Dr. Hoder prescribes medicine

I like Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder), though I have never met him. I have seen him on TV and I am an avid reader of his blog. He is very articulate and most of the time makes sense.

But not this time.

We have all seen those “Impeach the President” banners. We always assumed they referred to the President of the World, aka G.W. Bush.

Hoder has come up with a novel idea: Let’s impeach the other president: President Ahmadinejad.

He suggests that by doing so, we can bring back the civility of former president Khatami to Iranian politics. We might even satisfy the American/Israeli regimes who are poised to attack Iran.

Let’s review the facts: it was before Ahmadinejad was elected as Iranian president that Bush included Iran as part of the axis of evil. It bewildered many within the then reform-minded Iranian circles around the Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, since Iran was cooperating with the Americans in their plans to remove the Taliban. Ahmadinejad wasn’t even a presidential candidate when the Americans invaded Iraq and had Iran in their sights. Only if things hadn’t gone so wrong in Iraq…

Hoder argues Ahmadinejad has no control over foreign affairs. The main reason for his removal would be that he has a big mouth. He has offended the "international community" by talking truth about American and Israeli atrocities in the region. He has questioned the Holocaust as a basis for Israeli occupation of Arab land. And therefore he has to be silenced.

Ahmadinejad has talked about this so-called "international community” on many occasions and has called for radical reforms in the structure of the UN Security Council, the same “international body” that has imposed sanctions on Iran. Here are some excerpts from his speech to the UN on Sep. 19, 2006:

“Apparently the Security Council can only be used to ensure the security and the rights of some big powers. When the oppressed are crushed by bombardment, the Security Council must remain aloof and not even call for a ceasefire. Is this not a tragedy of historic proportions for the Security Council which is charged with maintaining security for all countries?

“The prevailing order of contemporary global interactions is such that certain powers equate themselves with the international community, and consider their decisions superseding that of over 180 countries. They consider themselves the masters and rulers of the entire world and other nations as only second class in the world order.

“The question needs to be asked: If the governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the organs of the UN can take them to account? Can a Council in which they are privileged members address their violations? Has this ever happened? In fact, we have repeatedly seen the reverse. If they have differences with a nation or state, they drag it to the Security Council and as claimants, arrogate to themselves simultaneously the roles of prosecutor, judge and executioner. Is this a just order? …

“The present structure and working methods of the Security Council, which are legacies of the Second World War, are not responsive to the expectations of the current generation and the contemporary needs of humanity.

“Today, it is undeniable that the Security Council, most critically and urgently, needs legitimacy and effectiveness. It must be acknowledged that as long as the Council is unable to act on behalf of the entire international community in a transparent, just and democratic manner, it will neither be legitimate nor effective…

“No one has superiority over others. No individual or state can arrogate to themselves special privileges, nor can they disregard the rights of others and, through influence and pressure, position themselves as the `international community’.”

So what is so despicable about Ahmadinejad? Is it his upbringing or the way he dresses?

Or perhaps the way he can communicate with a large segment of the population who were ignored by Khatami and his reform-minded allies?

Hoder argues that another Khatami type should take the helm. The question is: Would that satisfy the Americans/the Israelis? I understand Hoder has been reading a lot of political theory lately, which might be the reason he has labeled the Iranian government as “the only true post-colonial state in the world.” If we accept his logic, then we can easily conclude the colonial powers will do their utmost to wipe such a menace off the map of the world.

Why we love Fidel

Why do we love Fidel?
Because we love the idea of “Fidel”
Because we think there has to be some other way
That there must be more to life and to living than this
That life and living must have some meaning too

We loathe the things that they force down our throats day and night
We love freedom:
Freedom from the chains of television and commercials
Freedom from the chains of futility
Freedom from humiliation

Yet, we know Fidel’s time is past
We know the idea of “Fidel,” too, will some day succumb to the unipolar world that is getting narrower every day
Still, we keep hoping
Still, we see signs that the idea of “Fidel” may be permeating into other places too
Fidel who, once the Soviet Union fell, was left isolated and friendless, is finding new friends and allies

But the unipolar world, too, is hard at work
Its slogan is “You are either with us or with the terrorists”
Its slogan is “democracy,” but only if democracy doesn’t harm its own interests
It supports all autocratic governments, but considers Fidel a dictator
A dictator who has given free education and healthcare to his country’s people
And many other things besides
So we must either be with Bush or with Fidel

But even if some day Fidel had to leave, he will go with honor
He will hold his head high
The same way that his nation – his comrades – hold their heads high
Because he never yielded
He was never like autocratic rulers who sell everything that they have and that they are, all in return for worldly power and status

Fidel will become immortal
Because there will never be another Fidel
In the same way that there will never be another Gandhi, another Mossadegh, or another Allende
And, yes, another Khomeini or another Arafat

And yet…
Such words don’t give us fancy clothes
They don’t give us credit cards, loans, debt, and alienation
They don’t give us the “American Dream”

So, long live CNN and the “free” press, the boundaries of whose freedom are set by multinational corporations!
Long live hundreds of meaningless brand names, trade marks and logos!
Long live luxury cars and even more luxurious houses, which most of us only see in our dreams!
Long live the material world

The Lying Liar and His Backers

Bunkum From Benador
By: Larry Cohler-Esses

The neoconservative campaign to equate Iran with Nazi Germany received a setback in May. Bloggers and a few journalists quickly exposed as wholly concocted a story about a new law that would require Iranian Jews to wear yellow insignia. Within days the National Post of Canada--founded by disgraced neocon media mogul Conrad Black and now owned by the no less hawkish Asper family--was forced to apologize publicly for its "scoop." But by then the New York Post, Rush Limbaugh, the Drudge Report, right-wing blogs and some wire services had picked up the claim, bringing the phony news to millions.

