Persian Pride

Persepolis the old capital of the former Persian Empire is situated in the South of Iran. The ruins of the palace and the symbolism sculpted in it represent the character of the Persian people today as it did then.
One symbol that you can see in Persepolis is a lion with the head of a man, wings of an eagle and surrounded by flowers. The flowers state that the Persians are living in peace with others. But attack them and they will fight back with the power and the courage of a lion, the intelligence of an eagle and the logic of a man. That is the pride of the Persian people.

For a picture of this see here.

Hillary Clinton in full swing

The New York’s senator might become the United States’ next president. She voted in favour of a resolution that describes Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. This description was first published in The New York Times online on 14. August 2007. According to many foreign policy experts this might intensify the clash between the United States and Iran. Clinton explained her decision to agreeing to the bill by saying that she voted for it in order to apply greater diplomatic pressure on Iran.

In the presidential nomination race in the US, Clinton now is in full swing against Iran.

Reuters reported on 23. April 2008 that Clinton said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” the day before, that she wants the Iranians to know that if she was president, they will attack Iran (if it attacks Israel). As I read this comment in the Reuters article I was getting annoyed about the words Clinton used. What angered me the most was, why does she say “the Iranians” instead of “the Iranian government”?
When checking ABC’s website to watch the original footage of what the senator was saying she actually didn’t say “the Iranians”. She was saying: “If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons […] and if Iran were to attack Israel with a nuclear weapon we would retaliate. And I want Iran to know […] that it is not in their interest to obtain nuclear weapons […] we will work to deter them from using such weapons […]."
It is not quite clear in my opinion whether she meant Iran, the government and by addressing them, the people behind that government or whether she meant Iran, the country and its people when she spoke these words. In the Reuters article it clearly came out as the second choice.

For the New York Times article see here.

For the Reuters article see here.

For Hillary Clinton on ABC's "Good Morning America." go to its website here and search for "Clinton Evades Race Card Question" to watch the video.

Challenging Iran's leader Ahmadinejad

There was a huge debate of whether or not to allow Mr. Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University in New York on 24 September 2007, including protests on the university’s campus against his attendance.

Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University felt immense pressure having invited Mr. Ahmadinejad. He defended his decision by saying: “I would like to invoke a major theme in the development of freedom of speech as a central value in our society. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.”
The Iranian president's visit put Ahmadinejad in the public eye and gave him a platform to speak, not disregarding him and the views he is holding much to his right to freedom of speech.
It might have been an attempt by Bollinger, if not a very interesting confrontation, to expose Mr. Ahmadinejad to the public in order to help pressure him into changing the way he is leading his country or playing with the West. Nothing though it seems can provoke this man because he is not answering with violence to uncomfortable questions. He is not answering to uncomfortable questions with a direct answer either.
The West wants to negotiate with him in the aim to change the relationship of Iran and the West to progress. On the political level or social level, this requires different measures than the following. Bollinger started the debate by addressing Ahmadinejad with the following words: "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."
The West needs to understand the Iranian culture, Ahmadinejad’s culture to negotiate successfully. Some other kind of psychological warfare is needed than solely treating Ahmadinejad disrespectfully.

For the transcript of Ahmadinejad's visit at Columbia University see here.