tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14172886465567506882024-02-19T08:08:08.833-08:00Red Horse Down"He opened the second seal...another horse, fiery red, went out... it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another...." (Rev. 6:3)
The “next big thing” in the news may well be war with Iran. Few want it, many warn against it and many more will suffer if it comes to pass. How can we forestall it? (NB: see Post #1 and go from there; see bottom of page.)
"War is the unfolding of miscalculations." (Barbara Tuchman)Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.comBlogger443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-78059294844404455442014-03-25T12:08:00.000-07:002014-03-25T12:08:00.702-07:00Post #443 - Counting Chickens...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Will US sanctions scuttle a nuclear deal with Iran? </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span content="2014-03-24T15:57:58-04:00" rel="sioc:has_creator" style="font-size: large;"><time datetime="2014-03-24T15:57:58-0400" pubdate="pubdate">March 24, 2014</time></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span alt="Tyler Cullis" style="float: left;" title="Tyler Cullis"><img alt="Tyler Cullis" class="media-element file-default file-os-files-small" src="http://iranmatters.belfercenter.org/files/styles/os_files_small/public/iranproject/files/tyler_cullis_0.jpg?itok=PQeiMXUu" height="103" style="float: left;" title="Tyler Cullis" width="80" /></span><span alt="Trita Parsi" style="float: left;" title="Trita Parsi"><img alt="Trita Parsi" class="media-element file-default file-os-files-small" src="http://iranmatters.belfercenter.org/files/styles/os_files_small/public/iranproject/files/trita_parsi_0.jpg?itok=58IWXYHQ" height="104" style="float: left;" title="Trita Parsi" width="75" /></span></b><b><b>Tyler Cullis </b></b>and<b> <b>Trita</b> <b>Parsi </b></b>outline
the findings and ramifications of a new report from the National
Iranian American Council (NAIC) on President Obama's legal authority to
roll back sanctions against Iran as part of a comprehensive nuclear
deal. The president, they argue, is constrained by the law in a way that
dangerously limits his ability to deliver on the key transaction of
nuclear talks: sanctions relief for nuclear concessions.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is clear that any final nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1
will require deep and creative thinking on how to provide the US and its
European partners confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear
program, all the while respecting Iran’s nuclear rights. Understandably,
lots of expert opinion has focused on forging a delicate balance
between the parties and their respective interests in this regard.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Less discussed, however, is what will need to happen in the US should
that balance be found. This is troubling, especially in light of the
fact that the White House might not have the power at present to meet
its commitments if and when a nuclear deal is agreed to.</span></span><br />
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<table border="0" style="height: 360px; text-align: left; width: 340px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span alt="President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Bill" style="display: block; font-size: large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" title="President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Bill"><img alt="President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Bill" class="media-element file-default file-os-files-large" src="http://iranmatters.belfercenter.org/files/styles/os_files_large/public/iranproject/files/sanctions_act_signing.jpg?itok=gUnl9BcO" height="310" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Bill" width="465" /></span></span></td>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><address>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">July 1, 2010 - President Obama signs the 2010 Iran Sanctions Bill into law as lawmakers from both parties look on. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</span></span></address>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a recent <a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10605&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=1061" target="_blank">NIAC report demonstrates</a>,
the President is deeply constrained in his ability to lift the robust
energy and financial sanctions Congress has imposed on Iran. Under
current law, the best the President can offer Iran are time-limited
waivers that he promises to renew for as long as Iran keeps to its
commitments under a nuclear deal and for as long as he remains in
office. Whether succeeding Administrations would feel similarly bound to
a nuclear deal that might well prove a political thunderbolt is
unclear.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">If this is supposed to inspire the confidence required for Iran to
agree to strong and sustained nuclear concessions, we’d do well to
reconsider. Any deal that allows Congress to litigate and re-litigate
the issue every six months (as would happen if waiver were used as the
primary means of sanctions relief) is not one that Iran will feel
comfortable hanging its hat on.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">The White House is aware of the problem. On the eve of the latest
round of talks in Vienna, a senior administration official noted that
the White House is “doing a considerable amount of work, including
consultations with Congress . . . to understand in great detail how to
unwind the sanctions.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Presumably, US negotiators have also communicated to the Iranians
what is possible at present in terms of sanctions relief. But if so,
therein lies the problem. If the US is offering limited and reversible
sanctions relief to Iran’s negotiators, Iran might well reciprocate with
similarly limited and reversible concessions on its nuclear program.
This is especially likely to be the case as Iran’s negotiators came into
the talks explicitly conditioning a nuclear deal on the dual principles
of proportionality and reciprocity: limits to Iran’s nuclear program
would be balanced out by what the US offered in return. In other words,
the US could not ask for more while giving less.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, by withholding from the President the ability to lift
sanctions on a more permanent basis than available at present, we
distort the logic that ostensibly informed sanctions advocates. Under
this logic, Congress would impose sanctions on Iran so that if and when a
nuclear deal was ever agreed to, lifting the sanctions would come with a
cost to Iran. That cost would be measured out in the limits it placed
on Iran’s nuclear program.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">But if the President is unable to relieve the sanctions on a
permanent basis, this logic is defeated. It does not matter whether Iran
is willing to concede important elements of its nuclear program. The
White House is simply unable to match Iran’s concessions with sanctions
relief of its own. In the give-and-take of negotiations, the US – it
turns out -- has too little to offer.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">That is why it is critical that the White House and allies in
Congress look closely at the current authorizations for the President to
relieve the sanctions and consider what needs to take place if and when
a nuclear deal is reached. It is entirely possible that Iran and the
P5+1 reach agreement in the next several months. If so, the White House
must be prepared to meet its commitments under a nuclear deal and, in so
doing, ensure that Iran does the same. It would be a terrible irony if
the sanctions – which its advocates contend are responsible for the
seriousness of Iran’s present engagement – acted as a final bar to a
secure and stable nuclear agreement with Iran.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Tyler Cullis</b> is a Policy Associate at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). <b>Trita Parsi</b> is the co-founder and President of NIAC.</i></span></span><br />
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Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-55820356638504308982014-03-23T06:07:00.001-07:002014-03-23T06:07:17.921-07:00Post #442 - Cuts Both Ways<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">Law -- and the flouting of it -- can be such a tricky business...as Robert Bolt points out to us in his remarkable <i>A Man for All Seasons</i>:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">“...And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned
around on you--where would you hide...the laws all being flat?
This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast--man's laws,
not God's--and if you cut them down...d'you really think you could stand
upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil
benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is that insight applied to another context by Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy's policy director:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/us-tryst-with-international-law_b_5008752.html</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-36159089010456085522014-01-28T06:03:00.001-08:002014-01-28T06:03:48.990-08:00Post #441 - What Are They Thinking in Tehran?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">This comes from Zenit: The World Seen from Rome. It was published 12/23 and 12/24 of last year.: </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Iranian Ambassador to the Holy See Hopes For Peace Through Dialogue (Part 1)</b><br /><br />In An Exclusive Interview with ZENIT, Mohammad Taher Rabbani, Iranian Ambassador to the Vatican, Talks about Inter-Religious Dialogue and Irans Agreement in Geneva on Its Nuclear Program<br /><br />Rome, December 23, 2013 (Zenit.org) Federico Cenci</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Last November 24, the world breathed a sigh of relief. In the course of an impassioned night in Geneva, Iran and the countries of the Group 5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, France, Great Britain and Germany) reached an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program. Iran has committed itself to limit the enrichment of uranium within 5% and authorized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear sites. In return, it received the assurance of the suspension of the sanctions for six months.<br /><br />Of course, a negotiation of such importance is not exhausted with a, though significant, shaking of hands between Heads of State. However, the gesture and the signing of the Agreement already represents a step forward that removes the world from the disastrous hypothesis of aggression to Iran. Yet, up to a few months ago, distinguished analysts and political scientists upheld with certainty that a joint attack of the United States and Israel to the damage of Iran was an inevitable scenario, while describing the negotiations between Tehran and the Group 5 + 1 as “empty academic exercises of diplomacy.”<br /><br />The facts have proven them wrong, demonstrating that dialogue can also smooth out crises that are apparently irresolvable and bring different cultures closer. The solid diplomatic relations that exist profitably between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran constitute a valid example in this sense, sublimated by the fact that the accredited Iranian diplomatic personnel beyond the Tiber is the second largest in terms of size.<br /><br />ZENIT met in an exclusive interview with Ambassador Mohammad Taher Rabbani, who presented his Credential Letters last June. In the following interview we spoke with him about the Geneva Agreement and inter-religious dialogue.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><i>ZENIT:</i> Your President, Hassan Rohani, said that “threats cannot bring any fruit,” and he signed an historic agreement on the nuclear program. What can you tell us regarding this? Can you explain to us what it is about?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> In the name of the clement and merciful God, I thank you for having come to us as a guest in this Christmas period. My wish is that next year will be a year of peace for the whole world.<br /><br />As you know, Iran is one of the signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; consequently, it is a right of hers to make a peaceful use of nuclear energy. Moreover, this Treaty puts no limit on the peaceful use of nuclear energy as written expressly in Article 4. Therefore, Iran is acting on the basis of the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency and – I add – on the basis of our religious teachings, which reject the use of nuclear arms. In this connection, it is useful to recall that, in 2012 our Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa that prohibits the production, stocking and use of nuclear arms. This right was confirmed in the recent Geneva Agreement. Therefore, after ten years of meetings, the six world powers of the Group 5+1 have accepted and signed Iran’s right to continue to enrich uranium up to 5% in its territory. From a political point of view, this Agreement is of enormous importance for Iran, because finally it made the logic of dialogue for peace prevail over the logic of violence and military intervention. This Agreement, then, provides for some of the banking sanctions to be suppressed, the difficulties regarding the insurance of oil vessels and the transfer of money from the sale of oil. Iran is committed for six months to suspend the activity of enrichment of uranium; our hope is that the West will make use of this period to give trust to Iran and renew relations. What happened in Geneva has demonstrated that agreements are established on the basis of mutual respect and not on the basis of sanctions.