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An Un-Diplomatic Diplomacy: Tehran 1 - Washington 0

In the case of Iran, Washington was a perfectionist. Iran’s imperfect democracy had to go, and presumably be replaced by a dictatorship mindful of US interests. In reality, Washington was fearful that Iran’s independent political behaviour was setting a bad example for the rest of the Third World.

Washington, having begun from a position where “all options were on the table,” to quote Condi’s favourite threat, now has nothing left on the table! It has been stripped bare of the last shred of credibility it may still have possessed.

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Iranian Cold Warriors in Sheep's Clothing

The superpower that stockpiles thousands of nuclear weapons and dropped two of them on Japanese cities is keeping the world sleepless over a nuclear weapons program that Iran could possibly be contemplating. This despite the fact that Iran has not attacked any country in at least 250 years while the accuser, Washington, regularly bombs, invades, kidnaps, and tortures on every continent.

In 2001, a number of the Cold Warriors, including an Israeli Embassy staff publicist named Nir Boms, formed the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington.

A favorite speaker at FDD's campus events is Akbar Atri, a defector who describes himself as a former "leader" of the student movement in Iran. He was brought to the United States in 2005 by the Committee on the Present Danger. Another self-styled "persecuted student leader," Amir Abbas Fakhravar, was brought to the US this year by FDD associate Richard Perle and is being groomed for a similar purpose. That purpose seems to be to deflect attention from the US and Israeli occupations and war crimes in the so-called war on terror, which George Bush is now describing as a repeat Cold War.

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Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Leaders of the Free World

Iran Nuclear Conflict Is About U.S. Dominance

...The Bush administration's insistence on extending its dominance in the Middle East even further can only be achieved by the threat of force, and if that fails, war against Iran...

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The Loss of a Possibility for Dialogue

Ahmadinejad asked important questions regarding the contradiction between President Bush's Christian values and US policy. As Ahmadinejad put it, "Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ… and have countries attacked… villages set ablaze?

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Iran's Nuclear Program: The Way Out

Iran is prepared to work with the IAEA and all states concerned about promoting confidence in its fuel cycle program. But Iran cannot be expected to give in to United States' bullying and non-proliferation double standards.

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U.S. Is Proposing European Shield for Iran Missiles

"As far as we can tell, Iran is many years away from having the capability to deliver a military strike against the U.S.," said Gary Samore, vice president of the MacArthur Foundation and a former aide at the National Security Council. "If they made a political decision to seriously pursue a space launch vehicle it would take them a decade or more to develop the capability to launch against the U.S."

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Snubbing Iran

Unilateralism, with its inevitable linkage to the threat or use of force, is at the heart of the administration’s refusal to negotiate. Such unilateralism cannot possibly enhance U.S. security or the security of others. By doing anything he can to avoid international negotiations, organizations, laws and customs, Bush is gaming the system—against U.S. interests.

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Iranian Dress: Lies Wide Open

... the story played to fears and assumptions about Iran. In the current climate of relations between Iran and the West, Western media stories which make Iran appear like Nazi Germany apparently don't need to be authenticated before Western and Israeli politicians jump to attention.

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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

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

The official propaganda organ

of the Ministry of Truth

Islamic Congress Denounces National Post Story On Proposed Iran Dress Code

COLUMN ON RELIGIOUS ID BADGES "UNPROFESSIONAL, AND DANGEROUS"PM HARPER'S RESPONSE "EMBARRASSING"

The Canadian Islamic Congress has denounced as "blatantly false and incompetent" a National Post column by London-based commentator and Iranian exile Amir Taheri that ran on Friday (May 19). In it, Taheri claimed Iran had passed laws that would soon require non-Muslims -- especially Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians -- to wear identifying colours or badges.

Based on Taheri fabrication the National Post front page story on May 19, 2006 was "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS" with a front page photo of "A Jewish couple wear yellow stars in the Budapest ghetto in 1944."

Continue Reading ...

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Tehran denounces `baseless' report

No plan to ID non-Muslims

Story `a sheer lie,' legislator says
May 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
JOHN GODDARD
STAFF REPORTER

Iranian legislators condemned as an insult yesterday a suggestion in the National Post that they would require Jews to wear a yellow patch on their clothes.

"Such a plan has never been proposed or discussed," Iranian legislator Morris Motamed, one of 25,000 Jews living in Iran, told The Associated Press.

"Such news, which appeared abroad, is an insult to religious minorities here."

