Mossadegh Project News - 2006

August 16  ::  America: Out of Control and Headed For Disaster

The neocon led U.S. government has been scheming to widen the conflict in the Middle East from the beginning, but Iran has always been number one in their sights. Though progress continues to elude them, these vultures never waver from their long term goal: World War III or Bust. 

The following cautionary article was originally published on the 'Dissident Voice' web site in December 2005, and unfortunately has been consistently validated during 8 more months of death and terror in Iraq; and more recently, Lebanon. The massacre in Lebanon, jointly waged by Israel and America, was just a preview of what these irrational regimes intend to do to the Persian nation. 

Like a drunk driver at full speed, the U.S. is headed for disaster in the Middle East. Who will lay down the spike strips on the road to war with Iran?"

                       ----> US Media and the Road To War With Iran

August 12  ::  Get it while it's hot!

The MOSSADEGH T-Shirt is still available to buy and cherish. Yes, we ship internationally- so if you live outside America, you can get it wherever you are upon inquiry. Just contact us with your shirt selection and location, and we'll get right back to you with the exact shipping cost from the U.S. 

August 4  ::  A Cooler Head - Congressman Earl Blumenauer

Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer is concerned that the U.S. is so hell-bent on regime change in Iran that they are foiling their own designs to prevent Iran from going nuclear. 

"By not prioritizing behavior change over regime change", he says, "we pull the rug out from under anyone in the Iranian leadership who values survival over the nuclear program and eliminate any incentive for a diplomatic solution."   

                      ----> Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer on Iran

July 31  ::  Robert Scheer: Unintended Consequences (Again)

Robert Scheer, veteran journalist, editor and author, argues that empire, not democracy and freedom, is the motive behind U.S. interventions from the 1953 coup to the 2002 invasion of Iraq.

                                      ----> Robert Scheer on Iran

July 28  ::  Marjane Satrapi: 1953, not 1979

Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic novel memoirs Persepolis, is still burned up at the British over the 1953 coup which set Iran on its path to ruin.

                              ----> Marjane Satrapi on Britain's crimes

July 24  ::  Blix: Iran Cannot Prove a Negative

How do you prove that you don't want something? You can't, argues former IAEA head and Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq, Hans Blix.  

"When we put someone before a court, we like to have evidence before we give them a severe sentence. Shall we be more easygoing when it comes to sentencing states to bombardment or war? A little caution in this respect is desirable." 

                         ----> Hans Blix on the Iranian Nuclear Program

July 23  ::  Israel & Iran: A History

As Israel dominates the news as well as its neighbors, stomping out a path of death and destruction in Lebanon and Palestine that could actually culminate in a clash with Iran, a retrospective on the history between Iran and Israel is in order. What were the relations between Iran and Israel during Mossadegh's premiership? Here's an excerpt from the 2004 book Israel's Quest For Recognition and Acceptance In Asia by Jacob Abadi:

In July 1951, the bilateral relations [between Israel and Iran] began deteriorating. The Consulate General of Iran in Jerusalem was closed by the order of the Iranian government and Iran's representative, Reza Safinia, was ordered to leave Jerusalem. This decision came apparently as a result of a promise made by Egypt that its representative would support Iran at the Hague International Court. In addition, the Arab states promised to support Iran in its oil dispute with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Confronted by Israel and asked to explain the reason for this step, the Iranian government argued that the closure of the consulate was a consequence of budget constraints. Officials in the British Embassy in Tehran offered another explanation for the sudden Iranian move. One of them writes, "For what it is worth, we think this sudden move by the Persians was mainly dictated by their anxiety to please the Iraqis, in the hope of inducing them to prevent British troops and warships from using Iraqi territory and territorial waters. Nevertheless, the Iranian government did not wish to sever its relations with Israel and did not yield to Arab pressure to withdraw its de facto recognition. Shortly after the oil dispute, Iranian Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadeq turned to a representative of Bank Igud Le Yisrael asking him about the possibility of transferring funds to Iranian Jews living in Israel. The latter sought an amicable solution and suggested that commercial ties between the two countries be established. Consequently, a 'clearing' agreement of US$500,000 was signed between the national banks of Iran and Israel.