<br /><br /><i>ZENIT: </i>What damages have the sanctions imposed on your country caused the population? To what degree do you foresee that they will be reduced at the end of six months of suspension of nuclear activity?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> I must say first of all that these iniquitous embargoes, if on one hand they have damaged us, on the other they offered us advantages. First among all was the reinforcement of the bond between the Government and the Iranian people. The great Iranian people responded forcefully to these illicit sanctions, even if they suffered enormous damages. I give an example that the West, which calls itself a defender of human rights, must always impede: some persons affected by grave illnesses are in need of receiving particular medicines that, however, because of the embargo, they could not receive. The great Iranian people has always been beaten, however, to affirm their right, there are the testimonies of many young scholars who were killed by mercenaries of enemy regimes. Episodes that did not discourage the Iranians, and this was seen during the last presidential elections, which saw the participation of the great majority of voters.<br /><br />My expectation is that in future we will be able to come to a definitive agreement. These six months represent the right occasion to finally resolve the nuclear question. With the stipulation of the final and global agreement after the aforesaid six months, all the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Organization and the unilateral ones imposed by America and by the West will be eliminated.<br /><br /><i>ZENIT:</i> In what way could the Holy See and Pope Francis help this peace process?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> Either the Holy See, as a religious institution that guides the Catholic Church, or His Holiness, Pope Francis, can propose a diplomacy geared to attaining peace. Justice, peace and development in the addresses of Pope Francis and in those of Ayatollah Khamenei illuminate our life to reach a collaboration that I would describe as multilateral religious diplomacy. On the other hand, during an address regarding true diplomacy in the teachings of the monotheist religions, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, described diplomacy as “the art of hope.” In my opinion, this vision must be promoted in the world, because today we are living a critical situation which can only be resolved by a diplomacy that gives hope. This type of diplomacy also belongs to the political program of President Rohani.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><i>ZENIT:</i> What is the situation of Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran? What rights are recognized to them and, beyond the juridical aspect, what is their relation with the Muslim population?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> In Iran, peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians is an example for the whole of the Middle East. Testimony of this also is the ancient relation with the Holy See, which goes back to the 13th century and which was realized in the constant political and diplomatic encounters with Congregations such as the Carmelites and the Dominicans. It is part of the teachings of our religion, on the other hand, to maintain friendly relations with the three religions of the Book. This tradition of hospitality is present in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which defends the rights of religions of the Book and guarantees them representatives in the Parliament. In fine, President Rohani’s program reinforces this political line.<br /><br /><i>ZENIT:</i> Every two years there are bilateral meetings between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Holy See to foster inter-religious dialogue. There was a meeting recently between the Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Archbishop Leo Boccardi, new Apostolic Nuncio in Iran. What common objectives were established?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> Underscored during that meeting was the fact that today, more than ever, the dialogue between Islam and Christianity is important. Shiites and Catholics must know one another better, in order to identify points they have in common. Because many misunderstanding are born in fact from reciprocal ignorance. Terrorism and extremism are our common enemies. However, it is our common objective, instead, to make a contribution to peace and to combat poverty, beyond the religious confession and nationality of the poor.<br /><br /><i>ZENIT: </i>In your opinion, what other misunderstanding are there which sometimes impede a peaceful relationship between the Muslim world and the Christian world?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> We believe that all the prophets had the same objective. Therefore, if all the prophets were to live together there would be no problem among them. In the last years there has been no clash between Islam and Christianity. The oppositions we witness in some regions of the planet are of an ethnic character more than religious. <br /><br />Sometimes, in fact, there are conflicts between persons of the same religion.<br /><br />However, unfortunately there are some obstacles. The main one is due to the prejudices that a great number of believers have in opposing followers of the other religions, by way of mistaken behavior toward the other on the part of some Muslim and Christian rulers in the course of history. These negative events have a religious covering only in appearance, but they have equally caused disputes between some believers of these two religions. I, as diplomat and religious, am convinced, however, that religious heads at the world level can have an important role in attaining peace as opposed to discriminations and apartheid. A recent example in this connection comes to us from Nelson Mandela who, although he was not a religious figure, had an important role for peace in South Africa.<br /><br />In fine, I recall that all the monotheistic religions invite peoples to believe and practice the mercy of God in society. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>ZENIT: </i>What, instead, are the challenges that Islam and Christianity can address today side by side?<br /><br /><i>Ambassador Rabbani:</i> We could draw up a long list. However, the most important challenge is the dialogue to promote a culture of peace that can oppose war. In the absence of dialogue, however, there cannot be any sustainable and definitive development. Violence and extremism are wounds that must be healed as soon as possible. The religious heads of Islam and Christianity can work together for this objective.<br /><br />For instance, the appeals of Pope Francis (for whom we have great respect) to pray for peace, as well as the role he had to prevent the military attack in Syria and reinforce a coalition of peace in the world, together with the appeal for world peace of Iranian President Rohani during the 68th UN General Assembly , in my opinion can create a front for peace to oppose the front that wants war. This collaboration, if it continues with common programs, involving many religious heads active in the field of global peace and justice, can build a global front of the great religions for peace. <br /><br />My proposal is that it be the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran that build this front. The occasion to take an important step in this direction could be the ninth inter-religious meeting between these two States, which will take place in Teheran in 2014. Moreover, Iran can use her political potential in regard to the guidance of the Movement of non-aligned countries -- made up in greater part by Christian Catholic countries and Muslims – to create a Forum within it that welcomes the constructive collaboration of the Holy See.</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-58600917156165482452014-01-27T14:17:00.000-08:002014-01-27T14:17:08.405-08:00Post #440 - A Society Trying to Be Born<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">An interesting series of photos, with captions, from the New York Times, showing Iranian youth going about their lives:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/youth-in-iran-inside-and-out/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=3</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-33074911683650004502014-01-27T09:59:00.001-08:002014-01-27T09:59:32.274-08:00Post #439 - Learning from Our Elders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">Four members of The Elders will travel to Tehran on Sunday 26 January
for a series of private meetings with the Iranian leadership. It will be
The Elders’ first visit to Iran as a group.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Elders travelling to Iran are:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><ul>
<li><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://theelders.org/kofi-annan" style="text-decoration: none;">Kofi Annan</a></strong>, Chair of the Elders, former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Laureate – <strong>delegation leader</strong>;</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://www.theelders.org/martti-ahtisaari" style="text-decoration: none;">Martti Ahtisaari</a></strong>, former President of Finland and Nobel Peace Laureate;</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://www.theelders.org/desmond-tutu" style="text-decoration: none;">Desmond Tutu</a></strong>, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Laureate;</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://theelders.org/ernesto-zedillo" style="text-decoration: none;">Ernesto Zedillo</a></strong>, former President of Mexico.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">Brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007, the Elders are twelve
independent global leaders who use their collective influence and
experience to promote peace, justice and human rights worldwide.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">The purpose of the three-day visit is to encourage and advance the
new spirit of openness and dialogue between Iran and the international
community, and to explore what could be done to enhance cooperation on
regional issues.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Elders see the recent positive developments as a historic and
strategic opportunity to end decades of animosity between Iran and the
international community and to rebuild relations on the basis of trust
and mutual respect. They recognise, however, that trust will only be
built slowly, through continued goodwill and reciprocal action.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Elders will exchange ideas with the Iranian leadership about
peaceful ways of addressing conflict and healing sectarian divisions in
the region.</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-6977710053044751332014-01-26T05:32:00.001-08:002014-01-26T05:33:12.730-08:00Post #438 - Let's Go!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">This comes from the group called "Berim" [in Persian, "Let's go!"]:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last week we partnered with MoveOn.org, Credo, Peace Action West,
Just Foreign Policy and Win Without War to deliver over 100,000
signatures to the US mission in the UN. Check out the photos. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">All of the signatures: </span></span><br />
<br />
<img alt="0005.JPG" src="http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/berim/pages/91/attachments/original/1380838052/0005.JPG?1380838052" height="300" width="300" /><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here we are at the mission: </span></span><br />
<br />
<img alt="0019.JPG" src="http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/berim/pages/91/attachments/original/1380838092/0019.JPG?1380838092" height="379" width="379" /><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's us handing over your signatures.</span></span><br />
<br />
<img alt="0012.JPG" src="http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/berim/pages/91/attachments/original/1380838069/0012.JPG?1380838069" height="300" width="300" /><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, this is a message circulated through MoveOn:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">MoveOn.org petition has more than 147,000 signatures calling on Congress not to undermine President Obama's diplomatic negotiations with Iran. Lots of MoveOn.org members have taken action in this effort, and we thought you'd be interested in her [Sara Haghdoosti's] update on this important campaign.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Dear MoveOn member,<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">A few weeks ago, we were looking at the prospect of Senator Menendez's sanctions bill getting a veto-proof majority in the Senate and torpedoing the president's negotiations with Iran.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Then things changed. Check out the headlines from the past two weeks:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Previous Iran Sanctions Co-sponsor won't back new sanctions now<br />
-National Journal, January 16</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Support for new Iran sanctions wanes<br />
-MSNBC, January 17</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Another blow to the Iran sanctions bill<br />
