AHMADINEJAD

Dear Commenters:  Thanks

Dear Commenters:  Thanks for your informative remarks and your responses to my questions. I learned a lot by reading them. It is, undoubtedly, through sensible dialogues, like the one we are having here, that we all learn and overcome our chauvinism and intolerance.

I look forward to talking to you in another occasion on this site in the near future

Varjavand

B- taraf,   1-    

B- taraf,

1-     Jordan, Bahrain, and others, (maybe with the exception of S Arabia), have much more social freedoms for their people than Iran. And as far as the government goes, they have an unelected for life head of the government, just like Iran. So the regime is no better than them.

2-     I’m not sure how Islam can be hijacked by a non-Islamic ideology, or any religion be hijacked by forces not from that religion. Also, the Islamic regime is a dictatorial Islamic caliphate.

3-     There is no point of demonizing Islam. But not sure what is the point you’re trying to make. Maybe you can elaborate.  

Varjavand: The rest of my responses

Regarding 1 & 4.

Farhad did a better job than I could do. Therefore I defer to his responses.

Anonymous Observer

Thanks. Yes I find linguistics very fascinating too. Arabic and Hebrew are indeed very close. So is Aramaic. Some modern scholars have reached the conclusion that parts of the Koran are actually in Aramaic and not Arabic which is also very interesting.

Rosh Hashanna being in the 7th month is quite curious. :-) The official view of Rosh Hashanna is that it is the birth of the Universe! So for some reason God has chosen the autumn for that. ;-)

One the main themes of the high holidays (the ten days of Rosh Hashanna to Yom Kippur) is the binding of Isaac by Abraham and the issue of sacrifice. The evening of Yom Kippur is also usually identified as the time when Jacob wrestled with the spirit of his evil twin brother within himself (in one reading of the text.) Anyways in general the themes of the Autumn festivals are more theological and universal, whereas the Spring festivals are more national and specifically related to the formation of the Jewish identity.

Zion

Thanks for the information.  Very interesting that Rosh Hashanah is in the 7th month.  A very good friend of mine is an observant Jew who, like yourself, is well versed in the history of Judaism.  I will ask his opinion on the issue.

Also, I know a little Arabic, and as you know, there is quite a lot of similarities between Arabic and Hebrew for the obvious reason that they are members of the same family of languages.  Now that you gave me the meaning of Rosh Hashanah, I can see that those words are almost identical in Arabic. Rosh (head) is "Raas" in Arabic, and Hashanah (year) is "Sannah" in Arabic...almost identical. 

I like to study languages, and this stuff just fascinates me!  Have a wonderful Yom Kippur!

Persia is Eternal.

Anonymous Observer

Thanks for the information.
Rosh Hashanna (head of the year) and Yom Kippur (day of atonement) belong to a set of atumn festivals. Yom Kippur is followed by the festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles) which used to be the main Autumn harvest festival (chag) in Judaism, were all Jews did pilgrimage to Jerusalem and celebrated. Sukkot was also the time were God declared judgment on the amount of rain, and it is probable that the same idea has been expanded to judgment on all aspects of ones life in the ten days of high holidays that end in Yon Kippur. These high holidays are a bit mysterious. For instance although they denote the new year they are in the seventh month of the Jewish calender, not the first (Pesach is in the first month of the year that is in spring.) The seventh month coincides with the zodiac period of Libra which is a balance and also related to judgment. Interestingly Mithras is also the god of judgment and balance. So there does seem to be a link. Not surprising given the long history of shared culture.

Kashani your comment started on the right track and then it

went sideways...

1. Iranian regime is not the most undemocratic regime in the middle east. Take a look at Arabestan, Jordan, Bahrain etc. Iran according to non-biased analysts is the only country (beside Turkey) that has a semi-democratic political system. Israel has the most anti democratic regime in the middle east. You lost it here.

2. Islam is hijacked by fanatics, zionists and colonialists. Islamic republic is a semi-democratic clerical regime

3. What's the use of demonizing muslims of the world? Isn't like saying to you butt not follow you because it stinks!

Varjavand,  

Varjavand,

1-     The reasons are as follows: A- the Islamists relentless efforts to take over government and society since the end of Safavid dynasty. B – The failure of Shah’s social policies which led to social uncertainty among less educated and well off Iranians. They did not understand the changes and as result, feared them. C- The tyrannical structure of the Shah regime. D- Among more educated Iranians, the desire for change and establishment of a democratic system of government. D – The efforts of communists and leftists to overthrow the Shah’s regime in order to take power. E – The tyrannical structure of the Iranian society, from King to people, father to children, “Ostad to shagerd”. That created resentment towards authority among the newer generation of Iranians who rejected those traditional models. F- Strong fundamentalist religious beliefs among some Iranians.

