the best of intention do more damage than our most dangerous and vicious enemies.

So Mr Aynak! I have read your article and as much as it might surprise you I agree with most of your analysis. Please make no mistake I have no love for Israeli government and I have never tried even for a moment tried to legitimise or even downplay their crimes. So I think we should agree that in that sense we are on the same site.

What makes me to Part Company from you and disagree with your analysis is your strategy or lack of it. In order to defeat any enemy at first one needs to not its behaviour, its goals and what makes it tick. To do that you need to be able to analyse your enemy and its behaviour in a calm and calculated manner.

I agree that what Israeli army is doing in Gaza today or what they did in Lebanon last summer in no way can be justified or bring anyone closer to a viable and lasting peace

However where I disagree with you on is the fact that you think what Israeli government did in Lebanon or Gaza was a mistake and they could not get to their goal. But I believe that Israel knew very well what it was doing in all this occasions and they achieved every single one of their goals. However the goals that Israel had was what you and I were thinking.

To get a better prospective of the situation one needs to take a step back and try to think out of the box. Just think about it for a moment. You and I are two ordinary bloggers without any proper political and military training and yet we both know what Israel did in Lebanon or is doing in Gaza today could never get anybody closer to peace. Furthermore we were not alone in thinking this way. Every world media, humane right activist and peace negotiating expert was echoing the very same concern. So the question remains that WHY. Why did Israeli government not change its strategy? Even if Lebanon was a mistake why they did not learn from it and they are repeating it in Gaza again. Don’t you think that Israel might also have its own experts and analysts, in fact the best ones that their money can buy? And as we know the Israelis are not short money. So why repeat the same mistake. One explanation that comes to mind immediately would be that may be just may be the government of Israel is not interested in a lasting peace at all. And that is what brings me back to my next point that I made in my second response.

In order to know if the government like Israel and IRI or the parties like Hamas and Hezbollah are really interested in peace one needs to understand the nature of these parties. If you look closer you can see that all these parties are non democratic extremists in their own fields who more often are not even qualified to be in their current post.

Peapod like Sharon and Olmert could have never came to power in a normal Israel that is in peace with her neighbours and hence the extremist Zionists would have lost ground to the more moderate forces in no time. In the same way in a peaceful independent Palestine or Lebanon there is no room for theocrat extremists like Hasan Nasrollah or Khaled Mashal who do not have the expertise to even run shop let alone a country and its government. On the other hand a government like IRI having so many different problems at home and abroad, with economy social issue and internal fighting in government always needs a diversion to take peoples and human right activists attention from its own actions. For example as Israeli plains started to bomb Gaza a few days ago and world and specially IRI’s media started to put all their focus there. Iranian government have very quietly taken a new legislation to Majlis in order to stop paying subsidies on essential goods such as bread petrol sugar and many more. If this legislation passes through the Majlis the shopping power of ordinary Iranians will be cut by 75% over night and IRI can save its skin from another financial crisis by saving a lot of money. This would happen while people like you and me are tearing each other apart over an issue which we can not do much about and is none of our business anyway. Now I am not a create believer in coincident but don’t you think that is to mush of a coincident?

And the last but not the least would be the West which would benefit immensely from a Middle East in chaos and although their leaders like Brown and Bush pay a lot of leap service to the peace in the region they love the war and instability to stay there. This is because as the chaos and mistrust grows the cooperation takes a plunge and with it the price of oil. On the other hand all the states on the region being scared and distrustful of each other start to spend what ever little money they have left from the sale of oil on useless expensive weapons. As an example I can mention the lasted $10B deal with Imarets who bought a number of F18 jet fighters. Now the funny think is that they do not even have the place to keep or fly them because of the fact that as soon as these plains take off from the Dubai airport they leave Imarets aerospace and become a legitimate target. Now you can imagine how stupid that deal is but at the time of crisis scared people do daft things.

So as you see this is a vicious circle of different chain links which strengthen and feed from each other. Now the question is what we can do about it.

As you can imagine I am not any happier about the situation than you are but we need to have a plan to break this chain for the good of ourselves primarily and also for the people of the region. I happen to think that we need to focus our action and forces where it can be most effective and have the best chance to succeed and that is at home fighting IRI. Removal of IRI link means the end of Hamas and Hezbollah which in turns would remove a big excuse out of the extremist Israelis hand and makes it more difficult for them to sell another war to their own people in order to be able to survive another day and that in turn would mean the empowerment of moderate forces on both sides of border and more chance for a viable permanent peace.

As I told you before at this moment IRI is at its weakest as it has reached a dead end in all its policies including economical, political. Domestic and international. Furthermore internal fighting between its different factions and wide spread corruption have made it weaker than ever. However the mullahs know the only way for them to get out of this crisis is to start another war. Because as we all know at times of war people rally around their leaders and tend to forget their shortcomings. They have already tried three times to start this war. The first time was last summer when they captured the British sailors. The second time was a few month ago when the deliberately left a stash of weapons with revolutionary guards mark in Iraq to be found by US. This is their third attempt to get Israel into a war. But in all occasions they were unsuccessful. This is because that although these parties cooperate and strengthen each other, they each have different stakes and priorities. For example Israel is not interested in a full scale war with a large country such as Iran as they know it is not easily manageable but what they are interested in is small proxy wars like a bombing here a small invasion there and few days of shelling in the other place, in order to keep their people on their tows and force them into keeping the current party in power.

