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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| A Different Face of Iran |
| 2006-09-06 |
| A fresh and very different view of Iran - from the Travel Section of WaPo. Gee, I wonder why it differs so much from their front page "reporting", LOL. H/T to PowerLine and NRO. Despite the Politics, an American Finds Hope in a Forbidden Land As a journalist, I've spent considerable time over the years in places where America was not always popular. In the bad old days, that meant Russia, China and Vietnam; more recently I've reported from such human-rights black holes as Uzbekistan and North Korea. Then there were the destinations with elements of danger: Israel, the southern Philippines, Northern Ireland. None of those ever gave me pause. But I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't admit being slightly uneasy about going to Iran -- now in the United States' cross hairs because of its developing nuclear technology -- when a U.N. contact invited me to join a group of international reporters on a trip in May. The United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran haven't had diplomatic relations in 26 years, since students in Tehran seized 66 American hostages inside the U.S. Embassy and held some of them for as long as 14 months. Neither nation has an embassy in the other's capital, and the U.S. State Department has a travel warning on Iran. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council is pressuring Iran to stop its uranium enrichment, and the Bush administration is talking sanctions. I applied for my visa in a room on the second floor of a nondescript building in upper Georgetown marked "Iranian Interests Section." This facility is technically part of the Pakistani Embassy (which handles Iran's affairs in the United States), but Pakistan's embassy is actually two miles away. What I saw here didn't ease my mind. Inside were a dozen Iranian Americans waiting for their own visas. As they waited, they gazed at videos on a large plasma television. On the screen was the classic image that most Americans have of Iran: a bearded, red-faced mullah wagging a bony finger at a stadium of young people. For what, I didn't know. |
| Posted by:Clereng Glomolet2652 |
| #6 "Most Germans" joined the Nazi party, whether for professional advancement or personal beliefs. Most of their children joined the Nazi youth groups. Most did not protest when the Jews were expelled from their jobs, freeing up spots for hiring and promotions; when Jewish children were expelled from the schools, freeing up places for the Aryan offspring; when Jewish businesses and properties were expropriated by the State and sold to Aryans for pennies on the Reichsmark; and when the personal possesions (furniture, decorations, clothing, toys, eyeglasses, hair for mattress stuffing and ashes to improve the soil on the farm) were sold cheaply to the Aryans -- they just happily paid with their improved wages from their politically protected jobs while their childrem took advantage of their schooling. Of course they didn't fight against their "hated Nazi overlords". |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-09-06 23:32 |
| #5 Unfortunately, Zenster is right. Just like in Nazi Germany, most Germans were decent people and not involved with the Holocaust. However, hardly anyone was willing to bring down the regime. Therefore, the only way to get rid of the war criminals was to bomb the cities into rubble and kill several million people. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-09-06 15:35 |
| #4 At the end of the day, this "face" of Iran is not one that is capable of overthrowing the mullahs. Therefore, it changes nothing. End of story. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-06 15:17 |
| #3 "Everywhere I went, however, Iranians -- from high school students to middle-aged taxi drivers -- repeatedly asked me: "Why does America call us Evil Axis?" Then they would indignantly add: "We are good people -- we are Persians! Iran is a good country, some are bad, but most people here are good." They seemed genuinely wounded by the political rhetoric of the White House." Well, yeah. This is an ongoing problem with GWB. If he had only said the GOVERNMENTS of Iran, etc., it would have been a lot better. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2006-09-06 13:23 |
| #2 Did he ask them "If you like America so much and are so tolerant, what do you think of your government supporting terrorists, calling us the Great Satan, demanding we convert to Israel, building nuclear weapons, demanding the eradication of Israel?" |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-09-06 09:47 |
| #1 Also posted Sunday, direct from the WaPo - here |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-09-06 06:18 |