-Washington Post, January 22</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
How did this turnaround happen? As one Senate staffer said: "more voters contacting the Hill with phone calls and emails, voicing opposition to the bill."*</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
In other words, we made this happen. Over the past few weeks since this legislation was announced, over 150,000 people have taken action, we've made over 10,000 phone calls, and we've had petition deliveries all across the country.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
What we're doing is working, and that's exactly why we can't let up now. What we've achieved over the past few weeks is proof that not only can we fight back against war, we can help create the space for politicians to become champions for diplomacy.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Now is the time for us to turn supporters into champions and the undecided into supporters. That's why over the next few weeks I'll
be in touch about things you can do in your local area.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Today, I just wanted to say "Congratulations!" I've never seen a political turnaround like this. We may not have money or fancy lobbyists, but what we do have is each other. The power we have when we stand alongside each other is truly inspiring.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Yours with hope,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
-Sara Haghdoosti, on behalf of Berim.org</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: large;">P.S. The interim deal with Iran went into effect last week. Here's a snapshot from our infographic about the deal:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.berim/" target="_blank">http://www.berim</a>.org/hareinfographic</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-63755736113426579732014-01-23T06:11:00.001-08:002014-01-23T06:11:53.930-08:00Post #437 - Who is Threatening Whom?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;">A message I received from the U.S. Peace Council:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dear Friends in Peace,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
The US Peace Council joins you in opposing S. 1881, the “Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act.” S-1881 sabotages the diplomatic progress of the “Joint Plan of Action,” expands sanctions that are causing suffering for the Iranian people, prohibits Iran from pursuing peaceful nuclear processes necessary for energy production, and offers US military support to Israel to attack Iran—subordinating U.S. national interests to the military maneuverings of Israel. S-1881 is a move toward war!</span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
The Iran nuclear issue is a ruse. There are, in fact, two nuclear-armed states threatening the Middle East—the United States and Israel. The United States maintains 18 ballistic missile submarines—an undisclosed number of which are positioned with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf—carrying a combined total of up to 398 missiles, each missile armed with multiple nuclear warheads. Israel possesses three nuclear-capable submarines, and a nuclear arsenal estimated at up to 200 warheads. The real threat of a nuclear launch is from the United States and Israel!</span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
We must act now to prevent another war in the Middle East by demanding a Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone (NWMDFZ) in the Middle East, a solution that would eliminate all nuclear weapons from the region, including those of the U.S and Israel. The United Nations 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty mandated a conference in Helsinki at the end of 2012 to create this NWMDFZ, but it was derailed by the United States and Israel at the eleventh hour. We must demand that the Helsinki conference be called and the NWMDFZ in the Middle East be implemented.</span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Leading the call for a NWMDFZ in the Middle East is a coalition of Israeli parliamentarians, civil society organizations, and peace activists. The coalition organized the December 2013 Haifa Conference for a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone in the Middle East under the slogan “If Israel won’t go to Helsinki, we’ll bring Helsinki to Israel!” The US Peace Council and 20 other international organizations participated and signed the Declaration issued by the<br />
conference.</span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Please act now to prevent catastrophic war in the Middle East—please distribute the Haifa Conference Declaration<br />
(<a href="http://wmdfz.org/news_post.php?id=4" target="_blank">http://wmdfz.org/news_post.<wbr></wbr>php?id=4</a>), and sign and promote the online Global Petition for Peace in the Middle East<br />
(<a href="http://wmdfz.org/news_post.php?id=5" target="_blank">http://wmdfz.org/news_post.<wbr></wbr>php?id=5</a>).</span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
In Peace,</span></span>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Cathy Goodman<br />
US Peace Council<br />
USPeaceCouncil.org</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-67276256360648118152014-01-22T15:07:00.000-08:002014-01-22T15:07:12.219-08:00Post #436 - Peace & Security or Human Rights -- a False Dichotomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">This piece was posted yesterday (1/21/14) on Huffington Post:</span></span><br />
<br />
<h1 style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-size: 32px; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;">The Iran Nuclear Accord Is Good for Human Rights</span></h1>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;">
</span><div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(219,219,219); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.222222328186035px; list-style: none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; list-style: none;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; list-style: none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em style="list-style: none outside none;">Akbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist often
referred to as Iran's "pre-eminent political dissident" after spending 6
years in jail for his human rights activities.</em></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 has provoked considerable
debate. The proponents of diplomatic resolution of the standoff with
Iran have praised the accord. Its opponents, such as Israel and Saudi
Arabia, have harshly criticized it. As a former Iranian political
prisoner who spent six years in the Islamic Republic's jails and whose
writings have been banned in Iran, I support the Geneva agreement. The
question is, what is the goal of continuing the standoff with Iran, if
not reaching an agreement with it?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">If
the goal is regime change in Iran, we must recall that 13 years of
backbreaking sanctions did not topple Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq;
the military invasion of 2003 did. The sanctions did kill at least half a
million Iraqi children, and prompted the infamous statement by
Madeleine Albright, President Bill Clinton's secretary of state, that
getting rid of Saddam Hussein was worth the huge cost in terms of human
suffering in Iraq.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">If
the Iranian regime's respect for human rights is made the necessary
condition for a nuclear accord, there will be no agreement at all,
because it will prove the claim by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
that the real goal of the United State is regime change, and that the
nuclear program and claims about Iran wanting to "wipe Israel off the
map" are only excuses. So long as there is an external threat that
endangers its survival, no regime will agree to reform itself and become
democratic.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">National
security and economic prosperity are prerequisites for the emergence of
a democratic regime. Destroying the infrastructure of a nation through
harsh economic sanctions and war will not bring about a transition to
democracy. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria are prime examples of the
failure of such thinking. In the first 11 months of 2013 alone, more
than 8,000 people were killed in Iraq as a result of terrorism. Libya
has been transformed into a lawless country controlled by various
militia, with some having separatist tendencies. Syria has been
completely destroyed, with an estimated 120,000 people killed. It has
also become an operation center for some of the most extreme terrorist
groups. In fact, as a result of the regime-change crusade of the past 12
years, jihadi groups of the Middle East have become stronger, not
weaker.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
prosperous middle class is the agent for transition to democracy.
Crippling economic sanctions only add millions of middle-class people to
the ranks of the poor, denying the democratic movement of its most
potent element. Under such conditions, everyone only struggles for
survival, moral standards and trust decline, and democracy and human
rights will be viewed as unaffordable luxury. Such conditions will kill
and injure hundreds of thousands of people, and strengthen terrorism.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">As
an undemocratic regime, the Islamic Republic undoubtedly oppresses its
people. The goal of the Iranian democratic forces is transitioning to a
state committed to freedom and respect for human rights. Toward this
goal, defenders of human rights and democratic forces cannot, and must
not, ask Western powers to preserve or increase the current economic
sanctions that are punishing only the common Iranian people, blocking
the path to a nuclear accord and, hence, transforming Iran into another
Iraq or Syria. The main issue in Iran is democracy and the elimination
of all types of discrimination. Successful models for achieving such
goals, as happened in South Africa, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, to name
but a few, must be contrasted with a model based on crippling economic
sanctions and even military action.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Step-by-step
nuclear accords, the lifting of economic sanctions and the improvement
of the relations between Iran and Western powers will gradually remove
the warlike and securitized environment from Iran, save the people from
their current harsh lives and strengthen the middle class. In fact, if
there are friendly relations between Iran and Western powers, led by the
United States, the West will be able to exert more positive influence
on Iran to improve its state of human rights. Economic incentives,
investment in Iran's oil industry, export of new technology and other
encouragements are attractive enough to help open up the political
system and improve human rights.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
release of all the political prisoners; freedom of the press, political
parties and civic-society organizations; respect for human and
citizens' rights; neutrality of the state with respect to religion;
institutional separation of the state and religion; and the abolishment
of capital punishment are the goals of all the Iranian democrats. But
they can be achieved by the Iranian people themselves through nonviolent
means, not with outside intervention and violence. Many Iranian
intellectuals and academics and even Iran's political prisoners, both
inside and outside Iran, advocate such a path. Western powers and
international human rights organizations are morally obligated to
condemn violations of human rights, but conditioning a nuclear accord
with Iran on improving human rights will only destroy any prospect for
the accord, and lead to war. Achieving respect for human rights and
transitioning to democracy is possible only in a peaceful framework, not
by constantly threatening the survival of the regime.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia,Century,Times,serif; list-style: none outside none;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Releasing
all the political prisoners, freedom of the press, political parties
and civic-society organizations, respect for human and citizens' rights,
neutrality of the state with respect to religion, institutional
separation of the state and religion, and abolishing capital punishment
are the goals of all the Iranian democrats. But, they can be achieved by
the Iranian people themselves through non-violent means, not with
outside intervention and violence. Many Iranian intellectuals and
academics and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2013/aug/08/iran-political-prisoners-letter-to-obama" style="list-style: none outside none; outline: 0px none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">even Iran's political prisoners</a>, both <a href="http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2013/aug/21/4007" style="list-style: none outside none; outline: 0px none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">inside</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2013/nov/21/iranian-activist-france-nuclear-talks" style="list-style: none outside none; outline: 0px none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">outside</a> Iran,
advocate such a path. Western powers and international human rights
organizations are morally obligated to condemn violations of human
rights, but conditioning a nuclear accord with Iran on improving human
rights will only destroy any prospect for the accord, and lead to war.
