No Monday Morning Quarterbacking
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No Monday Morning Quarterbacking
10-Dec-2007
Dear Nazy Khanoom,
This is written in response to your touching "My Generation." Unlike some of the posters who originally replied to your article, I shan't engage in Monday morning quarterbacking. I don't wish to blame your (and my mother's) generation for the revolution that brought to power the deadliest enemy faced by our people in over a thousand years.
Few among you could have envisioned the mess Iran's revolution would, over the years, prove to be. Your generation has, without doubt, paid dearly for its youthful naivety and unrestrained idealism, but it cannot wash its hands of how things have turned out. None amonst you can absove yourselves of responsibility by saying every generation blames the one before it for something. Nor can you diminish the responsibility you must bear by saying that your generation has sacrificed the most for bringing about the tragedy which has befallen our homeland. Nothing good has come of this revolution, and the one immutable fact which remains after all is said and done is that the younger generations had nothing whatsoever to do with your generation's revolution.
Those of your generation have paid a high price, but so have the younger generations. The post-revolution generations have paid with their happiness, their freedom, their blood and their lives just as yours has. The biggest difference is that the ocean of blood paid by your generation was mainly paid in defending the nation from a foriegn invasion, which many believe never would have occurred absent the ascendance of the Islamists in Iran, while the ocean of blood paid by the younger generations has been in trying to free our country from the the tyranny of the enemy from within. This enemy was put firmly in place by your generation, and this fact that is beyond dispute.
I am sad that your generation and my mother's generation had to flee Iran to find peaceful places around the world to live and raise your children. I know that living in foreign countries has not always been easy or pleasant for any of you. You all carry within you hearts a sadness and longing for the homeland you left behind. You have been forced to endure this, however, because of events of your own making.
I am even more sad for the millions of our people who were too young to have participated in your revolution, but who have in adulthood had to flee Iran. While your generation has had anywhere from 15 to 30 years or more to adapt to new languages and cultures in faraway lands, our countrymen to this day are fleeing the terror your generation's revolution brought.
Then there is the generation of Iranians born in America, Canada, Australia, Europe and other places around the world. This is my generation and I am saddest of all for it. We have been robbed of our homeland, our culture, and our traditions. We are freaks. We don't fit in completely in the land of our ancestors nor do we fit in completely in the land of our birth. Don't feel sad for us though, for in a few more generations all that is Persian in our hearts and in our characters will be washed away from the characters of our grandchildren by the melting pot societies we have had no choice, but to call home.. This will be just one more in the many direct results of your generation's revolution.
At least those in your generation have memories of life in Iran; many of us we do not because we never had the chance to live there! Many Diaspora-born Iranians cannot speak the language of our people, and many more can't read the beautiful language of our ancestors. Your revolution cost your generation much, I admit, but the price of you foolhardiness will be paid for generations to come by Iranians both inside and outside Iran.
After this many years, as far as I'm concerned, there is no room for blame; there is only room for tears...tears for your generation, for mine, and for those that are yet to come; but most of all there ought to be tears for what might have been.
Khoda Nagah-dar,
Lance
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Was Leili a man or a woman?
by Anonymously (not verified) on Tue Dec 11, 2007 05:19 AM PSTWas Leili a man or a woman? I was 16 at the time of revolution and it was a scary time. My father and uncle brought home rifles from the streets for protection for all that was unknown and of course we were all worried and scared. After the revolution it was a scary scene too. Then came the war and bombing and so on.
As far as the risks that is involved with revolutions and the natural resources of Iran and Saddam backed by foreign powers trying to steal it from us, there is risk in everything. What are you saying? People should just submit to exploitation and don't do anything because foreign powers may use the insecurity after the revolution to dismantle the country? Is there a difference between the exploitation that foreign powers do with a puppet regime and waging war against a revolution?
You still have hesitation about what the slogan "marg bar shah" meant. You doubt that it was the defining moment in our contemporary history. You are questioning me about my whereabouts during the revolution, while you find the whole revolution a mass confusion and something that me and many others are having a hard time to understand from our cozy homes.
So yes lets agree to disagree. If you are old enough to think one should not do anything for fear of something going wrong, can't you remember when you were younger and didn't play so safe? This is not about one or two people, or one or two group. For me, the revolution was made by a brave nation and they stood ground, fought the war and expelled the enemy. They prefered dignity to playing it safe with no future. Revolution was neither my decision nor your's. It was the decision of the Iranian nation as a whole. More power to them. May they find their way out of darkness and all forms of injustice.
If you think "revolutions
by Not quite (not verified) on Mon Dec 10, 2007 01:13 PM PSTIf you think "revolutions are always good", we must respectfully agree to certainly disagree, for revolutions can also be a huge tragedy and a very large disaster for any country also, and for generations.
During those years were you an adult in society and inside Iran? (I would appreciate your honest answer to this one question, and based on your comments I am guessing you weren't).
