I could say any number of things about the President of Iran visiting at Columbia, and the speech he gave, and the commentary about it. But I don't think I'd be saying anything that hasn't already been said, before.
Having said that, I find it tragic that people are conflating Iran, itself, with its President and his views, and finding both to be execrable at best, and worthy of atom bombing at worst. Need I remind anyone of the horrible excuse of a person WE have as President, and how terrible it would be if WE were judged by him, alone.
(And yeah, I know - we already are.)
So, I'm reprinting a piece I did back in 2005, when Mr. Ahmadinejad decided to let us all know that Israel needed to be wiped off the map. I did this in honor of my many Iranian students from the American University in Dubai, some of whom may have agreed with their President, but all of whom deserve a better future than the one this clown is manufacturing for them.
To the Honorable Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Dear Moron:
Like most of the civilized world, I was less than pleased to hear you say that Israel needs to be wiped from the face of the Earth.
That's not because I'm a big fan of how Israel conducts its business, or looks after its interests. And it's not just because I don't think it's a good idea to say that your neighbors (who have nukes, by the way) should be utterly destroyed if you want to be a part of the larger, global community, regardless of how they conduct their business or look after their interests.
Rather, it's because I have a very personal stake in this matter. You, sir, are putting my kids in jeopardy. And I don't appreciate that - not at all.
You see, sir, while I was in the UAE, I was employed at the American University in Dubai. I taught students from over 80 countries while I was there. They're all my kids. And I love them all, even if I wanted to strangle them from time to time - especially around finals.
Now, a large number of my kids - my students - were from Iran. I'm sure that's no surprise, since Dubai is right across the Gulf from you. I did the same things for my Iranian students that I did for my other students: helped them, cheered them on and wished them success when they graduated.
And I did not spend all those years teaching all those kids how to do academic research, and helping them achieve their scholastic goals, just to have you toss their future away with stupid comments towards your nuclear neighbor.
(I do not appreciate your playing dice with their lives while playing 'hide the breeder reactor' from the IAEA, either, but that's another matter.)
I doubt seriously that Israel is going to take your threat seriously - or at least any more seriously than they'd take any other threat from your theocracy, past or present. But I don't doubt that these kinds of dumb-ass pronouncements will only further estrange Iran from the world at large, and make being Iranian a stigma, rather than something to be proud of.
And that is not good - not good at all.
My kids deserve a chance to shine, you clown. They deserve to be a constructive part of the world economy. They deserve to be looked at as potential business partners, researchers, engineers, artists and architects.
J. Edward Tremlett is a lot of things, currently. He's back in the states after a seven-year stint in Dubai, UAE. He's been published in such diverse places as The American Partisan, the International American, The End is Nigh, Pyramid Magazine and Worlds of Cthulhu. He has a story in the "Echoes of Terror" horror anthology. He's also ready to get back in the saddle and kick some ass after too long of a radio silence.
is not the proper way to address a head of state. You and Bollinger are butt buddies of the first degree and need a remedial course in diplomatic protocol as well as manners.
by
Thaddam Rawke (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 8:35:50 AM
Iran and Saudi Arabia Should Have Nuclear Deterrence
I have to disagree with you J. How many years has the Israeli war been going on? Seems to me it started right after WWII. But then again maybe WWII never really ended for Israel. How long do you want this to go on? You call that a future? In fact the whole issue is about the imbalance of power in the region.
Arabs should have the Atomic Bomb.
The terror in the Middle East is because there is no balance of power. Israel is the only power that has nuclear weapons. The Arabs the greater regional peoples have no protection or deterrent from any country in the World. How is that? How is it that Arabs are discriminated against for wanting protection as all major ethic countries do?
Instead the USA has already occupied Saudi Arabia with a velvet military takeover, and Israel the American right arm has taken over the Golan Heights, of the Arab Palestinian region. The USA has taken Iraq, and now contemplating Iran. I question the asserted effort of US aggression in the region and taking away Arab rights as a people. The outcry is that all Arabs are not the same, and which ever Arab country gets the Atomic Bomb will be the guiding light of all Arab Nationals.
