Faramarz,
From your name I am sure you are Iranian in origin--like me. While I agree with you re the way you have accurately characterized the foreign policy of U.S. (and of Israel), let us not forget that Iran's foreign policy under the "supreme leader" (and especially under Ahmadinejad/Mesbah-Yazdi) needs--and depends on--the U.S. / Zionist foreign policy to be "vicious, inhuman and hypocritical" (i.e., colonial/racist) in order to justify right wing "internal despotism" (and horrific abuse of human rights), unfortunately in the name of religion--giving the right-wing Israeli/American policy-makers exactly the racist / "Orientalist" excuse they need. This is what the Late Dr. Mossadegh predicted over 60 years ago--before his democratic government was overthrown by the CIA.
Shame on violence.
SABZ BASHID.
Mojtaba Aghamohammadi (Moji Agha)
Initiator, Mossadegh Legacy Institute link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.blogspot.com
"So as usual, however much the Iranian hard liners (who have never forgiven the US for the coup) want to insult the US, we’ve done much worse to them."
Dear Prof. Cole,
I agree with this, but only partially. The Iranian "hardliners" who are making so much noise about this, are NOT doing it because they have not "forgiven" the 1953 coup. Rather, they NEED the "cold war" state in the U.S.-Iran relations because (much like their Israeli and American right-wing counterparts) they need a state of crisis in order to survive politically--and economically. Dr. Mossadegh said: "Internal despotism" and "external colonialism" are two (mutually interdependent) sides of the same coin.
Peace,
Moji Agha
Founder, Mossadegh Legacy Institute / America for Nonviolence Initiative link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.blogspot.com
Hi/Salam. Thank you for this essay/post (link to juancole.com), which does not surprise me.
Please consider sharing this on your blog (beyond a comment), so that "regular Americans" may learn what a relatively "dark skinned) person like me is capable of doing; May there be less darkness:
As you know, I am an Iranian-American "Middle-Eastern-looking Muslim male" peace, human rights, and Earth activist, trained as a cultural psychologist, and I speak English with a Persian accent--and I write (and translate) poetry in English and Persian.
Here is a list of SOME of the things I have been doing since 9/11:
a) As a project of the Arizona non-profit organization "Universal Coalition for Interfaith and Intercultural Knowledge and Action (UCIIKA)" that I started (officially) on Sept. 11, 2002), I initiated the 24/7 still on-going "Simple Peace Vigil" (today is our vigil Day 3,682) the day after the U.S. started bombing Iraq in March 2003: link to simplepeacevigil.org
b) On January 31, 2007 I started the IISCCIW or International Institute to Study Climate Change in the Islamic World: link to iiscciw.org
d)The Mossadegh Legacy Institute (MLI), which has among its projects a petition (signed by Noam Chomsky at sig. 19) calling for a posthumous joint Nobel peace prize for Mohammad Mossadegh and Mahatma Gandhi: link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.org
Thank you for sharing this. As you know I founded this initiative several years ago:
The International Institute to Study Climate Change in the Islamic World (IISCCIW) --- link to iiscciw.org
But after 6 years of trying hard to get it going, I am giving up. I suppose the "Islamic World" (1/4 of the planet's human population) is not "sexy" enough, and those who apparently care about climate change, only care about its impact on more "important" countries in lucky "advanced countries." Sad!
"To play the Nazi/Holocaust/Hitler card in this way is reprehensible and beneath contempt."
Besides "reprehensible..." the abuse of Holocaust (and Israel becoming Goliath) is the wet dream of all anti-Semites coming true.
You are welcome. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in collaboration with the project.
Faramarz,
From your name I am sure you are Iranian in origin--like me. While I agree with you re the way you have accurately characterized the foreign policy of U.S. (and of Israel), let us not forget that Iran's foreign policy under the "supreme leader" (and especially under Ahmadinejad/Mesbah-Yazdi) needs--and depends on--the U.S. / Zionist foreign policy to be "vicious, inhuman and hypocritical" (i.e., colonial/racist) in order to justify right wing "internal despotism" (and horrific abuse of human rights), unfortunately in the name of religion--giving the right-wing Israeli/American policy-makers exactly the racist / "Orientalist" excuse they need. This is what the Late Dr. Mossadegh predicted over 60 years ago--before his democratic government was overthrown by the CIA.
Shame on violence.
SABZ BASHID.
Mojtaba Aghamohammadi (Moji Agha)
Initiator, Mossadegh Legacy Institute link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.blogspot.com
"So as usual, however much the Iranian hard liners (who have never forgiven the US for the coup) want to insult the US, we’ve done much worse to them."
Dear Prof. Cole,
I agree with this, but only partially. The Iranian "hardliners" who are making so much noise about this, are NOT doing it because they have not "forgiven" the 1953 coup. Rather, they NEED the "cold war" state in the U.S.-Iran relations because (much like their Israeli and American right-wing counterparts) they need a state of crisis in order to survive politically--and economically. Dr. Mossadegh said: "Internal despotism" and "external colonialism" are two (mutually interdependent) sides of the same coin.
Peace,
Moji Agha
Founder, Mossadegh Legacy Institute / America for Nonviolence Initiative
link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.blogspot.com
Dear Prof. Cole,
Hi/Salam. Thank you for this essay/post (link to juancole.com), which does not surprise me.
Please consider sharing this on your blog (beyond a comment), so that "regular Americans" may learn what a relatively "dark skinned) person like me is capable of doing; May there be less darkness:
As you know, I am an Iranian-American "Middle-Eastern-looking Muslim male" peace, human rights, and Earth activist, trained as a cultural psychologist, and I speak English with a Persian accent--and I write (and translate) poetry in English and Persian.
I wrote this essay shortly after 9/11:
The Real Enemy is Ignorance
link to counterpunch.org
By: Moji Agha
OCTOBER 09, 2001
Here is a list of SOME of the things I have been doing since 9/11:
a) As a project of the Arizona non-profit organization "Universal Coalition for Interfaith and Intercultural Knowledge and Action (UCIIKA)" that I started (officially) on Sept. 11, 2002), I initiated the 24/7 still on-going "Simple Peace Vigil" (today is our vigil Day 3,682) the day after the U.S. started bombing Iraq in March 2003:
link to simplepeacevigil.org
b) On January 31, 2007 I started the IISCCIW or International Institute to Study Climate Change in the Islamic World:
link to iiscciw.org
My most recent projects:
c) Truth and Reconciliation: Iran (TRP: Iran) :
link to trpiran.blogspot.com
d)The Mossadegh Legacy Institute (MLI), which has among its projects a petition (signed by Noam Chomsky at sig. 19) calling for a posthumous joint Nobel peace prize for Mohammad Mossadegh and Mahatma Gandhi:
link to mossadeghlegacyinstitute.org
Thank you for what you do to reduce darkness.
Peace and justice on a living planet,
Moji Agha (Mojtaba Aghamohammadi)
Tucson, Arizona
Dear Prof. Cole,
Thank you for sharing this. As you know I founded this initiative several years ago:
The International Institute to Study Climate Change in the Islamic World (IISCCIW) --- link to iiscciw.org
But after 6 years of trying hard to get it going, I am giving up. I suppose the "Islamic World" (1/4 of the planet's human population) is not "sexy" enough, and those who apparently care about climate change, only care about its impact on more "important" countries in lucky "advanced countries." Sad!
Moji Agha