The events of Fort Hood and the sudden rise to the surface Islamophobics has brought me to the surface as well. The past few days I did not blog because I was spending some of my blogging time on a local newspaper website shutting down people who want to believe Islam is the root of evil and therefore terrorism. Some of them wanted to debate the Qur’an with me, selecting individual passages out that “prove” Islam is a violent religion. All of their sources and quotes come straight from a selection of Anti-Islam websites that I have already seen before. It was not worth my time to explain to them why they were incorrect so I ignored the passage quoting despite their repeated insistence. After running them into circles where the only argument they seemed to be able to have is those passages and the idea that Muslims are killing all over the world, despite the fact that they do not acknowledge their own flaws within the argument, so it started to become a pointless debate.
So, of course, me being a troublemaker (I really should stop doing this.. but it’s so much fun..lol ) I took some of my old posts, edited them slightly and posted them on the site. One of the ones I wrote back on September 11th of this year and that just pissed him off and he became Rep. Joe Wilson typing “YOU LIE!” so I can tell I got under his sleeve a little. It really pissed him off that I didn’t allow free posting on my blog and so he proceeded to call me a coward and then took his comments and posted his own blog with the following introduction:
ThespianDuckie, a new anti-American screen name here on these pages has posted his vile treasonous venom here: http://link to where my blog was…
I strongly suspect this guy is a muslim terrorist, or at the very least, a muslim who sympathizes with the terrorists. His arguments, like we are to blame for 9/11, are utterly ridiculous and come straight from the AQ playbook.
Like a typical gutless anti-American coward, he has turned screening on for his blog. What follows is my response to his treason — because I doubt very seriously that he will allow it to be posted.
I ended up taking his posting and breaking it apart piece by piece. This guy thinks the Patriot Act is a good thing & it is “better them than us” in reference to killing Taliban/Afghani people.
He ended his rant responding to my statement: “Do not place a higher value on one US Citizen compared to an Iraqi or Afghanistan citizen.” With the following:
What kind of anti-American piece of crap are you? YOU D@MN WELL BETTER BELIEVE AN AMERICAN LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN ANY CITIZEN OF ANY OTHER COUNTRY. YOU be a citizen of the world, traitor, *I* am an AMERICAN.
This is a typical “I’m an American, I’m better than everyone” mentality and it needs to end. I’m glad we have success, I’m glad we have freedom and I’m glad we want to share it with the world, but to say the American life is worth more than any other person on this world is the whole reason we are in this mess. A long time ago, the United States was the leader in freedom & innovative thought. Now, we are the leader in corruption of wealth, breaking of treaties and violations of laws. Since 9/11, we have broken numerous international laws, blocked Israel from facing war crimes, invaded sovereign nations and are threatening another. We sit and complain about our health care being too expensive and then watch as half of our tax dollars go to fund wars that are only increasing the chance of terrorism not stopping them.
I left him a comment on his blog post after all of that stating that I did post his comments, including a response that said the reason I do not let them post automatically is because I do not trust a radical like him to post something without it causing harm to people I support. If it was not a statement like that, it would be posted with a response from me.
I also said the following:
I am an American who questions the government – a dissident. If this makes me worthy of the names you call, so be it. I still love my country, whether you agree with me or not. In addition, my faith has nothing to do with my stance. I have not indicated whether I am Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Atheist. You can put me into any group you wish, it doesn’t change the fact that as an American Citizen, it is my duty to question everything my government does in my name.
If this makes me hated, so be it. But at least I know I have done something to end the illegal occupation of nations in my name, the murder of innocent women, men and children. At least I have spoken up to end the suffering of people.
I do not support the wars, the people who are fighting in them and the people who are hired to protect them. I do not wish harm on our soldiers and demand that we bring them home.
This was a blog I posted originally back in May of 2009, but I wanted to bring it back up since many of you were not reading my blog at the time & due to recent events that seem to be boiling to the service with Iran.
