INVADERS

Big difference

Fundamental differences between Russian and American invaders

by Ben Madadi
19-Aug-2008 (36 comments)
Recent developments in Georgia have confirmed many fears, including that of mine, that Russia's imperialistic intentions are very serious and the democratic world needs no complacency toward such brutal acts against democratic movements of other nations, the one of Georgia in this particular case. When I wrote an article a few days ago about the events in progress I was thinking about a few issues that I was absolutely sure would come up in the comments I would receive. The questioning is absolutely legitimate and worth serious consideration and debate. We know that America did invade Iraq. We know what happened in Iraq after the invasion>>>

THINK

Stupid, and proud of it

Rational thought and free inquiry vs. faith

by A. H. Ladan
18-Aug-2008 (9 comments)
Through centuries of living, learning, experimenting, experiencing, innovating and gaining vast knowledge, man has evolved to the next level. Today we are guided by our conscience and act with humanity; we no longer are bound by “one book”, rather we have many books to choose from for any aspect of our lives. Hitchens writes: “Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind … and the soul. … Religion spoke its last intelligible or noble or inspiring words a long time ago, … the devotions of today are the echoing repetitions of yesterday, sometimes ratcheted up to screaming point so as to ward off the terrible emptiness.” >>>

VIEW

We are all Baha'is

Discrimination against Baha’is has been so intense that human rights activists have also come to accept it

by Ali Keshtgar
18-Aug-2008 (29 comments)
The criminal scheme of Baha’i-killing, of which the Hojjatieh Society was the standard-bearer and promulgator before the [1979] revolution – a scheme whose promoters came to power with the emergence of the Islamic Republic – is at its foundation a felonious concept intended to bring about religious cleansing through the murder of all Baha’is. If there had been no barriers to this planned genocide, such as international laws or global reaction, then no doubt by now the leaders of the Islamic Republic would have fully implemented their atrocious scheme.>>>

WOMEN

From Bad to Worse and Beyond…

Discriminatory family law takes a few steps back

by Elahe Amani
16-Aug-2008 (6 comments)
Discriminatory family law in Iran is on the brink of taking a few steps back! The “Family Protection Bill” passed swiftly and quietly during the first round of discussions of the legal and judicial commission of the Iranian parliament in July 2008, almost one year after it was drafted. Opposition to this bill has solidified one of the largest coalitions formed to protest a bill in recent years. An inclusive and strikingly diverse group of women activists, feminists, human rights defenders, as well as secular and religious groups (including some conservative women’s groups) are opposing this bill and demanding that the government take action to prevent it from passing through parliament for a final vote>>>

FUTURE

گمانه زنی دربارهء شکل رژيم آينده

بازگشت به گذشته و صورت های مختلف آن هيچگاه ممکن نبوده است و نخواهد بود

by Esmail Nooriala
16-Aug-2008 (9 comments)
هيچ کدام از اردوگاه های سه گانهء اپوزيسيون سياسی ما ـ برای رسيدن به مواضع خاصشان در مورد «شکل رژيم» ـ ساختار ديد خود را بر بنياد ارائهء احتجاجات منطقی و علمی نگذاشته و به نتايج به روز نشدهء تجربه های عملی گذشته اجازه داده اند که کاملاً در روند شکل گيری مواضع سياسی آنها نفوذ و دخالت قاطع داشته باشند؛ تا آن حد که ـ مثلاً ـ يک جمهوری خواه کافی می بيند تا کسی را که چند و چون موضع گيری جمهوری خواهان را مورد پرسش قرار می دهد تنها با زدن برچسب «سلطنت طلب» مشخص و افشا و رسوا کند. و پادشاهی خواهان هم در بکار بردن اين تاکتيک ظاهراً سياسی و در باطن تخريبی و فرصت کش، دست کمی از حريفان خود ندارند و هرکس که گوشه ای از نظام شاهی را مورد پرسش قرار دهد بلافاصله توده ای و نوکر روس و نمک خورده و دست پروردهء انگليس می شود. >>>