Achieving respect for human rights and transition to democracy is
possible only in a peaceful framework, not through constantly
threatening the regime for its survival.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-33936988872351178482014-01-21T12:44:00.000-08:002014-01-22T15:02:40.360-08:00Post #435 - Dangerously Close to Blowing It<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffe599;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This piece by Rene Wadlow, Representative to the United Nations, Geneva of the Association of World
Citizens, appeared 1/20/14 on www.towardfreedom.org:</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.towardfreedom.com/middle-east/3502-derailing-disarmament-us-senate-hinders-negotiations-with-iran" target="_blank">Derailing Disarmament: US Senate Hinders Negotiations with Iran
</a></span></span></h2>
<div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="min-height: 22px; vertical-align: bottom;"></span></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
<div>
<img alt="Iranian President Hassan Rouhani" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhynI1IEC5sjWbKldNDKaXGE_pmmXUJrDdVcKgJNXE_NY_0kSC3MWXnvt0aWpice7KNKR1rTc04pv15VJH_2Vmp_PxyGiHetIeQcnfw5EmLH1Hm1Je1ck8AAEViUxwmdtTmIjSxL-RIMY7QpxWlMnmiyBNiwwi4g-MWnGKZboTUNZLZ17IVgA=s0-d-e1-ft" title="Iranian President Hassan Rouhani" />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: small;">Iranian President Hassan Rouhani</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">A resolution
sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey with both Republican and
Democratic Senators as co-sponsors — Nuclear Weapon-Free Iran Act (S1881) —sits
as a ticking time-bomb in Senate desk drawers, which could explode after the
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1254703452" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">January 28</span></span> State of the Union message. The resolution has the potential to
hinder, perhaps derail, the difficult negotiations on Iran’s nuclear
program. A six-month interim agreement reached in Geneva among Iran and
the P5 plus one (US, Russia, China, France, UK and Germany) is to start on
January 20<sup>,</sup> 2014 for six months. </span></span></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the agreement reached, Iran
will stop enriching uranium beyond five percent — a level sufficient for energy
production but not for military use. Iran’s current stock of uranium
enriched to a weapon-grade twenty percent will be diluted or converted.
These promised actions will be inspected by the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA). In exchange, the major powers will suspend certain sanctions on
Iran and stop pressuring other countries to limit trade with
Iran.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">During the six months,
negotiations for a more permanent agreement will continue. The building of trust
between Iran and the P5 and the fulfillment of the conditions of the interim
agreement are crucial for the continuing negotiations. Currently, there is a
minimum of trust and confidence about the level of good faith on both
sides. Within Tehran and Washington, there are hardliners who distrust on
principle and who would not be unhappy to see negotiations fail, perhaps opening
a door to military action.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The proposed US Senate resolution
with its twin floating around in the House of Representatives is both
unnecessary and potentially a major hindrance to good faith negotiations — a
good example of the wrong methods proposed to meet appropriate
goals.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">A nuclear-weapon free Iran was
first proposed in 1974 by the government of the Shah of Iran at the time when
the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was created. The Shah called for
making the entire Middle East a nuclear-weapon free zone on the model of the
1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco for Latin America — negotiations having started among
Latin American states shortly after the 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the early 1970s, the dangers of
nuclear-weapon proliferation in the Middle East were real. Israel already
had nuclear weapons; Libya had nuclear ambitions. There was talk of
nuclear-weapon interest in Iraq. Egypt had technical knowledge, and Saudi
Arabia had the funds to import nuclear technology. A nuclear-weapon-free Iran
was to be a major element in the creation of a Nuclear-weapon Free Middle
East.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus in 1974, Iran along with
Egypt proposed in the UN General Assembly the creation of a Middle East
Nuclear-weapon Free Zone. The Islamic Republic of Iran has continued,
after the end of the Pahlavi regime in 1979, to call in yearly General Assembly
resolutions for such a zone.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The establishment of
nuclear-weapon free zones is both a regional non-proliferation and
security-building measure and a step toward the eventual global elimination of
nuclear weapons. Nuclear-weapon free zones normally include binding
regional de-nuclearization provisions, verification, and compliance
mechanisms. Thus, they rid entire regions of the specter of nuclear
weapons and increase regional security.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is understood that Iranian
leadership on a Middle East Nuclear-weapon Free Zone is part of its ambitions to
play a role of regional leadership. However, it is also true that no other
Middle East state has had such a consistent policy on the issue with the
possible exception of its General Assembly partner, Egypt. Now is the time to
work with Iran for a true non-proliferation regime as an edifice of treaties,
norms, safeguard mechanisms and institutions. A minor but useful first
step is to bury the irresponsible Senate resolution.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div>
</div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-16043141750351776432014-01-20T05:44:00.000-08:002014-01-20T05:44:06.790-08:00Post #434 - How We Got Here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;">The New York Times on the history of the current situation:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/20/world/middleeast/Iran-nuclear-timeline.html#/#time243_7169</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-51543840883404168362014-01-19T06:49:00.002-08:002014-01-19T06:49:40.546-08:00Post #433 -- Life as We Don't Know It<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">Check out this interesting exploration of Iranian youth:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/youth-in-iran-inside-and-out/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-52743557159061975522014-01-18T13:07:00.002-08:002014-01-18T13:07:58.112-08:00Post #432 - The Tribes Coming Together<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;">From the Congressional Record:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"> </span></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> SPEECH OF HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY OF ILLINOIS<br /> IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES<br /> FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight a Rabbinic Statement, ``Step by Step toward Shalom with Iran.''</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Signed by 120 Rabbis, including my own Rabbi, Andrea London of Beth
Emet Synagogue in Evanston, IL, the statement opposes any actions that
would undermine ongoing negotiations, emphasizes the importance of
peaceful conflict resolution, and welcomes the possibility of
negotiations with Iran.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> As we continue to work to ensure
that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, I believe that the Rabbinic
Statement offers an important perspective.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> RABBINIC STATEMENT: ``STEP BY STEP TOWARD SHALOM WITH IRAN''</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
As Rabbis, Cantors, and other Clergy serving the American Jewish
community, we are deeply committed, as Jewish tradition teaches--</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
to the shalom--peace, social justice, functioning democratic
process, and ecological sanity--of the country where we live--all of
which would be damaged by still another unnecessary war;</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> to
the shalom, peace and security, of the State of Israel, to its
democratic character, and to its special relationship with the Jewish
people;</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> to unequivocal action by all the Arab-majority and
Muslim-majority states to make peace with Israel, and to Israel's
unequivocal action to make peace with all its neighbors, including an
emergent Palestine;</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> to our respect and our prayers for
salaam, peace and justice, among our cousins in the Abrahamic tradition,
Arab and Muslim civilizations;</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> to the peace and prosperity of all the ``70 nations'' of the world;</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> and to the healing of our wounded planet.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
For all these reasons, we welcome warmly the greatly increased
possibility of a peaceful resolution of the conflicts among the U.S.,
Iran, Israel, and other nations.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We especially welcome the
new attitudes toward the Jewish people and toward the nuclear issue set
forth by the new President of Iran, and his assertion that Iran will
never hold nuclear weapons. We also recall the fatwa and repeated
assertions by Grand Ayatollah Khamenei that for Iran to possess nuclear
weapons would violate Islam.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We urge the U.S. and Iran to
move swiftly to agree on a step-by-step process of reducing and
ultimately ending sanctions against Iran in accord with steps by Iran to
make its nuclear research transparent and to allow verification that
its research is directed wholly toward civilian uses of nuclear energy.
We believe that such a step-by-step process is the best way to guarantee
that both parties are fulfilling their commitments.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We
urge Iran to make clear its full acceptance of Israel as a legitimate
state in the fabric of international relations, protected like all other
states from aggression and attack.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We urge the Government
of Israel to welcome steps by Iran to make clear and verifiable its
commitment to use nuclear energy and research for peaceful purposes
only, not for pursuit of nuclear weaponry, and while this process is
under way, we urge Israel to end hostile acts and statements toward
Iran.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We urge the peoples of the United States, Iran, and
Israel to reject and oppose all statements and actions from whatever
source that undermine the swift and thorough achievement of agreements
to ensure the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear program and to end
sanctions against Iran.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> We urge the American people to
recognize and do tshuvah (``turning'' or ``repentance'') for the ethical
errors of our own government toward Iran particularly--the U.S.
Government's intervention in 1953 to overthrow the democratically
elected reform government of Iran; U.S. actions to support the
tyrannical regime of the Shah until the Iranian people overthrew it in
1979; and U.S. support for Iraq's wars of aggression against Iran in the
1980s, including U.S. support for Saddam Hussein's use of chemical
weapons to kill 100,000 Iranians.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> [Page: E44] GPO's PDF</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
We urge the Iranian people to do tshuvah for their government's
demonization of the United States and Israel, for its holding U.S.