Israel's attempts to normalize relations with Iran were pursued with greater vigor during the Mossadeq era. Israeli officials continued to pressure Iran to grant Israel de jure recognition. However, presented by nationalist and militant religious groups within the Majlis who were lead by the vocal pro-Arab speaker Ayattollah Kashani, Mossadeq's government was in no position to upgrade its relations with Israel.

The fall of Mossadeq in August 1953 led to a slight improvement in the bilateral relations. In one of his letters to the Foreign Ministry, Israel's Military Attaché, Chaim Herzog had written that he was not invited to parties on the Iranian Embassy during the Mossadeq era. That policy changed after Mosadeq's fall and in December 1953 he was invited to celebrate Armed Forces Day. The commercial ties between the two countries improved as well. However, Tehran refrained from sending a representative to Tel Aviv, preferring instead to maintain contact with Israel through the Swiss Embassy.

July 11  ::  Christopher Hitchens on Britain and the 1953 "atrocity"

In a book review written for The Atlantic Monthly, British writer Christopher Hitchens refers to the 1953 collaboration between America and England against Mossadegh as an "atrocity". 

Hitchens also discusses the effect foreign interference and domination has had on the Iranian psyche and the deep paranoia towards the British that remains to this day. 

                                  ----> Christopher Hitchens on Iran

July 8  ::  H y p o c r i s y

"We have been doing everything we can to destroy the Non-Proliferation Treaty -- except when it comes to Iran, and then we want it enforced absolutely, and without equivocation, and we're going to even extend it beyond what the treaty says. You can't do it that way. And I think we're trying to have our cake and eat it too. And I think it's going to do serious damage to our position around -- I think it already has done serious damage and it's probably going to do more before we're done." 

- Dr. Gary Sick (former National Security Council staff member under Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan), The Charlie Rose Show, April 12, 2006 

June 29  ::  Jello Biafra: "If we attack Iran, we're toast!"

Musician, activist and media personality Jello Biafra, former lead singer of The Dead Kennedys, talks about Mossadegh and the U.S. military "option" with Iran in this recent interview.

                                           ----> Jello Biafra on Iran

June 19  ::  Carl Rowan

Carl Rowan, the noted black journalist, commentator, and nationally syndicated columnist, writes about Iran and the Clinton administration's acknowledgement of the 1953 coup in this column from March 2000.

                                           ----> Carl Rowan on Iran

June 16  ::  MOSSADEGH'S BIRTHDAY

Mossadegh was born on this day- June 16, 1882. To commemorate the occasion, The Mossadegh Project presents the long awaited MOSSADEGH T-shirt. 

Wear it and show your love for Mossadegh!

June 8  ::  A great man

Academy Award winning filmmaker Stephen Gaghan sounds off on Mossadegh, whom he calls "a really great man", in an interview to discuss his oil drama Syriana.

                                 ----> Filmmaker Stephen Gaghan

June 7  ::  Ramsey Clark's 'Fire and Ice'

An excerpt from former Attorney General Ramsey Clark's article "Fire and Ice", which traces the war in Iraq directly back to Mossadegh and the 1953 coup in Iran.

                                  ----> Ramsey Clark on Iraq and Iran

June 2  ::  Blix: Iran Has Legitimate Security Concerns

Hans Blix, the Former Chief UN Weapons Inspector who now heads the WMD Commission, spoke at the United Nations today about nuclear proliferation, Iran, the United States, and Israel. Recalling the false alarm raised over Iraq, he recommended that the findings of international inspectors be listened to in the future. Blix said that nuclear weapons are dangerous no matter who possess them, especially because governments can change. He also estimated that Israel, which is not a member of the NPT, has about 200 nuclear weapons in its arsenal.

"We think -- Iran is described as a threat, and their enrichment of uranium, is described as a threat to the whole world, and the commission is also of the view that it would be desirable that Iran refrain from going on with enrichment of uranium. But one must also try, if you want a solution for this, to look at the issue from the side of the Iranians. They see 130,000 American soldiers in Iraq, and they see American bases in Pakistan and in Afghanistan and more American military activities to the north of them. They remember that Mossadegh, who was elected Premier, was ousted with subversive methods from the outside. So it is not inconceivable that some groups in Iran may feel that their security is being threatened from the outside." 

May 27  ::  Unintended Consequences

Rep. Bernie Sanders has served longer in the House of Representatives than any other Independent in its history. In 2002, he voted "NO" on the Iraq War Resolution on grounds which now appear prophetic. The same year, prior to the attack against Iraq, Sanders reminded Congress of the "unintended consequences" of past U.S. interventions, including the 1953 coup in Iran.

