Too bad the whole country didnt fall
Payback for 1979

Governments are either there to serve the needs of the people or they believe that the people are there to serve the needs of the government. In this case, the refusal of the Iranian government to accept the gift of charity from Israel for ideological reasons is, as you said, revolting.

If only the people were revolting instead of the government....

Regarding Herb:

This is a good time to remind the readers of Command Post that the comments on this site do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the people who run this site.

What is completely distressing is that MY COUNTRY is spending billions of dollars in Iraq, and they'd still kill all Jews if given the chance. We're giving billions of dollars (not to mention that small bit about freedom from oppression) to people who will forever be fill with bigoted hate. Disgusting.

What is completely distressing is that MY COUNTRY is spending billions of dollars in Iraq, and they'd still kill all Jews if given the chance

Hello, Faith? Hello???
Are you reading??? We're talking about 2 different countries here. Maybe it is confusing that they both have 4 letters and both start with "I". Let's pay a bit more attention shall we?

Michele,

Kudos for your tolerance of the 1st Amendment.. :-)
Faith,

I think you are on the wrong wavelength about Iraq.

Faith: Your statement is impossible to prove. To say that something will be so "forever", will take "forever" to bear out, but it may be disproven tomorrow. Be careful making such statements.

Marybeth: I suggest you look here.

Thanks, Gus. Where there's anger there's hope.

Hello Daniel! You may be talking about two countries, but Jahanbakhsh Khanjani is certainly not ("The Islamic Republic of Iran accepts all kinds of humanitarian aid from all countries...."). Yes I know, it's difficult to understand the concept of not wanting to be the subject of continued genocidal propaganda.

Gus, you are quite right about my use of the word "forever." My bad.

Gee Herb, that's so very nice of you. Are you one of those "compassionate consevative" types?

Yeah, the Ayatollah was crappy, but the revolt which put him in power had a little bit to do with the US putting a pretty hardcore dictator in charge of Iran in the 50s.

Let me get this straight. Holding hostages for well over a year warrants massive destruction for an entire country?

Get a clue (and perhaps some humanity)...

Vejadu, in this instance I think that the onus of getting some humanity lies squarely on the shoulders of the Iranian Interior Ministry.

It is almost inconceivable to me (sad that it is only 'almost inconceivable') that a government, any government, would allow even one of its citizens to suffer simply because the government didn't like the religion of the doctor who offered to alleviate the citizens' suffering.

My only hope is that word gets to the people of Bam - especially to the parents of children who might have been saved by one of the banned, Zionist caregivers - that their government refused the aide.

Gee Herb, that's so very nice of you. Are you one of those "compassionate consevative" types?

Yeah, the Ayatollah was crappy, but the revolt which put him in power had a little bit to do with the US putting a pretty hardcore dictator in charge of Iran in the 50s.

Let me get this straight. Holding hostages for well over a year warrants massive destruction for an entire country?

Get a clue (and perhaps some humanity)...


Not very old are you?
I was refering to the rescue mission to save the hostages-I lost a lot of good heros in that attempted
I saw a friends dead body dragged down the street like a bag of trash!
If they would have let us ashore I would have burned the whole shit hole country to the ground!!!!!!!!!!

Herb: I let your first comment go. I won't make the same mistake for your second comment.

Let me quote you:

Not very old are you?

First of all, on what basis do you ask that? On the little moral equivalence game vejadu is playing? Or do you merely assume that anyone who disagrees with you must be one of those whippersnappers that needs some comeuppance?

Second, do you know how hypocritical it is of you to ask that question? If it's age that decides guilt or innocence, then why are you willing to kill an entire nation, when about half of them weren't even born in 1979? Furthermore, why are you so willing to assume that everyone who was alive in 1979 supported the murder of the airmen who were trying to rescue the hostages?

It's people like you who give conservatives a bad name. Try turning on your brain before you engage your mouth (or fingers, in this case).

Herb has been banned from commenting further on this site due to his failure to adhere to the comment policy of The Command Post.

Actually, isn't all this hypothetical. What Michele has reported is that Iran will accept help all except from Israel, but Israel has not offered it anyway.

Half of the town's population of Bam has been killed, so very sad. It is a time for the mullahs to show their governing skill.

This tragedy shows just how much hate there is, doesn't look like it's gonna go away any time soon. My sympathy to all who died.

Many of the people of Iran view Israel in much the same way as we used to view Nazi Germany. It is understandable then that they do not want any help from them. You have to admit they are consistent and it would be rather confusing to one day say “drive the b*astards into the sea” and then turn around and say “thanks for all your help.” Israel, could give aid anonymously I guess.
Also I think we are being a little harsh on Herb. He is a little too close to the action when it comes to Iran. Herb, the time for a bit of destruction was back in 1979. The hostage crisis was extremely humiliating for the US and in my mind led to the Arab world viewing the West as impotent. The progressive razing by pattern bombing of one city after another until the hostages were released would probably have resulted in the US being held in higher regard in the region. While this would have been very cruel it would probably have been the only way to deal with the situation at that time as smart munitions were rudimentary. In retrospect for humanities sake it may have been better that things turned out as they did. Sadly 3000 people in New York may have paid the price though.
Now we have a world where the US has a president who will act when the occasion demands and most importantly has access to sophisticated weapons and techniques well suited to the job of diplomacy by other means. The US was humiliated but mature nations get over this feeling and move on and develop ways of avoiding this sort of thing happening again.

Actually, I just noticed that I never really stated my view on the whole refusal of Israeli aid (if it was offered). I was just miffed that anyone would wish destruction like that with such a wide net. I think that Khanjani (and if a statement like that had sanction from the highest levels then all the way up) and the whole leadership structure need a lesson in compassion for their people. Dubya is willing to put aside twenty plus years of enmity, axis-of-evildom, and no diplomatic relations (other than the usual back channels) and lend a hand to people who most definitely need it. There's something to be said for that...

As for my "youth", I'm not old enough to have been there but I certainly remember most of it. That doesn't matter much, though... Besides, I served later on.

Regarding moral equivalence... I'm not trying to excuse the holding of American hostages for 444 days or the seizure of our embassy. Those actions were obviously criminal. I'm just recalling some of the historical context that brought about the "Islamic Revolution" in Iran.

Vejadu (re: December 28, 2003 04:49 AM message),

I guess the thing I don't understand about blaming both the removal of Mossageh (sp.) in the '50s and the rise of Khomeni in '79 on the USA is that in both cases, in the end it was Iranians who acted to change their government. The rationale of "well, the '79 revolution would never have happened if Mossageh weren't removed" misses the point, I think, that after the Shah was removed, the Iranian people had their choice of what government they wanted installed, and they gave power over to the mullahs (who promptly began wiping out all opposition parties, as I understand it). They could have gone back to a system like Mossageh's, but chose not to.

Whether the current generation of Iranians should be held to the choices made in '79, when the majority of Iranians alive today weren't even born then, is debatable.

In any case, I see the refusal of Israeli aid as analogous with the Saudi religious police who refused to allow uncovered girls to flee their burning school, forcing many to perish. Its just another example of the mullah's true nature coming out.

As a Christian I feel deeply sorry for the Iranians affected by the earthquake in Bam. As for the nation of Iran rejecting help from Israel I am reminded of a Bible verse in Genesis that says,"I will bless them that bless thee (Israel) & curse them that curse thee (Israel). Enough said.

We are as God made us, and often a great deal worse.

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