Legislator Emad Afroogh said the Post story distorts a bill he presented to parliament calling for Muslims to dress conservatively. It seeks to have women avoid Western fashions, he said.
"It's a sheer lie," Afroogh said of any suggestion of minority tags. "There is no mention of religious minorities and their clothing in the bill."

In a front-page story, the National Post reported yesterday that the Iranian parliament, or Majlis, passed a law Monday requiring Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges.

The story drew worldwide reaction. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has previously labelled the Holocaust a myth and called for the destruction of Israel.

"Unfortunately, we've seen enough already from the Iranian regime to suggest that it is very capable of this kind of action," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters at Meech Lake, Que., where he was meeting Australian Prime Minister John Howard, before it became clear the Post story was wrong. "It boggles the mind that any regime ... would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany."

The head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, which champions Jewish interests worldwide, immediately wrote UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"Now is the time for the United Nations and the international community to launch an immediate investigation," Rabbi Marvin Hier wrote Thursday after the Post showed him an advance copy of the story. Hier told the Toronto Star yesterday he had not been able to verify the information.

"We're looking into it," Annan's spokesperson in New York also said, "and we haven't got anything solid."

In a phone interview from Tel Aviv, Israeli commentator and Iranian exile Meir Jawadnafar angrily dismissed the story as "baseless." Toronto-based Iranian blogger Hossein Derkhshan said he could find no evidence of any such plans.

Repeated calls to Post editor-in-chief Doug Kelly went unreturned. The paper's website ran a story headlined "Experts say report of badges ... is untrue."

The front-page story said the law requiring the badges passed. The information apparently came from a column inside the paper saying something different by London-based commentator and Iranian exile Amir Taheri. The Majlis gave itself the mandate Monday to create standardized Islamic garments by next fall, Taheri wrote.

"Religious minorities ... will also have to wear special insignia, known as zonnar, to indicate their non-Islamic faiths," he wrote without naming a source or saying it was part of the law that passed. Jews would wear yellow, Christians red and Zoroastrians blue, he said, to allow Muslims to avoid shaking hands with non-Muslims and becoming najis, or unclean.

Source: thestar.com

Also...

The Iranian "badge" story: Neo-con propaganda?

Creating Kristallnacht: Hate Baiting at the National Post

Latest Hitler: how lies become news

Badges for Jews, A Hoax!

CanWest and the Lobby

Badger Gate

Another Fraud on Iran: No Legislation on Dress of Religious Minorities

Take Action: Holding the Liars Accountable- Contact information

MORE LIES:

A Vote of Thanks Is Expressed By Iranian Jews

Amir Taheri replies!: Iran yellow-badges fallout: Amir Taheri comments

Nevada bombing prelude to attack on Iran

“Bush administration officials claim that this massive test blast is unrelated to the effort to build a nuclear bunker-buster. But we all have seen how openly truthful this administration has been about everything else it has done. So we all need to worry.”

“Mr. Bush believes that he must do what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do, and that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

“Karl Rove is said to believe that bombing Iran will get the Republicans through the 2006 election, and President Bush would feel like a failure in God's eyes if he didn't stand up to Iran because he thinks he is doing God's work.”

by Carol Jensen
May 15, 2006

As an American whose family tree includes a branch of ancestors who were living on this land when the first Europeans stumbled ashore, I find it intolerable that the Bush Administration is going ahead with its plan to detonate 700 tons of explosives on tribal land in Nevada. This is yet another hate-based idea concocted by the Republican-controlled government.

The planned explosion is scheduled for June 2 only 90 miles from Las Vegas on a site that belongs to the Western Shoshone (Newe tribe) who own 60 million acres in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and California, according to an 1863 United States treaty.

Continue Reading "Nevada bombing prelude to attack on Iran"

Why the United States Invaded Iraq and is Now Thinking About Invading Iran

... with what has come to light since the Iraq invasion, we have to assume that like Iraq, the decision to invade Iran has already been taken, and that the E.U. Three negotiations and the IAEA are being used to prepare the public for that event.

by Dr. Abbas Bakhtiar
May 12, 2006

On April 28, the IAEA released its report on Iran. The IAEA reported that: "the Agency cannot make a judgment about, or reach a conclusion on, future compliance or intentions." The report came as no surprise to those who have been following the ongoing dispute between Iran, United States and the IAEA.

The United States, for quite some time now, has been accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and Iran has been insisting that its intentions are peaceful and that it is only interested in peaceful use of the nuclear energy. Iran, to allay the international community's fear, froze its enrichment program and started a series of negotiations with the U.K., Germany, and France. However, without the United States these negotiations were not going to produce any results, since it was only the United States that could address the Iranian's national security concerns. Iranian seeing themselves surrounded by American forces wanted a security guarantee that United States would not invade Iran, something that United States was not prepared to give. So the negotiations with the European three failed and Iran resumed its enrichment program. Iran was threatened with Security Council and even invasion without any effect. Now once again there is talk of a Security Council resolution under article 7 and continuous threats of invasion. There have even been talks of tactical nuclear strike on suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.

Continue Reading "Why the United States Invaded Iraq..."