When they invade Iran
Maybe then you'll care
May 12, 2004
iranian.com
Some people tell me how they don't care about
politics or how politics doesn't affect them. Apparently,
the outcome of the basketball playoffs or the next sale at the
mall is more important than the rest of humanity's well being.
The
selfishness of such a position is disappointing and disheartening
to say the least.
I'm not going to nor should I have
to enumerate on the plethora of reasons why you should care,
that's for yourselves to figure out. Nevertheless, I wish to comment
on
one case that will affect and give you reason to care.
Iran is currently a prime target of "regime change" by
the colonial engineers in Washington. As Professor Noam Chomsky
has pointed out, Iraq is merely a footnote in this colonial adventure,
while Iran is the "grand prize".
Particularly if you
are Iranian, the question is what are you going to do about it
if God forbid your country is invaded and occupied? Will you
idly stand by and sellout? Will you betray our nation's proud
record of resistance? Will you betray the sacrifices and blood
of the shuhada? Or will you fight to preserve that record? And
protect the country's sovereignty and honor? That is the
question.
Despite one's views on the ruling government, the nation's
independence should not be jeopardized under any, I repeat ANY
circumstances. You cannot "install" a democracy. If
you did, of course, the resulting government would not be a democracy.
There cannot be democracy without independence.
The Islamic Revolution
in Iran was not fought for in vain and the current regime is
a work in progress. Whatever "problems" Iran may have,
they are and should remain internal. Intrusion by an external
power, which harbors nothing short of ill intentions, will
only perpetuate
them. This intrusion in the form of military aggression cannot
in the very nature of things produce a stable result.
If history is to provide any lesson it is that of the overthrow
of our country's first democratically elected leader Mohammad
Mossadeq in 1953 by the CIA. This event paved the way for 25
years of the Shah's brutal dictatorship and the suppression
of all political parties. The Shah's notorious secret police
SAVAK, which mastered torture techniques from their Israeli
(Mossad)
trainers, also inflicted psychological trauma on the Iranian
populace,
which still reverberates in Iran to this day.
The paranoia
and conspiratorial political outlook shared by many Iranians
is a
direct result of these legacies. Moreover, look at the insecurity
and
disaster that has been created in Iraq as a result of the
American occupation today (you would have thought they would have
learned
some lessons on occupation from the Israeli's or maybe Occupation
101 wasn't being offered).
Take a close look at the pictures of torture in the Abu Ghraib
prison and note that Rumsfeld testified that there are much
worse pictures and videos that have yet to be seen. This
is the democracy
that Bush was talking about. How insulting! If this is what
is meant by democracy, then we are far better off without
it.
The
last thing we need is for this occupation to be extended
to Iran, particularly since it's the only credible and
legitimate government in the region (a crucial point emphasized
by all
serious
academic scholars on the region). The arrogance of these
colonialists
must be stopped at our borders!
Furthermore, what's interesting to note is that Iran fought
the real war of liberation against Saddam's regime back
in the 80s and against the Taliban in the late 90s at a
time
when they were both being backed by America. And now Bush
has the
audacity to speak about these regimes and their violations
of human rights.
All this coming from, excuse my French, a cowboy who says
the Geneva Conventions don't apply to the "war on terrorism"
(even
Hitler would be impressed if he were alive today). But
what's new? They didn't apply to the natives whose land
they stole
and massacred either or the millions of people they stole
and enslaved
from Africa. And today it is our turn.
They not only slaughter and abuse the Muslim world, but
insult us and call us "savages," "fundamentalists", "terrorists,"
and the so called "Axis of Evil." As Professor Hamid Algar
has noted "America's military presence is metastasizing
throughout the Arab world to the point of malignancy. Isn't
it curious that Muslims are the ones under pressure to
proclaim
that their religion is the "religion of peace'?" Moreover,
the encirclement of Iran by the United States has now been
completed with the fall of Saddam Hussein. I tell you this
is too much
and I am simply sick and tired of it all. My patience has
run out.
What is even more distressing is how many Middle Easterners
have fallen victim to this form of psychological warfare.
Some have
even apologized for the acts of the perpetrators of 9-11
as if they were somehow responsible. And let's not forget
how
many
felt compelled to ride the waves of jingoistic patriotism
by slapping a huge sticker of an American flag on their
car or
displaying a
flag in front of their home after 9-11. What do you have
to say now about your "Support the Troops" sticker? Supporting
them is antithetical to supporting human rights as reinforced
by the recent pictures and daily footage from Al-Jazeera.
Witty
remarks
aside, I ask that we all remain vigilant and educate
ourselves and others on such matters, for our sake and for our
children's
generation's sake. I don't think the world, let alone
this country can sustain another four more years of this
ideologically driven administration.
Author
Lawrence Reza Ershaghi, B.A. Political Science, University
of California, Irvine. Currently Candidate for J.D. at Chicago-Kent
School of
Law >>> Feaures in iranian.com
.................... Say
goodbye to spam! *
*
|
