What Iran Is Really Like - Without the Demonization

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/28942-what-iran-is-really-like-without-the-demonization

In my travels, when the subject of America came up (which wasn’t often), Iranians expressed the view the few Americans bothered to come to Iran, and knew little about its culture (a Persian civilization more than 2500 years old), its religion (Shia Islam), its politics (nominally a republic, which is more than you can say for most countries in the Middle East), or its foreign policies (in which suspicions about the U.S. and Israel are far down the list of preoccupations).

Nor did I come away from Iran thinking that it has designs to become a regional hegemon. Not even in southern Iraq, with its Shiite majority, is Iran especially interested in annexing those lost provinces of Persia.

Yes, Iran is a patron of Hezbollah and occasionally Hamas and the Palestinians, and a shadow player in the civil wars of Lebanon and Syria. So too is Israel (which has invaded Lebanon and bombed Syria repeatedly) and the United States (which at last count has dropped bombs on or sent forces into seven countries around the Middle East).

Keep in mind, too, that neighboring powers with atomic weapons include Pakistan, Russia, China, Turkey (from NATO), India, and Israel, which, unlike Iran, is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The irony of American and European economic sanctions against Iran is that they hurt everyone—the banks, merchants in the bazaar, local companies, tour operators, etc.—except those they were designed to influence, the mullahs, who cling to power on allusions to Great Satanism.

<snip>

My enduring images are of the hundreds of well-dressed, cheerful and well-mannered school children, with whom I was traveling on trains between sites of Persian glory. Invariably they spoke some English and were fascinated with the foreigner, often asking if they could have a picture taken with me.

Their proud parents, equally well-dressed, would meet them at the stations, usually with a single red rose. I could be wrong, but they looked like kids who will grow up to become accountants, dentists, and professors, not holy warriors.

[marym625]

1. K&R!

Love your posts.

Thank you for this

[Atman]

2. No! NO! We need a demon under the bed to fund the war machine!

Of course, Iraq was a pretty progressive culture too, before we bombed them back to the stone age and gave them "freedom." When will we ever just stop messing with other countries? The bombs are a ridiculous issue, because once any one of those countries launches one, they'll all start flying, and we'll all be dead.

[erronis]

14. I have an idea... How about we demonize Israel for a change?

I'm sure we could find some flimsy excuse like they are close to (sic) having nukular weapons of mass destruction.

Or that they spy on the U.S.of.A.

Or that they have blown U.S.of.A. ships out of the water. Actually realer than the Tonkin incident.

Think of all the money we'd save by not propping up their regimes!

[lancer78]

19. Even if Iran gets the bomb,

they will never use it. "Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy the FEAR to attack." Dr. Strangelove

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. ...

[elias49]

4. K&R

[mountain grammy]

5. Oh dear, how can this be true?

you're ruining the song... Bomb,bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran! Oh no, John McCain will be so upset. Bibi told us all about Iran and was given how many standing ovations?

I'm sorry, how can you expect Americans to believe eyewitness accounts when we have Bibi to give us the real picture..

[Enthusiast]

7. +1

Ruining the song.

[BeanMusical]

6. Kick and R. Great post.

[Fred Sanders]

8. Without demonization? What are you talking about. Demonization is what America does best. And War.

Even the President is not immune from media and political campagins of demonization.
The more demons created the better. When one demonization is found out to be untrue, just move on down the list for the next one.

America does not run on Dunkin's, it runs on Fear.


If there is a Great Satan State, it is not Iran....

[onethatcares]

9. I believe it was about

16 years ago pictures of Iran were posted on this site showing the smiles of the everyday folks and the way they lived their lives.

For some reason, aside from a slightly darker skin tone, they were just like you and me (if you're Caucasian that is) They also didn't

want to go to war with us, it was their leaders that always banged the drum.

Peace out.

[sendero]

10. I had a good Iranian...

... friend (we worked together closely) for a few years, we still chat from time to time. He came here to the US when he was 10, he's in his mid 30s now.

We talked politics some, not a great deal.

His take, paraphrased of course "the Iranian people are very much like Americans who just want to build a middle class life, raise their kids and live, but the government has been hijacked by extremists whom the people don't trust and who don't trust the people".

[awoke_in_2003]

40. sounds like every government ever

people are basically the same, with the same desires.

[Raine1967]

11. A few years ago, Rick Steves WEnt to Iran i and filed his travel there:

I remember seeing it and was fascinated. Hope you enjoy it!

[steve2470]

36. great video thanks nt

[Raine1967]

38. You are more than happily welcome! This afternoon, I watched a speech he gave about his visit:

I actually found this much more in depth:

It's another hour, but he gives a lot of the backstory regarding his trip. I really like him, and I like his honest and unabashed commentary.

In America, we have been given a narrative about Iran. I do believe it is time we re-eamine all of it.

[SMC22307]

37. I watched that when it was on... would love to visit. (n/t)

[Jefferson23]

12. The long history of Israel gaming the 'Iranian threat'

3/5/2015

Years before his recent grandstanding in Congress, Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders conjured a threat where one previously didn’t exist.