diplomats hostage for more than a year in 1979-1980, and for the support
it seems to have covertly given for attacks on Israeli citizens.</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
We believe that this combination of governmental acts and public
rethinking and re-feeling can move American society, the entire Middle
East, and the world toward the shalom that Judaism yearns for.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Signed:</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Shalom,</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Initiating Signers:</span></span> <span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Rabbi Everett Gendler, Rabbi Marc Gopin, Rabbi
Dr. David Gordis, Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Rabbi Mordechai Liebling,
Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Rabbi Gerry Serotta, Rabbi David Shneyer, Rabbi
Susan Talve, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Sheila Weinberg, Rabbi Rebecca
Alpert, Rabbi Ethan Bair. Kohenet Ellie Barbarash, Rabbi Rachel
Barenblat, Rabbi Benjamin Barnett, Rabbi Eliot Baskin, Rabbi Renee
Bauer, Rabbi Dennis Beck-Berman, Rabbi Leonard Beerman, Rabbi Marjorie
Berman, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Rabbi Binyamin
Biber, Kohenet Shoshana Bricklin, Rabbi Jason Bright, Rabbi Jonathan
Brumberg-Kraus, Rabbi Joshua Chasan, Rabbi Aryeh Cohen. Rabbi Andrea
Cohen Kiener, Rabbi Hillel Cohn, Rabbi David J. Cooper, Rabbi Robert
Dobrusin, Rabbi Art Donsky, Rabbi Doris Dyen, Rabbi Renee Edelman, Rabbi
Diane Elliot, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Kohenet Ahava Lilith EverShine,
Rabbi Ted Falcon, Rabbi Charles Feinberg, Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Rabbi
Fern Feldman, Rabbi Brian Field, Rabbi Tirzah Firestone. Rabbi Nancy
Flam, Rabbi Jeff Foust, Rabbi Ruth Gais, Rabbi Hillel Gamoran, Maggid
Andrew Gold, Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, Rabbi Laurie Green, Rabbi Julie
Greenberg, Rabbi Moshe Halfon, Rabbi/Kohenet Jill Hammer, Rabbi Edwin
Harris, Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, Kohenet Judith Hollander, Rabbi
Linda Holtzman, Rabbi Shaya Isenberg. Rabbi Burt Jacobson, Rabbi Josh
Jacobs-Velde, Kohenet Sharon Jaffe, Rabbi Melissa Klein, Rabbi Sharon
Kleinbaum, Rabbi David L Kline, Rabbi Debra Kolodny, Rabbi Douglas
Krantz, Rabbi Hannah Laner, Rabbi Daniel Lehrman, Rabbi Jason van
Leeuwen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Kohenet Carly ``Ketzirah'' Lesser, Rabbi
Richard Levy, Rabbi Annie Lewis, Rabbi Andrea London. Cantor Abbe Lyons,
Rabbi Jeffrey Marker, Rabbi Nathan Martin, Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon,
Maggid Melvin Metelits, Rabbi Yocheved Mintz, Kohenet Tiana Mirapai,
Rabbi David Mivasair, Rabbi Lee Moore, Hazan Judith Naimark, Rabbi Laura
Owens, Cantor Steven Puzarne, Rabbi Victor Reinstein, Cantor Stephen
Richards, Rabbi/Kohenet Margie Klein Ronkin, Rabbi Moti Rieber, Rabbi
Brant Rosen, Cantor Aviva Rosenbloom, Cantor Richard Rosenfield, Rabbi
Jeff Roth, Kohenet Mei Mei Sanford, Hazan Pamela Sawyer, Rabbi Julie
Saxe-Taller, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Chaim Schneider,
Rabbi Randy Schoch, Kohenet Alumah Schuster, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal,
Rabbi Jonathan Slater, Rabbi Eric Solomon. Cantor Robin Sparr, Rabbi
David Spitz, Rabbi Toba Spitzer, Rabbi Margot Stein, Rabbi Naomi
Steinberg, Rabbi Gershon Steinberg-Caudill, Rabbi Danielle Stillman,
Rabbi Alana Suskin, Rabbi Louis Sutker, Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Rabbi Renae
Toben, Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, Hazan Gregory
Yaroslow, Rabbi Barbara Zacky, Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman.</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-19536017858192919002014-01-18T13:02:00.002-08:002014-01-18T13:02:27.542-08:00Post #431 -- Now is the Time to Make Your Voice Heard<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">From the Campaign for Peace and Democracy: </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cpdweb.org/stmts/1024/stmt.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cpdweb.org/stmts/1024/stmt.shtml</a></span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-36339200176541353182014-01-18T12:59:00.001-08:002014-01-18T12:59:19.265-08:00Post #430 - Ready to Work?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apologies to my "fan-base" (the mere phrase sounds risible to me, but what else can I call regular readers who are positive and encouraging about this enterprise) -- apologies because I know it's been a long time between re-fills at this soda-stand.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">I won't bore you with reasons for the dry patch. I will only say that the present moment screams for a posting. We have not come this close to a "re-set" with Iran at any time during the past fifty years or more.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">So now, this is where push comes to shove (the push being peaceniks like myself, and the shove being those who want to perpetuate the isolation and demonization of Iran). This is where the rubber meets the road. This is Judgment Day -- that great-gettin'-morning when the sheep of gentleness and understanding are separated from the goats of xenophobic saber-rattling.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">Talks last November led to a preliminary agreement. Further talks yielded the outlines of a next-step. President Obama called his Iranian counterpart on the telephone, and President Rouhani decided to attend the Davos conference. UN inspectors were allowed to visit the Arak heavy-water plant, for the first time in two years.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many a slip twixt the cup and the lip, but this time we might see daylight at the end of the tunnel, if no one brings a locomotive from the other direction. How can that black, fire-breathing beast be kept out of the tunnel </span></span><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (which only has one track)</span></span>?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">Posts from here on out will concern three things:</span></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">The people on both sides who live and breathe, dream and hope -- they are the reason I started this blog.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">The details of the process that may not make it onto the front page in your local page, or onto the websites that you frequent.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">The ways in which regular people are making a difference -- ways to put many tiny weights on the side of the scale that heads toward a sustainable resolution of the nuclear issue, to counter the big thumb that certain elements have been using to pull the scales toward armageddon. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fasten your seat-belts and snap on your chin-strap. It's not kiddie-cars we're driving now... </span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-20932219668973318442013-07-30T11:07:00.000-07:002013-07-30T11:07:11.763-07:00Post #429 -- We Can All Do Something<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.winwithoutwar.org/page/speakout/Feinstein</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-71790894874248701252013-07-29T05:43:00.000-07:002013-07-30T11:05:44.541-07:00Post #428 -- Speaking in Tongues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">The following piece, by Hamid Dabashi, appeared in the <i>New York Times</i> this week (Opinion Page):</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Found in Translation</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though it is common to lament the shortcomings of reading an
important work in any language other than the original and of the
“impossibility” of translation, I am convinced that works of philosophy
(or literature for that matter —are they different ?) in fact gain far more than they lose in translation.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Consider Heidegger. Had it not been for his French translators and
commentators, German philosophy of his time would have remained an
obscure metaphysical thicket. And it was not until Derrida’s own take
on Heidegger found an English readership in the United States and
Britain that the whole Heidegger-Derridian undermining of metaphysics
began to shake the foundations of the Greek philosophical heritage. One
can in fact argue that much of contemporary Continental philosophy
originates in German with significant French and Italian glosses before
it is globalized in the dominant American English and assumes a whole
new global readership and reality. This has nothing to do with the
philosophical wherewithal of German, French or English. It is entirely a
function of the imperial power and reach of one language as opposed to
others.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I. The Mother Tongue</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">At various points in history, one language or another — Latin,
Persian, Arabic — was the lingua franca of philosophical thinking. Now
it is English. And for all we know it might again turn around and become
Chinese.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 11<sup>th</sup> century Iran, the influential philosopher Avicenna
wrote most of his work in Arabic. One day his patron prince, who did
not read Arabic, asked whether Avicenna would mind writing his works in
Persian instead, so that he could understand them. Avicenna obliged and
wrote an entire encyclopedia on philosophy for the prince and named it
after him, “Danesh-nameh Ala’i.”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Avicenna was of course not the only who had opted to write his
philosophical work in Arabic. So did al-Ghazali (circa 1058-1111) and
Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi (circa 1155-1208) — who were both
perfectly capable of writing in their mother tongue of Persian and had
in fact occasionally done so, notably al-Ghazali in his “Kimiya-ye
Sa’adat” (a book on moral philosophy) and As-Suhrawardi in his
magnificent short allegorical treatises. But in Avicenna’s time, Arabic
was so solidly established in its rich and triumphant philosophical
vocabulary that no serious philosopher would opt to write his major
works in any other language. Persian philosophical prose had to wait for
a couple of generations after Avicenna. With the magnificent work of
Afdal al-din Kashani (died circa 1214) and that of Avicenna’s follower
Khwajah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Tusi (1201-1274) —
particularly “Asas al-Iqtibas” — Persian philosophical prose achieved
its zenith.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="w427">
<img alt="An illuminated 15th-century manuscript showing the philosopher-physician Ibn Sina, also called Avicenna, visiting a pharmacy. Avicenna (981-1037) lived most of his life in what is now Iran, where he wrote his million-word medical encyclopedia, al-Qanun, or the Canon." height="452" id="100000002359021" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/07/28/opinion/28stone-img/28stone-img-blog427.jpg" width="427" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="credit"> </span></span></div>
<div class="w427">
</div>
<div class="w427">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span class="credit">Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis</span> <span class="caption">An
illuminated 15th-century manuscript showing the philosopher-physician
Ibn Sina, also called Avicenna, visiting a pharmacy. Avicenna (981-1037)
lived most of his life in what is now Iran, where he wrote his
million-word medical encyclopedia, al-Qanun, or the Canon.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="w427">
</div>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today the term “Persian philosophy” is not so easy to separate from
“Islamic philosophy,” much of which is indeed in Arabic. This was the
case even in the 16<sup>th </sup>century, when Mulla Sadra wrote nearly his entire major opus in Arabic. Although some major philosophers in the 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup>
centuries did write occasionally in Persian, it was not until Allameh
Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) opted to write his major philosophical works
in Persian that Persian philosophical prose resumed a serious
significance in the larger Muslim context. (Iqbal also wrote major
treaties on Persian philosophy in English.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is Amir Hossein Aryanpour’s magnificent Persian translation of Muhammad Iqbal’s “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia”<i> </i>(1908)<i>, </i>which
he rendered as “Seyr-e Falsafeh dar Iran (“The Course of Philosophy in
Iran,” 1968), that stands now in my mind as the paramount example of
