The term “backwards” was used three times as well as “crazy country” and “loony”. These terms used in Gerry Wachovsky’s Daily Forty-Niner article “Iran’s philosophy is nutty ‘Looney Tunes’ feature” on Feb. 2 are done so in a demonizing and belittling fashion.
I expect more — in terms of academic discourse — from a graduate student at Cal State Long Beach. I only wanted to clarify a few aspects of Mr. Wachovsky’s article. What is Gerry so afraid of? Has he not heard of Pakistan?
As I write this reply, there are more than 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, more than 100,000 U.S. and allied NATO forces in Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf is littered with U.S. battleships. Iran is surrounded by foreign troops.
As for the nuclear issue, it is difficult to point fingers at Iran when neighboring countries in the Middle East such as Israel, India and Pakistan already have nuclear weapons. I view this issue in terms of science because nuclear energy is the equivalent of a “seat at the table” in global politics.
On Aug. 9, 2008, Newsweek reported that Bruce A. Wooley, a former chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at Stanford University, said that Sharif University in Iran now has one of the best undergraduate electrical engineering programs in the world — even better than MIT.
Iran has more than 25,000 Jews living in Iran and there is a Jewish representative in the Iranian Parliament.
An entire country being perceived as “loony” because of what their president has said is tough to swallow. Take Barack Obama’s predecessor, for example.
FYI; Ayatollah Khomeini died in 1989. The supreme leader of Iran is Ayatollah Ali Khameni, which brings me to my next point; Ahmadinejad does not run the show in Iran. He is checked by the parliament and the Assembly of Experts.
Finally, a grad student should never publicly acknowledge Wikipedia as a source, Gerry.
-Hanif Zarrabi,
Middle Eastern history graduate student
Hanif Zarrabi,
You’re wrong. It’s actually very easy to point fingers at Iran concerning their development of nuclear weapons. You see, unlike Israel, India and Pakistan, Iran has spent the past 30 years calling for the destruction of another country, Israel. In December, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the “Zionist regime” “has reached the end of the line and will soon fade away from the earth”. How else is the State of Israel going to “soon” fade away if not by Iran nuking it?
The fact that more than 25,000 Jews living in Iran IS irrelevant because the mere fact that Jews live in a country does not on its own prove that that country’s government is not anti-semitic. The tribulations of the Jews in Russia under the Czars and Communists clearly proves this. The Jews still living in Iran are essentially hostages. The Holocaust denial officially endorsed by the Iranian government proves beyond all shadow of a doubt that it’s anti-semitic.
The fact that the Supreme Leader of Iran is currently Ali Khamenei rather than Ruhollah Khomeini is not reason to stop fearing Iran. Ayatollah Khameini is just as much a nut as Khomeini was. Khamenei said of Israel, “this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region.” Khamenei also said “it is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people” and that “they [the Israeli people] are combatants, stooges at the service of the arch foes of the Muslim world…We are on a collision course with the occupiers of Palestine.” So he won’t be happy until both the Israeli state as well as the Israeli people are destroyed.
It was a mistake to tell us in your letter that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is checked by the Assembly of Experts. That fact proves that Gerry Wachovsky was right about Iran rather than you. The current chairman of the Assembly of Experts is the former President of Iran Hashemi Rafsanjani. In 2001, he said, “If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists’ strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything.” That’s the leader of the assembly that’s supposed to be checking Ahmadinejad. No wonder Gerry Wachovsky as well as millions of other people are so worried about Iran.
Forgot one thing…
“Sounds to me that you are no better than Ahmadinejad himself… in terms of discourse of my dear friend.”
Yeah, it’s pretty clear to everyone reading this that I’m just a regular Ahmadinejad over here.
That was sarcasm too, by the way.
I enjoy the debate here, and I will try to answer all your points.
Are you really trying to say that India is a global threat because of it having nuclear technology? I really don’t think many people find the land of call centers and Bollywood to be threatening in the very least…that was a joke. Seriously though, yes, India is a world superpower but you seriously pulled a bait-and-switch on the facts of the Indian-United States “backdooring”. The truth is that India signed a bilateral accord with the United States in October 2008, and India DID agree to put civilian nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA. What is your issue with India, exactly?
As for Israel, you know that I am pro-Israel and I believe Israel has a right to protect itself. That being said, how do you know for a fact that Israel possesses nuclear weapons when none of the rest of the world knows for sure? Besides that, let’s say for a minute that Israel DID have nuclear weapons…American citizens still don’t consider Israel a threat since we’re allies. But this is really all speculation as it is unclear whether Israel does or does not have nuclear weapons.
As for Pakistan, well, according to Wikipedia (which I know you dislike, but hey, I’m going to use it anyway), its army is one of the biggest proponents of peacekeeping efforts made by the United Nations. It’s no secret that Pakistan did create nuclear weapons in competition with India, but still, do you REALLY consider them a threat on the global stage? It may have allegedly housed terrorists but we’re talking about the country and its leaders here, not some Islamic fundamentalists hiding out in the caves of the desert. So yeah, I don’t find India, Israel, or Pakistan to be threats to us.
