Thanks but no thanks
: I missed Alireza’s open letter (in response to Michael J. Totten’s open letter) regarding American support for an Iranian democracy movement.
He essentially says: thanks, Americans, but no thanks.
There’s much I disagree with in the letter. This is a medium for links and responses even to that with which you disagree.
He says regarding September 11th:
When the Twin Towers came down on September 11th 2001, I did not light candles for the victims of that monstrous attack, precisely because of my memory of every crime the U.S. had committed against my country – and I assure you that I was not alone …
Which is to imply that America and its 3,000 innocent victims somehow deserved this fate because of things America had done. I fear he thinks there was even some justice in the act.
That is not only offensive, it is illogical. If you think the attack as “monstrous,” then you should mourn the victims.
I have considerable antipathy for the mullahs of Iran who kidnapped our diplomats and who called for the death of our nation and people. But that does not stop me from mourning the victims of the mullahs; that does not stop me from supporting Iranians who are struggling for democracy. It is possible to hold a regime and its actions in disdain while supporting its subjects.
He goes on:
Like many, I was hoping that September 11th would be a wakeup call for the U.S. to see the hatred that its injustices had created in the hearts of people all around the world. Unfortunately though, that hope did not last long, and it soon became obvious that America was going to continue to bury its head in the sand and blame those