As I’m developing more and more understanding of the world, it is very clear how naive most US Citizens are to the power of their government and it’s ability to create propaganda that gathers up support for actions. In a recent post I talked about the power of the media verses the power of the government and the whole idea that online social networking is starting to slowly eat away at the government’s ability to control it’s message. A clear example of this is shown in recent stories regarding China and it’s desire to censor or filter online websites their citizens can access and most recently with Iran as they blocked access to facebook.com.
Now this leads you down a road to question – are countries like China or Iran worse than the United States because they block and filter websites or is the United States guilty of similar things but not as obvious atrocities? In this blog, I am going to discuss the fact that there are more similarities between Iran & the United States than most people in the United States realize. In fact, I posted that very statement on my facebook profile and my aunt responded to me with an incorrect statement that shows even the “rebel” in our family does not understand some of the atrocities of the United States or has chosen to ignore them.
So, is Iran really as bad as our media and government want us to believe?
To help me answer this question I am going to pull from a few sources of information. One of them being a recent article that will be printed in the June 1st edition of Newsweek Magazine. Another major source will be video clips from a documentary that examines the exact idea I am raising.
Ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the United States has been at odds with Iran and diplomatic discussions as all but stopped to a point that just the idea that two of our diplomats being at the same table is monumental. Since this time, just about every Presidential Administration has attempted to demonize Iran as being an evil regime, one bent on destroying Israel and threatening United States’ security in the region. And, to be honest, they have become quite successful to a point where about 6 years ago we were actually thinking that if we weren’t at war in Iraq, perhaps we would have mounted an offensive against Iran. And, one of the main reasons I am compelled to write this today is for the very fact that as we attempt diplomatic efforts, what happens if diplomacy breaks down? Within the documentary “Iran is not the Problem” (video below) there is a graphic that describes the steps that lead a country to war:
1. Demonize the Enemy
2. Exaggerate the Threat
3. Fake a Diplomatic Effort
4. Establish a Pretext – “A line that supposedly was crossed”
So, step 1 & 2 are done and done, step three – working on it now. Step four..waiting for Iran’s Nuclear power stations to come online…
Now, before I start becoming heavily critical of the United States, I’d like to flat out say – I love my country and the freedoms that come with it and I do not wish to live in a country that feels they can block websites. While saying that, I also want to be clear that Iran is not evil and is no worse than the United States in many other aspects of life and I think, given an opportunity, Iran is likely to be a country worth respecting.
Let’s take each of these steps apart and reveal what might be a play and how the United States is not as moral as we say we are.
1. Demonize the Enemy:
How is Iran evil?
They are anti-Israel.
They are developing a nuclear program.
They censor websites.
They are oppressive to Women.
They are ruled by a paranoid dictatorship.
I’m sure I missed some things, but this would get way too long if I make the list any longer & now it’s time to ruffle some feathers and piss some people off..lol.
Anti-Israel
First of all, being anti-Israel is not being anti-semitic. Being anti-semitic is being prejudice against a religion or race of people. Being anti-Israel is being against a country. Second, Israel is one of the racist, prejudices countries I have ever witnessed. They have passed laws making it harder for Arabs to run or vote in elections. They do not halt Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. They have started wars against countries or groups of people because they “fear” an worse attack might be coming. One of the biggest atrocities by the country just this year took place in Gaza. After years of barricading 1.5 million people into a strip of land no more than 7 miles long at it’s widest part which left the area one of the most densely populated areas with the highest poverty rate in the world, they further closed off the country and proceeded to bomb this heavily populated area to get at the “terrorist” who live among them. In addition, Israel is one of the few countries in this world that has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weaponry and reducing the current stockpile of weapons that currently exist. This treaty gives the UN power to inspect peaceful uses of nuclear technology (which includes electrical power). Israel is known to have nuclear capabilities and perhaps the only reason they are allowed to exist with it is because of their refusal to sign this document and for the influence of the United States. So, while I disagree any statement that Iran may make in calling for the complete destruction of Israel, being anti-Israel is not evil and in fact, I quite agree with.
