CHANGE

Zion is funny

He missed the whole point completely. He says we need a perfect country first, before we can be perfect people! I suppose it makes sense if we put ourselves in his head considering Israel's nuclear arsenal from the corner of the eye. How on Earth would you have a perfect country/regime in order to then develop a great nation? Iranians need to build a new world out of broken straws. And like Abarmard said, there are no shortcuts. No superpower is going to loan us their army! They have paid for it with their own blood! Why would they give it to us for free? You think George Bush is a freedom fighter?

Unfortunately, to those who have already decided that war with IRI is the only solution, there is not much use talking. That is the definition of brainwashing.

Anonymousaa

Where have I said that? Read the article carefully, don't just judge. If I have said what Iran is, I don't mean what Iran ought to be. Are you certain that I am writing to be pro the regime? Read it again

Kurdish Warrior

When you say we should fight anyway we can, does that includes bombing and killing civilians? If not, then more power to you.

It's easier to say Arab and Islam invaded Iran.

Key mireh in hammeh rah ro?  The double red blooded Iranians of historic nature and against Islam and Arabs don't agree with you and not only that, you are their puppet.  I'm reimded of the uglier the monkey the more playful the monkey.

They say Islam and Arabs and Arabs have invaded Iran and want to destroy our traditions like Norooz. Is Ahmadinejad Arab?  Is Arab a bad word? We should tell our Arab friends to visit this website more often and give us a little bit of our own medicine.

You are not taking the easy road.  It is easier to believe Shah was better for Iran and he should not have been kicked out.  Revolution was a mistake.  Why have a revoltion when you can have an ice cream?

To Dariush,

I agree with you on some points however what I don't understand is when you quote that "there is more freedom in Iran today than beginning of the revolution and can be improved and the basic freedoms can be achieved". WHAT FREEDOM???? There are more killings, suppression under the current government than it ever was during this fascist regime. In terms of economy, we are facing a disaster, unemployment, drug addiction, prostitutions, (human rights) torturing, killing, putting people in prison, harrasing the minorities especially within Kurdish areas are all examples of what this regime as a whole is standing for. I don't know how you see Iran from improvement point of view but it sounds very unrealistic. The salvation of our country is to fight this regime with any tools necessary. Unfortunately problem with some us are that we are passive and believe that things will change eventually by its nature.

Anonymouse11

Yes my friend Anonymouse11, I am very afraid. I am not brave like you to hide in my house in califirnia and watch Iran and Iranians to be bombed and destroyed. As I have said before. What good does freedom of speech do to a dead man?
Yes I have to repeat myself sometimes because it is all about the same subject. I know where this is coming from. From another pahlavi lover. Right?
You say Iran's economy is oil based and no good.
What was it before revolution? Water based?
Oil has always been the main source! Not just for Iran for, almost all the countries that produce oil. That is why United States is trying to crush Opec by pumping their oil need out of Iraq.

As for IRI or any other government it is fair to say both the bad and good points which I have tryed to do, unlike monachies who don'tadmit to any of their wrong doings or west.
It is not important if IRI is in power or not, If they can be replaced to a different government that keeps Iran Independent, strong, looks after all Iranians wellbeing, equalrights and freedom and better life for everyone without many Iranian getting bombed, I am all for it. But Iranians do not want another pahlavi or alike. Pahlavis and most of these opposition groups in west aren't going to be the right candidates due to their passed and current records and positions.
I am just saying my opinion which is not going to make no difference. If you think I shouldn't, that will be enough reason to the kind of democracy you are promissing to people.
As for evidence. If you keep your eyes and mind open you see them. Peace

Iran: Crimes Against

Iran: Crimes Against Humanity

Three Bahaies are prisoner of the oppressive regime in Shiraz, Iran and nine others have received death threats in addition to a failed attempt to put one of them on fire. These latest news are just a few example of a regime that Abarmard et al try to perserve. There is no country in the world freer than Iran...????

This is a likely scenario: A newly inaugurated President Hillary Clinton meeting at the UN with her moderate Iranian homologue Mohamed Qalibaf immediately after he defeats Ahmadinejad in the June 2009 Iranian presidential elections, followed by her triumphal state visit to Teheran a few months.

And after that, you will never see the likes of abarmard et al ever writing anything about the plight of Iranians...End of Story!

objective dialogue

A rare pleasure to witness IQ and widsom combined in a single writing, and not to leave out few of the replies.

I hope all freedom loving, IRI hating intellects read Abarmard's essay a couple of more times.