2-     If you look at any Human Rights reports or democracy indexes from any NGO, Human Rights Groups, Political Analysts, Media, World Public Opinion, Iranian public opinion…etc…you will find that the Iranian regime is one of the most anti democratic, if not the most, anti Democratic regime in the world. Their election is nothing but a sham. Khamenei is the head of the government. Ahamadinejhad is a nobody. Khamenei is unelected, has infinite powers, his words are the law, his powers are unchallenged, he controls all the vital organs of government and society and he responds to nobody. There are no political parties in Iran, there is no freedom of speech, political freedom or any basic social freedoms in Iran. People can’t even wear the cloth they want, or drink what they want, or eat what they want, or listen to the music they want, or practice the religion they want, or say whatever they want. Restrictions are everywhere.

3-     I would not for a second believe that Iranians want to sacrifice democracy in the name of religion. I think the world aggress on that. Don ‘t forget Iran has a population of 70 million that consists of 70% under the age of 35. Those people are not religious, by far. Also, there is no conflict between believing in a faith and believing in democracy. That’s why we are a civilized people, like Americans. Because as individuals, we practice faith, but at the same time, don’t want to impose it on anyone else, and we act non religious too at times. Our faith does not guide all our actions. There are different factors that influences our behavior, and faith is only one of them. We have many non-religious traditions also, like Nowrooz and things like that. And most of us, have accepted modernism and the human rights values.

4-     No, we shouldn’t. Everyone’s opinion should be respected. But the IRI has made it incredibly hard not to take a stance. It has given such a bad reputation of religion and Islam in particular, that it takes a lot of patience not to bash religion or Islam because of the actions of the IRI, especially when they say that they are enforcing pure Islamic law. That’s why Islam has such a bad reputation. Because most people don’t have the patience, or the knowledge abilities to go through academic researches to find out what Islam is. And those people shouldn’t be blame or accused, rather educated. We shouldn’t be calling someone who does not spend all his life finding about Islam a “bigot” or “Neo Con” or “Islamophob”…We should blame the regime that has hijacked the religion and through bullying and intimidation, is speaking on behalf of it. There are extremists in every major religion, but Islam is probably the only one that has been hijacked by the extremist elements of it. Christianity was like that too, in the middle ages.

Varjavand

Varjavand: You will find all your answers in the comments section of Irandokht's blog a while back. The topic of the blog turns into a comprehensive discussion of "democratic" nature of the IRI:

//iranian.com/main/blog/irandokht/dr-shapour-...

Another great article regarding your questions is by Ladan Broumand:

//www.democratiya.com/interview.asp?issueid=9

Other sources:

//www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/

What really happened to the Shah of Iran:the manufactured coup of 1978:

Excerpts from the book:

//www.payvand.com/news/06/mar/1090.html

The ballot in the infamous

The ballot in the infamous referandum only presented one option; just one. The ballot and referendum was rigged inherently by its very design.

Varjavand and his ilk unfortunately are pocketbook supporters of this regime and no amount of facts and documents will change their mind.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”-— upton sinclair

Answer to Varjavand's Q#3:

First of all I guest ion your statistics of 95 % Muslim. What does one mean when they say a person is a Muslim? I know a lot of Iranians inside Iran who say they are Muslim but they never pray (except when they are in trouble); they don't fast; and they don't go to Masjid. I was talking to one guy who insisted he is a good Muslim because he does not drink alcohol on Ashura! Many others just like to go to Rouzeh Khooni because it is something to do.

Regarding mixing religion and daily life. Of course religion affects one's life. The point is that it one's religion should not affect *other* people's lives. I have worked with a number of non Iranian Muslims. I know they pray but they don't let it affect their interaction with others. One guy works from home on Fridays so he can go to Masjid and the rest of us plan around his schedule the same way we plan around other people's schedules. This is not a problem.