They are developing a nuclear program.
The United States and Israel want you to believe this is ultimately aimed at developing nuclear weapons, but I’m going to have to disagree with these ideas. What benefit does Iran have to develop a nuclear weapon? What do they get from an actual nuclear weapon that they can’t get with nuclear electrical power? Iran, by the way, has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has repeatedly asserted that their program is aimed at legal peaceful means. For part of this answer, I feel Newsweek says it pretty well:
Following a civilian nuclear strategy has big benefits. The country would remain within international law, simply asserting its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a position that has much support across the world. That would make comprehensive sanctions against Iran impossible. And if Tehran’s aim is to expand its regional influence, it doesn’t need a bomb to do so. Simply having a clear “breakout” capacity—the ability to weaponize within a few months—would allow it to operate with much greater latitude and impunity in the Middle East and Central Asia.
To claim that Iran is attempting to make a bomb is idiotic and does not take into account the other factors that influence their choices. Iran knows perfectly well that even if they were to produce nuclear weaponry that would destroy Israel, it risks itself being destroyed and Iran is not suicidal enough to do this.
The censor websites
This is going to be harder and harder to do, even if they block sites like facebook, there is technology out there that allows people to work around this and Iran as well as the rest of the world has a growing population of youth that know this more than their leaders do. One thing I learned growing up is that it is important for the government to fear the people not the other way around. The policy of restricting online access is evidence that the government is afraid of the people and is asserting it’s power to control. Every oppressive society eventually falls on its own as the people overcome the oppression and install fear back into the government.
They oppress women.
So does the United States and much of the rest of the world, that is all.
2. Exaggerate the threat.
I feel that much of this was already previously discussed above. In this segment, I will discuss some of the characteristics that we have placed on Iran and how some of these are not unlike the United States.
First, let’s take a look at their government. My aunt claimed they were governed by a “paranoid dictator.” This is not true. While they are not a full fledged diplomacy and they do some “dictatorship” type things such as jailing the opposition, closing down media & websites and does not allow many things to challenge it’s authority. They still have elections, a change in leadership and power and the leader of the country must satisfy their constitutes.
It might be best described as an oligarchy, with considerable debate and dissent within the elites. Even the so-called Supreme Leader has a constituency, the Assembly of Experts, who selected him and whom he has to keep happy. Ahmadinejad is widely seen as the “mad mullah” who runs the country, but he is not the unquestioned chief executive and is actually a thorn in the side of the clerical establishment. He is a layman with no family connections to major ayatollahs—which makes him a rare figure in the ruling class.
Second, let’s bring in an example of a recent jailing of a US-Iranian Journalist, Roxana Saberi. Yes, we heard all about her in our media here in the United States and it was terrible that she was jailed. We even had our new President speaking out for her release. She was eventually released & we all celebrated our victory. Did you know that the United States is holding a freelance Journalist in Iraq without charge? Yes, Ibrahim Jassam, a freelance photographer who works for the news agency Reuters was arrested following a raid on his home south of Baghdad on September 2nd, 2008. He is still imprisoned without charge today as the United States had deemed him “a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces.” Even an Iraqi Criminal Court ruling on November 30th, 2008 saying there was no evidence to hold Ibrahim thus ordering the US Military to release him. Yet, he is still in jail, without trial. Where is the outrage? At least Iran released Roxana…
What is another major difference between Iran and the United States? Well, in the past 10 years, Iran has not invaded another country to force a regime change. In fact, their military and financial strategy since 9/11 has been to protect itself and help itself. Each of these tracks has been heavily calculated with some aggressive and some retreative when necessary.