Western news media has feasted on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s talk and the reactions to it as a rare political spectacle rich in personalities in conflict. But the real story of Netanyahu’s speech is that he is continuing a long tradition in Israeli politics of demonising Iran to advance domestic and foreign policy interests.

The history of that practice, in which Netanyahu has played a central role going back nearly two decades, shows that it has been based on a conscious strategy of vastly exaggerating the threat from Iran.

In conjuring the spectre of Iranian genocide against Israelis, Netanyahu was playing two political games simultaneously. He was exploiting the fears of the Israeli population associated with the Holocaust to boost his electoral prospects while at the same time exploiting the readiness of most members of US Congress to support whatever Netanyahu orders on Iran policy.

Netanyahu’s primary audience was the Israeli electorate. He was speaking as a candidate for re-election as prime minister in an election that is just two weeks away. His speech was calculated to play on the deep-rooted anxiety of Israeli voters about the outsiders who may want to destroy the Jewish people.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/long-history-israeli-gaming-iranian-threat-830388190#sthash.VyRY4gLR.dpuf

[KG]

13. the eternal bogeyman, another enemy isreal is happy enough to let the US fight.

[Dustlawyer]

15. What never gets reported here in the "Land of the Free" is that Persia (Iran) was a Democracy

until their Prime Minister threatened to nationalize their oil because BP wasn't paying them much for it compared to the going price. BP went crying to the British government, who then came to us and our relatively new CIA. The CIA admits to spending $200,000 in the slums of Tehran to have protestors March on the PM's home. He was arrested and a Show Trial was held. He was immediately executed and we installed the Shah. A man who's Secret Police executed millions to control the country (all collage professors and others who were a threat).
The truth of what happened became known among the people, and thus the hate of America began, could you blame them? That is why we are called the "Great Satan!"
When the hostage crisis and revolution began in Iran, our nightly news told us that Iran was a country of "crazy people" and/or religious nut jobs! They never told us "free thinking" Americans the truth.
So when our politicans and our news tells us crap about Iran we need to understand the truth. Maybe if we made amends for what we did the people would take over from the Mullahas and we could move forward with relations.

[libdem4life]

23. ^^^This^^^

Most don't want to be bothered with facts.

[ND-Dem]

32. Mosaddegh wasn't executed. He died in 1967, about 14 years after he was deposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh

[Dustlawyer]

39. I stand corrected then. I was going from memory

from a collage course in 1986. Could have sworn he was executed, glad I didn't. Still doesn't change the fact that we screwed them over really bad for oil, as usual!

[jwirr]

16. Thank you for your first hand info. I remember to propaganda that we were fed during the Cold War

and how different the truth was after the wall fell and the USSR broke apart. When the "monster" came out from under the bed it was not so monstrous.

[alfredo]

17. The holy warriors come from the conservative "red states", not from the

educated urban areas.

[B2G]

18. Are they still killing an imprisioning gays? nt

[iandhr]

21. Absolutely

And women for adultery

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

28. Their looney politicians have more power still than our looney politicians.

Lord knows we've got enough domestic loonies who would love to kill or imprison gays. We've just still got more actual democracy in choosing our 'leaders'. If the theocrats ever took power, we'd no doubt be right there with them on those issues.

[eridani]

41. Secularists have far more clout here

Pushback reduces the influence of religious loonies.

[Comrade Grumpy]

29. Is America still oppressing black people?

All nations seem to have their warts.

It is good, however, to have a balanced picture. Especially of countries that could be our next victims.

[Scootaloo]

42. Yes. Does this justify demonization of Iranians? n/t

[iandhr]

20. Yes Iran is a wonderful place

Minus the death penalty for gay people.

[B2G]

22. I can't believe this thread has 55 recs. nt

[iandhr]

27. I can

[libdem4life]

24. So, ergo, we bomb them, right?

[iandhr]

26. No I think that's a bad idea

Since that would only hep the regime. I am just saying people who say they are progressives shouldn't say any nice things about a country where being gay can get you executed.

[libdem4life]

30. Well, remember just like George Bush did not speak for all of us, the same goes for the

Iranian people. They are told what they are to believe at home and at church and in public. PBO was the first national leader to honor LGBT values. And many's the time gay young people committed suicide here in the US, gay people still stay in the closet, etc.

But I get your point.

[Comrade Grumpy]

31. Can we say any nice things about a country where being black can get you killed?

I mean really.

Like the US--and every other country--Iran has its good and its bad.

[arcane1]

34. I think the OP is just saying they aren't all crazed nuke-loving suicide bombers.

That's the imagine that persists in our media, and as long as that caricature persists, we won't have much luck changing the actual issues in that country.

[Blue_In_AK]

25. I have some photographer online friends in Iran

and they seem to appreciate beauty in much the same way I do. Imagine that.

[NobodyHere]

33. .

[TheNutcracker]

35. Iran has 4yrs as part of their edu system and marriage gets you a one time 50K home voucher!

Housing and edu are higher priorities over there....obviously.

[malaise]

43. Lovely post

This side must never be presented. It creates problems for the war hawks.