For decades before the IRI religious Iranians practiced their religion while secular ones did not and neither interfered with the other. The revolution did not happen because of a fight between religious and secular Iranians. Both groups supported the overthrow of the Shah. The problem with IRI is that they require everyone regardless of belief to live according to Sharia Islam. I firmly believe that majority of Iranians both religious and secular do not want to impose their ways on others.

Answer to Varjavand's Q#2:

I will answer one question per post. Here is for question #2.

IRI did come to existence by referendum. But people were voting for a set of promises which sounded good. They thought they were getting: free water; free electricity; real democracy; a free press and most importantly they thought that they were getting rid of a dictator. Who would turn that down? They did not expect what they got.

Presently there is a "Shah" called velayte fagih who has ultimate control over Iran. He (and it is always a *he*) along with a group of unelected men known as the guardian council get to pick who gets to run for office. People then get to pick between choices *already* made for them. That is not democracy. In a real democracy there is no velayate fagih and no vetting of candidates. Therefore IRI democracy is more like the "democracy" in former Soviet states where candidates where hand picked by the ruling party before hand.

IRI came to power through lies and false promisses. It remains in power at the point of the gun. It will meet the same end as the Soviet Union.

Thank You Zion

for the Mehregan greeting.  This year, Mehregan is on October 7.  I really do appreciate your deep knowledge of Persian history and culture.  I did not know about Rosh Hashanah originating as an autumn festival.  I will certainly look up the information and do some research on its historical origins.  It just goes to show the deep and acncient bond between our two people, which I sincerely hope will return one day when this dark cloud of ignorance and hate is lifted from the majestic land of Cyrus and Ardeshir.

Mehregan was of course a harvest festival in ancient Persia.  But it was a major holiday with big celebrations by people decorating the towns and villages, with music and dancing everywhere.   In fact, if you look at Arabic language, you will note that the word for "festival" in Arabic is "mehrejan", which the Arabized Mehregan.  They had to replace the "g" in Mehregan with "j" as there is no "g" sound ("g" as in "go") in the Arabic language. This is because when Arabs invaded Persia, they noticed the Mehregan celebrations and festival.  It was the first time that they had actually seen a festival, and that is why they adopted that word for "festival" in Arabic, which is in use even today.

Obviously, in today's Iran Meheregan is not celebrated, and is tabooed.  In the U.S. where I live, Mehregan celebrations are generally lectures and discussions, which really take away from the spirit of this great Persian holiday.

I am hopeful that perhaps in the future we, or our children, can celebrate Mehregan once again in a free Iran!     

Persia is Eternal.

Dear Commenters:

Dear Commenters:

I usually read some of the articles posted on this site and especially the resulting comments. I know that many of us use the underlying articles as an excuse to voice our opinion and often our fierce opposition to the IRI regardless of the subject matter. I know that this site is dominated by the people who oppose, hate, and harshly angry at, IRI. And I know how unpopular it is to express any opinion that gives a slightest hint of siding with IRI. However, I have some questions that I am sure many of you can answer. I know some of these questions may sound redundant or commonplace, however, I believe any question for which you don’t have an answer is worth asking

1.       I have lived in this country (US) since 1973, a few years before the massive uprising that led to so called Islamic Revolution. What do you think led to the uprising and the eventual ousting of the Shah and the establishment of IR government?

2.       To my understanding the IRI came to power by referendum, and even today its officials are supposedly elected through voting process. If that is the case, why IRI is an undemocratic government?

3.       Many of us, me included, was born to, and raised in, a religious family. According to the statistics at least 95% of Iran’s population is Muslim, most of whom devotedly so. Islamic rules and codes have dominated every aspects of our life for centuries. How can we tell these people, who believe in something so steadfastly, do you what; you have to keep your religion away from public life and don’t let it interfere with any public decisions you make. Do you think that is feasible?

4.       Do you think we can sway any opinion by leveling unsubstantiated accusations against those who may say something that we don’t like, the outright rejection of religion, ridiculing public officials, and making mockery of religious beliefs of so many people?

I appreciate your answers?