The Iranians allied with the United States and against the Taliban in 2001, assisting in the creation of the Karzai government. They worked against the United States in Iraq, where they feared the creation of a pro-U.S. puppet on their border. Earlier this year, during the Gaza war, Israel warned Hizbullah not to launch rockets against it, and there is much evidence that Iran played a role in reining in their proxies.
While at the same time, the United States has been fighting a “War on Terror.” But, my question is, aren’t we fighting a group known as Al Qaeda and their “leader” Osama Bin Laden? This is the whole reason we went into armed conflict into Afghanistan. And, as more and more reports surface that show that our government was aimed at connecting the horrors of 9/11 to Iraq to justify going to war with the country it is becoming more and more obvious that our aim in all of this was not to fight the “War on Terror” but was a much broader in scope. Heavily influenced by the power of Oil & Israel under a banner of “spreading democracy” around the world, we invaded a sovereign nation, overthrew their government and we are now forgiven because we plan to give it all back. We are still fighting against Al Qaeda which has now spread into Pakistan and we have stood back silent as Israel bombed the hell out of Gaza. And lately, we find that at this same time we have tortured people & continue to imprison people without charge. Our government has the authority to enter your home, arrest you without warrant (or in this case a secret warrant from a secret court) and ship you to prison without charge to hold you without trial indefinitely because you might be a terrorist. They have the right to monitor your phonelines, collect information without warrant & I’m just waiting for them to assert their power to censor the internet.
So, I would like to know, is Iran really as bad as our government would like you to think? And, is the United States as moral as it appears?
And now we wait… will our diplomatic efforts fail and will Iran go too far in asserting it’s sovereign right to produce nuclear electricity? That would be all it would take to satisfy the last two steps of our equation.
I’m going to end this by saying, everyone should watch this documentary. I have only watched the first 30 mins, but it is already good. At the end of this post you will find segment 1 of 9 available on youtube, the rest can easily be found there as well.
Do not allow your government to put fear into your hearts, do not let them oppress you. Iran is not the problem in this situation.
Enjoy the documentary, educate yourself on all fronts and don’t trust your government, ever. Your government works for you, make it work for you. For now, this will be the end of my post, but I’m sure more will come on this topic, until then, peace.
I thought I would take a moment to think about this question even though it was not in the top three from the poll, it is something I think about.
I don’t have too many fears in my life. At one time I had a fear of heights, but being in theatre has changed that within me. While I still do not like being in places where I feel unsafe, as long as I know I am safe then I am fine of the height. I often use my experience as a way to walk someone else through it when we get people in the theatre who are afraid of heights.
I’m sure I had many fears when I was younger, I don’t remember if I was ever afraid of the dark or afraid that a monster would come out of the closet, but almost every young child has some fear similar to those, but those fears seem to have gone away as I aged as I don’t remember them at all.
Today, I think I have two fears that have stayed with me for most of my life & continue to haunt my soul every chance I get. The fear of being alone without anyone to love or be loved by & the fear of failure. The fear of being alone was one I dealt with a lot over the past couple of years and up until this past spring I am now starting to gain control of that some, though there are moments when I long for the feeling of companionship that can only come from someone you love. But deep down, that feeling that I may be someone who grows old without feeling the full effects of love. Will my experience with my ex cause me to view love as something I am not suppose to have? I know these fears are unfounded and I need to push them away, but I cannot.
Every day when I wake up, the first thing I do is go online, usually on twitter, just so I can feel like I am not alone. There are people like me, people going through similar problems. It never amazes me as just about every day there is something new that I discover & it just make me feel like I belong. I started this blog as a way to explore my feelings and thoughts, to let the purging of my emotions just flow out as I finally deal with things I may not have dealt with yet because I know I am finally ready to move forward & have been slowly over time. I find the public setting to be rewarding because it allows me to have a sense of belonging, but the fact that I remain a little anonymous gives me that feeling of being able to escape at any moment. I know one of the challenges I face as I open myself up more and more on this blog is the fact that I will be allowing myself more and more places to be hurt, but I also am realizing that even if I do reveal more, I still have that ability to escape.
