Op-Ed

For lack of a Solzhenitsyn!

I thought of Solzhenitsyn and his recollection of being an officer in the Soviet Army, observing the inhumane treatment that the Soviets had inflicted on the Germans, military and civilians, in 1945 as WWII came to a close; perhaps crimes that many would excuse as retribution for what the Germans had done years earlier to them; a retribution that he would not find acceptable. Today’s counterpoint is simply the ease in which the American military accepts crimes of war, often candy-coating them and making them PR-acceptable, as simply “collateral damage.” Our American military has gained vast experience at decriminalizing many repugnant acts of war during the past six decades, from No Gun Ri to My Lai to Fallujah, expecting future generations to be the ones passing judgment, if at all>>>

دوستی به همین سادگی؟

آنچه مسلم است دنیا در مرحله گذارو رهایی از زیرسلطه نظام امپراطوری قراردارد. انقلاب ایران در منطقه استراتژیکی خاورمیانه نقش ارزنده ای در این گذار رهایی بخش ایفا کرده و می کند. لذا هر اظهارنظری از جانب مسئولین بویژه دولت عدالتخواه زیر ذره بین دشمنان انقلاب (امپریالیزم و صهیونیزم) ودوستان انقلاب، یعنی نیروهای عدالتخواه قرار می گیرد. بنابراین حتی اصل ظاهرا مسلم دوستی بین ملت ها می باید با نگرش علمی مورد بررسی قرار گیرد.تجربه عملی در راه مبارزات استقلال طلبانه و عدالتخواهانه نشان داده است که بی اهمیت دانستن بسیاری از این گفتمانها و گذشتن از آنها بعدها به مانند ویروسی در جامعه پخش میشود که احتیاج به صرف وقت و انرژی بسیار دارد تا بتوان با آن مقابله کرد. بنابراین مقابله به موقع از اهمیت خاصی برخوردار است.>>>

یاد آرفتوی خون و جنون را!

رابطه ی فقیه و خون, و مفتی و جنون در تاریخ میهنمان مثال های خوبی برای توضیح وتبیین " تداعی مشابهت" اند. این امر نه تصادفی, و نه از دین ستیزی و اسلام ستیزی ست , ملتی واقعیت های دردناک و هراسناک رابارها دیده و تجربه کرده است, وچنین دیدن ها و تجربه ها یی تشابه ای در ذهنیت تاریخی و فردی اش حک کرده است, که ماندگار به نظر می رسد. بی تردید شماری از فقیهان بودند , و هستند که تاب تحمل دگراندیشی را داشته و دارند, که اینان انگشت شمارند. اما اکثریت فقها و مفتی یان خونریز و دارای افکار و کرداری جنون آمیز بوده , و هستند . کافیست تاریخ مان را ورق بزنیم تا با نمونه های فراوانی از این موجودات,که به چندنمونه از آن ها اشاره می کنم, مواجه شوید .>>>

ex-super power

Americans are fascinated with bigness. We believe we should have the best and the biggest of everything. Only ten years ago, the United States was at the top of the world’s biggest lists in most categories. That is the thing of the past according to Mr. Fareed Zakaria the author of a book entitled; The Post-American World. Consider the following facts: “The tallest building in the world is in Taipei, The world’s richest man is Mexican. Largest publicly-traded company is Chinese. The world’s biggest plane is built in Russia and Ukraine, (the) leading refinery is under construction in India, and (the) largest factories are in China. The biggest movie industry in terms of both movies made and tickets sold is Bollywood, not Hollywood. Of the top ten malls in the world, only one is in the United States; the world’s biggest is in Beijing” according to Mr. Zakaria>>>

آشتی ملی

باری، بعد از سالها تفکر و اندیشه در مورد پیدا کردن یک راه حل منطقی برای فیصله دادن به درگیری تمام نشدنی بین ملت ایران با دولت و حکومتشان و امید تحقق به آنچه که برخی آنرا آشتی ملی میخوانند، سرانجام به یک نتیجه گیری و راه حلی رسیدم که به امید خدا اگر شما آنرا مطا لعه بفرمائید و بدون غرض ورزی و چوب لای چرخ گذاشتن سبک ایرانی مفاد آنرا مورد بررسی قرار دهید، شاید بلطف حق آنرا متفقاً تاُیید و به دفتر سازمان ملل ارائه دهیم تا در یک رفراندم با تمام هموطنان در میان بگذارند و ملت ایران سرنوشت خودرا انتخاب کند. حالا بنده کاملاً آگاه هستم که با خواندن حتی همین چند سطر، بعضی بلافاصله پرگار شک و تردید را باز کرده اند که دلیلی پیدا نمایند تا دور مارا خط و دایره بکشند. لذا قبل از اینکه آن چند هموطن از گفته ما دل ببرند و بقیه مطالب را نخوانند، بنده باطلاع و سمع ایشان برسانم که: نروید! چون مسئله مهمی است و خیلی پول توشه! >>>

War of words

If you favor a forward, nonviolent strategy to tackle the Middle Eastern challenges of the 21st century, “diplomacy” is the only game in town. To illustrate my claim that, for us liberals of the Middle East, talk or negotiation with adversaries has become the only alternative for ending a row that has triggered regional tension, I shall discuss the recent shift in the US policy toward Iran. When Senator Barack Obama expressed his readiness to pursue diplomacy with America’s adversaries should he win the November election, President Bush was quick to denounce such plans to engage the enemy, saying: “We have an obligation to call this what it is—the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.” >>>

