Letters

Write for The Iranian Editorial policy

Tuesday
November 13, 2001

Roots of terrorism

First of all, let me express my personal gratitude to the country and people of Iran for their expressed grief for the recent American losses. I have a bit of understanding of Iranian culture as I am married to an Iranian who left Tehran during the revolution. I would like to use this note as a forum if I may.

We in the United States were not well represented by our past president. In fact, many Americans think he showed the worst aspects of our culture. A recent finding showed he spent more money going after Bill Gates and Microsoft than he did going after Bin Laden. Now Mr Clinton is going around, looking for cameras, to say he is bettre prepared to lead this country.

America does need to rexamine it's foreign policy, especially towards Israel. For 50 years, Israel has used the holocost to justify committing acts they once had committed against them. And too often the US has supported them with no check or balance.

It seems that our current administration is putting much pressure on them. They are pulling out of area, not quickly enough for my taste, but they are moving, which is a good sign. Much of the problems between the Middle East and the west can be found in that one conflict. But having said that, the Palestinians have not had a leader worthy of his salt yet. Arafat is like the Bill Clinton of Palestine.

On a larger note, is the Moslem culture is to thrive inthe 21st century, it needs to take a very hard look at it's conservative leaders. The fact tha tMoslem government s are tied to the church has created a large group of powerful men in many nations who misuse the koran to furhter their own corruption and power. Iran is no stranger to this. Iran was a country that was Moslem and was very successful dealing with the west.

Conservatives who make great pains to restrict information be it internet or satellite TV are not doing so to maintain Moslem culture, they are doing so becuase behind the pornography that exists, is information. And an informed public thinks, and becomes able to decide right from wrong. I have access to the internet and satellite TV and am a westerner, but I don't view porn. Why, because god gave us a conscience and judgment, something conserative molsems refuse their people. They consider people as sheep to be herded.

We have similar groups here who are christian. ANd many times when they become powerful , they also become corrupt. And that corruption has led to many people leaving the faith rather than embracing it, as faith is not something to be dictated. Once faith is dictated and demanded, then it becomes little more than corrupt government. Where the brothers and relatives of leaders attain power by association.

Much of the Middle East's countries who have economic problems can be directly traced back to corrupt religeous dictators who have hijaacked islam for their own doing. Those are the the true roots of terrorism. Mothers who allow their children to throw rocks at soldiers are a root of terrorism. Then these same mothers weep when their children get shot. Does anyone ever take these mothers aside and explain to them the responsability of parenthood? And the utter illogic of allowing these things to happen.

To many times we see, where some young Moslem who had a good future is tricked into strapping explosives to himself and dying, trapped by leaders who have not the balls to show their faces, then have the family cry what a good boy he was. They have their grief and hatred redirected at the west when the root cause is in their own town.

Religeon and values should be self evident and stand on their own. When governments are forced to cut of hands and stone people to enforce them, they are no longer values, just laws. And actions like this deproive people of the very most basci right which is freedom, and freedom surpasses all religeon and all faith.

Look back at history and the fall of every government who had a heavy hand on their own people was not due to foreign forces but forces within their own country. Without freedom , religeon means nothing.

Iran is going through a second revolution, the rest of the Moslem world will aslo go through this. And Islam will not suffer from it, in fact it will grow. A person who chooses to be Moslem is a much better Moslem than one who has his head forced to face Mecca, as it is normal human, no even going deeper than that, on an animal level, wehn any animal is forced in one direction, the instinct is to resist and face the other.

So the conservative Moslems willonly cause more and more to reject it. ANd no amount of amputations or stonings will stop that, in fact the opposite is true, when enough force is applied , when the people are forced, they will resist.

Now having said that, the immediate thought is to do away with those who force, but that is not a solution either, the solution again comes to freedom, those who choose to follow a conservative path should have the freedom to do so, but there is a saying here, Your freedom ends at the end of my nose. That is freedom is paid for with respect for others freedom. And this is the basis of my problem with Israel. They have a right to live free, but that freedom ends where Palestine starts.

Thank you for the forum, And belive me, the same fight goes on here constantly, just look at the press behind our last election. America is not perfect, but the one thread that has and will always hold it together is freedom. And freedom is a gift that no man, religeon or government has the right to interfere with.

God Bless Iran and it's people,
God Bless the people of Islam and Afghanistan and
God Bless the United States

J T