Recently the people of the United States recieved a letter from Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I urge any who have not read this document, to do so at once. www.uncommonthought.com is one of a few places where it can be found, read and printed.
As an American, a Christian, and a basically educated man, I am both afraid and concerned over the content of President Ahmadinejads` message. I am struck by the sophisticated presentation of his ideas, and the reasonableness of the mans suggestions, the smooth sincerity of his every word. My fear is not so much of him, but of the weak minded and dissolusioned men and women in our own nation that so easily fall prey to anything well packaged, pleasing to the eye, and tickelish to the ear.
Dr. Ahmadinejad speaks often of `God`. Even more of Divinity and spirituality, on the surface he seems a godly man. The cadance and soothing tone belie a terrifying truth. The god of this man is not the God of the Bible, but a god of prophets that command beliefe in him or death. Deny what you will, this is a basic tenant of the Muslim faith.
Iran is a theocratic dictatorship, ruled by fear and oppression like any other country where beliefs are told you. Free speech and practice of worship is not an option there, and if you refuse to adhere arrest, imprisonment and death are surely your lot. But, none of this is in the well crafted letter, as truth would spoil the illusion of its` intent. Though one point is completely evident , the thinly veiled hatred of the Jewish people cannot be contained. Nor will it be entirely lost on even the slightly gullible readers, as it makes them squirm just a little uncomfortably in their comfortable chairs.
This subtle servent of ill will would have us believe we share a common intrest in peace, as he appeals to the mothers and families of our servicemen and women in Iraq to call their children home. While with the other hand he doles out vast amounts of weapons and wealth to insurgents to kill and mutilate those same children in the streets of Bagdad.
Skillfully we are demonized to the world for the wrongful imprisonment and degrading of jihadists in the course of defence of our nations` security, yet those who are ultimately behind the kidnapping of journalists, aid workers, and engineers and their recorded and televised torture and beheadings are never mentioned. With a mouth open on both sides the Iranian president condemns terrorism on the right, while supporting Sryia on the left.
Gently he concerns himself with our accounts in Iraq, lightly salting the wound he hopes so soon to fully infect. President Ahmadinejad wrings blood caked hands in anticipation of our militarys` departure, eger to aquire the resorces of oil and bodies to fund and fuel a coming war he will wage first against the Jew, then the western world. This war is not an idle threat, it was his word.
Imperialism, fascism, and communism have all bred their cataclysms, some violent and genocidal, others cold and suffocating. Yet they will have been as a cloud passing before the sun when compared to the coming atrocities that loom large before the world today, if we continue to stumble forward with our eyes closed and our ears open to the silken words of madmen.
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17 comments:
I haven't read it yet, but here is the link to the letter on Uncommon Thought Journal.
The man may indeed be mad, but does that negate his ability or right to speak words, silken or not?
Frankly, I couldn't find much of anything in his measured arguments to be alarmed about. Is he wrong to suggest that the money spent by America in Iraq could have and should have been better spent, or is he simply the wrong person to suggest it?
I look forward to hearing what you think I'm missing.
Good evening Ian, I hope this day has found you well.
Try as I might, I can`t find anywhere in my post, a denial of Mr.Ahmadinejads` right to speak. And I certainly credited his ability to write a sophisticated, reasoned and reasonable sounding appeal. Taking to heart your suggestion via e-mail, I was also careful to refrain from attacks on the presidents person, and feel that I used proper address and respect of his position in every instance. This being said, I fail to understand the interogative first in your post.
As to your next paragraph, let us put our best foot forward firmly on the pile of brass tacks that spills on the floor of reason. The fact that he mentions a good deal of money has been spent in Iraq, and may have been better spent, is incidental at best in respect to the rest of the illusions he purveys in this communication. Is he the wrong person to suggest this? Maybe not, except while some in America nod their heads and rub their chins in contemplation of this, their attention is skillfully drawn away by his false concern, in an attempt to hide the destruction his hands are forging right in front of them.
Never mind attempt! What brother do you not find to be alarmed about? The glaring hatred toward the Jewish people, which in an earlier international address he promised to "wipe off the face of the earth"? Or the fact that his totalitarian government, bent on world domination through the conversion to Islam by force, nuclear if possible, will not hesitate to risk their own death and destruction to bring down western culture? Maybe you do not fear the chain of events that will occur if we pull out of Iraq to soon, and Iranian troops overtake the nation, strangling more than a quarter of the worlds oil supply? If people stole from and shot each other at the pump at 4.00 a gallon, what will happen when the price leaps to 16.00 a gallon overnight? Will you be even concerned then? All to often in the last century, nations turned blind eyes, appeased, and condescended to the spouting wills of madmen. The horror and shame of a world that could have done much to extinguish the fire has it seems, so soon forgotten the lessons history had taught it, at so great and terrible a price.
Mea culpa, I violated my own principles and jumped to the conclusion about your not granting him the right to speak. What I did hear in your post was fear of a mad man that I did not read in his letter. You aptly point out his record, and that is appropriate. All I'm saying is that what I read in his letter is argumentation that I have little trouble agreeing with on the whole. That does not negate your point that the man is not to be trusted.