This is why I look at the current crisis as just a game coordinated by Israel IRI, Hamas and the West to divert our attention from the main issue and stop us from acting effectively and more often than not the Iranians fall for it, because we are a compassionate an poetic nation and often allow our hearth to rule our head. Hence we do more a damage as a friend than any enemy can even imagine. And that is why I could not help but to be reminded of the poem of the create Persian poet Saadi who says

Doshman e daanaa keh gham e jaan bovad behtar az aan doost keh naadaan bovad

Thank you Setareh and Behrouz

First to Setarh for starting this fine post, and then Behrouz for raising

some questions about Palestinians and why we as Iranian should

care about their plight.

First the fallacy, I don't know how many Palestinians helped Saddam,

but what I do know is that Palestinians just like other group of people

don't have a single view of who they consider friends or enemy. The

same we Iranian have differing views on Bush, Israel, Islamic Regime etc. (Isn't Mahmood Abbas a Palestinian?)

Also aren't Mojahedeen who also helped Saddam Iranians? hope

you understan the point.

But the allegation that some police forces in Iran were using

either Lebanese or Palestinian should make --Iranian-- supporters

of Israel think twice about the mess Israel is creating for us.

Are there Jordanian or Egyption security forces within Islamic Regimes police forces?

Are there Algerian ....., so --if-- there are Palestinians (who

are coincidentally making $1 a day in average thanks to Israeli

blockade) and are recruited by Islamic regime of Iran to repress

Iranian people, who should you blame? Isalamic regime and

Israel or Palestinians for being placed under these conditions?

Unless Behrouz Khan, you are of the belief that there is something

unique about Palestinians or Lebanese (many of whom simply see Islamic Regime as a helping hand) that makes them evil, ??!!?? then you

have to accept that their cooperation with Islamic Regime (again if proven to be true) is truley the fault of Israel and Islamic regime.

Of course Behrouz Khan, you may say if you were being pushed

unerwater and someone threw you a rope, you will first ask who it

is that is helping you out, but knowing basic human phsycology,

most of us, will try to pull ourselves out of water intead of asking

questions.

Personally I am of the belief, that Israel has been a great source

of preventing true democratic change in the region, if someone is

not a hypocrite, they will see that bombing a university in Ghaza

under any pretext will only help the forces who hate universities

everywhere in the region. Think about that.

Dear Ms. Parsi

If you knew the history of how much harassment I have received from this ultra-nationalist anonymous commentators you would not show surprise at my emotive response. In fact it is mild considering. It is hard not to want to guess who hates one so much as to write as venomously as Ms.Rustah, who incidentally comment with the same accusations of flip-flopping every single time I write! I do not oppose people writing under weird names or pseudonyms at all as long as they don't engage in ultra-nationalist chest puffing. To remain anonymous and chest puff your patriotism is hypocritical and silly that is all I am saying here.

This article that I wrote a while ago in response to one of those harassments illustrates well the anti-free speech spirit of this lot

//iranian.com/SetarehSabe ty/2002/May/Speech/index.html

These people only show us why we have failed to put together a viable opposition to the IRI abroad. They only respect those who think exactly as they do, free speech is not their concern.

Ahmad Sadri, so much more wise than myself, labels them well and puts them in their place when he calls them, "Persian ultra nationalists loitering in the comment space below my articles at Iranian.com. This is an amusing little community whose leaders lecture the world on moral courage but hide behind pseudonyms like “Fred” and profess to love Persia but are unable to write one paragraph in Persian (or good English for that matter) to vent their puny, impotent rage."

I could not have come up with a more appropriate retort!

Thank you for your kind support. it is greatly appreciated.

Setareh jan; (also: Berouz jan etc.)

the problem with writing an article so well like you do is that expectations on your responses to comments are also raised above a reasonable level!

this article is the first time i have come across your work. i had never heard of you before. my impression was extremely good. your comments however left me feeling that you were stressing on minor issues - simply because i do not know the background to it all (pseudonyms etc). i for one support use of pen names for the sake of free expression. hundreds of journalists and authors worldwide do it. but, again, i don't think this is important.

you did get a little emotional or defensive in your responses (with a slight hint of an ego which you deserve for your great style), probably because you were sick. i know i would in any case get emotional over such an emotive issue.

coming to the most important point, however: i totally agree with you that the majority of criticisms and questions put by various commentators were in fact adequately addressed in your original piece, had they paid attention to what you were saying. you had already explained the connection and why we should care.

it was a gem of an article! good on ya!

thank you aynak for the avnery quotes.