My other fear of failure is one that I think will be with me forever. Sometimes this fear does me good, so I don’t see it always as a negative thing. The fear of failure makes me push to be the best that I can be. It keeps me rooted in reality but never being happy to settle for the reality. It can cause me problems within a relationship however because I never want to make someone unhappy or do them wrong. It also causes me problems with being able to separate the work I do from my ability to get away from it.
As we speak, there is a show being directed by a student that will be performing on Thursday of this week & while I helped put together some of the set & tech work, I am forcing myself to stay away from there so that I don’t put myself in a situation where I am feeling like I have to be there. While I do not blame the student or want her to fail, I also was never asked specifically to give help to this until after it had already been expected and I know I need to keep limits to what I am asked to do and willing to do so that my job does not engulf me to a place where I feel like I have no life like it has already been doing. But, that fear of failure in me is always itching me to go sit in rehearsal, make sure she is doing everything she needs to do. I guess my comfort comes from the fact that as a theatre education major, it is good for her to experience this without much help, but I must reason this within myself just so I don’t go.
My fear of failure has been good to me because it has pushed me to be very successful within my career, when I look back I never thought I would be able to land a professorship job at such a young age & have a chance to expand my own knowledge so quickly that I feel like by the end of the next coming year I can handle myself professionally. Could I be lucky enough to land myself a job that I am able to enjoy before I am 30, a job that perhaps I work in until I retire? I only hope.
But, like I said, my fear of failure also has it’s negatives, especially as I look at my ability in the relationship world of my life. The fact that by the age of 26 I would have already been married and divorced while at the same time have such great success in my career. I can’t help but see that part of my life as a failure, and that scares me.
But, I must be strong, I must keep moving & know that when I am ready, I will be ready. Whether I am ready now or not, I do not know, but I know if the right person walks into my life, I will know.
An amazing song by John Lennon that sums up life in just about every corner of the world. The idea that we say we are free, but are we really free? As a society of people, we put limits on people, we judge each other, we give them despair and prop them up with hope. We send our kids to school to learn how to follow the rules, but we don’t teach them all of the options. And, while they are in school some turn into bullies, some are bullied and some just float through as neither. Then they are sent out into the world without a clue of what the world has in store for them. And the whole idea that they might be sent out without all of the facts is just idiotic.
Our world is filled with propaganda of fear and that if we don’t follow this rule or fit into this category, we will struggle through life. Even a Supreme Court nominee who graduated at the top of her class at a top tier school has to worry about whether her intelligence is enough to satisfy someone. Or, the fact that we might be headed towards socialism, polygamy or that perhaps Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Religion plays a big rule in much of this fear, but those who are handing it will not admit this. The whole idea that Gay Marriage will destroy the meaning of marriage, or that by denying God you will burn in damnation for eternity. Fear, Fear. And then, it has to do with control. Control of the message & the images, control of the population, control of the power & money.
And, even though the fear can be great, the power and the will of the people are great enough that no fear can over come, no control will win. If the people join together as one, the power is much greater. This is the one fear that governments & religious organizations have. What if all Catholics started to believe that Priests should be allowed to marry, is it the will of God that the people have spoken or will the will of God squash the people leading to the eventual destruction of the religion…hmm…
If the will of the people suddenly learn the truth about Israel, the United States, Iran or any country for that matter, will they rise above, rise up and voice their concern. Will they vote to remove those from power, will they arm themselves with intelligent and knowledge? In the end, the people will overcome, they always have.
