Az Chaleh to Chah
Disclaimer: This article is written by Reza Nasri. Reza has asked us to publish his e-mail correspondence with Michael Ledeen. As this is a private e-mail exchange, we are not in the position to affirm its credibility, nor do we take responsibility for its content. We have published it here as another text by an anti-war Iranian reader. We have left the text of Reza's e-mail unedited.
Iranians for Peace
-----
Reza Nasri*
re_nasri [at] yahoo.com
Michael Ledeen is a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a fervent advocate of an aggressive foreign policy towards Iran. He is considered to be one of the “driving philosophical forces behind the neoconservatives,” and is the man who once proudly said that “creative destruction is our middle name”!
I believe it is fair to say that Mr. Ledeen is the embodiment and the walking personification of the same ideology that drove thousands of “unlawful combatants” to Guantanamo and sent a few more thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians to their graves!
But what prompts me to write about him?
While browsing the Internet yesterday, I came across the “creative destructor’s” recent article - “Faster, please” – in which he has prescribed an Iraqi style “liberation” for Iran. So I thought it would be appropriate to let him know what I think!
After all a man who had helped transfer arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair had nothing to teach me about good principles and the high values of liberty.
So I wrote him this short email:
Mr. Ledeen,
Obviously you have no real understanding of the Iranian psyche. We (iranians) would ather live and die under the Mullah's flag than to get "liberated" by americans.
President Bush has already sabotaged the Iranian "people "'s movement toward democracy once by branding Iran as part of an "axis of evil", hence giving the harliners enough pretext and justification to prosecute activists and reformers even more
vigourously than before.
He is now engaging the regime AND the people in a psychological war, the result of which you (americans) could never understand, as you still don't know the
iranian mentality.
Today, "tens of thousands of Iranians have braved blizzards to attend rallies marking the 1979 Islamic revolution", most of whom could have very well been against the regime; Yet have still prefered it over your suggested methods of bringing "freedom"!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4253171.stm
Moreover, if you really care about the new "referendum movement" and all those who initiated it, please don't ask any Western leaders to support it! The minute Mr.
Blair and Co. show the slightest sign of approval toward this movement, it would loose all its credibility in Iran!
Why don't you get it? We don't want your help!”
Mr. Ledeen responded: “Then don't bother me. Just shut up and spit.”
I am not surprised! I know people like Mike Ledeen: They think they have more rights to our country than we do.
I just thought it would be a good idea to share his comments with the Iranian Internet community so that everybody gets to see how extremely "arrogant" these neocons are and how close their language and mentality is to Hossein Shariatmadari's.
Maybe some of us would think twice before supporting the "freedom" army’s march on Tehran!
Or maybe some of us would finally realize that it is much easier to get out of an Iranian “Chaaleh” than an American “Chaah”!
*Reza Nasri is a student in international law at Montreal.
Iranians for Peace
-----
Reza Nasri*
re_nasri [at] yahoo.com
Michael Ledeen is a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a fervent advocate of an aggressive foreign policy towards Iran. He is considered to be one of the “driving philosophical forces behind the neoconservatives,” and is the man who once proudly said that “creative destruction is our middle name”!
I believe it is fair to say that Mr. Ledeen is the embodiment and the walking personification of the same ideology that drove thousands of “unlawful combatants” to Guantanamo and sent a few more thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians to their graves!
But what prompts me to write about him?
While browsing the Internet yesterday, I came across the “creative destructor’s” recent article - “Faster, please” – in which he has prescribed an Iraqi style “liberation” for Iran. So I thought it would be appropriate to let him know what I think!
After all a man who had helped transfer arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair had nothing to teach me about good principles and the high values of liberty.
So I wrote him this short email:
Mr. Ledeen,
Obviously you have no real understanding of the Iranian psyche. We (iranians) would ather live and die under the Mullah's flag than to get "liberated" by americans.
President Bush has already sabotaged the Iranian "people "'s movement toward democracy once by branding Iran as part of an "axis of evil", hence giving the harliners enough pretext and justification to prosecute activists and reformers even more
vigourously than before.
He is now engaging the regime AND the people in a psychological war, the result of which you (americans) could never understand, as you still don't know the
iranian mentality.
Today, "tens of thousands of Iranians have braved blizzards to attend rallies marking the 1979 Islamic revolution", most of whom could have very well been against the regime; Yet have still prefered it over your suggested methods of bringing "freedom"!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4253171.stm
Moreover, if you really care about the new "referendum movement" and all those who initiated it, please don't ask any Western leaders to support it! The minute Mr.
Blair and Co. show the slightest sign of approval toward this movement, it would loose all its credibility in Iran!
Why don't you get it? We don't want your help!”
Mr. Ledeen responded: “Then don't bother me. Just shut up and spit.”
I am not surprised! I know people like Mike Ledeen: They think they have more rights to our country than we do.
I just thought it would be a good idea to share his comments with the Iranian Internet community so that everybody gets to see how extremely "arrogant" these neocons are and how close their language and mentality is to Hossein Shariatmadari's.
Maybe some of us would think twice before supporting the "freedom" army’s march on Tehran!
Or maybe some of us would finally realize that it is much easier to get out of an Iranian “Chaaleh” than an American “Chaah”!
*Reza Nasri is a student in international law at Montreal.
posted by no war
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5:22 PM
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