behrouz khan I just read your note more closely. I only picked on you because you claimed or insinuated to care more about Iran than I do. You were answered well by another commentator, caring about Palestine does not exclude caring about Iran. I do not consider the Palestinians enemies of Iran. It is silly and naive to think so. Sounds like my aunt who thinks everything is a conspiracy and that the shah was the best thing that happened to Iran!
I just will make one more thing clear before I bid your farewell: I am not here to argue my 'case'! I am not a lawyer but a writer.
I just want to write my articles. It may upset some like you and rustah khanoom and it may impress others. What is sure is that my writings make people think and argue and that is all I expect of them.
thank you

Dear person whose real first name is behrouz,

this is the last time I am replying in this thread to the like of you. I have made my point about Israel loud and very clear in my article. I do not waste my time with people who attack me. I only did so in this thread because I was sick in bed and on holiday and bored. I believe that Israel's actions hinder the cause of secularism in Iran. I believe Israel is acting in a irresponsible and bullyish way. I also believe that if you and others who claim to be patriots want to be role models as you claim in this long note that I did not bother to read in its entirety, then you should show your identity. hard to be a role model when you are an unknown entity.
thank you,
write all you want but I am no longer sick and therefore have no time for what professor sadri in his article site calls the peanut gallery of the lunatic fringe!
happy new year and enjoy your anonymity it is after all, your privilege,

Israeli terrorists, and how they help Islamic fundamentalism

By URI AVNERY

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is a contributor to CounterPunch's book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.

EJUST
AFTER MIDNIGHT, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel was reporting on events in
Gaza. Suddenly the camera was pointing upwards towards the dark sky.
The screen was pitch black. Nothing could be seen, but there was a
sound to be heard: the noise of airplanes, a frightening, a terrifying
droning.

It
was impossible not to think about the tens of thousands of Gazan
children who were hearing that sound at that moment, cringing with
fright, paralyzed by fear, waiting for the bombs to fall.

* * *

“ISRAEL
MUST defend itself against the rockets that are terrorizing our
Southern towns,” the Israeli spokesmen explained. “Palestinians must
respond to the killing of their fighters inside the Gaza Strip,” the
Hamas spokesmen declared.

As
a matter of fact, the cease-fire did not collapse, because there was no
real cease-fire to start with. The main requirement for any cease-fire
in the Gaza Strip must be the opening of the border crossings. There
can be no life in Gaza without a steady flow of supplies. But the
crossings were not opened, except for a few hours now and again. The
blockade on land, on sea and in the air against a million and a half
human beings is an act of war, as much as any dropping of bombs or
launching of rockets. It paralyzes life in the Gaza Strip: eliminating
most sources of employment, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink
of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the
supply of electricity and water.

Those
who decided to close the crossings – under whatever pretext – knew that
there is no real cease-fire under these conditions.

That
is the main thing. Then there came the small provocations which were
designed to get Hamas to react. After several months, in which hardly
any Qassam rockets were launched, an army unit was sent into the Strip
“in order to destroy a tunnel that came close to the border fence”.
From a purely military point of view, it would have made more sense to
lay an ambush on our side of the fence. But the aim was to find a
pretext for the termination of the cease-fire, in a way that made it
plausible to put the blame on the Palestinians. And indeed, after
several such small actions, in which Hamas fighters were killed, Hamas
retaliated with a massive launch of rockets, and – lo and behold – the
cease-fire was at an end. Everybody blamed Hamas.

* * *

WHAT WAS THE AIM? Tzipi Livni announced it openly: to liquidate Hamas rule in Gaza. The Qassams served only as a pretext.

Liquidate
Hamas rule? That sounds like a chapter out of “The March of Folly”.
After all, it is no secret that it was the Israeli government which set
up Hamas to start with. When I once asked a former Shin-Bet chief,
Yaakov Peri, about it, he answered enigmatically: “We did not create
it, but we did not hinder its creation.”

For
years, the occupation authorities favored the Islamic movement in the
occupied territories. All other political activities were rigorously
suppressed, but their activities in the mosques were permitted. The
calculation was simple and naive: at the time, the PLO was considered
the main enemy, Yasser Arafat was the current Satan. The Islamic
movement was preaching against the PLO and Arafat, and was therefore
viewed as an ally.

With
the outbreak of the first intifada in 1987, the Islamic movement
officially renamed itself Hamas (Arabic initials of “Islamic Resistance
Movement”) and joined the fight. Even then, the Shin-Bet took no action
against them for almost a year, while Fatah members were executed or
imprisoned in large numbers. Only after a year, were Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin and his colleagues also arrested.

Since
then the wheel has turned. Hamas has now become the current Satan, and
the PLO is considered by many in Israel almost as a branch of the
Zionist organization. The logical conclusion for an Israeli government
seeking peace would have been to make wide-ranging concessions to the
Fatah leadership: ending of the occupation, signing of a peace treaty,
foundation of the State of Palestine, withdrawal to the 1967 borders, a
reasonable solution of the refugee problem, release of all Palestinian
prisoners. That would have arrested the rise of Hamas for sure.

