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Unsung Heroes (EXCELLENT ARTICLE - pass around!!!!)

 
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by Nicole Sadighi
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:53 am    Post subject: Unsung Heroes (EXCELLENT ARTICLE - pass around!!!!) Reply with quote

Unsung Heroes
March 12, 2004
Iran va Jahan
Nicole Sadighi



"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down".
Sir Winston Churchill - Feb 9, 1941

I was only a little child when the black revolution happened in Iran and an old mullah by the name of Ruh'ollah Khomeini replaced the late Shah of Iran and declared the country as the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although I was so young, my early recollections are still so vivid; yet this decaying country I see today is a far cry from my memories of old.

Nearly 26 years ago a dark cloud descended over Iran's beautiful pastures and her fertile soil. This darkness raped her of her culture, values, ethics and a prosperous and rich future. An ancient land, which has bared witness to the birth of renowned poets and artists, scientists and philosophers and the rise and fall of many great dynasties. A land where Cyrus the Great wrote the first declaration of the human rights in 539BC, and ordered the release of all captive nationalities held as slaves for generations in Babylon, including 50,000 Jews, who were freed and their return to their homeland was financed; has today been transformed into a torture chamber for the forgotten souls.

Still, it is astonishing to ones rational mind, that somehow this regime has strangely managed to survive for 25 years; during which time it has caused some of the most horrific catastrophes and devastation known to the history of man. Even more mind-boggling is that the EU's big three, France, Germany and the UK have supported them throughout. By doing so they have seemingly turned their backs on humanity and endorsed and prolonged the oppression and torment of millions of Iranian people, who have been imprisoned, executed and tortured at the hands of these thugs for merely defending their fundamental human rights! The EU's continued fat trade deals with the Islamic Republic, in return for oil concessions, has been one of the regime's biggest source of income and, the IR "Islamic Republic" has the most notorious reputation for funding, training and providing a safe haven for all the terrorist networks, including Americas most wanted, Al Qaeda.

Not a matter of "if" but "when"

In the meantime a country that publicly executes, lashes, imprisons its own people, for as minor reason as speaking out for their basic rights, has been surreptitiously developing nuclear capabilities and WMD's ... Who knows what might happen if this regime developed a little red button to push. A consideration that is realistically viable and highly disturbing. On February 26th news agencies reported after a meeting in Vienna, with France, Germany, UK, the U.N.'s Chief nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El Baradei, of IAEA, (International Atomic Energy Agency), persuaded Tehran to agree to suspend all activities linked to uranium enrichment. Ironically in the same report, the head of IR's Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rohani was quoted to have bluntly stated that IR is not obliged to declare its activities to the UN watchdog. Taking into account the fact that the IR has been concealing its uranium enrichment programme from the IAEA for almost 20 years, this report further emphasises the regimes attempt at buying time and playing politics and, time and time again dialogue with these islamo-fanatics has proved to be unproductive. This is characteristically reminiscent of another cat and mouse play; which led to a war against Iraq.

Yet, one would like to believe that EU's big three, would not wish history to repeat itself; still they insist on the soft approach and continue "constructive dialogue" with the regime in spite of its recent election charade. So yet again the mullahs have the advantage.

In point of fact, much to ones concern, they have the upper hand in their foreign affairs as they do with their domestic affairs. The regime excels in the field of corruption and aggressive dictatorial rule, having so violently imposed themselves on the people of Iran it is without a doubt that they impose a definite threat to the international community. It is not a matter of "if" but "when".

Neither fair nor free

Unfortunately many democratic voters of the western world are not aware of the true face of IR. This is no surprise; particularly when some journalists and leading news institutions such as the BBC, regularly choose to be unfairly selective of their news reports and thus ignore the journalists code of ethics; which is that "A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information he/she disseminates is fair and accurate, avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion, selection or misrepresentation". This can be typified in their inaccurate report of the recent IR election fiasco. They reported that at the polling stations, namely Niavaran, in northern Tehran, voters were eager to express their views, even if some were less willing to give their names or have their photographs taken. They reported that the Interior Ministry had confirmed that turnout was the lowest, since the IR was born 25 years ago and well down the 67% who voted in 2000.

Considering journalists from all over the world were allowed into Tehran for the elections, this is an exceedingly fanciful representation of news and couldn't be farther from the truth. They chose to neglect the fact that there was widespread instability and violent unrest throughout the country, that several people had been killed, that people were being threatened and beaten in a violent attempt at forcing them to vote and that the true number of votes are frighteningly less than the reported official figures, with authentic figures as low as 5% in some cities.

Is this not, one hastens to ask, valuable material of great magnitude for news, particularly when one is reporting about an illegal election, in a country that is part of the volatile mid-east and is governed by unelected tyrannical mullahs that would make President Mugabi of Zimbabwe look like a saint? The BBC's Jim Muir reported from the streets of Tehran and said, "Many Iranians might agree that the election wasn't very fair but there's no sign there will be any trouble. Most ordinary Iranians basically just want a better life, if they think a new right wing parliament can give them that then they'll give it a chance".

In fact on February 25, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released a report emphasising that: "There were reports of political killings. The Government was responsible for numerous killings during the year, including executions following trials in which there was a lack of due process. Government affiliated vigilante groups also were responsible for extrajudicial killings. The law criminalised dissent and applied the death penalty to offences such as insults against the memory of Imam Khomeini and against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and outrage high-ranking officials. Citizens continued to be tried and sentenced to death in the absence of sufficient procedural safeguards".

Due to its consistently poor journalism, (such as the disgrace of Gilligan/Kelly-gate and the resulting resignations of BBC Chairman) the BBC has unfortunately lost its credibility inside and outside of the UK. It sees it fit to practice unprincipled and bad journalism and has built up a reputation for delivering unreliable and flimsy news.

Their portrayal of the regime as a legitimate entity is highly unjustified. The reason why these vanquishers are referred to as the "hardliners" is because they are dogmatic and ruthless; they were not established for the people, by the people.

Since 1979 the year of Black Revolution in Iran, about four million Iranians have been living in exile and 25 years on, the same black cloud still casts a dark shadow over their once free land. They are fortunate to be able to voice their concerns freely and without fear. They have the opportunity to vote without restraint and continue to take pride of who they are and where they come from. However let it be said, that the EU and all its foreign policy devotees should stop their continued trade relations and stop referring to the IR as though they would speak of their own democratic societies and, they should start supporting and listening to the voices of the Iranian people who will remember who stood by them, when they, the unsung heroes, win the real war on terror and the terrorist regime.

Nicole Sadighi, London

"Miss Nicole Sadighi is an advocate of the non-violent movement for
establishment of democracy in Iran. She can be contacted at:
nicolesadighi@hotmail.com."
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Joined: 03 Mar 2004
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Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting this article! I will pass it on.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:05 pm    Post subject: excellent Reply with quote

ANother great article from Nicole Sadighi! THANKS!
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