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Jun
05
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Article originally published in the LA Times here
The possibility of a United States or Israeli war to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions has been an obsession among foreign policy wonks, diplomats and journalists for some time.
Many Iran experts believe such a war would be a disaster that would fail to halt Iran’s nuclear program. Michael Axworthy (pictured) is one of them.
During the 1970s, the British author and former diplomat traveled to Iran many times while his parents lived and worked there. He joined the British foreign service in 1986, serving as a head of the Iran desk from 1998 to 2000.
Over the last eight years he’s been writing books and teaching about Iran in the United Kingdom. His latest book, “A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind,” was released last month. It traces the country’s history from its earliest days,
emphasizing its religious, intellectual and cultural traditions.
Axworthy graciously agreed to an e-mail interview about Iran and its current confrontation with the West. “The crisis is a result of the hostility that has persisted between the U.S. and Iran since the revolution of 1979 and the hostage crisis.
“But it has its roots in the U.S.-Iran relationship earlier than that, notably in U.S. support for the regime of the Shah in the 1960s and 1970s, and the coup attempted by the British and the CIA against Prime Minister Mossadeq in 1953. The prime reason the clerical regime in Iran might want a nuclear weapon is as a deterrent to the U.S. regime-change policy.”
An important briefing we’re hosting this Thursday in Albuquerque on relations with Iran. If you are in the Albuquerque area (or have friends who do) I hope you’ll join us:
Former Congressman Tom Andrews, National Director of Win Without War
Brigadier General John Johns (ret.),
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan
Thursday, June 5
7:00 PM
Unitarian Church of Albuquerque
Carlisle Boulevard, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 884-1801
Tom Andrews & General John Johns will discuss the harm our current policy toward Iran does to stability in the Middle East and our national security. Without a reversal in the policy of making non-negotiable demands, there can be no progress in resolving outstanding issues with Iran or enlisting its cooperation to achieve stability in Iraq. As it now stands, The Bush Administration’s policy of antagonism toward Iran gives that country’s leaders the maximum incentive to develop weapons of mass destruction and continue to keep the US military tied down in Iraq.
I hope we’ll see you there!
Ryan Anderson
Win Without War
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May
29
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Check out this tasty nugget from Google Video created by former FOR peace delegate and civilian diplomat and filmmaker Margot Smith, Videomaker www.offcentervideo.com. OffCenterVideo@aol.com
An excellent idea of what the trip is like and what the mission is all about.
it is called Listen to Iran’s People: A Call for Peace
Dear friends,
Below you will find a recording of Alicia, Lily and Lynn on KCLU Crosstalk. We had two call in listeners, one of whom just returned from Iran, and another who had been part of civilian diplomacy to the USSR. It was great.
KCLU “Crosstalk” Link
Here is a recording of our interview: http://www.aliciacattoni.com/kclu.mp3
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
Hi New York friends!
I’m sending you all an email to a few of my New York friends because many of you were sponsors of my peace delegation trip to Iran last month and/or were awesome email/phone supporters. So I wanted to let you know the details of the official presentation I will be giving about it here in NYC.
The last two months have indeed been insane with almost more work post-trip than the trip itself. A lot of interviews and articles and yes even the obligatory appearance on Muslim TV — (which was quite “candid cameraish I must say).
My official presentation about the trip in New York City will be this coming Sunday. I pasted the details below for you in case you have the time to come – and are interested in this subject. It was quite the experience and we learned a lot. More than anything, we were brought there specifically by the Iranian government to bring back a message to the American people…
So that is why we do these interviews and presentations. It isn’t necessarily a “perfect message.†But it is a real message – as opposed to what we hear on the news here in the States… which is just ‘the White House said…†So, that will be the aim of the presentation. To show some pictures, tell some stories, and answer as many questions as possible about the subject.