Do you have the knowledge to overcome the fear? If so, rise up, spread the word and give people the voice they need to put an end to the fear. Your government, your religion are your own, your life is yours to live – do you chose to live in fear or do you choose to be the “working class hero” who fights for the rights you as a human deserve. Do not let your government take away your freedoms, even if they tell you it is to protect you from terror. Do not let your religion scare you into believing that having sex will cause you to go to hell or that not going to church will. Do not believe the propaganda presented that says Iran is a threat to the United States or that Israel is a victim of terrorism. Do not believe that when Glenn Beck cries that it is real and that he really truly feels sorry or scared. Rise up, find the truth and seek it out.
You, have the power to control your own destiny, so do it.
As I’m developing more and more understanding of the world, it is very clear how naive most US Citizens are to the power of their government and it’s ability to create propaganda that gathers up support for actions. In a recent post I talked about the power of the media verses the power of the government and the whole idea that online social networking is starting to slowly eat away at the government’s ability to control it’s message. A clear example of this is shown in recent stories regarding China and it’s desire to censor or filter online websites their citizens can access and most recently with Iran as they blocked access to facebook.com.
Now this leads you down a road to question – are countries like China or Iran worse than the United States because they block and filter websites or is the United States guilty of similar things but not as obvious atrocities? In this blog, I am going to discuss the fact that there are more similarities between Iran & the United States than most people in the United States realize. In fact, I posted that very statement on my facebook profile and my aunt responded to me with an incorrect statement that shows even the “rebel” in our family does not understand some of the atrocities of the United States or has chosen to ignore them.
So, is Iran really as bad as our media and government want us to believe?
To help me answer this question I am going to pull from a few sources of information. One of them being a recent article that will be printed in the June 1st edition of Newsweek Magazine. Another major source will be video clips from a documentary that examines the exact idea I am raising.
Ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the United States has been at odds with Iran and diplomatic discussions as all but stopped to a point that just the idea that two of our diplomats being at the same table is monumental. Since this time, just about every Presidential Administration has attempted to demonize Iran as being an evil regime, one bent on destroying Israel and threatening United States’ security in the region. And, to be honest, they have become quite successful to a point where about 6 years ago we were actually thinking that if we weren’t at war in Iraq, perhaps we would have mounted an offensive against Iran. And, one of the main reasons I am compelled to write this today is for the very fact that as we attempt diplomatic efforts, what happens if diplomacy breaks down? Within the documentary “Iran is not the Problem” (video below) there is a graphic that describes the steps that lead a country to war:
1. Demonize the Enemy
2. Exaggerate the Threat
3. Fake a Diplomatic Effort
4. Establish a Pretext – “A line that supposedly was crossed”
So, step 1 & 2 are done and done, step three – working on it now. Step four..waiting for Iran’s Nuclear power stations to come online…
Now, before I start becoming heavily critical of the United States, I’d like to flat out say – I love my country and the freedoms that come with it and I do not wish to live in a country that feels they can block websites. While saying that, I also want to be clear that Iran is not evil and is no worse than the United States in many other aspects of life and I think, given an opportunity, Iran is likely to be a country worth respecting.
Let’s take each of these steps apart and reveal what might be a play and how the United States is not as moral as we say we are.
1. Demonize the Enemy:
How is Iran evil?
They are anti-Israel.
They are developing a nuclear program.
They censor websites.
They are oppressive to Women.
They are ruled by a paranoid dictatorship.
I’m sure I missed some things, but this would get way too long if I make the list any longer & now it’s time to ruffle some feathers and piss some people off..lol.
Anti-Israel
First of all, being anti-Israel is not being anti-semitic. Being anti-semitic is being prejudice against a religion or race of people. Being anti-Israel is being against a country. Second, Israel is one of the racist, prejudices countries I have ever witnessed. They have passed laws making it harder for Arabs to run or vote in elections. They do not halt Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. They have started wars against countries or groups of people because they “fear” an worse attack might be coming. One of the biggest atrocities by the country just this year took place in Gaza. After years of barricading 1.5 million people into a strip of land no more than 7 miles long at it’s widest part which left the area one of the most densely populated areas with the highest poverty rate in the world, they further closed off the country and proceeded to bomb this heavily populated area to get at the “terrorist” who live among them. In addition, Israel is one of the few countries in this world that has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weaponry and reducing the current stockpile of weapons that currently exist. This treaty gives the UN power to inspect peaceful uses of nuclear technology (which includes electrical power). Israel is known to have nuclear capabilities and perhaps the only reason they are allowed to exist with it is because of their refusal to sign this document and for the influence of the United States. So, while I disagree any statement that Iran may make in calling for the complete destruction of Israel, being anti-Israel is not evil and in fact, I quite agree with.