But
logic has little influence on politics. Nothing of this sort happened.
On the contrary, after the murder of Arafat, Ariel Sharon declared that
Mahmoud Abbas, who took his place, was a “plucked chicken”. Abbas was
not allowed the slightest political achievement. The negotiations,
under American auspices, became a joke. The most authentic Fatah
leader, Marwan Barghouti, was sent to prison for life. Instead of a
massive prisoner release, there were petty and insulting “gestures”.

Abbas
was systematically humiliated, Fatah looked like an empty shell and
Hamas won a resounding victory in the Palestinian election – the most
democratic election ever held in the Arab world. Israel boycotted the
elected government. In the ensuing internal struggle, Hamas assumed
direct control over the Gaza Strip.

And
now, after all this, the government of Israel decided to “liquidate
Hamas rule in Gaza” – with blood, fire and columns of smoke.

* * *

THE OFFICIAL NAME of the war is “Cast Lead”, two words from a children’s song about a Hanukkah toy.

It would be more accurate to call it “the the Election War”.

In
the past, too, military action has been taken during election
campaigns. Menachem Begin bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor during the
1981 campaign. When Shimon Peres claimed that this was an election
gimmick, Begin cried out at his next rally: “Jews, do you believe that
I would send our brave boys to their death or, worse, to be taken
prisoner by human animals, in order to win an election?” Begin won.

Peres
is no Begin. When, during the 1996 election campaign, he ordered the
invasion of Lebanon (operation “Grapes of Wrath”), everybody was
convinced that he had done it for electoral gain. The war was a failure
and Peres lost the elections and Binyamin Netanyahu came to power.

Barak
and Tzipi Livni are now resorting to the same old trick. According to
the polls, Barak’s predicted election result rose within 48 hours by
five Knesset seats. About 80 dead Palestinians for each seat. But it is
difficult to walk on a pile of dead bodies. The success may evaporate
in a minute if the war comes to be considered by the Israeli public as
a failure. For example, if the rockets continue to hit Beersheba, or if
the ground attack leads to heavy Israeli casualties.

The
timing was chosen meticulously from another angle too. The attack
started two days after Christmas, when American and European leaders
are on holiday until after New Year. The calculation: even if somebody
wanted to try and stop the war, no one would give up his holiday. That
ensured several days free from outside pressures.

Another
reason for the timing: these are George Bush’s last days in the White
House. This blood-soaked moron could be expected to support the war
enthusiastically, as indeed he did. Barack Obama has not yet entered
office and had a ready made pretext for keeping silent: “there is only
one President”. The silence does not bode well for the term of
president Obama.

* * *

THE
MAIN LINE was: not to repeat the mistakes of Lebanon War II. This was
endlessly repeated on all the news programs and talk shows.

This does not change the fact: the Gaza War is an almost exact replica of the second Lebanon war.

The
strategic concept is the same: to terrorize the civilian population by
unremitting attacks from the air, sowing death and destruction. This
poses no danger to the pilots, since the Palestinians have no
anti-aircraft weapons at all. The calculation: if the entire
life-supporting infrastructure in the Strip is utterly destroyed and
total anarchy ensues, the population will rise up and overthrow the
Hamas regime. Mahmoud Abbas will then ride back into Gaza on the back
of Israeli tanks.

In
Lebanon, this calculation did not work out. The bombed population,
including the Christians, rallied behind Hizbullah, and Hassan
Nasrallah became the hero of the Arab world. Something similar will
probably happen this time, too. Generals are experts on using weapons
and moving troops, not on mass psychology.

Some
time ago I wrote that the Gaza blockade was a scientific experiment
designed to find out how much one can starve a population and turn its
life into hell before they break. This experiment was conducted with
the generous help of Europe and the US. Up to now, it did not succeed.
Hamas became stronger and the range of the Qassams became longer. The
present war is a continuation of the experiment by other means.

It
may be that the army will “have no alternative” but to re-conquer the
Gaza Strip because there is no other way to stop the Qassams – except
coming to an agreement with Hamas, which is contrary to government
policy. When the ground invasion starts, everything will depend on the
motivation and capabilities of the Hamas fighters vis-à-vis the Israeli
soldiers. Nobody can know what will happen.

* * *

DAY
AFTER DAY, night after night, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel broadcasts the
atrocious pictures: heaps of mutilated bodies, tearful relatives
looking for their dear ones among the dozens of corpses spread out on
the ground, a woman pulling her young daughter from under the rubble,
doctors without medicines trying to save the lives of the wounded. (The
English-language Aljazeera, unlike its Arab-language sister-station,
has undergone an amazing about face, broadcasting only a sanitized
picture and freely distributing Israeli government propaganda. It would
be interesting to know what happened there.)

Millions
are seeing these terrible images, picture after picture, day after day.
These images are imprinted on their minds forever: horrible Israel,
abominable Israel, inhuman Israel. A whole generation of haters. That
is a terrible price, which we will be compelled to pay long after the
other results of the war itself have been forgotten in Israel.