               ----> Bernie Sanders on War's Unintended Consequences

May 24  ::  The Grip of History

Here's an excerpt from a British panel on Islam and the Middle East, broadcast on the BBC radio program "Any Questions?". It features former Thatcher cabinet member Norman Lamont, a Conservative who, among other titles, is the director of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce.

             ----> Lord Norman Lamont on Iran and Past British Crimes

May 16  ::  Letter from Tehran

For the first time in 27 years, an Iranian leader has written to a U.S. President. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 18 page letter, which criticized U.S. policies and questioned its claimed Christian values was dismissed categorically by the Bush administration, which has refused to respond to the lengthy communiqué. The letter also addressed the history of Iran's grievances with the United States, beginning with the 1953 coup which took out Mossadegh. Excerpt:

The courageous and faithful people of Iran also have many questions to pose. In particular, the coup d'etat of August 19, 1953, it has been over 52 years since the fall of the legal government of the time, the opposition to the Islamic revolution and the transformation of the embassy to the headquarters of opponents of the Islamic Republic (there are thousands of documents to prove this), the support for Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran, the shooting down of the Iranian airliner, the seizure of the assets of the Iranian people, the increased threats and complaints over the scientific and nuclear progress of the Iranian people, while all the Iranians are cheering the advances of their country. There are many other cases which I will not expose in this letter.

Ahmadinejad also warns that "liberal democracy has failed", and unwittingly portends the demise of his own backwards regime when he states that "History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive". 

May 4  ::  Dennis Kucinich Urges Diplomacy on Iran

In an open letter to President George Bush, Congressman Dennis Kucinich calls for diplomacy in response to reports that U.S. troops have already begun hostile actions in Iran. 

                ----> Dennis Kucinich's Letter to the President on Iran

April 16  ::  Rockefeller on Mossadegh

At the 50th Anniversary gala dinner for The Asia Society, Senator Jay Rockefeller cautioned Americans to heed the Iranian resentment caused by the 1953 coup of Mossadegh's government, which, he suggests, is still a fresh wound half a century later.  

                        ----> Jay Rockefeller on Iran and Mossadegh

April 13  ::  Don't Do It

This month a leading conservative magazine, The American Conservative, warns President Bush in no uncertain terms not to attack Iran. Patrick Buchanan writes that "..a pre-emptive war on Iran, while a political triumph for the president this fall, could, like the invasion of Iraq, prove a long-term disaster". And:

"Bush is the commander in chief, not King George. He has no power to launch U.S. air strikes on Iran, an act of war, unless Congress authorizes war. Before we wake up to an October surprise, Congress should do its duty and Rumsfeld and Rice should appear and make the case for a war some of us believe Iran neither wants nor threatens.

Forget the Feingold Resolution. Undeclared presidential wars are the real stuff of impeachment." 

"Attacking Iran would be a strategic blunder of the first magnitude—far worse than going to war with Iraq", says Christopher Layne in his article "Iran: The Logic of Deterrence". The piece argues that a nuclear Iran is not only tolerable, it is inevitable, and urges the U.S. to utilize "containment, deterrence, and diplomatic engagement". 

More from the article:

Clashing interests and a tangled history have left the United States and Iran estranged for more than a quarter of a century. Since the 1940s, the U.S. has had important strategic interests in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, a region where Iran sees itself as the dominant power. Iranians remember—and still resent—the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup that overthrew the nationalist prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh because he threatened Anglo-American oil interests in Iran. Following the coup, during the reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Iran aligned with the United States in the Cold War and served as America’s strategic surrogate in the Persian Gulf. While the Shah’s authoritarian regime served the U.S. geopolitically, the close American relationship with him boomeranged when he was overthrown in the 1978 Islamic Revolution. Washington’s association with the Shah fanned widespread Iranian resentment against the U.S.

April 12  ::  Bush's Nukular Option- "Wild Speculation"

This week's The New Yorker magazine published a report by Seymour Hersh claiming that the United States is not only planning to attack Iran, but to use nuclear bombs. President Bush, who in the past claimed that the suggestion that the U.S. intended to bomb Iran was "simply ridiculous... and having said that, all options are on the table"; responded by referring to the reports as "wild speculation" ---> a response which was far from a denial. 