excellence in Persian philosophical prose and a testimony to how
philosophical translation is a key component of our contemporary
intellectual history. If there were a world for philosophy, or if
philosophy were to be worldly, these two men, philosopher and
translator, having graced two adjacent philosophical worlds, would be
among its most honored citizens.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>II. Two Teachers</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is impossible to exaggerate the enduring debt of gratitude that my
generation of Iranians have to Aryanpour (1925-2001), one of the most
influential social theorists, literary critics, philosophers and
translators of his time and for us a wide and inviting window to the
rich and emancipatory world of critical thinking in my homeland. He is
today remembered for generations of students he taught at Tehran
University and beyond and for a rich array of his path-breaking books he
wrote or translated and that enabled and paved the way for us to wider
philosophical imagination.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Having been exposed to both scholastic and modern educational
systems, and widely and deeply educated in Iran (Tehran University),
Lebanon (American University in Beirut), England (Cambridge) and the
United States (Princeton), Aryanpour was a cosmopolitan thinker and a
pioneering figure who promoted a dialectical (jadali) disposition
between the material world and the world of ideas. Today, more than 40
years after I arrived in Tehran from my hometown of Ahvaz in late summer
1970 to attend college, I still feel under my skin the excitement and
joy of finding out how much there was to learn from a man whose name was
synonymous with critical thinking, theorizing social movements and
above all with the discipline of sociology.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aryanpour was the product of many factors: Reza Shah’s heavy-handed,
state-sponsored “modernization”; the brief post-World War II
intellectual flowering; travels and higher education in Iran, the Arab
world, Europe and the United States; the McCarthy witch hunts of the
1950s; and finally the C.I.A.-sponsored coup of 1953, after which
university campuses in his homeland became the primary site of his
intellectual leadership of a whole new generation. He was a pain in the
neck of both the Pahlavi monarchy and of the Islamic Republic that
succeeded it, making him at times dogmatic in his own positions, but
always path-breaking in a mode of dialectical thinking that became the
staple of his students, both those who were fortunate enough to have
known and worked with him directly and of millions of others (like me)
who benefited from his work from a distance.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aryanpour was sacked from his teaching position at the theology
faculty in 1976, retired in 1980, and just before his death on July 30,
2001, one of his last public acts was to sign a letter denouncing
censorship in the Islamic republic.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span>
<div class="w190 right module">
<div class="entry">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">His legendary translation of and expanded critical commentary on
Iqbal’s “Development of Metaphysics in Persia” became the first and
foremost text of my generation’s encounter not only with a learned
history of philosophy in our homeland, but also with a far wider and
more expansive awareness of the world of philosophy. It is impossible to
exaggerate the beautiful, overwhelming, exciting and liberating first
reading of that magnificent text by a wide-eyed provincial boy having
come to the capital of his moral and intellectual imagination.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Born and raised in Punjab, British India (Pakistan today), to a
devout Muslim family, educated by both Muslim teachers and at the Scotch
Mission College in Sialkot, Iqbal grew up multilingual and
polycultural. After an unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce, Iqbal
studied philosophy, English, Arabic and Persian literatures at the
Government College in Lahore, where he was deeply influenced by Sir
Thomas Arnold, who became a conduit for his exposure to European
thought, an exposure that ultimately resulted in his traveling to Europe
for further studies.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">While in England, Allameh Iqbal received a bachelor’s degree from
Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1907, around when his first Persian poems
began to surface. As he became increasingly attracted to politics, he
also managed to write his doctoral dissertation on “The Development of
Metaphysics in Persia,” with Friedrich Hommel. Reading “Seyr-e Falsafeh
dar Iran,” Aryanpour’s Persian translation of Iqbal’s seminal work,
became a rite of passage for my generation of college students attracted
to discovering our philosophical heritage.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">We grew up and matured into a much wider circle of learning about
Islamic philosophy and the place of Iranians in that tradition. There
were greener pastures, more learned philosophers who beckoned to our
minds and souls. We learned of the majestic writings of Seyyed Jalal
Ashtiani, chief among many other philosophical sages of our time, who
began to guide our ways into the thicket of Persian and Arabic
philosophical thinking. But the decidedly different disposition of
Allameh Iqbal in Aryanpour’s translation was summoned precisely in the
fact that it had not reached us through conventional scholastic routes
and was deeply informed by the worldly disposition of our own defiant
time. In this text we were reading a superlative Persian prose from a
Pakistani philosopher who had come to fruition in both colonial
subcontinent and the postcolonial cosmopolis. There was a palpable
worldliness in that philosophical prose that became definitive to my
generation.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>III. Beyond East and West</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">When today I read a vacuous phrase like “the Western mind” — or “the
Iranian mind,” “the Arab Mind” or “the Muslim Mind,” for that matter — I
cringe. I wonder what “the Western mind” can mean when reading the
Persian version of a Pakistani philosopher’s English prose composed in
Germany on an aspect of Islamic philosophy that was particular to Iran?
Look at the itinerary of a philosopher like Allameh Iqbal; think about a
vastly learned and deeply caring intellect like Amir Hossein
Aryanpour. Where is “the Western mind” in those variegated geographies
of learning, and where “the Eastern mind”? What could they possibly
mean?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">The case of “Seyr-e Falsafeh dar Iran” was prototypical of my
generation’s philosophical education — we read left, right and center,
then north and south from the Indian subcontinent to Western Europe and
North America, Latin America and postcolonial Africa with a voracious
worldliness that had no patience for the East or West of any colonial
geography. We were philosophically “in the world,” and our world was
made philosophical by an imaginative geography that knew neither East
nor West.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Works of philosophy — and their readers — gain in translation not
just because their authors begin to breathe in a new language but
because the text signals a world alien to its initial composition. Above
all they gain because these authors and their texts have to face a new
audience. Plato and Aristotle have had a life in Arabic and Persian
entirely alien to the colonial codification of “Western philosophy” —
and the only effective way to make the foreign echoes of that idea
familiar is to make the familiar tropes of “Western philosophy” foreign.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div class="w75 left">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/07/28/opinion/hamid-dabashi/hamid-dabashi-thumbStandard-v2.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies
and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, where he
lives with his family. He is the author of numerous books on the social
and intellectual history of Iran and Islam, including “The World of
Persian Literary Humanism.”</i></span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-787833870677724472013-07-25T12:47:00.001-07:002013-07-25T12:47:42.087-07:00Post #427 -- Humanity Asserts Itself<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">I received this notice from someone at the White House earlier today (links not active):</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><span>U.S. Treasury Department
</span></strong><b><span><br />
<strong><span>Office of Public Affairs</span></strong></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 25, 2013</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>CONTACT: John Sullivan, Treasury Public Affairs (202) 622-2960</strong> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>TREASURY
EXPANDS LIST OF BASIC MEDICAL SUPPLIES AUTHORIZED FOR EXPORT TO IRAN
AND FURTHER CLARIFIES EXPORT AND FINANCING MECHANISMS AVAILABLE FOR
HUMANITARIAN GOODS</strong></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> –
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury took actions to reinforce
longstanding U.S. Government efforts to ensure that our extensive
economic and financial sanctions on Iran – adopted
to encourage Iran to comply with its international obligations – do not
impede Iran’s humanitarian imports. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) expanded the list of basic medical supplies authorized
for export or reexport to Iran under an existing
general license by adding hundreds of items; OFAC had previously issued
specific licenses authorizing the export or reexport of these items.
OFAC also issued further clarifying guidance on existing broad
authorizations and exceptions applicable to the sale
of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices by
non-U.S. persons to Iran.
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Today’s action to expand
the general license for the export of medical devices to Iran reflects
an important element of our sanctions policy. Even as we continue to
implement and enforce our rigorous sanctions regime
against Iran, we are committed to safeguarding legitimate humanitarian
trade,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
David S. Cohen.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">In today’s action, OFAC
expanded the list of basic medical supplies authorized for export or
reexport under an existing general license, originally issued in October
2012, to encompass a broad range of medical supplies
and devices, including electrocardiography machines (EKGs),
electroencephalography machines (EEGs), and dialysis machines, along
with other types of equipment that are used by hospitals, clinics, and
medical facilities in Iran. These items, which were previously
eligible for specific licensing from OFAC, can now be exported without
prior approval from OFAC. Exporters are also still encouraged to apply
for specific licenses for medical devices that may not be included in
today’s expanded list.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even as the U.S. and
international sanctions have tightened, the Treasury and State
Departments have had extensive discussions with foreign pharmaceutical
and medical supply companies that sell, export, and get paid
for exports to Iran, as well as the foreign financial institutions
involved in those transactions, to ensure that the exemptions from our
sanctions are understood. Medicine and medical supply exporters
reporting barriers to trade have repeatedly pointed to
obstacles placed by the Government of Iran, including the Central Bank
of Iran’s failing to allocate sufficient foreign currency. The Central
Bank of Iran has access to sufficient foreign currency funds outside of
Iran – which are otherwise usable only to
fund bilateral trade – to finance the import of medicines and medical
equipment.
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">As OFAC has made clear in
its Clarifying Guidance: Humanitarian Assistance and Related Exports to
the Iranian People, issued on February 6, 2013, and in the Iranian
Financial Sanctions Regulations (31 C.F.R. part
561) (IFSR) [*1], foreign financial institutions may process
transactions for the purchase of humanitarian goods including, food,
agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices, using funds in
Central Bank of Iran accounts without being subject to
U.S. sanctions. Today’s Guidance on Sales of Food, Agricultural
Commodities, Medicine, and Medical Devices to Iran is meant to ensure
that all parties to these transactions fully understand the broad
humanitarian allowances embedded in our sanctions laws.