But
there is another thing that is being imprinted on the minds of these
millions: the picture of the miserable, corrupt, passive Arab regimes.

As seen by Arabs, one fact stands out above all others: the wall of shame.

For
the million and a half Arabs in Gaza, who are suffering so terribly,
the only opening to the world that is not dominated by Israel is the
border with Egypt. Only from there can food arrive to sustain life and
medicaments to save the injured. This border remains closed at the
height of the horror. The Egyptian army has blocked the only way for
food and medicines to enter, while surgeons operate on the wounded
without anesthetics.

Throughout
the Arab world, from end to end, there echoed the words of Hassan
Nasrallah: The leaders of Egypt are accomplices to the crime, they are
collaborating with the “Zionist enemy” in trying to break the
Palestinian people. It can be assumed that he did not mean only
Mubarak, but also all the other leaders, from the king of Saudi Arabia
to the Palestinian President. Seeing the demonstrations throughout the
Arab world and listening to the slogans, one gets the impression that
their leaders seem to many Arabs pathetic at best, and miserable
collaborators at worst.

This
will have historic consequences. A whole generation of Arab leaders, a
generation imbued with the ideology of secular Arab nationalism, the
successors of Gamal Abd-al-Nasser, Hafez al-Assad and Yasser Arafat,
may be swept from the stage. In the Arab space, the only viable
alternative is the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism.

This
war is a writing on the wall: Israel is missing the historic chance of
making peace with secular Arab nationalism. Tomorrow, It may be faced
with a uniformly fundamentalist Arab world, Hamas multiplied by a
thousand.

MY
TAXI DRIVER in Tel-Aviv the other day was thinking aloud: Why not call
up the sons of the ministers and members of the Knesset, form them into
a combat unit and send them off to head the coming ground attack on
Gaza?

Irrelevant, Please address the issue

Dear Setareh

May I remind you that in case you do not like the message I assure you that shooting the messenger would definitely not help or solve your problem

It seems that you still do not get the essence of my argument. May be it was because of my failure to clarify my point better.
Anyway you have not yet get any answer my question of

“why I should care about the enemies of Iran more than I care about my fellow countrymen.”

In two different articles I have respectfully put my argument across to you. I wrote about what I know and think about the conflict in the Middle East and where I stand about it or where I think the problem layes. All I got back from you was personal attack, sarcasm and cheap insults

Instead of trying to answer my question you turned your argument on my person and my identity and tried to intimidate me by calling me coward non-real, fraud and many other things.

Well my friend, what difference does it make to my argument as to know who I am. Are you here to argue your case or to identify people and analyse their personality. Do you have any satisfying answer to my argument and questions or insults and personal attacks are all you are good at.

Tell me Setareh from all people having left over 90 comments on your article many of them as anonymous and apposing your views, why did you decide to make an issue of my surname. What difference does that make to my argument? If I am talking rubbish was that not easier to defeat my argument and logic using valid counter argument. After all being a true intellectual is not just about writing nice articles and using fancy words as more or less everybody is able to write a nice essay. But it is about being able to defend your point of view and your argument being able to withstand all counter arguments against it.

Could it be the case that someone has finally cornered you into a question that you do not have a satisfying answer for?

Well may be it was my fault and unrealistic high expectation that drove me into believing that you of all people might actually have an answer or even a decent response to my argument and perfectly legitimate question.

I must admit that after your second response I have even gone back and read my own argument again. I even asked a few of my friends to read our exchange and give me a honest answer on whom they think is wrong. I honestly thought that there might have been something that I have missed in my argument. I asked all of them to be honest and tell me about the flaws in my article. The best evaluation that I got on your responses was and I quote

“She refuses to address the main issue in the argument. The name or identity of the person she argues with is irrelevant as this is the nature of web bloging”

“Instead of addressing the issue she turns the argument on the other person’s identity and resources to sarcasm and insult. For a self proclaimed intellectual it is tremendously cheap and immature”

I have never said it was wrong to feel sad or outraged about injustices in the world. However life is about priorities and choices. Every day in our life we make choices and attend to more important things in expense of less important ones as we all have deadlines to meet and important things to preserve.

Of course in an ideal word where all or at least most of the important problems of our own society is addressed it is perfectly alright to divert ones attention and time into other nations problems but then again in a perfect world there are no problems, period.

It is simply stupid, irresponsible and unrealistic to leave one's own house burning in fire and one's own loved ones in danger while trying to put off the fire in the next road.

