Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: In diretta dall'"asse del male"

L'articolo sotto e' stato scritto da un mio amico, un membro
dell'Alliance for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (di cui ero
presidente).
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p09s02-coop.html
Iranians' love affair with America
The US mustn't squander the vast majority of Iranian hearts and minds
that it has already won.
By Ali G. Scotten
TEHRAN, IRAN - 'What do Americans think about us?" asked an old lady on
the bus. That was the question most often asked of me during my
three-month stay in Iran last year. Messages to the American people
were also common. "Tell the Americans that we're not crazy, scary
people," she continued. Her comment came after she and others had been
dancing in the aisle (with curtains drawn so the police wouldn't see)
while the rest of us - along with the driver - clapped as we raced
down the highway. So maybe they are crazy. But in a good way.
Many Westerners are afraid to come to the Middle East nowadays, and
understandably so. But it's at times like these when face-to-face
contact is most crucial. As I traveled alone through the Iranian
countryside conducting anthropological research, I took note of local
opinions about US-Iran relations. I was heartened by what I heard.
While I'd often visited Iran as a child, the current political
situation in the region made me apprehensive about taking the trip.
Tensions were rising - as they still are today - over Iran's
pursuit of nuclear enrichment, and there were reports in the American
media of possible military action against Iranian targets.
Beyond mere hospitality, authentic affection for America
However, I was soon put at ease. After speaking with numerous Iranians
from all walks of life - lower and upper class, religious and
secular, Westernized and traditional, government- affiliated and
civilian - I became convinced that this vilified member of the "Axis
of Evil" is actually one of the most welcoming places for Americans to
travel in the Middle East. Indeed, all Iranians with whom I spoke
shared a positive opinion of Ameri- cans.
Iranians don't hate America. On the contrary, many of them envy
Americans to an unrealistic degree and think of the US as a paradise, a
land where no problems exist.
One encounters this sentiment in even the most unexpected places. For
instance, when I ran into problems renewing my visa, an austere senior
official at the immigration ministry offered to help. "Because you're
American, I'll do this for you," he said. This was not unusual.
Generally friendly to foreigners, Iranians were especially friendly to
me once they discovered I was American. It was as if they were trying
to prove a point. "Go home and tell the Americans we like them," the
official continued. "You know, I have family in Chicago. Can you help
me go see them?" On the way out, a soldier in the lobby was excited to
see my passport, handling it as one would a priceless object. "How can
I come study in America?" he wanted to know.
Paralleling Iranians' favorable opinions of Americans as a people,
however, is their unified opposition to any US government intervention
in their country. This directly contradicts what Vice President Cheney
and others believe - that if the US were to attack, the population
would rise up to help the Americans fight the Iranian regime. Judging
from my experience, this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact,
US intervention seems to be the only issue that will unite most
Iranians with the Islamic regime.
We can blame the Bush administration's poor grasp of daily realities in
Iran on an almost three-decade-long freeze of contact between the
American and Iranian governments. As a result of this isolation,
so-called experts who have never been to Iran (or at least not since
the Islamic Revolution of 1979) advise US government officials on the
opinions of the Iranian populace. The comment by one influential US
scholar comparing Iran to a concentration camp in which people would
rather be bombed than live another day under such conditions, is a
glaring example of misinformation.
At a private party in a trendy suburb of Tehran, I sat down with a
group of young professionals as they relaxed after a busy workweek.
Iran is not like a concentration camp, they assured me. Yes, they're
repressed by government restrictions, but they find ways to get around
them. And the situation is certainly not to the point of rising up
against the regime.
In fact, politics was the last thing on their minds - that is, until
I brought up the possibility of US intervention. "As much as I despise
this regime, I love my country more," said Reza, a 20-something. "If
America were to attack Iran, I would be the first to lay down my life.
Ask anyone and you'll hear the same."
Moderates today, insurgents tomorrow?
And indeed I did. Whether they were the village teenagers in southern
Iran who took me to eat chicken kabob and drink smuggled Turkish beer
in the forest, or Hamid, the opium smuggler in Bam who moonlighted as a
taxi driver, the reactions were the same: Though unhappy with the
Iranian regime, they would join forces with the mullahs to deter an
outside attack. Listening to them speak, I couldn't help but think that
these young moderates could well become the future insurgents in an
expanded regional conflict.
This may be avoided if we actually listen to the voices coming out of
Iran. Iranians are overwhelmingly in favor of normalizing relations
with the US, but oppose any intervention in their nation's internal
affairs. Forces seem to be aligning in favor of direct dialogue between
the two estranged governments.
Pragmatic voices are wresting control from both neoconservatives in the
US and their fundamentalist counterparts in Iran. Let's hope they win
out. Opening up relations with Iran is not appeasement; it's necessary
because it allows home-grown demo cratic forces to work on their own
terms.
Counterintuitive as it may seem, overt US calls for regime change and
direct support of dissidents and NGOs have a negative effect on Iranian
civil society because they result in government crackdowns and increase
popular anger aimed at the American government.
Build relations upon shared ideals
In the dispute over nuclear enrichment, the stakes are growing higher
each day. If Iraq is the beginning of the end for security and goodwill
toward America, then an attack on Iran would be the nail in the coffin.
The tragic cost of American misjudgment regarding the Middle East was
made painfully clear in Iraq, when US soldiers were greeted with
roadside bombs instead of flowers. Let's not repeat that mistake.
We should take Iranian nationalism seriously when even Shirin Ebadi, a
Nobel Peace Prize winner, vows, "We will defend our country to the last
drop of our blood. We will not let an alien soldier set foot on the
land of Iran."
We cannot afford to squander the vast majority of Iranian hearts and
minds that we have already won. We must instead convince the Iranian
people - through displaying the courage to open dialogue with the
ruling regime - that we are committed to furthering our shared ideals
of universal life, liberty, and justice.
· Ali G. Scotten is a PhD student in anthropology at the University
of Chicago and a former Fulbright scholar.


Fulbright, Goldbright, in the dark.
Visto che leggete le cazzate che passa lo zio.
Vi metto in guardia da quella che e' pura propaganda,
Siccome ho passato anni in Iran posso assicurarvi che l'articolo di cui
sopra e' una bufala.
Pura merda, la maggioranza degli Iraniani odia gli USA per i loro golpe anni
50 e per la guerra di Saddam contro l'Iran degli 80.
Tutti hanno perso qualche parente per colpa degli USA, questo e' quello che
conta nell'area.
Esiste di contro una buona diaspora di Iraniani che sono fuggiti in America
, erano quelli ricchi.
Tanti hanno parenti negli USA e adorerebbero fare businnes e quatrini.
Gli Iraniani non sono malvagi, non sono merdosi arabi, sono persiani, non
sottovalutateli, gente ironica, in mano a una banda di fuori di testa.
Chi dipinge queste cazzate delle "hearts and minds" lavora per qualcuno.
Chi cazzo vuoi che dia "hearts and minds" ai bovari obesi, hanno televisore
e antenne satellitari anche in Iran, mangiano pure il gelato, pensate.
Guardano il disastro in Iraq.
Quindi sanno perfettamente che sono nelle mani di una banda di fanatici e
sanno perfettamente che fuori della porta c'e' una banda di figli di puttana
dediti alla rapina.
Tenete poi presente che la gioventu' e' ampliamente manipolata dai pasdaran,
solo dopo i 30 anni cominciano ad avere visioni piu' rilassate.
Fuldark
Saluti
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