But who should that be? In fact if Iran is able to claim its nuclear deterrence, then of course Saudi Arabia should also have its own deterrent. This is what the war was about according to intelligence when they tried to explain Osama binLadin‘s break with the Saudi's in Arabia. Saudi government is said they wished the US forces to stay in Saudi Arabia, but in reality some arm twisting went against the logic of Osama.
Face the truth it is about Oil, and the US wants all of it, come hell or high black water. If they really want peace, they will work to provide Iran and Saudi Arabia the bomb. Israel and Palestine conflict will mend toward better relations, because all sides now are even, not unbalanced like they are today.
The real threat in the world America hates to admit is, and no one pays any attention to is Pakistan. Really Musharaff is another dictator, and if he starts smoothing things up with Osama, and Osama is able to use Pakistan nuclear technology, he could essentially threaten the US military in Saudi Arabia, forcing the Saudi's to seek independence from America's military grip in Saudi Arabia. How Saudi Arabia gets the bomb, is anyone’s clue, but I think it wouldn't be a bad thing.
Think of it this way...terror attacks happen because of the imbalance of power. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran all have no nuclear arsenals, but Israel does. This is the imbalance.
Afghanistan is a neighbor to nuclear power Pakistan. The fighting is because of the imbalance. If there was balance and all sides had the bomb, I really believe the violence would stop, because everyone is balanced, MAD is assured. I think they would never use the bomb, because they would be destroyed by the world governments, which is why DETERANCE is so effective.
The worry of the Bush administration that Tehran and N. Korea have the bomb is paranoia to say the least....and after all these years with them not having the bomb, they still have troubles. No administration has been able to end the conflict. The cold war never really ended.
That is why the Korean War has not ended, because of the imbalance. Everyone knows Rumsfeld was doing business to bring nuclear technology to N. Korea, he was right but he was silent about it, making the public believe he was doing something wrong. That was his blunder even though he was right.
The administration now supports the no nuke approach for countries they declare are rogue nations. That is Bush's mistake now. He needs to change policy to correct this mistake, accept his fate. Take being called a flip flopper, and assert that after all these years they have not had the Abomb and the violence continues. Peace never materializes. They shake hands drink champagne, trade red books they signed and two weeks later are at blowing each other up again.
Bush needs to accept he made a mistake.
When the Arabs have the bomb they will see the violence stop and balance of powers creating a New World Processional Economy.. This is the key for the Political parameters involving balance for peace or imbalance for a never ending war in the world.
Think about it? Most successful Democracies have the bomb as a deterrent. How can they possibly bring Democracy to the Middle East when they don't allow them to have the bomb? Iraq and Palestine will never have peace, because of the imbalance of power. The bomb is a heavy responsibility, because it spells the end to their existence, if they use it wrong.
The bet is, once they have it, they will never use it. And they know they have a balance of Power. Israel will respect the Arabs, and this will make the Arabs respect Israel. The land grab will end, and the Arab countries will have the protection they want to secure their peoples, their land and their resources. How is that a bad thing? That is Democracy, and that is Peace, imposed or not, it is better than another 62 more years of violence.
The Arabs will no longer be factionalized when they support the Arab country that has the bomb. In fact the Atomic Bomb will tear down the factionalization, and the Arabs will form The Arab Bloc of Nations. They will see that Arabs are uniting and joining together. They will not use the bomb because they know it will also mean their own annihilation. The bomb will bring them together and forge relationships that work for peace in the region. Right now Arabs are vulnerable rich people with abundance of resources. They have no protection for themselves...this is why the US invades, and Israel maintains its land grab tactics. There is no balance in the region. Imbalance spells terror and violence. Balance spells imposed peace.
I think Iran should have nuclear power and the bomb, and so should Saudi Arabia. These countries have vast quantities of oil resources. These resources are the envy of the world. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the richest nations in the world, yet they have nothing as a deterrent against super-powers who have the bomb, while those super powers also lack viable oil resources.
Most of the world looks at the USA as an aggressor nation that has been the only country to use the Atomic bomb, while targeting innocent people in Japan instead of the military. This was a breach of trust, even though the US is credited for ending the war in the Pacific. Americans like to think they stopped Hitler, but it was Russia who ultimately persuaded the Fruher to commit suicide. The Middle East is unbalanced, having only Israel with the Atomic bomb, while they continue grabbing Arab homes and land. No nation can stop them, unless they had a deterrent to stop Israel and the USA.