Furthermore, please let me tell you a little about the Palestinian and their relation with Iran. As I understand you have left Iran at the beginning of the revolution and have not been back there yet. However I have spent 16 more years after the revolution in Iran. I have even fought in the Iran/Iraq war for a few years. During the war we where not only fighting Iraqi solders but there where a lot of mercenaries coming from other Arab countries to fight besides Iraqis and many of them where captured by Iran. According to the statistic of the IRI itself, more than 20 present of those mercenaries where Palestinians who came to fight and kill us under the order of Yaaser Arafat. A few years later when I got to the wrong side of IRI and ended up in Evin, again some of my most brutal torturer and interrogators (or as they say mamoor e tazeer) where Palestinians, Syrian and Lebanese. Even today as I am in constant communication with my fellow activists in Iran most of the masked agents in the streets of Tehran and other cities who beat the hell out of our young boys and girls are Palestinians and Lebanese mercenaries who can not even talk Farsi

Today as the government of Dubai is challenging our borders by claiming the ownership of the three Iranian Islands Mr khalid Mashal who is on the payroll of IRI is taking the side of Imarets and Dubai and announces himself as an Arab fighting for the Arab cause. And while we are arguing about a three millennium old war and cry for the Palestinians who sold their land on their own accords the same Palestinians have their eye on our soil and our Persian Gulf. Now who is being unrealistic here?

Of course a person should always be companionate even towards ones enemies. However there is a time and a place for everything. While being merciful towards your enemies as a victor and when you are in power is a plausible noble act, being merciful towards the same enemy in the battle field and trying not to harm him while he is trying to kill you, would be down right stupid. While being humble and respectful towards a captured and incapable enemy is humane and noble as it demonstrates ones strength having the same attitude towards ones conqueror is down right cowardly.

Again please do not get me wrong I do not even for a minute defend the Israelis and their crimes. I simply have my priorities somewhere else and as I told you life is about priorities. There are 400 million Arabs out there who would and should support the Palestinian cause, on the other hand all of the world have closed their eyes of our suffering and abandoned my people while our country is in the worst situation in all its history and iven in the brink of being broken up and I for one refuse abandon my people and country for even one moment

Furthermore blaming Israel for the fundamentalism in the Middle East is very shallow minded and superficial. Fundamentalism and religious intolerance starts from home. This phenomenon has existed in all societies. From Europe to US and Far East, in one form or another. One just needs to have a look at Northern Ireland. This phenomenon only comes to an end when every individual in the society starts to change his/her attitude and learn to have some tolerance for the other point of view. Only when ordinary people in a society start to take responsibility for their own destiny and refuse to let extremist individuals to shape their destiny and future is when this problem starts to gradually go away. It is simply all about education and knowing that there is no free ride in this world. Furthermore people in all societies should learn to accept responsibility towards their own destiny and stop blaming others for their own failures and short comings.

My ambition and plan is to primarily start from myself and then my own society and people around me. If we are successful then we would be a beacon of hope and a role model for others in the region to follow.

Now, about my response. I recommend that you write all the insults accusations and sarcasm that you have towards me then open the window and read them in a laud manner from the top of your lungs. You can even email them to me if you like.

After you got it all out of your system take a deep breath and then sit down and try to address the issues that I raised and simply enlighten me as I need to know: where did go so tremendously wrong to cause such an outrage

Ba Sepaas va Payandeh Iran

Dear Ms. Rustah if that is your name,

Your hatred of my person is so transparent that it is hard to ignore it. You seem to attack everything under the sun about me including the place in which I live but never my arguments in the article. What does living in expensive Nice have anything to do with anything? Talk about emotional mud-slinging? but I am afraid not knowing anything about you, far less your personal history and address, I am ill-equipped to return your brand of argumentation.
You still have not, after all, explained what exactly in my article upsets you so. I have a feeling that it is me, my person, that you have a problem with. Since I cannot change who I am or respond to you in kind I simply let the readers judge the verity, sincerety or strength of my arguments and stance.
As I said before I can have a terrible character but still make a powerful and reasonable argument. So Let me say, for your sake, that I agree with you that I am an egotistical, schizophrenic, mad woman but pray tell me what fault do you find with my point of view and the gist of my article that:
1. Israel's reaction to Hamas is disproportionate.
2. That every time Israel acts in a bellicose fashion the cause of secularism in the region is hindered.
About your criticism of my comments to a couple of the commentators on this thread I have only this to say:
I am sensitive to people who posture as patriots but end up being cowards who are afraid of using their true identities, especially when they are not in any imminent danger.
I am old-fashioned that way. In my youth we argued in the university cafeteria and everyone knew who was who. I have written a whole article on the subject of silence and collaboration. You have no doubt read it since I seem to be a side hobby of yours. I simply ask people who feign passion for Iran and claim to be 'truer' patriots to be a little more forthcoming. If it was that easy to put your name to the opinions then more people like you yourself would do so.
Perhaps your kind of personal mudslinging at me is what keeps people from wanting to expose their identities? In that way then you are doing much to hinder the cause of free speech.
So enjoy your privilege of anonymity but do not expect your attacks on me to be taken seriously. They just seem like desperate attempts by someone, who has something against me personally, to discredit me. It is the cyber equivalent of a masked heckler.