At Monday's White House Press briefing, Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked about the article: 

QUESTION: What's your reaction to Sy Hersh's article over the weekend and the kind of follow-up articles in The Post and The New York Times? Is the President troubled by these indications that the U.S. is considering or looking at or has plans for -- 

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I think those kind of media reports are based on wild speculation, and not on the administration's thinking. The President has made it very clear that we're working with the international community to find a diplomatic solution when it comes to the Iranian regime and its pursuit of nuclear weapons. And that's exactly what we're doing. 

This was followed by a stunningly evasive, repetitive exchange between Press Secretary Scott McClellan and reporter Helen Thomas:

HELEN THOMAS: Is the U.S. going to attack Iran?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Helen, we're pursing a diplomatic solution by working with the international community. I assume you're referring to some of the media reports. Some of the media reports I've seen, which are based on anonymous outside advisors and former officials, appear to me to be based on people that do not know the administration's thinking. I think it is a lot of wild speculation. We are working with the international community, particularly the EU-3, to pursue a diplomatic solution to a serious and growing concern.

HELEN THOMAS: Does the President think that the American people would accept any kind of an attack on Iran?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Now you're engaging in the wild speculation I just talked about. Look, those who are seeking to draw broad conclusions based on normal military contingency planning are misinformed or not knowledgeable about the administration's thinking. The international community is united in its concern about the regime obtaining a nuclear weapons capability, and that's why we are working with the international community to prevent that from happening. And we are seeking to resolve this in a diplomatic way.

HELEN THOMAS: Would the President consult with Congress before --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Helen, I'm not going to engage in all this wild speculation. No President takes options off the table, but our focus is on working with the international community to find a diplomatic solution.

"QUESTION: Scott, what does that mean, 'normal military contingency planning'?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, if you want to talk to the Pentagon, you can talk to them about it further. I'm not going to get into discussing it further.

HELEN THOMAS: So you're basically just not denying that there's military planning relating to Iran?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: This is hyped up reporting based on anonymous sources and a lot of wild speculation.

HELEN THOMAS: Well, why is it so wild --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Our focus is very clear. We are working with the international community to find a diplomatic solution.

HELEN THOMAS: But you also have left open the other possibility of military action.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I told you where our focus is, and I told you --

HELEN THOMAS: I know where your focus is.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: -- that no President takes options off the table. But our focus is on finding a diplomatic solution.

HELEN THOMAS: But why would you even attack Iran?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: How many more times I can tell you I'm not going to engage in all that wild speculation, Helen.

HELEN THOMAS: Exactly when does it start? [Laughter]

Later, another reporter pursued the Bush administration's military aims with regard to Iran:

QUESTION: Scott, while stressing diplomacy in Iran, you do have a National Security Strategy which calls Iran the greatest threat that the United States faces.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I think it says, one of the greatest challenges. 

QUESTION: Right. In that context, isn't it natural --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: There are a number of threats that we're dealing with.

QUESTION: In that context, isn't it natural, or doesn't the President expect there to be the normal military contingency planning that you're talking about? I mean, don't you expect that kind of --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I think I referenced normal military contingency planning in my comments. But this is about the regime's behavior. And the international community is working together, in a united way, to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapons capability. That's where the focus is, and we are doing it in a diplomatic way.

QUESTION: But don't you also expect the Defense Department to be -- the kind of attacks that would be necessary for an --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: You're trying to get me to jump into all this wild speculation from some of the stories that came over the weekend.

QUESTION: It isn't wild.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Sure it is. It's not based on knowledge of the administration's thinking. That's why it's wild speculation. It's based -- I saw one story that had numerous anonymous former officials and outside advisors being quoted in the story. How they possibly could understand what the administration's thinking is, is beyond me.

QUESTION: You might talk to people in the Pentagon.

QUESTION: Scott, you're familiar with what the administration is thinking --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Absolutely. The administration is thinking that's important to work with the international community to find a diplomatic solution.

QUESTION: But are nuclear strikes on the table? You're familiar with the --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I answered that -- I answered that in my remarks.

QUESTION: Yes or no?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I answered that in my remarks. I won't -- I'm not going to comment further about it. It's just engaging in kind of wild speculation to get into commenting further about it.