Although I stand first to be against nuclear technology and believe the US should dismantle its programs first, the argument can be made that Iran and Saudi Arabia have the right to protect their nations from Superpowers vying for their oil resources. Oil is on the decline in the world. If America provided more money to create alternative energies and made it clear to the Middle East Oil producers they have no need for their Oil, then I think those countries would not be searching for means and ways to protect themselves.
After the Iraq invasion, it made it perfectly clear these countries need the bomb. Bush has been a major blunderer to world security...but I suppose it reflects the same criminal intent they have already committed in the past with Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Most of the world looks at the USA as an aggressor nation that has been the only country to use the Atomic bomb, while targeting innocent people in Japan "instead" of the military.
by
Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 10:23:50 AM
And you didn't read what I said. My problem isn't with a nuclear Iran. I'd be perfectly willing to consider a nuclear-armed Iran if they weren't sponsoring terrorists at the same time.
(I WOULD rather keep nuclear material out of their hands until such time as they stop. Surely you understand why?)
My problem is that my kids - my former students - are being made to look bad because of his fat mouth, and are having their futures endangered for the same reason.
by
J. Edward Tremlett (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 59 diaries, 73 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 10:41:19 AM
J the word is isn't. There's no such thing is ain't. All teachers know this. ha.
I know they are Persian but they are of similar culture. I said :
But who should that be? In fact if Iran is able to claim its nuclear deterrence, then of course Saudi Arabia should also have its own deterrent. This is what the war was about according to intelligence when they tried to explain Osama binLadin‘s break with the Saudi's in Arabia. Saudi government is said they wished the US forces to stay in Saudi Arabia, but in reality some arm twisting went against the logic of Osama.
Think about this..American soldiers wiping out little kids, and wives, and old people. You are an Iraqi and pick up a gun to stop the aggression. Is he a terrorist? Or is he defending his family?
Why did Jimmy Carter incite Iraq to fight Iran? Because we didn't want to use american troops to fight the Iranians who decided to Nationalise their 15% of the profits from BP. The Shah was who stopped that when Mogadessh was killed. Why should all the money go to Britain as they suck out all of Iranian resources? Who takes care of the Iranians?
I think Iran is not a terrorist nation. Who shot down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf during the Reagan Administration?
Iran has been victimized, by the West, with the west using and arming Saddam to fight them. Until one day Saddam realized his people were dying for Americans, and what was he getting nothing! Americans and Brits just wanted to keep that spicket open, regardless to who it really belongs to.
Now it is interesting that Iraq and Iran were bitter enemies, but now Iran is accused of helping Iraq defend itself. Interesting to say the least, now that Persians are friends and helpers to Arabs. No?
I think yes. And although people will say Israel was attacked by Arabs, in fact one might consider Arabs really attack British intererst and American interest who use Israel as their coin in the Middle East. Israel is their doorway to the Oil. Until Israel a puppet state of America reconciles and stops its land grab, and stops its attacks how can there be peace?
There needs to be a balance of power as I have explained. You have said nothing to show how that maybe accomplished. Infact Israel's contempt of Iran when it has atomic missles constanly pointing at Iran is a greater indication they want to wipe Iran off the map in this day and time. Even when Iran clearly does not have a nuclear bomb in its arsenal yet. No?
Yes, so thinking the President of Iran is some idiotic terror dictator in my opinion is without basis to real understanding and objective dialogue.
Iran and Saudi Arabia should have the bomb to protect themselves as nations in the world. Without it they are fish in a barrel, with nuclear superpowers pointing their missles at defenseless people, who really want peace, sovereignty in their own affairs, and the right to their own resources.
by
Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 8:20:55 PM
Their government supports terrorist organizations that kill people in Israel/Palestine. And whatever you may think about America's foreign policy, Israel's foreign policy, or whatever dirty dealings go in in-between, that fact does not go away.
by
J. Edward Tremlett (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 59 diaries, 73 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 9:44:04 PM
See what I mean Ikster might as well be talking to yourself, because no body listens. Nobody sees reasons, they only pursue their own misconceptions, their false beliefs, their assumptions, and incorrect use of the English language. If they can't even talk right in their own country, what makes me believe any one can have an intelligent conversation with the likes of people who shoot innocent people then call them terrorists? There is no reasonings, they only understand force. Goes to prove my point Iran and Saudi Arabia have the right to have the bomb.
by
Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 11:46:52 PM
maybe if you didn't text bomb people, had something worthwhile to respond to, AND didn't correct people on their online diction, you'd get better results?