پهلوان سر دیگ آش

It is not my habit to comment on other people’s comments or engage in a protracted mud slinging orgy as is evidently a practice of choice among the authors and commenters on this site. But I am writing this comment as some of you, including the author of this article, keep misrepresenting me a the villain and pass themselves off as the virtuous. As a newcomer and an infrequent visitor to this site, I can’t be bothered to have myself registered and as the site allows visitors to comment without being registered, and under any name they may choose, from time to time I leave a comment under an article or a blog. Moreover, I have noticed that the contributors on this site are a clique of regulars who not only know each other quite well but, for most parts, are in agreement with each other. Just take a look at the sycophantic comments left under this piece. And when an outsider like me leaves a disagreeable comment, they all gang up against him or her and a deluge of accusatory and expletive remarks is let loose on the poor guy. This cannot be a climate conducive to a sensible debate to thrive. Most of the comments are not even related to the subject at hand. They are the result of the in-fighting and score settling among the commenters. Nonetheless, authors on this site get a huge boost to their ego by the number of comments left at the feet of their writings.

And talking of ego, the author of this opinion piece, Ms Sabety, appears to have tonnes of it in store. She is easily outraged at the people who, using her past writings on this site, expose her insincerity, not to mention the inconsistency of her line of reasoning. She compliments herself, while at the same time accusing her critics of being ex-spies, just because someone dared look her up using the very Iraniandotcom’s search engine!! In fact, Ms Sabety is quick at labeling her critics of being Savaki and Zionist!! And she goes on shouting at them for being personal in the critique!! She is so incredibly ego-centric in her writings and yet is angry when her persona is questioned!! Are there two or three Setareh Sabetys writing on iraniandotcom? I don’t think so. If there is only one SS on this site, then is it so surprising to question the conflicting stances of the same writer on the same subject within a few years? She calls it evolution. Others may prefer to call it deception. Our nation of Iran has paid a heavy price for such deceptive behavior under the guise of evolution. How many million lives must be destroyed or devastated until the likes of Ms Sabety reach their evolutionary maturity?

One last thing, which brings me to the choice of title for my comment. Anonymity is a right and not a privilege. I may or may not use my real name but this is the right I have been given. I do not need to explain or to justify why I chose to write under my name or using a pseudonym. There is NOTHING brave about writing an article from thousands of miles away against “this” and “that” and putting your real name under it. Ms Sabety’s Bio on this site suggests that she teaches, and I suppose lives, in Sophia Antipolis, somewhere near the luxurious and mighty expensive resort of Nice, France!!! – Hardly a place to be touched by the Islamist agents except maybe for their own holidays!!

Besides, for someone who is so against personalizing the issues, is it not hypocritical of Ms Sabety to insist on learning about a person’s most personal detail: her name?

Crimes against humanity is financed by us the American Tax payer

s. The Fantom jets, the bombs, helicopter are all provided to this vicious anti-human regime by us the tax payers. Every year Israel receives 3 billion dollars from us.

For those who wonder why the US government blindly supports Israeli terrorists, an answer can be found in the research which points to the Zionist Israeli control of US government, as documented in The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy By John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

//www.ccun.org/Documents/The%20Israel%20Lobby...

Iran, Darfur,,,Darfur, Ian!

I wonder why those who claim to be concerned only and only about Iran, when pressurized, try to turn the attention to Darfur?!! Is it in the "patriots' work-book" that if it's not Iran, then it has to be Darfur?! Interestingly, zionists around the world use Darfur as a distraction!

Dear person whose first name is really behrouz,

The reason I brought up the issue of putting one's name to one's opinions is that you seemed so passionate, as does Shahrex, about Iran.
You also, it is now very clear, do not live in Iran to be afraid of censure-- so it seems odd to me that you do not use your name. If you did not claim to be a passionate nationalist I would not think it odd that you do not put name to your opinions.
I reread your comment as you requested and again I find your argument that we should worry about Iran first nonsensical. Worrying about Iran does not exclude and in fact should include worrying about Palestine. In fact I blame Israel's militarism for hindering the cause of secularism in Iran. Yet you go on and on talking about the same old cliches of 'ashe as kaseh daagh taar.' If I was not home sick I would not even bother responding to your very weak arguments.
I don't care what name people use in this thread or anywhere. but if they attack my essay and claim to be more patriotic than I am then I tell them: if you are such a patriot then use your name like I do!
I do not think that I attacked your person for I simply do not know you and have never read or heard any of your opinions or writings. I, in fact, questioned your action of omitting your identity while you claim to be a passionate patriot who cares more for Iran than people like me do.
What kind of patriot would hide his identity? Are you telling us that you do not reveal who you are because you don't want to intimidate us with your real person? Wow that is a good one! Iranians too do not lack audacity! To go ahead and answer my criticism the way you do shows sheer Iranian porooee, "behrouz is my real name I am known by that name to friend and foe alike..." this sounds like a kid in a school playground for god sake!
Yeah and every one knows "Dear John"!
You should learn, my dear behrouz khan, when to give up and not be so emotional about something you do not care enough about to risk revealing who you are!

Dear Mohammadi

Why don't you put you money wher you mouth is and register before putting any comments.

the reason that I did not register was not because i was afraid and Behrooz is my real name.

My dear sir

How dare you sit in the shadows judging me when you do not know the first about my activities sacrifices and the prices that I paid for it.