GEORGIA

UN not USA

Self-baptised Yankee liberators should stay away from the Georgian-Russian conflict

by Jahanshah Rashidian
15-Aug-2008 (76 comments)
As long as Georgia was a part of the Soviet Union, all ethnic conflicts within the Soviet zone of "interests", were not international issues. Yet, the issue emerged à la une after the dissolution of the USSR, when first in 1995 the two regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- became involved in conflicts with local separatists supported by Moscow. The issue ended in a de facto independence of South Ossetia from Georgia. Yet, with a pro-US president in office, Georgia launched an assault earlier this month with artillery and rocket attacks on the separatists. Russia immediately reacted and showed the sharp claws of a polar bear>>>

GEORGIA

Tanks but no thanks

Proxy battle between an empire, a very strengthened Russia, and democracy

by Ben Madadi
13-Aug-2008 (29 comments)
Recent events in Georgia show the new type of battle that is likely to rage for decades to come, between what is remained to challenge democracy in the world, beside terrorism, which in reality is not a serious challenge toward democracy, but just a historically never-ending struggle (in a gruesome way) of the humiliated against the powerful. Terrorism has always existed in various forms and shapes, which was very active also about a century ago, and was known as Anarchism. Today it is called Islamic extremism, and in the future there will be other types, more or less powerful. However, the most serious and credible challenge toward democracy comes from more powerful ideologies that are more able to attract crowds and resources>>>

5+1+1

Chance worth taking

Ahmadinejad's foray to Turkey

by Alon Ben-Meir
13-Aug-2008 (10 comments)
It is quite understandable that Israel would be deeply disappointed by Turkey's decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an official visit this week. In Israel's view, such a visit will only further legitimize a leader who is reviled for his denial of the Holocaust and for his repeated existential threats to the state of Israel. The question, however, should not be how much legitimacy Mr. Ahmadinejad may garner from this visit, but whether Turkish officials could potentially engender something positive out of this foray that could benefit not only Turkey but the entire region including Israel>>>

ANALYSIS

Genuine Energy Concerns

Iran's requirement for nuclear energy is justified

by Meir Javedanfar
12-Aug-2008 (19 comments)
Tel Aviv - Due to its abundance of gas and oil resources, not many countries believe that Iran truly needs nuclear power for energy purposes. However, when one looks at the energy situation in Iran, it becomes evident that there is in fact a dire need. Iran's total electricity production capacity stands at 33,000 megawatts (MW). 75% is from natural gas, 18 percent from oil, and 7 percent from hydroelectric power. Meanwhile, due to the fast rate of industrialization and population growth, demand for electricity is growing at 8% a year>>>

NUCLEAR

The Not so Diplomatic Turn

The Continued Frailty of Iran-US relations and the Possibility of War

by sadegh
11-Aug-2008 (7 comments)
ast week Iran responded to the latest European proposal regarding its controversial nuclear program. The so-called “Iran Six” were however neither amused, nor heartened by the proposal’s apparent “ambiguity” or deafening silence regarding the demand that Iran cease it enrichment activities. Such ambiguity has not been received in the spirit of Kissingerian ‘constructive ambiguity’, whereby intractable sticking points are glossed over in a bid to further diplomatic progress and make negotiators lives slightly easier, but instead as effrontery and as a fundamental lack of will on the Iranian side. Tehran thus far has been non-committal vis-à-vis the offer of a six week long “freeze-for-freeze” deal which would see Iran temporarily halt its nuclear program>>>

IRAN-US

آمریکا را در همین اتاق تاریک نگه داریم

نباید گول زبان چرب و پوستین نرم این روزهای آمریکا و شعار «گفتگو برای تفاهم»‌ را خورد

