Failed Regime And Success Stories

Let me get this straight. According to a letter which was signed by a number of Iranian expatriates in Canada and forwarded to the National Post, Iran is a “failed regime.”

I really hoped these intelligent folks had enlightened us on the meaning of a “failed regime.”

If Iran is a failed regime, how does one define all those Arab states (Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya…. the list goes on and on) in the Middle-East? Are they all success stories?

Or even a country like the United States where according to the latest polls, more than 71 percent of the population are against their president?

If we write a letter to a right-wing, neocon rag to protest their slanderous accusations, couldn’t we set aside our own personal vendetta against the “regime” even for one single moment and try to stick to the point?


Here’s the text of the letter:

The Editor, National Post

In your 19 May issue in a front page article by C. Wattie, you claim that the Iranian regime’s parliament has passed a law demanding Jews and other religious minorities wear coloured badges to be easily identifiable. This is false information, as the dress code law that passed on May 15th has no such reference. You claim that “Iranian expatriates living in Canada” have confirmed this.

We, Iranian expatriates, are aware that with the heightened tension over Iran’s nuclear crisis, and taking advantage of the outrageous and unacceptable remarks of the new President of the Islamic Republic, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denying the Holocaust and wanting to wipe out Israel from the map, there is a concerted effort on the part of some groups in the US, Europe, Israel, and here in Canada to compare today’s Iran with Nazi Germany, and Ahmadinejad to Hitler. These groups, among them some Iranians hope to push the United States and its allies to invade Iran and bring about yet another regime change in the Middle East. A basic tool in this process is propaganda through misinformation.

In the first Persian Gulf War, misinformation about incubators stolen by Saddam Hussein’s army in Kuwait and the highly publicized testimony of a young Kuwaiti girl who later turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Washington helped rally public support for US military action. The rhetoric over weapons of mass destruction was effectively used to justify the most recent war in Iraq. It is disheartening that your newspaper should either choose to be a mouthpiece for war propaganda, or not verify the accuracy of the information it publishes.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a failed regime embroiled in deep economic, social and political crises. Passing laws for unified dress codes is itself a sign of desperation. Heightening international tensions and rhetoric are all to divert attention from internal problems, and with the hope of mobilizing Iranian people. State-led newspapers in Iran are bombarding their readers with false and fabricated information.

We are astonished that your paper also chooses to misguide and misinform its readers. It would only be appropriate that you correct the misinformation on the same page that published the misleading article.

A war with Iran will be disaster for its people; it will invigorate the decaying fundamentalists, and will intensify the catastrophic situation in the Middle East, with devastating consequences for the whole world.

Signed

Compare that with the communiqué from The Canadian Islamic Congress. They know exactly who they are dealing with and even demand an apology.

Islamic Congress Denounces National Post Story On Proposed Iran Dress Code