Persepolis the Movie

Recently my students saw the award winning film Persepolis - and found it to be very informative and interesting.

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Description from movie trailer:

"Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power
- forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.

As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her
continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick.

Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past."

President Obama's Message to Iran

Diplomacy helps avoid war. President Obama is taking steps that many of us never imagined an American President would do.

Plane forced to land in Iran

Later in the day the European papers said it was not a U.S. plane -

The BBC says it was a mistake, that Iran forced the US warplane to land.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7657066.stm

BBC

Page last updated at 13:19 GMT, Tuesday, 7 October 2008 14:19 UK

A US warplane has been forced to land in Iran after violating Iranian territory, the Iranian semi-official Fars news agency has reported.

The Falcon aircraft entered Iranian airspace from Turkey, flying at low altitude to avoid radar, Fars said.

The agency said it was detected by Iranian fighter jets, which forced it to land at an undisclosed airport.

Passengers included five senior American generals and three civilians, the report said.

The agency said the group was interrogated at the airport and then allowed to leave after it was realised they had entered unintentionally.
More details to follow.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/iran-says-it-forced-down-us-warplane-954097.html

London Independent
October 7, 2008

Iran says it forced down US warplane

Reuters
Tuesday, 7 October 2008

The Iran News Agency sats a US warplane violated the country's territory and was forced to land.

The agency said five senior US military officials had been interrogated at an Iranian airport and released a day later after it became clear that the plane had not entered intentionally.

But the Pentagon says that all its aircraft in the region were accounted for and that it had no reports of an Iran landing.

The incident came as Iran accused six major powers of "unreasonable behaviour" over its disputed nuclear programme, although the European Union said today it would stick to a dual approach combining diplomacy with the threat of sanctions.

Tehran's accusation was contained in a letter from its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, that was delivered to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana yesterday.

"It's a letter that in a way complains about our policy but our policy is clear. It's a double-track approach," Solana told Reuters in Berlin on Tuesday.

Asked whether the letter would make negotiations with Iran more difficult, Solana replied: "It's just a letter."

The United States and other western powers suspect Tehran is seeking a nuclear bomb under cover of its civilian nuclear programme. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, denies it has any such intentions, saying it only wants to generate electricity.

Jalili's letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, was addressed through Solana to foreign ministers of the six-power group consisting of the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

In June, the six gave Iran a beefed-up offer of political and economic incentives, including nuclear reactors, in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment programme.

Iran responded at the time with a non-committal letter. The group of six handed the United Nations Security Council a toothless draft resolution on Iran's nuclear programme in September after Washington, facing stiff Russian opposition, failed to secure agreement for fresh sanctions.

"In the judgment of the world community, this unreasonable behaviour is an indication of the lack of a clear response to the principled questions of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jalili said in the letter.

Iran has shown no sign of compromise, vowing to resist U.S. "bullying" to force it to abandon its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. Enrichment is at the heart of the dispute because it can be used either to provide reactor fuel or - if the uranium is purified to a much higher degree - to supply the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

Jalili said "logical behaviour" by major powers could pave the ground for constructive talks to remove international concerns over the country's nuclear work.

Solana, representing the six powers, and Jalili last discussed Tehran's nuclear programme by telephone in August.

"It is interesting ... to see that in the course of talks ... the other party (the major powers) ... resorts to levers of pressure instead of offering answers to questions and trying to remove ambiguities," Jalili said.

A senior Iranian official said Jalili's letter would also be delivered to the Swiss embassy in Tehran on Tuesday. Switzerland represents US interests in Iran since Washington severed ties with Tehran shortly after its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Died on the 4th of July

link to image

As Marine Staff Sergeant Edgar Heredia is being buried in Houston, the Bush Administration is trying to find a way for more young men like Edgar to die.

A while back, I believe it was right after the 2004 election, George W. Bush, in one of his speeches said that there might not be an election in 2008 if there is a national emergency. It was a brief statement, hardy noticed. I wish I had the exact date - maybe someone out there remembers specifically when and where it was said.

Perhaps the CNN, ABC, MSNBC, FOX etc. will have the gumption to really try and stop Bush and Cheney this time - as all this is happening, I hope the media remembers that they danced a jig while our military went into blast Iraq for WMD's that did not exist (even the blessed Tim Russert helped this along).

As we well know, if the Bush administration (and Israel*) proceed, the results will be disastrous for the Middle East and for the young people of our country.


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Not so Quiet on the Third Front
Washington Post

By Dana Milbank

Thursday, July 3, 2008; Page A03

The threats, counterthreats, and counter-counterthreats between Israel, Iran and the United States have reached new levels of hysteria in recent days. Israel openly threatens to attack Iran's nuclear program, Iran threatens to shut down oil-shipping lanes, and the commander of the U.S. fleet in the Persian Gulf, Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, says this would be an "act of war" requiring an American military response.

That was the backdrop yesterday as Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, faced the cameras in the Pentagon briefing room. Mullen, just back from a trip to Israel that further raised speculation about an Israeli attack, was asked whether Cosgriff's saber rattling would raise tensions with Iran.

"Actually," the chairman replied, "I think Admiral Cosgriff, who made that statement, is making an accurate statement."

Or, as John McCain might sing, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."

The doldrums of the Fourth of July recess have been enlivened by fresh talk of another war. Is it a diplomatic bluff or a serious possibility? Perhaps some of each: Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told the Associated Press yesterday that the possibility of an attack is "craziness" -- but, just in case, he also made sure in the same interview to speak about progress in negotiations with the West.

The administration, for its part, seems eager to convince Iran that President Bush is crazy enough to sanction an attack. In the Rose Garden yesterday, Brett Baier of Fox News asked Bush how confident he is that Israel won't launch a military attack on Iran before the end of the year. "I have always said that all options are on the table, but the first option for the United States is to solve this problem diplomatically," came Bush's mild reply...

for complete WP article click here

link to Democracy Now interview with Seymour Hersh on U.S. "escalation of covert operations against Iran" - click here

*Israel has every right to protect itself, but considering the ramifications of any military action against Iran, we hope they will pursue every possible diplomatic means.