Thursday, June 7, 2007

Iran and US, revisited

This sent to me by historian\cab driver\book writer-seller Allen Ruff

Original source: Counterpunch, June 2007, as noted on the Nasir Khan Blog. (Supplemented by hyperlinks of other sources)


"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election as president in June 2005 has not made dialogue any easier, given his taste for provocative statements, particularly about the Holocaust and Israel. But Iran is a big country rich in history and there is more to it than
its president. There is much tension within the government and Ahmadinejad had severe setbacks both in the local elections and in elections to the Assembly of Experts in December 2006. There are substantial challenges, economic and social, and forceful demands for more freedom, especially among women and young people. Iranians refuse to be regimented and the only strong card the regime has to win their loyalty is nationalism, a refusal to accept the kind of foreign interference suffered
throughout the 20th century."

However, War monkeys may not get it...

"...the war on Iran has already begun. Many sources confirm that the United States, bent on destabilising the Islamic Republic, has increased its aid to armed movements among the Azeri, Baluchi, Arab and Kurdish ethnic minorities that make up about 40% of the Iranian population. ABC News reported in April that the US had secretly assisted the Baluchi group Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), responsible for a recent attack in which some 20 members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed. According to an American Foundation report (1), US commandos have operated inside Iran since 2004 (Retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner)."

Not exactly news, but gives some context to my previous posting.

1 comment:

B. Broeren said...

Wow, since I cannot comment on your Blog, I guess I'll comment here.

"And fight in the way of God with those who fight with you, but aggress not: God loves not the aggressor."
-Quran (Sawm 2, v. 187) trans. A.J. Arberry.

Individually, I have not invoked violence against you. My political leaders may have done so, but many of them don't represent me.

"To you your religion, and to me my religion."
-Quran (Sawm 109, v. 5) trans. A.J. Arberry.


lexis talonis
"'A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation'; but whosoever forgoes it as a freewill offering, that shall be for him an expiation."
-Quran (Sawm V 109, v. 49) trans. A.J. Arberry.