Tuesday
October 31, 2000
Unequal in the eyes of America
Letter to The Washington Post: I am an Iranian-American living
in Washington and was quite upset with the dollar amounts quoted in the
article on Sunday Oct 22, "Terrorism
Victims Set Precedent".
In one part of your article you state that Terry Anderson and the rest
of the families of the former hostages will receive approximately $161
million from Iran for their time in captivity in Lebanon.
In the same article you also state that the U.S. paid damages of $62
million to Iran for the 248 people that died when an Iranian airbus was
mistakenly shot down by the US Navy in the Persian Gulf. Where is the
justice in this formula? Each dead Iranian is worth $245,968, while each
captive American is worth $32 million.
Once again, based on this formula American lives are always worth more
than non-Americans. At least since I'm considered Iranian-American I
guess I'll just add $32 million plus $245,968 and divide by two to determine
how much my life is worth (of course I would only add the $245,968 if
I were dead).
Aren't we all humans created "equal" in the eyes of God?
Sepehr Haddad
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