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>For a link to the expanded List of Basic Medical Supplies authorized for export or reexport to Iran issued today click
<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwNzI1LjIxNDY3MDIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDcyNS4yMTQ2NzAyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MjA0OTYzJmVtYWlsaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/iran_gl_med_supplies.pdf" target="_blank">
here</a></em></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>For a link to OFAC’s Guidance on Sales of Food, Agricultural Commodities, Medicine, and Medical Devices to Iran click
<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwNzI1LjIxNDY3MDIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDcyNS4yMTQ2NzAyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MjA0OTYzJmVtYWlsaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&101&&&http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/iran_guidance_med.pdf" target="_blank">
here</a></em></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>For a link to OFAC’s Clarifying Guidance: Humanitarian Assistance and Related Exports to the Iranian People click
<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwNzI1LjIxNDY3MDIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDcyNS4yMTQ2NzAyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MjA0OTYzJmVtYWlsaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&102&&&http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/hum_exp_iran.pdf" target="_blank">
here</a></em></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>For a link to OFAC’s Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations click
<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTMwNzI1LjIxNDY3MDIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDEzMDcyNS4yMTQ2NzAyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MjA0OTYzJmVtYWlsaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9YmVybmFkZXR0ZV9tX21lZWhhbkBuc3MuZW9wLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&103&&&http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=c3765706c1a8e16b089c41be690528b7&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title31/31cfr561_main_02.tpl" target="_blank">
here</a></em></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">###</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
[*1] <em>See</em> in particular IFSR section 561.203(g) and Note 2 to IFSR section 561.203.
<em>See also</em> Question 314 on the list of Frequently Asked Questions posted on OFAC’s Web site</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-65940238468627756992013-07-17T09:41:00.000-07:002013-07-17T09:41:24.342-07:00Post #426 - A Critical Moment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a brilliantly-done video promotion, urging sanity and prudence in taking the next step vis-a-vis Iran:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.niacouncil.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Action_seizethemoment</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-74700525935325101182013-07-11T09:59:00.000-07:002013-07-11T09:59:12.864-07:00Post #425 - Voices Matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Check out this channel for making your wishes known:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://act.credoaction.com/call/price_dent_letter?source=fbshare-n1&referring_akid=8340.1768011.FziyRt</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-19797881714686223072013-07-11T05:22:00.001-07:002013-07-11T05:22:49.830-07:00Post #424 - It's All Connected<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">This letter was written by the principle organization working in the American Jewish community to seek a sustainable peace in the Middle East:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alexander,</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ahmadinejad is on his way out.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Iran’s belligerent, anti-Semitic president will soon be replaced with
Hassan Rouhani, who ran for and won the Iranian presidency on a
platform of “constructive interaction with the outside world.”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The surprising election results present a new opportunity for
serious diplomacy-- an opportunity a bipartisan group in Congress is
today urging the President not to miss.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ask
Representative [name of my congressman] to join Representatives Charlie Dent
(R-PA) and David Price (D-NC) in supporting a renewed diplomatic effort
to resolve the nuclear crisis with Iran.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s not be naïve. We don’t know if diplomacy will work.
President-elect Rouhani too has sent mixed signals about Iran’s nuclear
ambitions. And Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remains in charge.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's why meaningful sanctions remain in place and President Obama firmly states that “all options are on the table.”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">But we’ll never know if diplomacy will work to ensure Iran does not
get a nuclear weapon unless we seriously test Iranian intentions.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ask
Rep. [name] to stand with those who support a diplomatic resolution
to the Iranian nuclear crisis by signing the Dent-Price letter today.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Dylan Williams</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> J Street Director of Government Affairs</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Read more about J Street at http://jstreet.org/</span> </span></span></div>
</div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-85577048566367961332013-07-02T09:49:00.001-07:002013-07-02T10:34:25.684-07:00Post #423 - Is the Emperor Actually Clothed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
following article was published by The Tablet (London) on 6/29/13:</span></span></div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is
the West wrong on Iran?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">By
Jonathan Shaw</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">We
are all prisoners of our own prejudices – dangerously so in the case of the
Middle East. The popular press portrays Iran as the principal security threat
to the UK, suggesting that its acquisition of nuclear weapons is inevitable,
triggering a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, and, at worst, spelling
destruction for Israel. These questionable assumptions have led us to a posture
at odds with the UK’s national interests. At worst, they may lead us into the
very war these interests dictate we should avoid.</span></span>
</div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
say this in the light of personal experience. In 2007 I commanded the
British-led division in the Iraqi city of Basra (not far from the border with
Iran) where I faced the challenge of extracting the Coalition (mainly British)
forces from the city. Crucial to success was an attempt to read the future, a
future in which we would have no part. This forced us to look at the powers at
play in the area and to identify their motives and objectives.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
was living within the Shia population of Basra. As I also had access to
diplomatic telegrams from the British Embassy in Tehran, I had an unusually
informed perspective on Iran and its motives. What I learnt then still seems
relevant to the debate now about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">British
Christian children tend to be brought up in a cultural tradition that is rooted
in the Old Testament and our classical education. The former leaves us with an
instinctive sympathy for Israel and the Jews as victims; the latter makes us
absorb a Greek view of the ancient world which portrays the Persians as “the
enemy”. When considering modern Iran, these twin prejudices reinforce
themselves and make it easy to discount contrary evidence.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Iran
throughout history has been driven by an urge for cultural recognition, and for
respect of its regional status. It is intensely aware of its cultural and
religious isolation. Iran is the only dependably Shia-run state (Lebanon, Syria
and Iraq are highly contested) and Shias are regarded as apostates by Wahhabi
Salafist interpretations of Islam, such as those dominant in Saudi Arabia.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Iran
has suffered Western interference. The UK-inspired US overthrow in 1953 of the
democratically elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh and imposition of the
increasingly tyrannical Shah earned the UK the epithet “Little Satan”. To this
day the UK is deemed guilty by association for the actions of the Great Satan,
the US. Our current support for “democracy” is seen as hollow and hypocritical
by regional observers, especially in Iran.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Iran
is surrounded; to the west by Iraq, historically run by Sunni Arabs, then
latterly by the US, and to the east by Sunni in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Iran’s incentive for securing its borders and creating buffers from aggressors
is clear.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
West has been cold to Iran’s overtures of support. Having backed the US in its
condemnation of 9/11 and subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, Iran found itself
weeks later castigated as being part of the “axis of evil”. This not only
showed a lack of gratitude for Iranian support to the US, it also discredited
the reformist movements within Iran and their argument that it was possible to
trust the West.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">When
I was based in Basra, I found Iranian interference in the city (and Iraq more
generally) to be carefully calibrated, enough to make the Coalition
uncomfortable but always with the desire to sustain majority Shia rule and
economic prosperity. I recognised the huge Iranian investment in Basra’s
prosperity, prompted by comments from Arab friends who had advised that the way
to deal with Iran was to trade with them, and bind them into mutually
advantageous commercial arrangements. Basra represented just such a commercial
arrangement, as evidenced by the fact that no one ever bombed the oil pipelines
in the south, in stark contrast to the US-run areas; not because UK security
was better but because the internal dynamics of the population were different.
By seeing Iran as the enemy, the Coalition missed the cohering effect of Iran
on Iraq, and its limiting effect on intra-Shia violence. Basra has turned out
to be the relatively stable and commercial success we predicted, but it took
the Coalition in Baghdad by surprise.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
would be no surprise if Iran did harbour ambitions to have nuclear weapons. It
lives (like Israel) with the ever-present fear of an existential threat and any
aspiration it may have to nuclear weapons will be unaffected by President
Hassan Rouhani’s recent election.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">That
said, seasoned observers question if Iran is really intent on becoming a
nuclear armed power (and in this context it is worth remembering that the
region is already nuclear armed, with both Israel and Pakistan – the Sunni bomb
– possessing nukes in contravention of the non-proliferation treaty of which
they are not signatories). But even if Iran was intent on creating the Shia
bomb, the doctrine and reality of the ownership of nuclear weapons are that it
is defensive, not aggressive (with the single exception of the two US bombs
dropped on Japan in 1945). Just as Israel has not used its nukes to obliterate
its opponents, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs interlocutors to whom I have
spoken accept that the Iranian Government is highly unlikely to launch a
nuclear attack, recognising that to do so would be to sign their own death
sentence. But “Why should we take the risk?”, they then ask.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">And
here is one of the cultural challenges of the region – an Israeli aversion to
risk that is understandable given its history but unsustainable as a guide to
foreign and security policy. Israel’s risk-aversion sits uneasily with the
dominant risk-management tradition of international diplomacy.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
more interesting question is whether the region would calm down if Iran was
accepted as having no nuclear-weapon ambitions. I suspect that little would
change. Israel would still feel threatened by Iran as the sponsor of opposition
to Israel from Syria and Hezbollah, while the Sunni Gulf states would still
feel threatened by the Shia minorities (or majorities, in the case of Bahrain)
in their midst, which they see as being provoked and encouraged by Iran. From
this perspective, it would not be surprising if both Israel and Saudi Arabia
see the Iranian nuclear issue as a useful tool for keeping the US and the West
engaged on an anti-Iran ticket that goes far beyond the nuclear issue itself.