April 7  ::  True Grit - Rep. Ron Paul

There may be no other elected U.S. official who is as unambiguously opposed to a war with Iran than Congressman Ron Paul, Republican from Texas. 

                ----> Texas Congressman Ron Paul on Iran and Mossadegh

April 4  ::  Will Fight For Oil

Veteran reporter Ted Koppel recently wrote an editorial for The New York Times which pretended to be a frank dialogue about U.S. imperialism as it relates to oil, but it obscured as much as it revealed. In particular, it maligned the integrity of Mossadegh by repeating Cold War era propaganda clichés like they were going out of style. Here is our response in a Letter to the Editor from last month.

                       ----> Letter to the Editor - re: "Will Fight For Oil"

March 27  ::  Nationalism - (It's Only Natural)

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright on shortsighted U.S. policy toward Iran.

                ----> Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright on Iran 

March 10  ::  Poetry

In the year nineteen hundred and fifty-two, Dr. Mossadegh took Iran's oil nationalization dispute with Britain to the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands. Writer Majid Naficy has contributed his poem about this event, "The Hague Court", in Farsi and English versions. 

                               ----> "The Hague Court" by Majid Naficy

March 5  ::  Mohammad Mossadegh (1882-1967)

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh died on this date- March 5, 1967, at the age of 85. With the threat of war looming over Iran, what would Mossadegh make of these uncertain times? In 1952, threatened by U.S. and British imperialists over oil nationalization, Mossadegh had this message for Iranians at home and abroad: 

"It is your duty as sons and daughters of Iran, to make use of all available means to inform the free people of the country in which you reside of the truth; and fulfill your national duty at this critical moment in the best interest of your ancient land."

March 4, 2006  ::  War is Over! (If They Want It)

Stressing a grave, imminent threat to their security, the mantra of the US and Israel has been "Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear bomb". Yet Israel now boasts that its anti-ballistic missile system Arrow 2 can shoot down any Iranian missiles-- even nuclear.

If this is the case, then Iran does not represent a true threat to Israel or the world's military superpower, the United States, thus obliterating the argument for war with Iran. Or maybe that's too logical...

March 2, 2006  ::  Who's Sanctioning Who?

The Islamic Republic News Agency reports Iran's warning that if sanctions are imposed on Iran, Europe may lose the Iranian market. In other words, sanction us and we'll sanction you.

Saeed Jalili, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe and American Affairs, is quoted in the article asking, "How come no one bothers to ask why the US is allowed to have several nuclear plants when it is rich in oil?" In a rare and surprising instance of name dropping Mossadegh, the IRNA includes comments made by Jalili referring favorably to Mossadegh's "popular government" and the admitted crime of America's participation in the coup. More from the article:

He brought to mind the move of then prime minister Mohammad Mossadeq of nationalizing Iran's black gold (oil) in 1951, and said that at the time the US and Britain also opposed the initiative and the CIA overthrew the popular government of Mossadeq and acquired control of the country's natural resource.

The US secretary of state in Bill Clinton's administration, Madeleine Albright, apologized for the role the US played in the overthrow of Mossadeq, he said in clear reference to US interference in Iran's internal affairs dating many years back.

"There is no doubt (Iran) plays a significant role in international foreign policy as far as oil is concerned. But its impact on Afghanistan and Iraq and the whole region will be overshadowed by possible pressures and sanctions against Iran," Jalili said in reply to a question on whether Iran would use oil as a weapon if sanctions were imposed.

February 15, 2006  ::  Denial

President Ahmadinejad has become notorious for questioning the the Holocaust, eliciting worldwide condemnation and disgracing Iranians worldwide. 
While Europeans defend the Danish cartoons which provoked Muslim outrage as "freedom of speech", the denial of the Holocaust is an actual crime in Germany. Therefore, by criminalizing the speech it finds reprehensible, the "freedom of speech has its limits" argument posed by the Muslim world has been verified by none other than Europe itself. Indeed, other than the Holocaust's Jewish victims, nowhere will you find more vehement condemnation of the event than in Germany, the country which perpetrated the massacre. It was Iran that freed Jews from Babylon; and protected and harbored Holocaust survivors during World War II. For Germany to preach about anti-semitism to Iran is like Bill Clinton sermonizing about the sin of infidelity, or Dick Cheney lecturing on the importance of gun safety.