Fred, the contents of the "laptop" cannot be used in ANY court..

in the US nor in any international court. I am not sure whether you have heard about computer forensics, if not it's about time you educated yourself about it if you intend to rely on the "drawings and specs on bomb designs" found on that laptop if you intend to continue to brag about them as evidence of Iran's guilt, or your usual claptrap. The biggest problem with whatever resides on your favorite laptop is the lack of the digital chain of custody, which is the process of validating how any kind of evidence has been gathered, tracked and protected on its way to a court of law. The US has not made it clear nor explained in a way how the "evidence" was obtained and who had custody of it before "presenting" it to the IAEA. If you think you are responding to those whom you label as "Islamists/Anti-Semites...", think again. Your spinning the worthless stuff on the magic "laptop" is but a pathetic effort by an rabid Eslam hater. BYW, next time when you talk about the "rules in the free world, think about the digital chain of custody. I am wondering if you are even aware the concept was invented in legal system of the free world.

There is a back door deal in

There is a back door deal in the offing with the Islamic Republic of crooks. All the signs are there. Obama's big oil supporeters and reformers in Tehran can't wait to pull the wool over our heads, once again.

Response to Be-Taraf

I agree with a few things you say:

1) Iranians are being demonized all over the world. But I am old enough to remember how it was before the revolution. Iranians were not demonized, in fact we were respected. It was the revolution and the hostage taking that begun the demonization of Iranians. This was a wound inflicted on us by the Marxist so called "students" in a deliberate attempt to alienate the west.

2) Islam before the IRI was also not demonized. In the 60s and 70s many westerners looking for spirituality were drawn to Islam. One example was Cat Stevens. The IRI; Khomeini; Taliban; Fatwahs, these were what led to demonization of Islam.

3) Things are often tangentially related. If one's neighbor beats their kids does not mean one should too.

4) Israel does violate human rights, but so does China; Russia; and so on. What I object to is the *obsession* some Iranians and the IRI show for Israel. Why is this any worse than say Tibet or in fact the human right violations right in Iran? There is a saying "Kal agar tabeeb boodi, sar khod dava nemoodi". If IRI is so worried about human rights, then why not start at home? How about freedom of religion; ban on child executions; freedom for women from hejab?

5) The Mojahedeen are criminals even worse than the Mullahs. So was Saddam. I have always said that. The Mullahs did not die to get where they are. They got killed after they took power and got in a dispute with their former supporters the Mojahedeen bombs. Mullahs never willingly risk their lives.

6) People did not know what was coming after the Shah. I remember all the lies. As to what to do next, we can start by voicing our opinions and not being bullied by IRI supporters; organizations like SCE are a good start.

People Please FOCUS

Why is it that every conversation nowadays is turning into a discussion about Israel? THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT THE MULLAH"S REGIME CRIEMS AND ATROSITIES AGAINST PEOPLE OF IRAN!!  Why do we let some idiots with agenda (on both side) turn it in to a discussion about another country? This can only hurt the people we ae trying to help....... well let's be honest we're not really helping them!! But, why do we lose focus so fast and easy? Let's stick to the subject please, "Ahmaghinejad and the criminal regime of IRI" Thank you.

To the pro IRI and pro Isreali regime people: If yopu seriously think for a minute that Thses two regimes not corrupt or have any considerations for human right, human life or human beings for that matter, you are a bunch of idiots!!

Nuclear Issue or Solar?

Folks, Iran does have a right to peaceful nuclear power according to the NPT as a legal matter. I do not question that.

I do question the wisdom of it. Many western nations have been wary of nuclear power for good reasons including operational safety and radioactive waste. An example of safety problems was shown by the Chernobyl disaster. Another was the Three Mile Island accident. Nuclear technology is over half century old and has little research value. It is dirty and environmentally unwise.

On the other hand, Solar energy is up and coming. There is great research potential, no waste and much lower danger. Iran has plenty of deserts with a ton of sunlight that makes it ideal for Solar energy generation. This is not a joke, it is happening in California; New Mexico; UAE and many other places.
Why not pass on nuclear and focus on Solar? With it Iran will be able to generate all the energy it needs as well as for export. Unlike oil it won't run out anytime soon.

Talk about Israel = Anti-Semites -- so quiet!

Don't you peopple know it is illegal to talk about Israeli crimes in the US? Soon the Nazis in Tel Aviv will ban that on the Internet too. Until then, have mercy on the "children of Israel." Thank you for your cooperation :)

Spin Meister

Amongst other things the laptop contains drawings and specs on bomb designs, mold castings and miniaturization of it to load it up on the existing Islamist ICBM. That is not what the  IAEA director says to the board on September the 29th, that is yesterday, , the director is obviously saying something entirely different here.  BTW Islamist/Anti-Semites and their likeminded lefty allies should get used to responses to their whitewashings and spins, to set conditions for responding or not has no relevance.  That sort of stuff is done back in their Islamist hell on earth, aka Islamist republic; in the free world the rules are different.

