WRITTEN BY Mozhgan Savabieasfahani
What a charade!
I learned the word "charade " from my Texan English teacher in Teheran long ago. I later found out she was the wife of a U.S. military advisor for the Shah's puppet regime. I still remember my teacher's meticulous attention to English pronunciation and her glittering diamonds. Many such U.S. military families fled Iran when the 1979 revolution arrived.
Obama, like his predecessors, got on T.V. yesterday to declare his love for freedom and universal human rights. What a charade! Do you, Mr. Obama, expect us to embrace your calls for people's universal rights as you continue to illegally occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, as you continue to bomb Pakistan, as you tighten crippling sanctions on Iran, and as you shamelessly talk of destabilizing politically independent nations? And as you continue your full support for Israel and its criminal acts in Palestine?
Do you expect us to believe you care for people's universal rights as you start another war in Yemen?
So what about Yemen, you ask?
Suddenly Obama has introduced us to his latest "enemy": Yemen.
You would never guess that Yemen was occupied from 1839 to 1967 by Great Britain or that Israel and the U.S. deployed their air forces, and their air bases, to crush Yemen's drive for independence. From the 1960's until today, Yemen has had its sovereignty shattered by U.S. military interventions, both covert and overt. So, Mr. Obama, don't play the innocent as you commit war crimes against Yemen.
One day, Obama, Bush, and a parade of Israeli leaders will go on trial for their destruction of the Middle East. Maybe then, we will have a chance to breath freely, and to enjoy real democracy without U.S. and Israeli bombs falling on our heads.
Mr. Obama, as for your bogus gesture in support of "those who seek their universal rights" in Iran: I will have you know that Iranians are well aware that U.S. policy has consistently been to crush all democratic movements in Iran by outright coup d'état, and by fueling genocidal wars.
It is no secret that in 1953 the CIA overthrew the government of the democratically elected Prime Minister, Dr. Mosaddeq. Mosaddeq had angered the British by nationalizing Iranian Oil. What ensued was 29 years of torture for Iranians at the hands of the Shah, who terrorized the people with an Israeli-trained secret police, the infamous SAVAK. After a brief period of feeling triumphant (as the 1979 revolution seemed to have won), Iran was hit again by the U.S. fueled war with Iraq, which lasted for 8 years, crippling civil society in both Iran and Iraq. The eight-year-war left the two nations battered and shattered.
Iranians suffer, to this day, from 30 years of U.S.-imposed sanctions that have taken a serious toll on education, public health and communications in Iran. Iranian airplanes frequently crash for lack of parts that are denied Iran under U.S. sanctions. Two years ago, I spent 8 hours in a local Iranian airport waiting for a 1 hour flight. Constant threats of bombing by the U.S. and Israel have also been inflicting psychological damage on all, especially on children in Iran. I recall a conversation I had with a close relative last year, who told me how her nine-year-old daughter cannot sleep because she is afraid of U.S. /Israeli nuclear attack.
Mr. Obama, your slogan of a "change you can believe in" is simply an insult to millions of people's intelligence—people who suffer in the hands of your military occupations and bombings across the Middle East.
The opposition of the American public to perpetual wars is apparent. Indeed, Americans put you, Mr. Obama, in the White House to end these wars. Sadly, Obama, like others before him, has betrayed this public. The American public feels helpless and impotent in the political arena that has been created by Democrats and Republicans alike. The American public have been made to associate political discourse with dishonesty and greed. Some argue that they suffer not only from economic depression, but also from a psychological state of feeling weak and powerless in what they think of as a democracy.
But let us remember the potent and effective American Civil Rights Movement that achieved the impossible. Remember The Civil Rights Movement that utilized mass protests to embarrass the U.S. government in front of the whole world. Let us also remember the anti-war movement that helped end the war in Vietnam and saved Asia from being totally torched by the U.S. military.
If only U.S. streets were filled with anti-war protestors again, we would witness a quick change of heart in U.S. Middle East policy and an end to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If anti-war protesters fill the streets of America, further attacks, on defenseless countries like Yemen, will be no more.
See the power of today's Iranian green generation on the streets of their beloved Iran. See how the brutal security forces surrender to young Iranians who are demonstrating for democratic institutions free of corruption and greed. See the Iranian people's courage and determination to make this a better world for all.
Americans have achieved similar triumphs by public protests. Let us do it again. Mass public protest, against perpetual war, is our only chance to save ourselves.
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Boycott Israel: hands off Iran