This is a tricky business. Were I the president and had to deal with this diplomatically, you can rest assured that I would meet with him face to face in order to assess him as a person. My fear is that our leaders stake out positions and rattle swords in public instead of doing the difficult work of dialogue in private.
As for the price of gas, I would guess that you would agree that a significant increase would not be a bad thing for our environment...maybe we would finally start taking a serious look at alternatives.
I just read my own post and didn't understand it, let me clarify. I meant to say that I didn't not hear the words of a mad man in his letter, but I don't disagree that he is a mad man, just that you can't tell that from his letter.
I suppose that if all we knew of Dr.Ahmadimejad was this letter, and we did not know Islamic law decrees the death of all who will not profess Allah as God, and we did not know of the mortal hatred of devout Muslims for the Jewish people, and we did not know he personally pronounced a promise of destruction for the state of Isreal, and we did not know the history of unchecked tyranical fanatics in the past few hundred years, we might not be able to tell if he were mad.
Hi mkz
very good blog. To me, the Amadinejad is so transparent as to border on silliness. He knows nothing of justice and fairness, nor the dignity of man, and his kind thrive on violence, suprression and dominance.
In my estimation, if we are going to give him the keyes to Iraq (which is the unavoidable by product of letting Iran and Syria into the problem) then we need to vacate the military from Iraq.
Ian, I would disagree that Amadinejad has spoken right words. He has lied and used American media language to spread the infection that is his reality - his stripe of Islam and his government. He is a man to be most pitied and stopped.
While we speak, it has been uncovered and reported by ABC news that Iran is arming the Shiite insurgency under the leadership of Al Sadr. The fruit of that is yet to be wrought on the people of the middle east, but it will be - more suffering, more robbing from the people, more exloitation, more mass murder, attemptde genocide and a burning desire to bring about armoggedon. Amadinejad has stated as much - he believes it is his destiny to trigger the return of thier satanic messiah.
And we have no problem with not thwarting his nuclear ambitions.
I agree Ian, we need independence from oil - sadly, it is the the liquid god of many nations, with a priesthood and sacrificial system. Too many have made too much from it. But it is never too late.
I still think dryer lint would be an abundant, stable fuel source. But no scientist will take me up on it!!
Hollands Opus
Thanks Soj, and OP. I am a student of WW II. I had a relative who served in the Spanish American War,WW I, WW II, and for a short time as a non-combat advisor in Korea. He died at the age of 104, still mobile and healthy except for failing eyesight. Sadly he cought his foot in bedsheets one morning, fell and took a mortal contusion to the skull, ironicaly from the corner of his military footlocker.
One thing I learned under his encouragement was the desolation of tyrany. He spent time in N. Africa, and in Europe, fighting for the freedom of nations forign to him, and painting pictures of the refugees and the destruction wrought by the Nazi military machine, under the guidance of a lunatic. Having spent alot of time getting to know the history of that era, its` politics and the criminal negligence involved on the parts of so many nations including ours before Dec. 7, 1941,I feel qualified to state, what we face today in the howling fury of President Ahmadinejads` retoric is a far more sinister threat than that of an Adolf Hitler.
I feel in fact, the only thing more dangerous than an angry athiest is a psychotic zealot.
I too agree we need an alternate fuel source, I think corn ethanol is a viable alternative. We just have to convince the oil execs to share the cash and play nice, and try to explain to the powers that be in Washington D.C. that rich middle class farmers are a good idea. Both concepts I fear, would be harder to sell than The Truth of Christ to Dr. Ahmadinejad himself.
mkz
what a great way for an old war tough gruff to die. You really did a neat job in that brief description, I actually felt a sense of awe!
Pray hard against Amadinejad - pray for his soul, and against his progress as a radical Muslim.
I must confess to little knowledge about Amadinejad, but I have heard some of the accusations made in the comments here. I would be interested in links to primary source material (i.e. his own words) and any independent journalism that might be available.
I may need to re-read the letter, but I don't recall anti-semitism in the letter. I did hear an opposition to Israel's policies and practices. Much of Israel's behavior has been reprehensible, deserving of international condemnation. I agree that calling for the annihilation of Israel is completely wrong, but didn't our nation threaten to bomb another one "back to the stone age"? Like it or not, there is plenty of hyperbole in politics.
So, let's agree that this is a mad man, does that mean that the only diplomatic response can be violence? When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Ian, my primary source material has been media news reports for the past 11 or so months. MSNBC,FOXnews,CNN, NBC,CBS,BBC,ABC, also WYCM AND WVNE radio. Even The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. A motly collection to be sure, yet all together they represent a fair crossection of the opinions and the facts we all have available to us. President Ahmadinejads` international adress from Terhan, with interpreter overlay was broadcast in part a few months ago on MSNBC, where he promised destruction of the Jewish state. His anti semetism is clear in the fact that his basis for these threats is that they are Jews, not Muslims, the surrounding retoric is superfluous. Somewhat similar to the Nazi point of view that Jews should be destroyed because they were not `Arians`. Somehow, I think sadly, based on your assesment of Mr Ahmadinejads` commentary on the Jewish issue, you could probably review the content of the public adresses of Adolph Hitler from 1933-40, and have found some merit in his condemnation of the Jewish people also. I know that sounds harsh brother, but your support of such deplorable tactics on the part of the Iranian president against a nation that has bit its` collective tounge for so long, while enduring almost daily rocket attacks on its` civillian population , rockets that he supplies!, is unreasonable at the very least.