They are developing a nuclear program.
The United States and Israel want you to believe this is ultimately aimed at developing nuclear weapons, but I’m going to have to disagree with these ideas. What benefit does Iran have to develop a nuclear weapon? What do they get from an actual nuclear weapon that they can’t get with nuclear electrical power? Iran, by the way, has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has repeatedly asserted that their program is aimed at legal peaceful means. For part of this answer, I feel Newsweek says it pretty well:
Following a civilian nuclear strategy has big benefits. The country would remain within international law, simply asserting its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a position that has much support across the world. That would make comprehensive sanctions against Iran impossible. And if Tehran’s aim is to expand its regional influence, it doesn’t need a bomb to do so. Simply having a clear “breakout” capacity—the ability to weaponize within a few months—would allow it to operate with much greater latitude and impunity in the Middle East and Central Asia.
To claim that Iran is attempting to make a bomb is idiotic and does not take into account the other factors that influence their choices. Iran knows perfectly well that even if they were to produce nuclear weaponry that would destroy Israel, it risks itself being destroyed and Iran is not suicidal enough to do this.
The censor websites
This is going to be harder and harder to do, even if they block sites like facebook, there is technology out there that allows people to work around this and Iran as well as the rest of the world has a growing population of youth that know this more than their leaders do. One thing I learned growing up is that it is important for the government to fear the people not the other way around. The policy of restricting online access is evidence that the government is afraid of the people and is asserting it’s power to control. Every oppressive society eventually falls on its own as the people overcome the oppression and install fear back into the government.
They oppress women.
So does the United States and much of the rest of the world, that is all.
2. Exaggerate the threat.
I feel that much of this was already previously discussed above. In this segment, I will discuss some of the characteristics that we have placed on Iran and how some of these are not unlike the United States.
First, let’s take a look at their government. My aunt claimed they were governed by a “paranoid dictator.” This is not true. While they are not a full fledged diplomacy and they do some “dictatorship” type things such as jailing the opposition, closing down media & websites and does not allow many things to challenge it’s authority. They still have elections, a change in leadership and power and the leader of the country must satisfy their constitutes.
It might be best described as an oligarchy, with considerable debate and dissent within the elites. Even the so-called Supreme Leader has a constituency, the Assembly of Experts, who selected him and whom he has to keep happy. Ahmadinejad is widely seen as the “mad mullah” who runs the country, but he is not the unquestioned chief executive and is actually a thorn in the side of the clerical establishment. He is a layman with no family connections to major ayatollahs—which makes him a rare figure in the ruling class.
Second, let’s bring in an example of a recent jailing of a US-Iranian Journalist, Roxana Saberi. Yes, we heard all about her in our media here in the United States and it was terrible that she was jailed. We even had our new President speaking out for her release. She was eventually released & we all celebrated our victory. Did you know that the United States is holding a freelance Journalist in Iraq without charge? Yes, Ibrahim Jassam, a freelance photographer who works for the news agency Reuters was arrested following a raid on his home south of Baghdad on September 2nd, 2008. He is still imprisoned without charge today as the United States had deemed him “a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces.” Even an Iraqi Criminal Court ruling on November 30th, 2008 saying there was no evidence to hold Ibrahim thus ordering the US Military to release him. Yet, he is still in jail, without trial. Where is the outrage? At least Iran released Roxana…
What is another major difference between Iran and the United States? Well, in the past 10 years, Iran has not invaded another country to force a regime change. In fact, their military and financial strategy since 9/11 has been to protect itself and help itself. Each of these tracks has been heavily calculated with some aggressive and some retreative when necessary.