Moving on, considering the Jews in Iran, who cares how many Jews live there? That is not a response to what I said about Ahmadinejad. He is clearly anti-Semitic, I don’t think that’s debatable. And that was the only point I made about him. I find it ridiculous that a head of state is so openly anti-Semitic and most of the world does too. As for the Ayatollah, well who knows what his beliefs are, they may or may not be similar to Ahmadinejad’s. The point is that the Ayatollah is not going to conferences at Columbia University and making these statements. He also isn’t the one who is going to other conferences calling into question the Holocaust and pondering such ridiculous notions as whether it did or did not occur! The “voice” of Iran, if you will, in terms of leaders, is Ahmadinejad. “Zionism” has nothing to do with my statement, but nice try in bringing it up. Ahmadinejad is as anti-Semitic as they come, and I think most of the world knows this fact.
The Ahmadinejad comment in reference to “queens” walking around the streets of Iran was sarcasm, by the way, but when talking about gays in that country, don’t you find it ridiculous that they receive a “medical card”, as you say, denoting their genetic trait? Does Ahmadinejad make Jews wear yellow stars as well, just to denote their genetic and religious traits? Yet another example of a backwards policy in Iran. I didn’t know about the medical cards, but thanks for bringing that to my attention.
The piracy point I made was not that it goes on in this country as well, but that Iran’s government doesn’t even attempt to do anything about it.
And finally, the “biblical age” comment was a joke…sarcastic humor, which some people, yourself included, clearly didn’t get. See, my articles, as you’ll start to see, always include sarcastic statements, and that is the one thing that people always seem to not get. I’m not always speaking literally, but rather, I use humor at times to prove a point…humor that is sadly misunderstood by those who take my articles personally.
The biggest point you missed about my article as a whole was that I didn’t once criticize the citizens of Iran. I only referred to the government and because the government runs the country, I find Iran to be a threat. All these tangents you have gone off on are moot in relation to the points I originally made. Why bring up the Jews that live in Iran? Why bring up other countries’ nuclear capabilities? Why bring up Iran’s prestigious engineering school? Those things are all simply diversions and have nothing to do with the points I made in my article. The point of my article was simply that Iran is headed down a dark path and its leaders have made the country very nutty in many respects. And I don’t think many people would disagree with me here.
Here is my rebuttal Gerry. I too also love to hear different viewpoints.
Israel, India, and Pakistan have nuclear technology because they are not threats? Israel secretly acquired their nukes and refuse to admit so. India last year made a deal with the US government to further their nuclear capability by “backdooring” the IAEA and their rules and regulations. As for Pakistan, I am not sure if you are familiar with the Northwestern Front of that country? That specific geographic area between Afghanistan “houses” Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. So basically the country that is home to our mortal enemies has nukes ready to be fired. Also all three of these countries have not signed the IAEA’s non-proliferation treaty which means they have NO provisions to comply with. You stated that these countries acquired them because they are not threats. The truth is that they acquired them secretly, because they felt they had to for their own reasons. Iran by the way is a signatory of the IAEA’s non-proliferation treaty. Which means they acquired nuclear TECHNOLOGY legally.
The fact that I brought up that Iran has 25,000 Jews and representation in parliament is NOT MOOT. You stated that Ahmadinejad is “everyone’s favorite Jew-Hater”. This argument revolves around the definitions of Zionism, which are complex for some, and simple for others.
I do not believe I missed any major points of your article. Your main argument is that is Iran is “backwards” and “crazy” which implies that “we” as a people should be afraid. Your examples were strategic institutes that claim that Iran will be nuclear capable by next year. Institutes and think tanks have been saying this same argument for the past 15 years. You stated that Ahmadinejad is clueless about homosexuals in Iran. In actuality, the Iranian government medically diagnoses homosexuals as genetical trait. They (homosexuals) in turn receive a “Medical Card” that states their sexual identity. Our country sadly still to this day can not decide if being “gay” is genetic or just a “phase”. You also talk about piracy laws! As if this was a measure of a country. Have you ever heard of kazaa? sharebear? Have you ever walked in downtown LA? You can get movies that haven’t even come out yet!
And worst of all, “send him back to the biblical age”. I’m not sure if this means assassinate him or “wipe him from the pages of time”, a line that rested in the heart of your article. Sounds to me that you are no better than Ahmadinejad himself… in terms of discourse of my dear friend.
A few counterpoints here, as you clearly missed the point of my article.
First off, the other countries you mentioned that have nuclear technology have them because they are not considered threats on the global stage. Israel, India and as far as I know Pakistan are not making statements talking about “sending the Jews to the sea” and eradicating Israel. So that’s why I didn’t mention them.
Congratulations to Iran for having a prestigious school, but I think you missed a major point of my article: I don’t believe I criticized any of the laypeople of Iran. I was talking about their government, so all your points about the Jews living there and the entire country being looney are moot.
And Ahmadinejad is on the world stage almost weekly saying one thing or another that most of the civilized world would disagree with, and whether there are checks in the parliament or not doesn’t matter – most people would agree he is a threat to world peace.
If Wikipedia was my only source you would have a point there, but it’s not, as I also referenced other sources.
Either way, I always love to hear a different viewpoint, so thanks.