Watching the West

While some of the most important topics of debate among the Iranian net addicts, and the blogsphere, seem to be about democracy (where it is not about treason and conspiracy) the real changes are taking place not among the Iranians, or in Iran, but in Turkey and in parts of the Arab world. Unfortunately, we as Iranians, did our bit a while ago, and Khomeini was just ready enough to decapitate whatever intelligentsia was truly, excitingly, capable of having any seriously positive effect on the Iranian community probably for more than a couple of generations. And Khomeini's acts are still shadowing the opportunities that the Iranian community can take>>>

هياهوئی برای هيچ

اگر نگاهی به کره زمين بيافکنيم می بينيم که، با يک تقريب نود درصدی، اعضاء جنبش غيرمتعهد همان کشورهائی هستند که در مجموعهء ديگری به نام «جهان سوم» هم جمع بندی می شوند و نام ديگرشان چيزهائی همچون «عقب مانده»، «توسعه نيافته»، و «در حال توسعه» است؛ کشورهائی با توليد ناخالص اندک، رانت خواری شديد، حاکميت های استبدادی و ايدئولوژی زده، و ديوانسالاری های سراپا غرقه در فساد. و درست همين دولت ها هستند که بی اتکاء به انتخابات دموکراتيک و صرفاً از طريق اعمال زور و سرکوب بقدرت رسيده اند و همگی در سراسر نيم قرن گذشته بصورتی پنهانی و نامشروع و ضد ملی به قدرت های بزرگ دوران خود وابسته بوده اند. >>>

Mission possible

The war between the United States and Iran is on. American taxpayer dollars are being used, with the permission of Congress, to fund activities that result in Iranians being killed and wounded, and Iranian property destroyed. This wanton violation of a nation's sovereignty would not be tolerated if the tables were turned and Americans were being subjected to Iranian-funded covert actions that took the lives of Americans, on American soil, and destroyed American property and livelihood. Many Americans remain unaware of what is transpiring abroad in their name. Many of those who are cognizant of these activities are supportive of them>>>

Time's up

Negotiations over the future role and status of America’s armed forces in Iraq have been underway for some time, while any sign of agreement between the respective parties appears inconclusive and highly precarious. With the July 31st deadline already passed, the ongoing dispute over the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) shows little sign of resolution. The Bush administration has been somewhat desperate to push the measure through and establish a legal framework for the continued presence of US forces in Iraq since the UN Security Council mandate is due to expire this December>>>

Something missing

Today and about three weeks after the conference, I am sitting here going through my notes and reading some reports of the conference, thinking something is missing. I see an empty space for a critical review of this lively and interactive conference, the 19th IWSF conference; a review which doesn’t lack the essence of critical thinking: a review that not only praises the strengths of this conference but also points out the ways to improve weaknesses for the future conferences. As a member of the audience, I was not drained of my previous education, studies and personal beliefs and biases >>>

Enriched offer

If we in the West are to set a genuine red line that the Iranians can recognize as such, two interlinked things are necessary. This line needs to be rooted in international rules that the Iranians themselves have formally recognized, and it needs to have the full support not only of the Europeans, but of the Russians, Chinese and Indians as well. In other words, our red line must be strict, verifiable adherence to the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NTP, accompanied by a list of detailed, concrete and severe sanctions that leading members of the international community undertake to impose if Iran breaks the treaty and moves to weaponization>>>

White Man’s Unending Burden

There is no rush on the part of the conservative classes of the western societies, since the British troops, the staunch allies of the U.S. military juggernaut, have a lot more annihilation to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. Des Brown and the House of Commons have not specified the deadline and the number of troops to be redeployed from Iraq to Afghanistan, which by the nature of its resistance to foreign invasion and occupation may become a long-term target of the Pentagon and NATO. According to Gordon Brown the tasks of the 4,100 British troops in Basra in southern Iraq is to train and mentor the 14th division of the Iraqi army. Just like any other benevolently occupying power, it must prepare the social conditions and educate the Iraqis>>>

Seasonal writers

Non-political writers seem to be more of a seasonal type for this matter, and most of them seem to disappear before reaching their true peak because they are usually too busy with their daily lives. Professional quality journalism and writing needs money, and the Internet has so far failed to come up with free truly quality material to match commercial publications (with mostly paid journalists). The job of the unpaid blogger becomes even more hazardous when he is constantly faced with the frustrated and untalented commentator whose best inspiration is at best a jackass, or other phrases in excusable 'French'. What a blogger had hoped to be a pleasant hobby turns out to be a choice between extreme politicisation at best, or too often simply an unpleasant encounter with the anonymous>>>

شورای ملی صلح؟

"شورای ملی صلح" و در راس آن شیرین عبادی به این تحلیل کودکانه متوسل میشود که اگر دولت ایران لحن خشن و تند را کنار بگذارد و در مقابل پرخاشگری جنایتکاران صهیونیستی و امپریالیستی کوتاه بیاید و به عبارت دیگر مانند یک کودک مودب عمل کند ، خطر حمله به ایران کاهش می یابد . ایشان فراموش کرده اند کهآمریکا برای حمله به ایران احتیاج به هیچ بهانه ندارد همانطور که بدون بهانه به عراق و افغانستان حمله کرد و در ضمن همان " قوانین بین المللی! " که خودش در تصویب آن نقش داشته را به راحتی زیرپا گذاشت . شیرین عبادی و" شورای ملی صلح!" با کم بها دادن به جنگ روانی ،اقدامات تخریبی و تجاوزکارانه دولت آمریکا ومتحدانش ، مقاومت قهرمانانه مردم ایران و منطقه را عامل تعیین کننده در شروع جنگ جلوه میدهند. >>>