A Different Face of Iran

[democratic]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090100511_pf.html

By Steven Knipp
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, September 3, 2006; P01

Four days later, visa in hand, I boarded an Air France flight from Dulles to Tehran. There I met my colleagues arriving from various points; they were German, British, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Korean. I was the only Yank. What took place over the next fortnight astonished me. Everywhere I went -- from the traffic-choked streets of Tehran in the north to the dusty desert town of Yazd in central Iran, to the elegant cultural centers of Isfahan and Shiraz -- I was overwhelmed by the warmth and, dare I say it, pro-Americanism of the people I met.

Ponder the irony of that last statement for a moment. While much of the rest of the world seems to be holding their collective noses at us Americans, in Iran people were literally crossing the road to shake an American's hand and say hello. Who knew?

Initially, when Iranians asked me where I was from, I'd suggest they guess. But this game quickly proved too time-consuming -- no one ever guessed correctly. So instead I would simply mumble "American." And then their faces would light up. For better or worse, Iranians are avid fans of America: its culture, films, food, music, its open, free-wheeling society.

[david_vincent]

1. I've had the good fortune to have met several Iranians in my life

and they are absolutely wonderful people. Our policy of alienation and confrontation is, in my opinion, exactly the opposite of what is in our best interests. We should be doing everything we can to engage with Iranians, if not the government then certainly the people. The potential for a tremendous and deep friendship between Iranians and Americans exists, and we'd be complete fools to just ignore it.

[NGC_6822]

2. Strange

"While much of the rest of the world seems to be holding their collective noses at us Americans, in Iran people were literally crossing the road to shake an American's hand and say hello."

So, are you trying to tell us that the Iranians are the only people in the world that love us? If only we could here President Ahmadinejad say that.

[peacebird]

3. at this point I'm overjoyed to find someone who doesn't despise us

And for what it is worth I believe that
Iran has a right to produce nuclear power for their people. They are not a rich country, and they want to use their oil for export to make money. This is what the Iranian leaders say - and we have not been able to prove anything else. So regardless of all Bush's fear mongering and dire warnings about Irans nuclear ambitions I say leave them alone. I do not believe any of the claims spouted by our leaders regarding Iran because, quite frankly, the Bush administration has absolutely NO credibility anymore.

[NGC_6822]

5. Credibility

What would you say about the credibility of France, Germany, indeed most of Europe and most of the rest of the world, as well as the UN IAEA. They all have expressed equally grave concerns about the intentions of Iran. Iran concealed its nuclear program for 18 years until some dissidents exposed it to the world a few years ago.

[peacebird]

6. to my knowledge only the US has ever nuked another country

Iran might be attempting to build nuclear weapons - but we have no proof of that. As I recall we had "dissidents" from Iraq who said the Iraqi people would greet our forces with flowers and candy.... Might not these Iranian dissidents be cut from the same cloth as Chalabi? hmmm? Convenient to have dissidents who will say exactly what the administration wants to hear, but where is the proof?

Even in Iraq the ministers are saying they do not believe Iran is meddling in their country - which of course contradicts what dubya and Rummy are spouting.

Fortunately France, Germany and the rest of Europe are adult enough to realize that jaw-jaw beats war-war every time. Regardless of how many wet-dreams dubya has over dropping a couple nukes on Iran, diplomacy presents the only possible solution...

[NGC_6822]

8. Jaw-jaw

Well, France, Germany and the rest of Europe have been jaw-jawing for two years and received absolutely nothing in return. Iran will be quite happy to jaw-jaw forever. Meanwhile the enrichment continues until the day when there's nothing to jaw about anymore. What will you do then?

[peacebird]

9. my - you are very negative on the prospects of diplomacy.

Have you looked into the probable outcomes of war? Last time I checked our own experts said diplomacy was the ONLY option with Iran. War was a no-win situation.

What will *I* do - what I always do. Continue my life and try to convince my reps in Congress to do their jobs. I really do not see Iran as a threat to America. Just don't. And furthermore I refuse to sit about and quiver in fear - no point in it except to give georgie boy more power over us.