I mentioned some dangers of a revolution for Iran, but you decided not to even consider them. There is a campaign by certain ultra-hardliners (though a minority in their own societies, yet very influential and powerful in USA's government and major media) who want to have Iran blown and torn into small pieces and hence making it non-existent, but that doesn't concern you, for you the revolutionary who is going to forcefully overthrow the current governnment in power inside Iran, from your comfortable home thousands of miles away. They don't just want a revolution, they want a civil war (if necessary they will try to help create it)and tear Iran into pieces, for their own purposes (political, or power, or lots and lots of money like inside Iraq, or to force Rapture). The big power in this group are the ultra-right Israelis and Americans and the war companies who want Iran to be ruined, not the moderate or liberal Americans and/or Israelis, they just care for their own safety and well-being, like everyone else on the face of our planet (of course excluding the very small percentage of maniacs all over the world). The majority of Americans are disgusted with all the fabrications and mis-information that they have been fed and some are still trying very hard to feed more lies (see the numerous opinon polls and the approval ratings).
The marg bar shah slogan did not "unite ALL Iranians from" inside Iran, not at all. Not everyone was pro-revolution (this is an understatement). What the majority wanted and was generally united for, was independence, real progress, real and lasting reforms, real civil rights (not the superficial models that are prevalent in autocratic systems and with a deceiving facade on the surface).
As for those who were shouting marg bar shah, it was towards the specific shah in power, not some shah of such and such dynasty, and not to Yaghoob-e Lays, nor Vakil-ol-roayaa, nor Daryoush, nor Kourosh, etc. Yes 1) there were those who wanted a real constitutionalist and much more representative government and with the king and royal family having very little or no power per the constitution, and as a symbol (like the Queen in England, and of course with much less money taken from the country's wealth and treasury, how much are they worth now? 20 billions plus? 2) and then there were others who wanted a secular republic system, 3) and then there were others who wanted different communist systems. 4) and then there were those who wanted a religious system of government.
My two dah-she-ee (older Iranian pennies).
Wishing for a more sane world for all people, and may I dare say, for peace.
The core objective of revolution was to "overthrow monarchy"!
by Anonymously (not verified) on Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:24 AM PSTThe core objective of revolution was to "overthrow monarchy"! What was that "marg bar Shah" slogan which united all Iranians from all walks of life?? remember??? The politial parties jockeyed for powers after the revolution and they've all tried all kinds of "marg bar ...s" ever since, in order to unite people again, but revolutions don't happen often. They happen once in a blue moon.
Revolutions are always good, all beit with risks and excesses. People don't have a revolution just for the fun of it! or for the hell of it! They do it because it is necessary as part of their history. It is very hard to unite millions of people under a slogan to change the very fabric of a society. US did it, French did it, we did it and others will too.
RE: Not quite
by XerXes (not verified) on Mon Dec 10, 2007 09:35 AM PSTVery well said. I don't think people would read this or if they do many don't even get it. you said it correctly and I wish the Iranians try the point that you have made.
The core objective of the
by Not quite (not verified) on Mon Dec 10, 2007 09:00 AM PSTThe core objective of the revolution was not to "overthrow monarchy", per those who were pro-revolutionary (per my observations as a by-stander who lived in Iran)
1. it was to have the power and decision-making in the hands of Iranians, and not in the hands of a foreign-placed government and person in power (it didn't matter what the kind of the then government in power would fall under).
2. different groups wanted to take hold of power themselves (primarily the different communist groups, Fadaaeaan se-aateeshe, fadeeaan-e do aateeshe, the aksariat and aghaliat, Maoists, Marxist Islamists/MKO). It was a fight for grabbing power (all the pleasantries and promises of a future pie in the sky when they would be in power and on the surface, aside). They were the ones who initailly had a major impact on creating the revolution. And of course those who favored a pro-religuously based government took over.
"Revolutions are always good because people make it themselves." This is absolute nonsense, and a very strange commentary. One should add that revolutions are not necessarily good and actually can be distastrous for any country. Revolutions usually involve very huge risks and dangers for the country, and in the case or Iran (because of its vast wealth in natural resources), the huge danger is for the revolution to be taken off-track, from outside countries and for their own interests only. Lately, we see a big effort by some to try to create inner conflicts and tensions among Iranians (on ethnic and racial lines), these efforts are not for the interest of Iranians, their goal is to try to hurt and weaken Iran (this is just a pre-show for what will follow in the case of a bloody revolution and the country falling apart, by those outsiders). Kind of like when Saddam decided to attack Iran after the revoltuion of 79 (with receiving a green light and lots of support from outside).
For the Monday morning quarterbacks and those sitting on the sidelines from thousands of miles away while prescribing a revolution, at least acknowledge that you are speaking from the comfort of your cozy homes and thosuands of miles away from Iran (and a bloody revolution and it possibly turning into a war, won't affect or make your life miserable).
This isn't Monday morning quarterbacking.
by Anonymously (not verified) on Mon Dec 10, 2007 06:32 AM PSTThis isn't Monday morning quarterbacking. If you were to agree that the Iranian revolution was bad, then yes it would be Monday morning quarterbacking. The core objective of the revolution was to end monarchy. The same institution that had robbed Iranians in every dynasty. For every rich monarch hundreds of thousands were exploited. Revolutions are always good because people make it themselves. Regime change and military coups are always bad because it is made against people's will. Every revolution in every country is based on its historical and cultural fabric. You are revolting against another group. So it is not surprising if some people don't like it. 2nd generation in diaspora, even the freak ones, will get assimilated like other races before us, like the Irish, the Italians, the Germans, etc. Live your life and don't worry about the other stuff. Just be mindful.