"After 30 years of the IRI, go to Iran in Moharram and see what people do to commemorate Ashura, from the largest cities to the smallest villages. I make no judgement as to whether what they do is right or wrong, rather I am only pointing out a glaring fact. The point is, the US is not the secular heaven that many Iranians who live here think it is"

When you go there, don't be shy to stop and get out of the car when you are passing through Qom. As you sort through both sides propeganda to research with an independant mind, you'll discover that with an exception to freedom of vulgarity, the average Iranian in Iran has far greater freedom than you and I do in the US.

And don't let their kind hospitality fool you, they are much more independant, assertive, and proactive about their political views and faith than they portray. Yet they consider themsleves not any less than all the scholars who migrated and are doing extremely well in the west.

Today's Iran is too informed and too complex of a society for a Winston Churchill policy replay. The consequences of the Iraq imposed war thaught them their lesson, and the use of force or the force of the western pop culture will not suffice.

Dariush: All of your

Dariush: All of your assertions are false and misleading. I can deconstruct every one your statements into pieces but I'm not going to because I remember someone else tried to do the same to no avail.(your correspondence with programmer craig). Your arguments are not in good faith. You have well-establishe agenda and it is definitely not in the interest of Iran. THough, I do agree, you have the interest of the Islamic Republic and you will defend it at any price...

I don't know how you manage to live in this parallel universe of yours. You need to back up your statements by citing references. What was the GDP before the revolution and then after? What was the income per capita before and after the revolution???

And to think that Iran is more free than it was before, you must be suffering from some kind of hallucination...

Assembling parts is not industrialization and innovation...Reverse engineering and making "flying boats" is not industrialization my dear friend...you might be able to fool a couple of Basijis but not any one else. talking about "independence" is ridiculous and when your economy is an oil-based economy.

I have read your other comments on different threads for many months now, and I don't think you could ever be objective to provide any credible analysis of Iran. You clearly have a vested interest in preserving the status quo either because you're an ideologue or you are afraid of something.... You keep repeating the same mantra and rhetoric incessantly like a broken record.

When you talk of "Iran", you mean the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic does not represent Iran and the will of the people...ONly the will of extremist jihadist who willingly reduce Iran to rubbles for their establisment of the Islamic Ummah...

My Fiends

You say Iran has been left alone to advance and prosper. clearly that is not true and she hasn't been left alone. You say Iranians are corrupted and what have they done? Yes There are corruptions. That seems to be in most human gens, that include Iranians every where.
I think they have improved the county in technology, science, agriculture and some other aspects much more than before, as we were dependent on all of them before the revolution. That is with all the problems they have been facing from war to sanctions and pressures and etc. Again you want quik fix. You think Iran should be in the same level of advanced countries today. You forget that as Iran advances so does west and you are living and looking at Iran from future that is why she seem to be allways behind. Then there is the pressure to keep them behind by west, as you see toward nuclear energy.
I think there is more freedom in Iran today than beginning of the revolution and can be improved and the basic freedoms can be achieved, but some extreme freedoms you experience in west due to culture can not be achieved, not just govermemt also most people wouldn't want. So do not expect to copy west in Iran! Some of you blame corruption and everything in Iran on Islam. Take a look at yourself and around you in west! Are they true moslims? 100% No. It just is convenient to blame on religion.

Until we put humanity and respect to each other fist we can not change for good. Revenge and hate and killing each other will make situation worse. Religion is part of Iranins life whether zarosterian,Islam,chistian,jew, bahai or else. We are all Iranian. We must change the laws to protect everyone. I have female friend that are Bahai, they have U.S. residency and citizenship , but they are willingly living in Iran. Unfortunatly some people come out and to get things done easier they lie which maked Iran look very bad. That you see in all Iranians so called muslim, or jew and etc. It is about a piece of pie.

your best article yet!

well said Abarmard: "The solution does not need to be enforced upon us and we should not put a time frame to find an answer. The issue is not a quick fix; the issue is how and what to fix."