I thought we were supposed to be the "Land of the free and the home of the BRAVE" - anyhow that's how I prefer to live.
If you prefer to quiver uncontrollably over the "threat" posed by Iran - go ahead.

It IS a free country.....

[democratic]

13. Your

First problem is comparing Iran and Iraq. That's like comparing US and Mexico. Iranians have a far different culture, background, history, ethnicity, mindset, race, etc. Iranians are indo-europeans who speak farsi. Iraqis are semites who speak Arabic. There is nothing about them other than some warped view of their dictatorships tauting Shia Islam. Majority in Iran could give a crap about religion this was all a British-Western creation.

[bhikkhu]

12. what to do...hopefully nothing.

following the same pattern of inactivity adopted as Iran's neighbors and near neighbors acquired their nuclear arsenals...Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel. In each case, we did nothing, except perhaps a little huffing and puffing (or a little assistance, in Israel's case). I would hope that we do the same if or when Iran acquires weapons.

[democratic]

4. Iran is anything

But a democracy we can't hold the people accountable for what the regime does or says.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi NGC_6822!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NGC_6822]

20. Many Thanks for the welcome

I find this is a most interesting and stimulating discussion group. It's wonderful in America, that we have such opportunities--and let's not forget the miracle of the Internet.

[bhikkhu]

7. the niceness of our enemies is often so inconvenient....

(sarcasm intended)

but I cannot think of an example of a culture that is not welcoming and genuinely nice. I think it takes a great deal of effort - propoganda, socialized hatred and violence and militarism - in order to create a society that is anything other than nice, even in conditions of extreme poverty. And even then all that effort is probably only good for a time...

[IntiRaymi]

10. Hence Fox News.

And Ann Coulter, Mike Savage, Rush Limbaugh, etc, etc.
We are being marched into a another tragedy. All in the name of geopolitical influence.
And some will lockstep their way into heroic acts on the ground somewhere, and we will eulogize them in so many ways, while at the same time ignoring the original cynicism that placed them there.

[yurbud]

11. I have met a lot of Iranians here in the US. The religious nuts must stay

home because every one of them I've met are very friendly and cosmopolitan.

[geek tragedy]

14. The Iranian people would make great friends and Iran will

become a solid ally--if we just butt the hell out of their affairs and treat them like a grown-up nation.

[NGC_6822]

16. butt the hell out of their affairs

I agree that the Iranian people are probably very nice, but the world must deal with the leadership of Iran. I suppose when you say "butt the hell out of their affairs" it means stand aside and let Iran continue with their stated goal to eliminate Israel from the region. Ahmadinejad would be our best friend in the world if we did that.

[Opusnone]

17. By the tone of your posts on this thread

I'd guess you were afraid of Iran. Is that a safe assumption?

[NGC_6822]

19. Serious concerns

I have serious concerns about Iran's intentions to the same extent that all western nations and the UN Security Council have. France and Germany are included in this list as well as the previous Gerhard Schroeder government that can hardly be classified as right wing.

[Vidar]

15. I was studying in France in 1980. An Iranian acquaintance

jokingly offered to take me hostage several times.

[Lisa]

21. sad to think that that America was once so highly regarded ...

... in not just Iran, but in many developing countries around the world, that people literally refused to believe the US government would ever be involved in aggression and duplicity. An Iranian friend of mine noted that even after they'd learned that the CIA had overthrown their prime minister in the early 1950s (and replaced him with a brutal dictator, the Shah, who was more amenable to oil companies) -- people still insisted that the American government must have been tricked into this by British Petroleum and the UK. (The British government, with its longtime colonial past in the region, was believed capable of anything!) Truman, by the way, had been against this kind of involvement ... it wasn't until he was gone that the new administration okayed the CIA plan.

The book "All the Shah's Men", about the coup that ousted Mossadegh and its aftermath, is a very interesting read.