Yes, we did threaten to bomb a nation into prehistory, but not because of their religous conviction. It was rather because they were advancing by force of arms a social system that would oppress and kill whoever did not bow before it. And that is not hyperbole.
If it looks like a nail, rusts like a nail, and goes through your hand like a nail, then its` a nail, and theres` no sense in approaching it with a band-aid after the injury is done, when a hammer could have prevented the damage in the first place.
I'm not trying to be obstuctionist just for the sake of being a pain. I'm simply trying to make sure we look beyond the implicit course of action that the current administration seems to be on regarding Iraq. I'm worried that I hear the same saber rattling that preceded previous wars.
Yes, Ahmadinejad is dangerous and we are wise to not accept some of what he says without the context of all that he says and does. I hear what you say about his approach to Israel based on the fact that they are Jews. That is unacceptable. On the other hand, blind support for the state of Israel on the part of the United States has by and large only complicated any potential peace plans over the years. How can the US be a credible diplomatic power in the region when it is apparently implicit in (or at minimum silent about) Israel getting nuclear capability and yet vehemently opposed to any of its neighbors being likewise armed? Perhaps frank discussions involving the real facts are occurring between the US and Iran, we can only hope.
Hello Ian, one in assuming that you can diplomatize the group of nations that are seeking to erradicate Isreal. For this to happen as I see it, you first have to convince them to recant the roughly 1,200 yr old concept that all non-Muslims have to be converted or killed, as the Koran indicates. Once this is done, then I am sure diplomacy has a chance. The reason we provided Isreal with nuclear weapons is a defensive one. Primarily because they have been attacked, without prior military provocation a number of times by Syria, Egypt, and other Muslim nations by proxy. Each time Isreal by Gods` hand, has repelled these attacks. Even seemingly overwhelming ones. Isreal has had nukes since about 1968, and has never initiated an attack against a single neighboring country with one, even after being attacked themselves. These are the real, historical facts. Are you a gambling man Ian? Me neither, but care to make a gentlemans` wager on how many minutes Syria or Iran would wait to attack Isreal with no provocation other than the fact that they are jews and breathing should they have a nuclear device at their disposal?
Ian
you can google Amadinejad's speeches for transcripts.
Sadly, the Iraq Surrender Group embraces the ides of diplomacy with Amadinejad. He cannot get his hands on Iraq fast enough. He will be instrumental in continued unrest in Iraq. He is behind the arming of militia there. Nice nap America!
Oh, speaking of the peaceful Islam, mkz, I see today that a town in southern Somalia has ordered the beheading of all residents that do not pray 5 times per day. This is in keeping with Koranic law.
Ian, on a side note (hope you do not mind mkz) how do you place a link right in the blog entry itself (as opposed to on the side) Thanks
Hollands Opus
No problem OP, I would like to know how to do this myself, though being somewhat computorially challanged, Ian could you make the explaination as simple as possible? Feel free to explain the procedure here.
*Sigh* there are so many options prior to killing people, perhaps there will be some wisdom in Washington and diplomacy will get a chance. It really wouldn't hurt to start real talks so at least any escalation starts at square one. We don't have to believe everything, or even anything that the opposition says to make demands for appropriate behavior. If that breaks down then use economic and other power. Is that really too much to ask?
Now for the link lesson...
To make a link you insert html code. It looks like this:
[a href="http://www.yourlinkhere.com"]text that will be underlined and become the link when clicked[/a]
What you need to do is replace all the [ with < and the ] with > (If I had done that it would have made the link)
I hope that makes sense. The best way to learn it is to try it.
Thank you Ian, for the link code, similar to the one used to put links in facepage of our blogs, I understand the concept, can`t wait to use it!
As for diplomacy, I feel it is always the best approach. Unfortunately, for this to work both sides must WANT to come to a mutual agreement. As I stated earlier, for Muslim theocratic states to want peace, they must first acknowledge the error in the theology of the Koran that dictates conversion by force or death. There is no liberal side of Islam, Islamic liberals in these countries are either silent or beheaded, according to Koranic Law.
I dearly love the idea of peace Ian, I have a beautiful, Jesus filled 6 year old daughter that I pray has the chance to grow up in a solvent, free, democratic country at war with no one.
Many a father in the nations of Europe in the late 1930`s prayed for the same. They also diplomaticised themselves into a false sense of security with wolves at the gates they continually gave chances to become sheep. How many more times will human history repeat itself, before we learn the lesson that tyrants and fanatics find peace only in the domination, oppression, or annihilation of those who oppose them?
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