For them, an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be hugely advantageous,
quite beyond any short-term effect on the nuclear facilities. For to counter
the Iranian threat of retaliation by blocking the Straits of Hormuz, the US
would have to devastate Iranian conventional capability, particularly in the
coastal region. This would have the potential drastically to adjust the
military balance of capability in the region, to the advantage of Israel and
the Gulf states.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">One
of the mysteries of the UK’s current posture is its apparent pursuit of
policies that are at odds with its security threat analysis. Throughout my time
in the UK’s defence-planning milieu, the direct threats to the UK came from
extreme Sunni groups; I cannot recall a single Shia threat to the UK mainland.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">While
we may sympathise with the domestic threats faced by Israel and the Sunnis, it
is hard to see why they should override our own domestic interests or priority
given to countering Sunni extremism, which receives its ideological and
financial foundation from sources in Saudi Arabia and, increasingly, Qatar. It
is this that makes our current policy in Syria so inexplicable. Not only is it
uncertain that intervention would make things better, but it is clear that the
leading force within the opposition are a group who have openly committed
themselves to the cause of al-Qaeda. It is far from clear to me – and, it would
appear, to many MPs – why we intend to support a group allied to our greatest
threat.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">We
need to face facts. Iran’s position in the Middle East resembles Germany’s in
Europe: too large to sit comfortably in the neighbourhood, but not large enough
to demand inevitable dominance. It was only after appalling conflicts in Europe
that we reached the accommodations enshrined in the EU that bound Germany into
stable relationships. If we are to avoid similar bloodletting in the Middle
East, we should recognise that Iran has valid concerns – and not seek to
threaten and marginalise it.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
liberation of the US from dependence on Gulf oil should give it the courage to
take a detached view of the region and withdraw its unquestioning support for
Israel and Saudi Arabia on this issue. Denied US military muscle to achieve
their aims, they might then be forced to accept Iran as a legitimate state in
the region and to begin the creation of trust, without which the world is
doomed to perpetual conflict.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">In
recent elections, the electorates of both Israel and Iran have rejected some of
the more bellicose candidates for office. Perhaps this is a propitious time for
the international community to look afresh at the legitimate aspirations of all
in the region before an unchallenged conviction that Iran is by definition “the
enemy” leads us over the abyss into a war that is certainly not in the
interests of the UK.</span></span></div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>[Major
General Jonathan Shaw was Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Global issues)
and served as General Officer Commanding Multi-National Division (South East),
Iraq, 2007.]</i></span></span> </span></span></div>
</div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-10576702093234522042013-06-28T09:38:00.000-07:002013-06-28T09:38:40.046-07:00Post #422 -- Reaching the End of the Rope<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em style="font-style: italic; line-height: inherit;"><span>Daniel
Somers was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was part of Task
Force Lightning, an intelligence unit. In 2004-2005, he was mainly
assigned to a Tactical Human-Intelligence Team (THT) in Baghdad, Iraq,
where he ran more than 400 combat missions as a machine gunner in the
turret of a Humvee, interviewed countless Iraqis ranging from concerned
citizens to community leaders and and government officials, and
interrogated dozens of insurgents and terrorist suspects. In 2006-2007,
Daniel worked with Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) through his
former unit in Mosul where he ran the Northern Iraq Intelligence Center.
His official role was as a senior analyst for the Levant (Lebanon,
Syria, Jordan, Israel, and part of Turkey). Daniel suffered greatly from
PTSD and had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and several
other war-related conditions. On June 10, 2013, Daniel wrote the
following letter to his family before taking his life. Daniel was 30
years old. His wife and family have given permission to publish it.</span></em></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I am sorry that it has come to this.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The
fact is, for as long as I can remember my motivation for getting up
every day has been so that you would not have to bury me. As things have
continued to get worse, it has become clear that this alone is not a
sufficient reason to carry on. The fact is, I am not getting better, I
am not going to get better, and I will most certainly deteriorate
further as time goes on. From a logical standpoint, it is better to
simply end things quickly and let any repercussions from that play out
in the short term than to drag things out into the long term.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>You
will perhaps be sad for a time, but over time you will forget and begin
to carry on. Far better that than to inflict my growing misery upon you
for years and decades to come, dragging you down with me. It is because
I love you that I can not do this to you. You will come to see that it
is a far better thing as one day after another passes during which you
do not have to worry about me or even give me a second thought. You will
find that your world is better without me in it.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I
really have been trying to hang on, for more than a decade now. Each
day has been a testament to the extent to which I cared, suffering
unspeakable horror as quietly as possible so that you could feel as
though I was still here for you. In truth, I was nothing more than a
prop, filling space so that my absence would not be noted. In truth, I
have already been absent for a long, long time.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>My
body has become nothing but a cage, a source of pain and constant
problems. The illness I have has caused me pain that not even the
strongest medicines could dull, and there is no cure. All day, every day
a screaming agony in every nerve ending in my body. It is nothing short
of torture. My mind is a wasteland, filled with visions of incredible
horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety, even with all of
the medications the doctors dare give. Simple things that everyone else
takes for granted are nearly impossible for me. I can not laugh or cry. I
can barely leave the house. I derive no pleasure from any activity.
Everything simply comes down to passing time until I can sleep again.
Now, to sleep forever seems to be the most merciful thing.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 19px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>You
must not blame yourself. The simple truth is this: During my first
deployment, I was made to participate in things, the enormity of which
is hard to describe. War crimes, crimes against humanity. Though I did
not participate willingly, and made what I thought was my best effort to
stop these events, there are some things that a person simply can not
come back from. I take some pride in that, actually, as to move on in
life after being part of such a thing would be the mark of a sociopath
in my mind. These things go far beyond what most are even aware of.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>To
force me to do these things and then participate in the ensuing coverup
is more than any government has the right to demand. Then, the same
government has turned around and abandoned me. They offer no help, and
actively block the pursuit of gaining outside help via their corrupt
agents at the DEA. Any blame rests with them.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Beyond
that, there are the host of physical illnesses that have struck me down
again and again, for which they also offer no help. There might be some
progress by now if they had not spent nearly twenty years denying the
illness that I and so many others were exposed to. Further complicating
matters is the repeated and severe brain injuries to which I was
subjected, which they also seem to be expending no effort into
understanding. What is known is that each of these should have been
cause enough for immediate medical attention, which was not rendered.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Lastly,
the DEA enters the picture again as they have now managed to create
such a culture of fear in the medical community that doctors are too
scared to even take the necessary steps to control the symptoms. All
under the guise of a completely manufactured “overprescribing epidemic,”
which stands in stark relief to all of the legitimate research, which
shows the opposite to be true. Perhaps, with the right medication at the
right doses, I could have bought a couple of decent years, but even
that is too much to ask from a regime built upon the idea that suffering
is noble and relief is just for the weak.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>However,
when the challenges facing a person are already so great that all but
the weakest would give up, these extra factors are enough to push a
person over the edge.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Is
it any wonder then that the latest figures show 22 veterans killing
themselves each day? That is more veterans than children killed at Sandy
Hook, <em style="font-style: italic; line-height: inherit;">every single day</em>. Where are the huge policy initiatives? Why isn’t the president standing with <em style="font-style: italic; line-height: inherit;">those</em> families
at the state of the union? Perhaps because we were not killed by a
single lunatic, but rather by his own system of dehumanization, neglect,
and indifference.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It
leaves us to where all we have to look forward to is constant pain,
misery, poverty, and dishonor. I assure you that, when the numbers do
finally drop, it will merely be because those who were pushed the
farthest are all already dead.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>And
for what? Bush’s religious lunacy? Cheney’s ever growing fortune and
that of his corporate friends? Is this what we destroy lives for</span><span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Since
then, I have tried everything to fill the void. I tried to move into a
position of greater power and influence to try and right some of the
wrongs. I deployed again, where I put a huge emphasis on saving lives.
The fact of the matter, though, is that any new lives saved do not
replace those who were murdered. It is an exercise in futility.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Then,
I pursued replacing destruction with creation. For a time this provided
a distraction, but it could not last. The fact is that any kind of
ordinary life is an insult to those who died at my hand. How can I
possibly go around like everyone else while the widows and orphans I
created continue to struggle? If they could see me sitting here in
suburbia, in my comfortable home working on some music project they
would be outraged, and rightfully so.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I
thought perhaps I could make some headway with this film project, maybe
even directly appealing to those I had wronged and exposing a greater
truth, but that is also now being taken away from me. I fear that, just
as with everything else that requires the involvement of people who can
not understand by virtue of never having been there, it is going to fall
apart as careers get in the way.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>The
last thought that has occurred to me is one of some kind of final
mission. It is true that I have found that I am capable of finding some
kind of reprieve by doing things that are worthwhile on the scale of
life and death. While it is a nice thought to consider doing some good
with my skills, experience, and killer instinct, the truth is that it
isn’t realistic. First, there are the logistics of financing and
equipping my own operation, then there is the near certainty of a grisly
death, international incidents, and being branded a terrorist in the
media that would follow. What is really stopping me, though, is that I
simply am too sick to be effective in the field anymore. That, too, has
been taken from me.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Thus,
I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in a war to be at peace,
too damaged to be at war. Abandoned by those who would take the easy
route, and a liability to those who stick it out—and thus deserve
better. So you see, not only am I better off dead, but the world is
better without me in it</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>This
is what brought me to my actual final mission. Not suicide, but a mercy
killing. I know how to kill, and I know how to do it so that there is
no pain whatsoever. It was quick, and I did not suffer. And above all,
now I am free. I feel no more pain. I have no more nightmares or
flashbacks or hallucinations. I am no longer constantly depressed or
afraid or worried</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I am free.</span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>I
ask that you be happy for me for that. It is perhaps the best break I
could have hoped for. Please accept this and be glad for me.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Daniel Somers</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-12168660076585103942013-04-28T05:05:00.003-07:002013-04-28T05:05:58.910-07:00Post #421 - If only....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">This inspired video asks ordinary Iranians what their wish is...(NB: make sure your closed captioning is turned on, unless you understand Persian):</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8klYIR9Lm4g</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-62618427481185579652013-04-04T15:00:00.000-07:002013-04-04T15:00:25.010-07:00Post #420 - Renewal and Rebirth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. President recognizes that with each new year there is the possibility of new life -- even in negotiations about nuclear programs:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2013/mar/18/obama-nowruz-new-us-iran-relationship-possible</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1417288646556750688.post-33386586912773273592013-03-27T08:28:00.004-07:002013-03-27T08:28:39.045-07:00Post #419 - Getting scary...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, this author usually knows what he's talking about:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34427.htm?utm_source=ICH%3A+Obama+Unleashes+Dogs+of+War+in+Syria&utm_campaign=FIRST&utm_medium=email</span></span></div>
Alexander Paticohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344737391996303338noreply@blogger.com0