Comments

Dear Abarmard(Superman),
What I admire the most about you is that you live up to my literary translation of your name in that your writings represent the voice of moderation rather than either extreme. They are never offensive.
I have a few comments;
First, You state, “Being an ancient society, in many ways we resemble an American society, in which we want things done and available quickly and effortlessly.”
We should not forget that neither the Americans nor Iranians have adopted this attitude by choice. Healthy and normal people do not prefer such low level of existence. In Iran, even though not an official colony has been the victim of colonial mentality of depriving the people of skills to live in democracy for obvious reasons. History of America tells us that the American Revolution abandoned the colonial mentality and did its best to put the people rather than the government in charge. What we see as public apathy and wanting things effortlessly are the effects of return of colonial mentality. In other words, while we as Iranians were put to sleep, America completed a cycle of going from colonial rule to freedom and back to a bit different kind of colonial rule I call neo-slavery. Haft shahreh eshgh ra attar gash, maa hanooz andar khameh yek koochehim!
As Iranians, migration is not our fault. Leaving one’s habitat (jalayeh vatan) in search of “greener pasture” is natural for all living things. That has been the norm throughout demographic and natural history. From Mowlana Rumi to each one of us, we have left our homelands primarily for safety reasons if we met the requirements of leaving. I, myself had to stay on this side after failing to stay in Iran three times and all due to the misguided American foreign policies that disturbed Iran and our region of the world. There are times when most of us have no choice but to swim with the current just in order to survive. Even during American Revolution many Americans fled to Canada, Europe and elsewhere and many returned later. The take-home lesson here is that physical migration does not affect our loyalty to this or that side. In fact by migrating we attain a global perspective of things that we could not get if we lived all of our lives on either side alone.
Second, expressing oneself politically is a learned behavior and the main reason we as Iranians stumble in working together toward a common cause is that we are just beginning to learn these skills. We have come a long way and have a long way to go. I recall a teacher in grade school in Iran telling us tajziamoon khoobeh vali mordehshoor tarkibemoono bebareh. It is the lack of those simple experiences during our childhood that make us reluctant to work together, but we are getting there.
Having received all my higher education in America I have noticed an astronomic changes in America during my short life! One of those changes is that the strong force of ignorance, arrogance and greed and colonial mentality has managed to practically dismantle the “government of the people, by and for the people” to government of a few, by and for a few and almost undo the American Revolution. Our hope should be that in a dynamic country such as this the people snap out of their apathy and make America, America again. Unless we do that, all of us regardless of Iranian, American or other ethnic groups will have to relinquish our responsibilities, our freedom and our live to those who want to take them away from us and take us back to square one of total dependency on government for everything.

khody

More realistic alternative for a better Iran, better Iran?......

......for a better Iran one goes better to Gilan and even better directly to Rasht.

To Daruish: Dariush: Iran

To Daruish:

Dariush: Iran has been left alone for 29 years. What has been the result??? More poverty with higher oil revenues, more ignorance, more censorship, more discrimination, more killings of its own citizens, which has nothing to do with fear of external forces...

If the Islamic Republic was really interested in IRan and Irnaian's prosperity and freedom and its true independence, they would acted responsibly without plundering and raping the wealth of the Iranian nation and robbing the future generation of their prosperity. If the Islamic Republic would have not been such a corrupt and robber baron government and if the Islamic REpublic was responsive to the needs of their citizen. If the Islamic Republic did that and became a government of the people by the people, it would not have to be always paraoid of being changed by external powers. No earthly power either externa internal power will be able to change such a regime. The regime will be loved and will set an example for the rest of the muslim world to follow.

Friends, Iran can not

Friends, Iran can not transform itself.With time,things will get much worse.Why? The Islamic Regime has crushed all Mechanisms and TOOLS that are the necessary
pre-requisite for any change such as free press,free speech,free assembly,free political parties,
free unions,etc.In short,there is NO FREE ANYTHING in Iran. We all know this. Abarmard prescription is lofty but alas, Paingully unrealistic.

Wrong Logic For A Wrong Cause

This article in its entirety rests on a blatantly wrong line of reasoning.
It is true that to reach an ideal working democracy people need to change significantly and internalize democratic and liberal values in their culture. To propose how ever that regime change before such a transformation has taken place is futile or dangerous is to put the cart in front of the horse. The only way people can gradually internalize democratic values is for them to live in a land with a democratic constitution. In practice of course they would still experience corruption and non-ideal governance,. So a democratic constitution is not sufficient, but it is absolutely necessary. Those values will never be incorporated in people`s lives as long as they live under a discriminatory law and a non democratic islamo-fascist constitution.
History proves it. Same people, under different laws behaved and fared completely differently. East germans, versus West Germans, versus Germans during Nazi era. North Koreans versus South Koreans. Even America herself started with people who accepted slavery and discrimination against women as a fact of life, but were able to outgrow them only because they were blessed with the modern world`s first truly liberal and democratic constitution.
This should be an elementary fact now in the 21s t century. I`m sorry to say this, but the only reason I can think of putting forward such `arguments` is to buy legitimacy for a fascistic regime like that of Iran. It is simply shameful.