Then again, maybe you ARE just talking to yourself.
by
J. Edward Tremlett (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 59 diaries, 73 comments)
on Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 10:22:31 PM
You were in favor of attacking Iraq, you think you can confess to that, yet here you are parroting a piece of total disinformation (""wipe Israel off the map"") and claiming you want to "protect kids".
You had to be a total idiot to have supported the attack on Iraq. Your current opinions pretty clearly that you're still an idiot. Sometimes "confession" results in a conviction.
Anyone who wanted to call Ahmadinejad a moron for his ludicris claims about homosexuals -or alleged lackthereof- in Iran, would have no argument from anyone reasonable. But Ahmadinejad was sadly spot on in his comments about the conduct of the United States.
In conclusion, I can't find a goddamned dime's worth of difference between you, and Bill O'Reilly. He says wants to "protect kids" too. WTF are you koolaid drinking wing-nuts always trying to hide your piles of horseshit behind "kids".
Hey mister...Leave them kids alone! Fucking idiot.
by
Esbe (50 articles, 0 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 85 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 11:47:28 AM
Someone who thinks 9/11 was an inside job's accusing ME of spreading disinformation? 'Oh kettle, thou art black, the teapot said...'
Anyway, if you want to harp on my stupid mistakes of the past, fine - I deserve the scorn for having been dumb.
But I don't think I owe anyone any apologies for taking this clown to task for what he DID say about Israel - unless you got some real proof he didn't say it - and hoping my former students can squeak out from under his shadow.
by
J. Edward Tremlett (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 59 diaries, 73 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 2:23:23 PM
I, unlike the aforementioned comments above, including.....
yourself, am not going to stoop to petty name-calling that should have been left at the playground by all of you fine gentlemen.
Why must we resort to the same dissention and false rhetoric that this very empire we live in now promotes?
First, I applaud you sir for the simple fact that you chose to go to another country to impart knowledge to people who actually respect and need it.
Second, treating a man who would be considered one of your peers (Ahmadinejad) who has several Phd's with such contempt is not for you to decide, you didn't live there under his rule. Now I understand you did what a good teacher should do and listened to your students thoughts and beliefs, students who experience it every day!
However, you also should realize as a teacher that everything you say and do matters to your students, positive or negative. You should also know that a history such as Iran's with thousands of years of oppression from different sides is part of Ahmadinejad's thinking.
Of course he wants Israel gone, because he feels that his brothers(Palestine) were unjustly pushed out to their own land by an oppressive force (just as we did with the Indians).
So it's no shocker that he feels the way he does.
Just like Bush denies the holocaust in Iraq, because in his perverted view he's right, so does Ahmadinejad have questions on the validity of something we all know happened. What seperates the two is that Ahmadinejad never tried wiping Israel off the map versus our emperor is!
So condemning a man for his views and ideas makes you just as guilty of crimes against HUMANITY as these heads of state. You basically put yourself on the same level as the man or men you wish to condemn.
I understand your pain, however as a teacher of your class I do not understand your contempt for a man who is doing and acting on what he knows and is trying to make Iran better to the world as a whole even though he goes about it the wrong way.
So please all of you stop your petty bickering about this, it's our fault for not stopping this emperor (Bush and his thugs) as much as it is his for acting on his dillusional philosophy.
Check out my Public diary here on Oped called AMERICA....WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?!
Reducing ourselves to this very kind of discourse is exactly what this administration and others since FDR have wanted us to do to keep us distracted from the real issues at hand.
I'm not saying you have no right to say what's on your mind or I would be just as guilty of lighting the Bill of Rights on fire as they!
I'm just saying "let him that hath no sin cast the first stone".