The Iranians allied with the United States and against the Taliban in 2001, assisting in the creation of the Karzai government. They worked against the United States in Iraq, where they feared the creation of a pro-U.S. puppet on their border. Earlier this year, during the Gaza war, Israel warned Hizbullah not to launch rockets against it, and there is much evidence that Iran played a role in reining in their proxies.
While at the same time, the United States has been fighting a “War on Terror.” But, my question is, aren’t we fighting a group known as Al Qaeda and their “leader” Osama Bin Laden? This is the whole reason we went into armed conflict into Afghanistan. And, as more and more reports surface that show that our government was aimed at connecting the horrors of 9/11 to Iraq to justify going to war with the country it is becoming more and more obvious that our aim in all of this was not to fight the “War on Terror” but was a much broader in scope. Heavily influenced by the power of Oil & Israel under a banner of “spreading democracy” around the world, we invaded a sovereign nation, overthrew their government and we are now forgiven because we plan to give it all back. We are still fighting against Al Qaeda which has now spread into Pakistan and we have stood back silent as Israel bombed the hell out of Gaza. And lately, we find that at this same time we have tortured people & continue to imprison people without charge. Our government has the authority to enter your home, arrest you without warrant (or in this case a secret warrant from a secret court) and ship you to prison without charge to hold you without trial indefinitely because you might be a terrorist. They have the right to monitor your phonelines, collect information without warrant & I’m just waiting for them to assert their power to censor the internet.
So, I would like to know, is Iran really as bad as our government would like you to think? And, is the United States as moral as it appears?
And now we wait… will our diplomatic efforts fail and will Iran go too far in asserting it’s sovereign right to produce nuclear electricity? That would be all it would take to satisfy the last two steps of our equation.
I’m going to end this by saying, everyone should watch this documentary. I have only watched the first 30 mins, but it is already good. At the end of this post you will find segment 1 of 9 available on youtube, the rest can easily be found there as well.
Do not allow your government to put fear into your hearts, do not let them oppress you. Iran is not the problem in this situation.
Enjoy the documentary, educate yourself on all fronts and don’t trust your government, ever. Your government works for you, make it work for you. For now, this will be the end of my post, but I’m sure more will come on this topic, until then, peace.
I thought I would take a moment to think about this question even though it was not in the top three from the poll, it is something I think about.
An amazing song by John Lennon that sums up life in just about every corner of the world. The idea that we say we are free, but are we really free? As a society of people, we put limits on people, we judge each other, we give them despair and prop them up with hope. We send our kids to school to learn how to follow the rules, but we don’t teach them all of the options. And, while they are in school some turn into bullies, some are bullied and some just float through as neither. Then they are sent out into the world without a clue of what the world has in store for them. And the whole idea that they might be sent out without all of the facts is just idiotic.
Our world is filled with propaganda of fear and that if we don’t follow this rule or fit into this category, we will struggle through life. Even a Supreme Court nominee who graduated at the top of her class at a top tier school has to worry about whether her intelligence is enough to satisfy someone. Or, the fact that we might be headed towards socialism, polygamy or that perhaps Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Religion plays a big rule in much of this fear, but those who are handing it will not admit this. The whole idea that Gay Marriage will destroy the meaning of marriage, or that by denying God you will burn in damnation for eternity. Fear, Fear. And then, it has to do with control. Control of the message & the images, control of the population, control of the power & money.
If the will of the people suddenly learn the truth about Israel, the United States, Iran or any country for that matter, will they rise above, rise up and voice their concern. Will they vote to remove those from power, will they arm themselves with intelligent and knowledge? In the end, the people will overcome, they always have. 