Thank you

Thank you anonymousaa for your input and sharing the piece by paolo bassi. This is one of the bad points of our government. However we often think much better from what we have lost than it may really have been. Whether the old house, old neigborhood, old city or kingdom. Maybe if we lived then we wouldn't have find it as great. We can not turn the clock back now. Do you think if we had syrus the great today, we would be left alone to prosper? What if we all become zarosterian, or christian or jews? I do not think any of these will change anything. The only thing will work is if we give west free ride. Or stay united and make changes step by step without loosing our Identity. We can also take the best of both world and apply to our country rather than killing each other over our different believes. We have millions of muslims in Iran and a few thousand of each minaroties. How do you want to win majority's hearts and minds. By taking side with ones they call enemies? This is a tough sale. It is not going to happen. Good luck.

The Iranian identity is not

The Iranian identity is not Islamic and will never be...Islam has been a transplant organ in the body of Iranian nation. Islam has been able to survive by "anti-rejection" Medication (systemically induced poverty and illiteracy of the massess by the ruling clergies even before the revolution, censorship of all kinds, bombardment of daily propaganda by state-owned media).. For the regime to have to resort to propaganda and spend millions on keeping the masses "Islamic" clearly illustrates this fact. In order to get employed in Iran by the state, you have to pass an "Islamic" Test...what other islamic country does that???
Here is a great article on Iranian identity crisis:
//www.faithfreedom.org/oped/PaoloBassi51003.htm

Imagination at Work

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Unlike the new country, the old and ancient countries such as Iran have a tendency to get stuck in the past hardly able to chart the way for the future in order to move on with phenomenal speed ahead in life...no wonder these new countries are so arrtactive and have become the magnet for the diverse people coming into it from all over the world...

In Iranian consciousness 1400 years of history is only a recent time where the muslim came and conquered Persia only a week ago...

What am I trying to get at? Identiy... identity... identity ... much of it is formed by looking into the future as to what you wish make out of yoursself instead of looking back deep and deeper...

Don't forget! I am still a great fan of the living Cyrus The Great... a cool guy from persia who will keep upgrading himself as generation switch from the old to the new one ...one after another...

Islam in Iran: Remember Iran

Islam in Iran:

Remember Iran was a Sunni country for the first 1000 years after the Islamic Occupation of Iran. Iran has been a Shia for only 400+ years. Shi'im is very different than Sunni Islam...Islamic Republic Of IRan does not represent the 1.4 billion Muslims. There are only about 350 million Shi'ites around the world.

Many Shi'ites in the Arab world don't subscribe to Khomeinist version of Islam either...As far as Arabs are concerened, the Shi'a are heretics...Read the Sunni-Shia War's history...

KavehV

With all due respect, you are wrong about Shiism in Iran. You make sweeping statements which have no basis, and you also ignore important historical facts, or do not known them.

Before I comment on your main statement, I should point out an important fact that you can easily check its accuracy: Unlike what you say Christianity was NOT adopted by everyone in Europe by choice. Many were converted by force.

Your statement about Iran being invaded by barbaric Arabs is, of course, true as it is a historical fact. However, aside from,

(1) the fact that Shahrbanou, the daughter of Yazdgerd, III, the last king of SaaSaanian, married Imam Hossein, and Imam Hossein was going to Iran to rise up against the rutless and brutal Omavian, which many historians interpret as Iranians' resistance against their Arab rulers and interpret Shiism as a purely Iranian invention, and

(2) the fact that Abou Moslem Khoraasaani helped overthrow Omavian, and replaced them with Abbasian, during the reign of which Islamic civilization developed with many glorious contributions to science by Iranian scientists, which could only come about in the right environment for development of science (which means that that era could not be as bad as your sweeping statements seem to imply),

the fact is Safavian used Shiism to resist the Osmaanian empire, and separate the non-Arab Iran from that empire. That helped the religion to be mixed with power and politics, which was very negative, but it also helped Iran to be preserved, which was positive.

You also say that, "The only unifying effect of this 1400 year holocaust is the just hatred of it." Just as the word "shahid" has been used so careflessly in Iran that it has practically lost its true meaning, careless use of Holocaust would do the same.