Credit where credit is due: white, Christian, Democratic, European, Germans committed these acts of unspeakable evil. The "Axis of Evil" member countries are not worthy in comparison.

Holocaust denial is a reprehensible insult, just as the denial of any atrocity committed against a country, race or individual is. There are those who would deny or excuse the 1953 coup in Iran, for example. Some of these scoundrels hold high positions in the American and British governments, and influence current Mideast policy. On Feb. 11, a USA Today reporter naively made this comparison in an interview with Ahmadinejad. Predictably, Ahmadinejad did not respond to the aspect pertaining to the CIA coup, as the Islamic regime is anti-Mossadegh by nature, just as it is anti-Israel.

Q: Would you accept the testimony of Holocaust survivors in Iran? 

A: We accept them but an impartial group should (also) go there and investigate. 

Q: But it's established historical fact that all those people died, the same way it is established fact that the CIA overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh in 1953?

A: If we assume that is true, then the Westerners would have to pay the cost. Why should the people of Palestine pay the cost? If we provide the right answer to this question, the important problem of the region will be solved. We want to find a fundamental solution to the problem. We believe if we can go to the root of the problem, security and peace will come to the region. 

February 12, 2006  ::  The House of Lords on Mossadegh

It's hard to dictate terms to a country that you have such a miserable history with, concludes members of the British House of Lords during Thursday's discussion on Iran. 

                  ----> The House of Lords on British Crimes Against Iran

February 11, 2006  ::  The British Parliament on Mossadegh

Britain admits to transgressions against the nation of Iran. Film at 11.

                                 ----> Britain and Iran: A Bitter Legacy

February 10, 2006  ::  Gingrich: Democracy Good, Mossadegh Bad

Newt Gingrich has proven to be among the most vocal pundits advocating war with Iran. He was one of the first politicians to make the comparison between the current Iranian regime and Nazi Germany, and he argues that if the U.S. cannot change the Iranian government soon and make Iran a democracy, war is inevitable. In fact, the former Speaker of the House believes that the "War on Terror" is a "50 to 70-year campaign if we're lucky". 

In an interview with a conservative web site, Gingrich advocates encouraging oil labor strikes to destabilize the regime. Gingrich's inspiration for this strategy? It worked with Mossadegh!

"We do know that there’s a trade union movement actively talking with non-Iranian trade union leaders. One of the first things that brought down Mossadeq in ’53 is that there were strikes in the oilfield. We do know that there are trade leaders who are saying, "Boy, if we had a strike fund, if our families were going to be fed, we’d sure be interested in fighting." 

Like his neocon peers, Newt Gingrich regards the 1953 coup against Mossadegh's democratic as a necessary and correct action, even as they plot to meddle in Iran's affairs today to restore the very democracy they once robbed from Iranians.

February 1, 2006  ::  Coretta Scott King
The U.S. government often pays tribute to dreamers and visionaries with a divine purpose -- in words, in monuments, holidays and memorials. While these heroes are honored superficially, their past struggles are dishonored in the present. As Rosa Parks is memorialized for breaking an unjust law, today's peace movement figures are suppressed vilified, criticized and even arrested for their dissent against an unjust war. As President Bush praises the late Coretta Scott King and families of slain American soldiers during his State of the Union speech; a grieving mother of an Iraq war casualty, Mrs. Cindy Sheehan, is arrested and jailed for merely wearing a t-shirt at the same function. Rather than lead by example, the Bush regime talks of democracy and free speech as they violate those very principles.

Martin Luther King and the movement he led resisted many of the policies currently enforced by the White House in 2006. Dr. King himself was outspoken against the Vietnam war and war in general, and his statements against right-wing neocolonialism still resonate today. 

There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. 

One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.

- Martin Luther King

Entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte was a close friend of the Kings, and sat beside his wife Coretta at the funeral of her slain husband in 1968. Today, Belafonte considers Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world". One of Dr. King's students, Julian Bond, now chairman of the NAACP, also vehemently despises Bush and what he terms  "the Taliban wing of American politics". 

Politicians can pay all the lip service to civil rights and equality they want, but after waging an illegal war in Iraq and allowing the criminal negligence of Hurricane Katrina in the mostly black, formerly segregated states of New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama, those words have been far eclipsed by an alternate reality.

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