ShamsVasir: 1. We are demonized all over the world and Zionist

propaganda against us is one of the reason. All the thinking people of the world know the solution to many evils in the middle east and the world is to neutralize this evil racist idealogy.

2. Demonizing muslims and Iranians did not start with mullas even Shah of Iran was complaining about the destructive role of Israeli lobby in the United States and Europe. Zionist atrocities against muslims of the world is a universal problem.

3. Shah was ruthless, mullas are ruthless and so are the terroist zionist jews who attack villagers, burn their crop and shoot them. Don't fall into the trap of "Palestinian issue has nothing to do with me". Everything is related to everything else.

4. I am not claiming the zionist took over my land or business. It's you who is complaining about losing your business in Iran. I fight zionism by exposing their crimes against humanity.

5. Hundreds of mullas died by mojahedeen, have you forgotten? Hundreds more died in the war between Iran and Iraq.

6. People were sick and tired of Pahlavi family and got rid of it. Mullas were the most cunning and took over. Now what are you gonna do? Preaching to the quire?

I confess!

Mehdi you got me. I am indeed the spirit of Menachem Begin. I have been reincarnated as Shamse-Vazir and given an Islamic name to fool you. But you are obviously too smart for me. Happy Rash Hashanah :-)

Fred

First of all, you just cannot help yourself. You just must call me by anything other than Mammad. When are you going to become civilized? You were born in Iran, I thought. Ahaa, you love Israel and anything that comes with it, including such behavior.

Secondly, it is only your spin and lack of knlowledge that confuse issues, and does not understands them. What ElBaradei is referring to is EXACTLY the laptop, because the laptop supposedly talked about what you quote him on.

So,

(1) begin calling me Mammad, or I won't resopond to your usual hollow, smart a.., senseless comments, and

(2) educate yourself about the nuclear issues before you open your mouth.  When you open your mouth, you remove all doubts about how much you know.

Mammad

Your obsession does not belong to all the Iranians

B-taraf, you may be obsessed with Palestinians many Iranians are NOT. I don't need your cryptic holier-than-thou "find out for yourself" stuff. I know plenty of Iranians both in and out of Iran who are dealing with real life problems which do NOT include Palestine. Why don't you take your own advise and go fight the Israelis to reclaim Palestinian's home? Iranians have their own problems to solve.

As for a lot of Mullahs dying, that is not so. There were very few people killed in the revolution and most of them were regular people fooled by the Mullahs. Coward Mullahs never do their own fighting. They sit on their bottoms and issue fatwahs. In fact if the Shah was one tenth as ruthless and the Mullahs the revolution would have never happened.

Mehdi: I hate to break it to

Mehdi: I hate to break it to you, Israel is here to stay and Islamists like you will never fulfill their delusional dream of pushing the Jews to the sea. Get this though your thick Amammeh. The islamist wet dream of second holocaust is only a pipe dream...dream on Islamofascists!

Thanks Anonymous Observer

It was very nice of you. I really appreciate it. Is there an Iranian occasion now as well? Mithragan, perhaps? (Rosh hashanna and Mithragan were both derived from more ancient autumn festivals.) So happy Mithragan to you too (when it comes about. :-)

I agree Kaveh Nouraee and would add

Bush to the list

Shamse Vazir said it

Shamse Vazir said it best-only demonizing Iran is Israelis interest. Shamse Vazir admitted that he doesn't want anybody to talk about Israel's role in the creation and support of international terrorism. You should never discuss that. In fact discussing Israel, unless you are praising it is illegal in the US. So please, let's just demonize Iran and see if we can get a war going for Israel - they need to sell their weapons, market has been slow lately, you know?They are not interested in NPT or law or anything. They just use these issues to fill pages after pages of what "seems" to be evidence against Iran. Their PR companies told them that if enough people talk about something people will believe it is true. They know very well there is no document against IRI. These guys are saying they do not want to be part of NPT. They want to manufacture the latest weapons but they want NPT to punish Iran!!!!!!

Fred: I thought you hated NPT?

Doesn't your country Israel say that NPT is a bad idea/ Why then is Israel trying to enforce NPT safeguards? Isn't that the ultimate hypocrocy of a country whose major source of income is selling weapons to kill people in the world?