If I came here and told everybody about my long history of political activities and fights with the IRI or the prices that I paid for it, would not you be the first person to criticise me for bragging about myself and trying to over shadow other people.

Maybe I wanted to give my view as an ordinary individual and not use my political weight to my advantage.

Please think before judging others so harshly

Jenabeh Aghayeh Mohammadi

Thank you for your very educated and civilized comment of support and criticism. I did not know the word for fallacy in Farsi or Arabic and love to learn new words in my mother tongue. If anything makes me feel less Iranian it is my lack of ability to write well in our beautiful language. but perhaps that has also kept me alive! (The IRI regime does not care about those who oppose her in English that much!)
You are right perhaps my analogy is fallacious but I am writing more a polemic than a scientific treatise. I write to move rather than to prove. So allow me a little poetic and rhetorical license. I was trying to explain to the readership the disproportionate nature of the Israeli attack.
bonne annee,

Setareh, Setareh, Setareh

Dear Setareh

First of all I assure you that Behrooz is my real name and I have always been known by that name amongst friends and foes. With regards to your complaint on why I did not register in the site and then comment. I can assure you that I could have easily registered with a fake name or a nick name and that would not have made me any braver or more honest.

Secondly there is a great distinction between being honest and being down right careless and stupid. You of all people should know this better, that putting my home address and account detail on display will not change the nature of my views and words and does not make my response any more credible. Future more did you ask Monda and Safa to register first and using their real name before supporting you. If that is not double standard that what do you call it

Thirdly excurse me! But was that not you who a few comments earlier asked others to “attack my views and not my person” So!? What happened? Is it another case of the old Iranian custom of:

Do as I say and not as I do :-)

Tell me my friend where in my hole article did I personally attack you or insulted you so bad that you felt the need to go back on your own world. Is’nt that an old IRI’s tactic that any time they do not have an answer to other people’s option or criticism they attack and insult their personality. Hence as you see after all there is a dictator deep within all of us that from time to time manages surface and show its ugly face.

For your information I have been studying the history of middle east from biblical times to the current affairs for the past ten years and I know more about Iran, Israel and Hamas and their under table deals than you could ever imagine. For your information the IRI, Hamas and Israel are all moving in the same direction and continuously help and assist each other because in the long run this serves all their purposes.

Israel simply needs conflict to play as a victim of terrorism and force the US and Europe to support it financially and militarily also the Israeli society is mostly run and supported by extremist Zionists for whom drama of war and victim hood is a real memento. otherwise it was much easier for israeli inteligence to make a move of hamas and hisbulah leaders in Leboban and Sirya and eliminate them swiftly or bring them back to Israel to stand trial. just as they did it to Nazi leaders

Hamas is another terrorist non-democratic and theocratic movement. Its leaders know very well that they do not have a place in a free democratic and moderate Palestinian state. That is why they are fighting everybody including other Palestinians in order to stay in power and they are the biggest betrayer and murderers of Palestinian people as they use them as human shields.

And the last but not the least is the IRI. Until you understand the problems of today’s Iranian society and the internal problems of the IRI you could not fully understand why the mullahs support Hamas and Hezbollah. The Iranian society today is broken and bankrupted. The scale of poverty, crime, drug addiction and force prostitution is beyond your wildest imagination. Child poverty hunger and lack of winter fuel and sufficient medical facilities is claiming hundreds of victims every day. Government corruption and wide scale stealing and embezzlement left the public purse more empty and bare than ever.

Furthermore internal fighting between different factions have left the government weaker and more exposed than ever The IRI has reached a total political, social, national and international dead end and the only way for it to get out of this situation is to start another war. An all out war would be the only way that it can justify its failures and clamp down on political opposition. That would be the best way to rally simple minded people behind it-self by abusing their patriotic feeling.

To prove my point further I refer you to Mr Khomeini’s speech in the years of Iran/Iraq war where he referred to that war as a gift from God (nemate Khoda). In those days no one truly understood the implication of these words. But if one stops and thinks for a moment he can see that for Khomeini and his regime that war was indeed a God’s gift. It was used as an excuse to justify their entire short comes and crimes. It was used as excuse to kill and torture thousands of our young men and women it IRI’s dungeons. It was used to divert out attention from multi-billion dollar deals to buy weapons from Israel (YES FROM ISRAEL) and US to prolong the war, kill even more of our people and make Mr Rafsanjani the 35th richest man in the world

I simply refuse to fall into that trap again. I believe that anyone who stops thinking about their own people first and gets involved in a conflict about which he/she does not know enough, or allows his/her emotions to get the best of him/her by blinding his /her logic, is simply dancing to the tune of IRI, Israel and Hamas and allows him/hers self to knowingly or unknowingly be the instrument of their game

So my suggestion to you as an activist, a writer, a friend and most of all as a fellow countryman is to go back and read my response carefully and calmly. Try to understand it and respond to anything that you think I am wrong about in a logical manner and do not let your impulses to overshadow your logic. I await your response

Thank you and payende Iran