Thanks and peace be with you.
by
Joe Rathbun (8 articles, 4 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 142 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 3:52:18 PM
They are insurgents to US not to Ahmadinejad. So to classify his brothers in the region as terrorists and say his helping them is aiding and abetting is rediculous; what would you do in his place if you saw a neighbor being crushed by a bully under false pretenses?
by
Joe Rathbun (8 articles, 4 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 142 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 3:58:40 PM
In 1920, the San Remo Peace Conference gave Great Britain the mandate for the Land of Israel and Transjordan. In 1921, the British decided to decrease the size of the Jewish national home and to take Transjordan away from it. In 1922, Churchill published the White Paper on this subject. Later that year, the League of Nations approved the changed mandate, which took effect in 1923.
In 1947, Great Britain relinquished to the UN the power to make decisions relating to the status of the Land of Israel. The General Assembly appointed a special committee that collected evidence and decided unanimously that Israel should be granted independence. Most of the committee members favored partitioning the land into two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international supervision. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly accepted the partition resolution, 33 to 13.
Violence in the Holy Land broke out almost immediately after the UN announced partition on November 29, 1947. Jamal Husseini, the Arab Higher Committee's spokesman, had told the UN prior to the partition vote the Arabs would drench "the soil of our beloved country with the last drop of our blood . . . ."1
The first large-scale assaults began on January 9, 1948, when approximately 1,000 Arabs attacked Jewish communities in northern Palestine. By February, the British said so many Arabs had infiltrated they lacked the forces to run them back.5 In fact, the British turned over bases and arms to Arab irregulars and the Arab Legion.
The UN blamed the Arabs for the violence. The UN Palestine Commission was never permitted by the Arabs or British to go to Palestine to implement the resolution. On February 16, 1948, the Commission reported to the Security Council:
Powerful Arab interests, both inside and outside Palestine, are defying the resolution of the General Assembly and are engaged in a deliberate effort to alter by force the settlement envisaged therein.8
Soviet delegate Andrei Gromyko told the Security Council, May 29, 1948:
This is not the first time that the Arab states, which organized the invasion of Palestine, have ignored a decision of the Security Council or of the General Assembly. The USSR delegation deems it essential that the council should state its opinion more clearly and more firmly with regard to this attitude of the Arab states toward decisions of the Security Council.12
The Arab war to destroy Israel failed. Indeed, because of their aggression, the Arabs wound up with less territory than they would have had if they had accepted partition.
The cost to Israel, however, was enormous. "Many of its most productive fields lay gutted and mined. Its citrus groves, for decades the basis of the Yishuv's [Jewish community] economy, were largely destroyed."19 Military expenditures totaled approximately $500 million. Worse yet, 6,373 Israelis were killed, nearly one percent of the Jewish population of 650,000.
Had the West enforced the partition resolution or given the Jews the capacity to defend themselves, many lives might have been saved.
It is totally amazing to me that such a tiny country, surrounded by such large hostile countries is called the 'bully' in any confrontation. It seems that it doesn't matter who started the wars, Israel gets blamed. If I live in a hostile area, and the people around me are intent on killing me, I will fight back. If I am smart enough to develop my fighting ability to the point where I can defend myself in such a state, then good for me. Unfortunately, it seems that people want Israel to simply lay down and die. I guess it is just too embarrassing that such a tiny country defended itself so well against such an overwhelming enemy.
You wrote:
"Of course he wants Israel gone, because he feels that his brothers(Palestine) were unjustly pushed out to their own land by an oppressive force (just as we did with the Indians)."
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 4:45:54 PM
When I see what appears to be a misconception, I attempt to set the record straight. In this case, it appears that I made a hasty judgement and I apologize. I should have posed the question regarding who the bully was, and in this I was in error. Thank you for setting the record straight :)
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 7:21:40 PM
It's disrespectful in some countries not to accept :o)
It's hard to play 'devil's advocate'. It's hard with all the uninformed sheep running around in this world; I can understand how an intelligent person such as yourself can misread me ;o)
Thanks and Peace be with you!
by
Joe Rathbun (8 articles, 4 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 142 comments)
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 7:35:55 PM
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