Letter to the editor-Iran not 'nutty' because of Ahmadinejad

You’re wrong. It’s actually very easy to point fingers at Iran concerning their development of nuclear weapons. You see, unlike Israel, India and Pakistan, Iran has spent the past 30 years calling for the destruction of another country, Israel. In December, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the “Zionist regime” “has reached the end of the line and will soon fade away from the earth”. How else is the State of Israel going to “soon” fade away if not by Iran nuking it?

The fact that more than 25,000 Jews living in Iran IS irrelevant because the mere fact that Jews live in a country does not on its own prove that that country’s government is not anti-semitic. The tribulations of the Jews in Russia under the Czars and Communists clearly proves this. The Jews still living in Iran are essentially hostages. The Holocaust denial officially endorsed by the Iranian government proves beyond all shadow of a doubt that it’s anti-semitic.

The fact that the Supreme Leader of Iran is currently Ali Khamenei rather than Ruhollah Khomeini is not reason to stop fearing Iran. Ayatollah Khameini is just as much a nut as Khomeini was. Khamenei said of Israel, “this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region.” Khamenei also said “it is incorrect, irrational, pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people” and that “they [the Israeli people] are combatants, stooges at the service of the arch foes of the Muslim world...We are on a collision course with the occupiers of Palestine.” So he won’t be happy until both the Israeli state as well as the Israeli people are destroyed.

It was a mistake to tell us in your letter that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is checked by the Assembly of Experts. That fact proves that Gerry Wachovsky was right about Iran rather than you. The current chairman of the Assembly of Experts is the former President of Iran Hashemi Rafsanjani. In 2001, he said, “If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything.” That’s the leader of the assembly that’s supposed to be checking Ahmadinejad. No wonder Gerry Wachovsky as well as millions of other people are so worried about Iran.

Are you really trying to say that India is a global threat because of it having nuclear technology? I really don't think many people find the land of call centers and Bollywood to be threatening in the very least...that was a joke. Seriously though, yes, India is a world superpower but you seriously pulled a bait-and-switch on the facts of the Indian-United States "backdooring". The truth is that India signed a bilateral accord with the United States in October 2008, and India DID agree to put civilian nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA. What is your issue with India, exactly?

As for Israel, you know that I am pro-Israel and I believe Israel has a right to protect itself. That being said, how do you know for a fact that Israel possesses nuclear weapons when none of the rest of the world knows for sure? Besides that, let's say for a minute that Israel DID have nuclear weapons...American citizens still don't consider Israel a threat since we're allies. But this is really all speculation as it is unclear whether Israel does or does not have nuclear weapons.

As for Pakistan, well, according to Wikipedia (which I know you dislike, but hey, I'm going to use it anyway), its army is one of the biggest proponents of peacekeeping efforts made by the United Nations. It's no secret that Pakistan did create nuclear weapons in competition with India, but still, do you REALLY consider them a threat on the global stage? It may have allegedly housed terrorists but we're talking about the country and its leaders here, not some Islamic fundamentalists hiding out in the caves of the desert. So yeah, I don't find India, Israel, or Pakistan to be threats to us.

Moving on, considering the Jews in Iran, who cares how many Jews live there? That is not a response to what I said about Ahmadinejad. He is clearly anti-Semitic, I don't think that's debatable. And that was the only point I made about him. I find it ridiculous that a head of state is so openly anti-Semitic and most of the world does too. As for the Ayatollah, well who knows what his beliefs are, they may or may not be similar to Ahmadinejad's. The point is that the Ayatollah is not going to conferences at Columbia University and making these statements. He also isn't the one who is going to other conferences calling into question the Holocaust and pondering such ridiculous notions as whether it did or did not occur! The "voice" of Iran, if you will, in terms of leaders, is Ahmadinejad. "Zionism" has nothing to do with my statement, but nice try in bringing it up. Ahmadinejad is as anti-Semitic as they come, and I think most of the world knows this fact.

The Ahmadinejad comment in reference to "queens" walking around the streets of Iran was sarcasm, by the way, but when talking about gays in that country, don't you find it ridiculous that they receive a "medical card", as you say, denoting their genetic trait? Does Ahmadinejad make Jews wear yellow stars as well, just to denote their genetic and religious traits? Yet another example of a backwards policy in Iran. I didn't know about the medical cards, but thanks for bringing that to my attention.

The piracy point I made was not that it goes on in this country as well, but that Iran's government doesn't even attempt to do anything about it.

And finally, the "biblical age" comment was a joke...sarcastic humor, which some people, yourself included, clearly didn't get. See, my articles, as you'll start to see, always include sarcastic statements, and that is the one thing that people always seem to not get. I'm not always speaking literally, but rather, I use humor at times to prove a point...humor that is sadly misunderstood by those who take my articles personally.

The biggest point you missed about my article as a whole was that I didn't once criticize the citizens of Iran. I only referred to the government and because the government runs the country, I find Iran to be a threat. All these tangents you have gone off on are moot in relation to the points I originally made. Why bring up the Jews that live in Iran? Why bring up other countries' nuclear capabilities? Why bring up Iran's prestigious engineering school? Those things are all simply diversions and have nothing to do with the points I made in my article. The point of my article was simply that Iran is headed down a dark path and its leaders have made the country very nutty in many respects. And I don't think many people would disagree with me here.

First off, the other countries you mentioned that have nuclear technology have them because they are not considered threats on the global stage. Israel, India and as far as I know Pakistan are not making statements talking about "sending the Jews to the sea" and eradicating Israel. So that's why I didn't mention them.

Congratulations to Iran for having a prestigious school, but I think you missed a major point of my article: I don't believe I criticized any of the laypeople of Iran. I was talking about their government, so all your points about the Jews living there and the entire country being looney are moot.

And Ahmadinejad is on the world stage almost weekly saying one thing or another that most of the civilized world would disagree with, and whether there are checks in the parliament or not doesn't matter - most people would agree he is a threat to world peace.

If Wikipedia was my only source you would have a point there, but it's not, as I also referenced other sources.

Either way, I always love to hear a different viewpoint, so thanks.