Berkeley Forum

I liked this piece. It review the President Ahmadinejad's letter of a diffrent approach. It has published at Bartimore sun:

WASHINGTON -- When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent an 18-page letter to President Bush - the first such communication between leaders of the two countries since the 1979 Iranian revolution - the United States was only one of the intended audiences.

It has been clear for some time that Iran sees a significant international audience, especially in the Muslim world, where it seeks to exploit prevalent resentment of U.S. foreign policy. The positive popular reception that Mr. Ahmadinejad received in his visit to Indonesia is just one indication. The most remarkable outcome has been in the Arab world. (Read the rest of this article here )

Watch this video on the underground youth culture in Iran... it's pretty good. Except for the guy at the end who says, "whether we like Ahmadinejad or not, he's our president now so we support him." He's like one of the guys I've been wanting to beat up in the past few days to begin the summer.

Here's an interesting article on the latest developments in Palestine, and a sarcastic title: "Does Carter STILL Want To Give Hamas a Chance'?"

As you know, tensions between Hamas and Fatah have been escalating in the past few weeks. Hamas is one vote short of having an absolute 2/3 majority in the parliament (74 of 132 seats), with Fatah following in the second place (45 seats). Proportionally though, the two parties were much closer in the most recent elections: Fatah received 41.43% of the total vote, and Hamas 44.45%. Only a 3% difference.

Hamas recently established a security force of its own. Yesterday, a plot to assassinate Fatah's chief security official was foiled. A few days ago, a Hamas official was caught smuggling more than 700,000 US dollars into Palestine - coming back from a trip to Qatar. Yesterday Mahmud Abbas met with Israel's foreign minister (the highest such contact among officials since Hamas's vicotry), and released 11$ million of Palestinian funds from Israel.

Two states are forming, each with its own financial and military wings.

You are facing tensions on three important levels:

At the individual level, you see a population more or less
roughly divided among Fatah and Hamas supporters;

At the state level, you have one party dominating the parliament and another controlling the executive, and more importantly, each faction now having its own armed security force (two armies in "one" nation) and financial donors;

And at the international level, more states are getting involved: Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia (funding Hamas), and the Isareli authority, U.S., and perhaps the E.U., leaning towards Fatah.

When these three levels of fragmentation - individual, state, and intentaional - converge, you have hightened prospects for civil war. Just look at Lebanon in the 1980s, or perhaps, even Iraq today.

Omid- “Freedom is very limited in Iran …We have tried to develop the minorities rights, but the achievement has been nothing…I believe in the role of civil society. There are many best practices during the last years which are a victory for activists within the society…”, said Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel peace prize at her talk at UC Berkeley last Wednesday. The hall was full of enthusiastic audiences who were listening to a tireless women activist in Iran. Some of the people criticize her and believe that because of her international supports and protection, she could be more outspoken. But she doesn’t believe in this way. What should she say? I asked her idea on this point at the end of the talk; “This is the way I have chosen. We are following a mild process. There is no benefit at a radical way. I never choose an aggressive tone. I am going to be effective for my people within the country,” said Shirin Ebadi.

I believe in what she said. She was the attorney of our case with her colleagues and once we went together with another journalist, Roozbeh Mirebrahim, to the court to answer some questions of the judge. She came on time, asked us many questions and gave some advises. However the officials didn’t behave well with her, but at the same time she was really patient. She also coaches many other cases of political prisoners, deprived people, and women and I really admire her….I interviewed her for twice on “Women movement and Civil Society in Iran” and I was surprised by her answers which was totally straight and to the point, despite the middle eastern style which makes simple things very complicated.

Shirin Ebadi talked a little bit on her book too; “Iran, Awakening, a Memoir of Revolution and Hope”. I really like to read it...

This is just hilarious. I watched it several times. I don’t want to give it away so just watch it here.

-Aramesh

The other day, Ahmadinejad sent a letter to President Bush which was immediately dismissed by Secretary of State Rice as a "ploy" to avert further international pressure over Iran's nuclear program.

Today, Ahmadinejad once again reiterated that Iran is ready to engage in a dialogue with "anyone" to settle its nuclear standoff. Hours later, AFP reported that the United States has given its European allies "a couple of weeks" to offer Iran new incentives to halt the country's controversial nuclear program.

The history of international relations in the past half a century shows that hardliners succeed more frequently in breaking long-standing taboos. Examples are frequent: Nixon's historic trip to China, Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement, Qaddafi's recent normalization of ties with the United States, Khomeini's decision to end the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, and so on.

It is much harder to question the commitment or motives of a hardliner than a middle-of-the-roader. Nobody could question Ariel Sharon's commitment to the Jewish cause, or Qaddafi's commitment to the preservation of the Libyan revolutionar ideals. Hardliners, therefore, are always in a stronger position when it comes to breaking long-standing taboos.

Would it, therefore, be too absurd to hope for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear crisis at a time when hardliners are in power both in Washington and Tehran?

- Assareh

Virginia was once the “mother of Presidents”, producing eight great presidents between the late 18th century and the early 20th. But it has been a long time since a charismatic leader has emerged from the land of Thomas Jefferson. This year Virginia has two of her sons to offer to the presidential race, one a former Democratic Governor of the state and the other a current senator. Gov. Mark Warner and Senator George Allen have both publicly stated their intentions to run for the nomination of their parties. Mark Warner made a fortune by entering into the cellular phone business in the early 90’s and made millions of dollars. George Allen is the son of the famous "Coach Allen" of the Washington Redskins who moved from southern California to Virginia to coach DC’s only football team. Warner is a moderate Democrat who opposes partial birth abortion, gay marriage, and harsh gun laws and supports the capitol punishment for the most violent criminals. Warner is a young, enthusiastic southern governor who reminds many observers of Bill Clinton. George Allen however is a true conservative Republican. The junior senator from Virginia has everything a good, solid, conservative politician must have.
The state of New York has also surprised us all by producing a record number of likely candidates: Senator Hillary Clinton (D), Governor George Pataki(R) and Mayor Rudi Giuliani(R). This blue state will most likely produce the challenger to the GOP front runner, John McCain, for the Republican primaries.
Hillary Clinton is a dangerous proposition for the Democrats. She is a polarizing figure who lacks many characteristics needed for a successful presidential candidate; most importantly: Charisma. Governor Warner is the only Democrat who has a real opportunity to win the 2008 Presidential election. Southern states will never vote for the super feminist/boss-lady like wife of Bill Clinton. Governor Warner can carry the South and bring the Democrats back to the White House after 8 years of bitter defeat by the Republicans. My advice to the Democrats: Don’t blow it again with a northern super liberal.

-Aramesh

This, I really believe, smells of war:

DHL Suspends Service to Iran
DHL has international delivery service to 220 countries! Including Anguilla, Afghanistan, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea - yes, it gets weirder - and Iraq!! Iraq! DHL has 6 offices in Iraq. But it has just closed down its office in Iran. "Due to unforseen circumstances": You mean, war?

My good friends always tells me that the U.S. is bent on changing the regime; game over. over. Retaliation in case of an attack? No way, he says, not in a major way at least.

Look at the history of the Iran-Iraq war: the U.S. got involveddirectly, attacking Iran's navy direcly, shototing down a civilian Iran Air airliner. What did Iran do? In Khomeini's words, "drink the poison" and immediately accept resolution 598, a weaker version of the 1982 offer to Iran which, by the way, also included fifty billion dollars in damages to be payed to Iran, courtesy of the Arab League.

I'm starting to believe in what my friend is saying more and more. The parallels are striking. I smell War! Watch this anti-war slideshow to Black Sabbath's song "War."

- Assareh