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May
26
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Filed Under (Americans visit Iran, Israel, Lectures & Presentations, Peace, U.S. Relations) by admin on 25-04-2007
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Rabbi Lynn’s Trail Guide To Jewish Nonviolence
Wednesday, May 28, 7:30 pm
JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street in Berkeley
$10-$20 sliding scale, to benefit the Aquarian Minyan
| Rabbi Lynn will share stories of her recent visit to Iran Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb recently returned from co-leading the 7th Fellowship of Reconciliation delegation to Iran. She will share her experience in the light of her work on behalf of citizen diplomacy, and her face-to-face visits with the Jewish communities of Teheran, Shiraz, and Isfahan. She will present a slide-show.Pursuing peace is one of the central tenets of Shomer Shalom, the Jewish Path of Nonviolence. Rabbi Lynn will share the ways in which Shomer Shalom can be a voice for peacemaking in a time when many are advocating war. Share the vision of one of the first ten women rabbis in her thirty-fifth year of rabbinic service and first year as a resident of Berkeley. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb directs The Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence, Interfaith Inventions and is cofounder of The Muslim Jewish PeaceWalk and Congregation Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque, NM. She is author of She Who Dwells Within: A Feminist Vision of Renewed Judaism, Harper SF 1995, and is contributing editor of Fellowship Magazine, and numerous essays and articles and member of Imaginaction Theatre Company. The Aquarian Minyan invites you to attend its monthly author series at the JCC, featuring Minyan members who have recently published books. Come schmooze with the authors! Books will be for sale. Light refreshments will be provided. $10-$20 sliding scale, to benefit The Aquarian Minyan. For more information contact Lea AT lmi.net or (510) 528-6725 |
by Mark Hare • May 20, 2008 Originally published in the Democrat Chronicle, Rochester, New York
When Hillary Clinton suggested recently that, were she president, an attack on Israel by Iran would result in the “total obliteration” of Iran, some recent visitors to that country cringed. As they did when President George W. Bush likened talking to Iran or Hamas with “appeasement.” Lynda Howland, Tom Moore and Judy Bello have all visited Iran within the last year — Howland, in March — under the auspices of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, one of the country’s oldest peace groups. “A lot of the American public sees Iran as primitive, terrorist and uncivilized,” says Howland, of Pittsford. But that’s not what visitors find in Iran, she says. Iranians are increasingly well-educated, respectful and eager to speak to Americans, she says. She showed me a photo of some soldiers smiling and flashing a peace sign when they learned the group in front of them were Americans. Read the rest of this entry »
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May
09
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With the Bush administration angling for war with Iran, the city of Chicago is considering going on record opposing it
Michael Lynn
More than 7,000 miles separate Chicago and Tehran. But on May 14, the city council of the American city will consider whether to take a stand on an event that would have far reaching consequences for residents of both: a US attack on Iran.
A resolution introduced into the council by one of its members, Alderman Joe Moore, would put the city on record as opposing a preemptive strike against Iran by the US. The resolution urges all congressional representatives whose districts include parts of the city to “clearly express the will of the people of Chicago in opposing any attack on Iran, and urging the Bush administration to pursue diplomatic engagement with that nation.”
The resolution is the result of an initiative launched by Chicago’s No War On Iran Coalition, a broad-based grouping of local anti-war, social justice and faith organisations. Ranging widely in viewpoints, the goal that unites us all is preventing the United States from launching another elective war that we believe would prove even more disastrous than the five-year-old one next door in Iraq.
Recent events have added urgency to the goal. In April, General David Petraeus, the commanding officer of American forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to that country, testified to several congressional committees. In their testimony, both struck a common theme: the role of Iran in promoting insurgent attacks in Iraq. Both men accused so-called “special groups” of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of being responsible for the deaths of American troops and rocket strikes on the Green Zone.
By Robert Dreyfuss
At least 400 dissidents, activists and intellectuals-
In an interview with The Nation, Ebadi said that she has documentation for one-third of those killings, and that information about the rest comes from the personal testimony of a man who admitted his role in the November 1998 murders of Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar, who were hacked to pieces in their Tehran home. The Forouhars, critics of the Iranian regime, were part of the coalition that supported Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, the nationalist leader who was toppled by a CIA-backed coup d’état in 1953.
Ebadi, a Tehran-based attorney and former judge who has battled the government over human-rights abuses for years, says that what she calls the pattern of “chain murders” has halted since then. But she warns that the human-rights situation in Iran remains grave. On April 2, Ebadi herself received an anonymous threat in a letter delivered to her office that read: “Your death is near.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Interesting perspective to keep in mind regarding peace with Iran and supporting the Human Rights Movement rather than hurting it by continuing to threaten the country militarily which would only yeild more blind protectionist patriotism for the current Fundamentalist-led government. Sums it up quite nicely. First published here: www.womensenews.
Run Date: 04/24/08
By Soheila Vahdati
Iranian activists are bravely pushing for women’s rights. But Soheila Vahdati warns that an outbreak of an Iran-Israeli war that involves the Bush White House would fan the flames of fundamentalism and destroy the cause.Editor’s Note: The following is a commentary. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Women’s eNews.
(WOMENSENEWS)
“Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Tehran on Tuesday that if she were president, the United States could ‘totally obliterate’ Iran in retaliation for a nuclear strike against Israel.”
While many American women may be measuring the next U.S. president for his or her policies on health care, gender pay equity and a struggling economy, women in Iran are looking for foreign policy approaches. More immediately, we’re also wary of what the remaining days of President Bush’s time in office might bring.
The possibility of U.S. military action against Iran has been rising this month along with the saber rattling between Israel and Iran.
Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities, which the West fears are a front for weapons development. Iran has responded by saying it will obliterate Israel if it comes under attack.
Amid this, female activists in Iran hope that war can be avoided, fearing the Iranian women’s movement would be among the first casualties.