Holocaust is an important historical fact, registering in the history of humanity what happened to millions of innocent people simply due to their religion. Nothing of the sort has happened to Iran and Iranians. You do not call invasion and destruction of Iran by the Mugols Holocaust, but the existence of Islam in Iran a Holocaust? This defies logic and rationale.

What do you mean by your sweeping statement? Do you mean that Iranians are unified in their hatred of Islam and Shiism? If so, you cannot be more wrong. Such a sweeping statement, without any basis, is not helpful to anything, and is only a reflection of personal bias. You have every right to despise Islam and Shiism, and I absolutely positively do not make the claim that no Iranian despises Islam and Shiism (many do), but generalizing it so sweepingly to a nation of 72 million is completely wrong. After 30 years of the IRI, go to Iran in Moharram and see what people do to commemorate Ashura, from the largest cities to the smallest villages. I make no judgement as to whether what they do is right or wrong, rather I am only pointing out a glaring fact. The point is, the US is not the secular heaven that many Iranians who live here think it is.

In my opinion, Iranians have learned to separate their own personal beliefs from the official lines of the IRI. In my opinion, a great fruit of the Iranian Revolution has been the knowledge that church and State must be separated. It took Europe several hundred years to learn this important lesson, but only a couple of decades (after the Iran/Iraq war) for Iranians.

Many Iranians that live in the US think that church does not play any role in shaping politics here in the US. The reality cannot be farther from the truth. The most important base of support of the Republican Party is the reactionary religious right, that wants to regulate everything according to the literal interpretation of the Bible, from being anti-abortion and anti-gay, to trying to prevent teaching of the Evolution, to having litmust test of being Christians for the Court appointees. The Christian Zionists are the most ardent supporters of the Iraq war. Just check the internet to see how many articles have been published about such important facts.

The solution of the present problem is not, as the author of the article correctly points out, in denying what type of people the present Iranians are and with what culture, but how to separate issues and try to work out the problems.

Beware! :)

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Revisiting the Refugee Camps in ...

Each man
Is an exquisite house
And when
He loses his calm
And bursts into an irreversible anger
He becomes a ruin in scattering
Instead of that exquisite house
Therefore a wise man
Learns not let this or that annoying creatures
Destroy his house
By constantly repairing and fixing
To beautify his house
Yes, man is a fine house
Must protect himself
From the intruders
Who come to explode him
To ruin his house
.
Learn to anger him in explosion
Is an art form
Beware of this art
--Hassan Danesh, Author

BEST IDEA ABARMARD

This is by far the best idea I have read to be offered to solve Iran and Iranians problems!!!
One that is not taking side with anyone, but the Iranians and covers most of everyone's wellbeing, liberal and conservative. Revenge and division will not help Iranians!!! Let us go forwar with this and do not sell our country and our people for a piece of pie!!!

Chistianity-Europe NOT SAME as Islam-Iran

You describe Christianity as the core moral and cultural values of the Western civilization, which is true. But, to similarly claim Islam at the core of Iranian values, identity etc. is just FALSE, even by comparison with western societies.

You might as well note the historical context in which Christianity provided core values of Western societies, as opposed to Islam's relation to Iranian values and identity. In a sentence: Christianity was ADOPTED by European tribes before their conquest of the continent and other parts of the world with their Christian religion. The true face of this Abrahamic cult was later revealed in the barbarism of the middle ages, nevertheless.

Islam and Koran, on the other hand, came to Iran on the horse back of the invading hordes of Bedouins, bent on destruction, rape of women and beheading of the Iranian infidels. Another bloody manifestation of this unreformable barbarism occurred 500 years ago under Shia Islam which has been just as barbaric as the original conquest. Sadly, this still goes on today after 1400 years. The only unifying effect of this 1400 year holocaust is the just hatred of it.

Stale but nice

“The reality is that Iran today does not hold a nationalistic identity but more of a religious identity. With a sudden breakup of the current system, it is possible to enter an area of an unknown and chaotic Iran, which to me makes the IR a more attractive option than some of these negative possibilities” If your supposition that nationalistic identity is lacking and religious identity is the norm then you might want to explain away the twenty nine year long dogged futile efforts by Islamist Republic to wipe away the nationalistic identity. The statement about the possibility of sudden break up of Iran is the exact wordings that the last king used in a desperate effort to stay in power, so does the Islamist Republic, this boogeyman did not work for the former nor will it work for the latter. And the statement about the attractiveness of the Islamist Republic could be imaginatively defended where it not that you arrive at it within the confines of a false parameter that your supposition creates to arrive at such, a bit stale but still nice try.