by hoder
11-Aug-2008 (12 comments)
«با آنها حرف بزنید، ولی با هدف براندازی‌شان.» این جمله‌‌ای است که عباس میلانی، یکی از مسوولان اصلی پروژه‌ی براندازی از داخل که به حزب دموکرات‌های آمریکا نزدیک است، دو سال پیش به مجله‌ی نیویورکر گفته است. ولی اگر دو سال پیش چنین سخنانی در واشنگتن خریداری نداشت، امروز خیلی‌ها در پایتخت آمریکا حرف میلانی را تکرار می‌کنند. حالا که پروژه‌ی جمهوری‌خواهان دولت بوش در منزوی کردن سیاسی و اقتصادی ایران از طریق تحریم‌های اقتصادی و تکنولوژی باعث نشده که ایران از حق خود برای غنی سازی هسته‌ای و در نهایت تولید انرژی هسته‌ای بگذرد، استدلال دموکرات‌ها در «گفتگو و تعامل» با ایران دارد تقویت می‌شود. بخصوص که بخشی از جمهوری‌خواهان معتدل که به واقع‌گرا مشهورند (مثل کسینجر و جیمز بیکر و...) هم از این استدلال حمایت می‌کنند. >>>

CHOMSKY

From honey to ashes

We now know that with the collapse of Berlin Wall, Chomsky collapsed, too

by AmirAshkan Pishroo
11-Aug-2008 (24 comments)
I always thought that if I ever wrote anything against Noam Chomsky all my ancestors would rise from their graves – and I’d just have to bury them again, as Groucho Marx once said. But that was the Chomsky of old times, when he was regarded as “Einstein of Social Sciences.” That claim about him, however, today no longer seems to hold water. As Hegel said, “philosophy paints its gray on gray only when a form of life has grown old.” Chomsky did not know that his purpose was philosophy of language, not international politics, never mind the Middle Eastern politics. But we now know this thing, to paraphrase Richard Rorty, “for we latecomers can tell the kind of story of progress which those who actually making progress cannot.” >>>

WESTOXICATION

در جستجوی غرب زدگان

کجای دنيا بيشتر از قم تا گلو در غربزدگی فرو رفته است؟

by Esmail Nooriala
09-Aug-2008 (5 comments)
در دوران معاصر کمتر اتفاق افتاده که اصطلاحی از جانب نخبگان و متفکران ايرانی وضع شود، و يا مورد استفاده قرار گيرد، که در بين اهل قلم و انديشهء جهان هم کاربرد پيدا کند. واژه ای خاص و در حال حاضر يکی شده با انديشه های مسلط بر حاکميت اسلامی ايران، اصطلاح «غربزدگی» است.در واقع، غربزدگی، به معنی علاقمندی و گرايش به «برخی» از مظاهر تمدن غرب، چماقی است که بخصوص بر سر نسل جوان ايران فرود می آيد و خيابان ها و بازار های کشورمان را به صحنهء برخورد نيروهای انتظامی با جوانانی تبديل کرده است که ظاهرشان از «مصاديق غربزدگی» محسوب می شود. اما فهرست اين مصاديق را فقط گردانندگان رژيم اسلامی می توانند بصورتی کاملاً دلبخواه تهيه کنند. حال آنکه اگر تمايل به استفاده از مظاهر تمدن غربی نشان غربزدگی باشد، چه کسی را می توان در حکومت اسلامی ايران يافت که غربزده نباشد؟>>>

CHALLENGE

Buying time

Coping with Iran

by Shaul Mofaz & Nicholas Burns
05-Aug-2008 (88 comments)
SHAUL MOFAZ: Iran's nuclear program is geared toward attaining military weapons capability -- something that constitutes an existential threat to the state of Israel. With such ability, Iran not only could attack Israel directly, it could also increase financial and material support under its nuclear umbrella for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hizballah, as well as for Syria. Iran has already provided Hizballah with long-range missiles that can hit most Israeli territory, and one day, Iran could also use this power against the United States and Europe>>>

NUCLEAR

Poor Man’s Equalizer

We in the peace movement must distinguish ourselves from likes of Shultz, Perry, and Kissinger.

by Shapoor Vali
05-Aug-2008 (8 comments)
The current framework of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is almost non-performing. It may not be dead, but it is non-functional. This, as many other totally unpleasant outcomes, is another by-product of the Iraq war. In “post Iraq” world, an overwhelmingly majority of nations learned that the Bush administration invaded Iraq not because the administration “thought” Sadaam had weapons of mass destruction; it invaded Iraq because the administration “knew” Sadaam didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. In this regard we must recognize the two years UN inspection of Iraq and destruction of its weapons as part of military strategy of the United States>>>
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