Iranian president Ahmadinejad, who plans to come to New York
City for the opening session of the General Assembly
(Sept.18-21), is still spouting ominous nuclear rhetoric- proof
positive that this is still a dangerous world. Yet last week’s
seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attack on this city clearly
showed that many are content to forget the horror of that day and
are intent on replacing the majestic twin towers with two
gigantic flower-strewn potholes.
I stopped watching the memorial service a few years ago because
it was being held in a place that showed no progress of being
rebuilt. This is unacceptable in a city where buildings crop up
overnight in a blink of an eye. What has been more disturbing is
how far removed from reality many New Yorkers have drifted.
The cable History channel dared to show “102 Minutes that
Changed America” a presentation of archive footage shot on
September 11, 2001. As the enormous implication of the attack set
in on the viewers on 42nd Street watching the World Trade Center
evaporate, they could be heard saying things like, “we’re
going to war; let’s kill the bastards; bomb them where they
live, etc.” The old cliché about a conservative is a
liberal who’s been mugged was proved wrong here because this
city was mugged in the worst way but the conversion only lasted a
short while. Before long, many who had first agreed with the
president that the war on terrorism would be a long and difficult
one changed their mind. This complacent crowd doesn’t think
it’s ever right to fight a war for freedom. They are also
vulnerable to deceit.
Not long ago there was an anti-war rally in Times Square
protesting a possible war with Iran. I asked my Persian dissident
friend, who knows more about what’s happening in that
country than any newspaper pundit or television anchor, what he
thought about this. He told me that the Iranian mullahs have
lobbyists around the world and here in the United States that
organize such gatherings to sway public opinion and buy time for
the mullahs because the economic situation in Iran is
increasingly tenuous.
According to my friend whom I cannot name for his own safety,
there has been a resurgence of the Persian identity. Many
Iranians have converted back to the Zoroastrian faith and
secretly burn the Koran. Every spring here in Manhattan, the
Persian Day parade grows larger and more colorful. Beautiful
women in colorful garb dance to joyous music and the symbol of
the ancient faith is everywhere.
Last year on Oct 15th, the day celebrating the International Day
of Derafshe Kaviani, a plane carrying the Persian flag flew
around the Statue of Liberty and dipped its wing over ground Zero
to honor the innocent victims of 9/11. It read-“Free Iran.”
Don’t believe me? Check out the flight on You Tube. The
event was also covered on Channel 9.
My dissident friend tells me that most of what we read about Iran
is disinformation planted by the ruling mullahs of Iran. Many
websites have been established which pretend to be anti-mullah
but are actually meant to trap dissidents. That is how they
captured Dr. Froud Fouladvand, the man who attempted to educate
Iranians about their glorious Persian roots. He founded a group
Anjoman-e Padeshahi-e Iran and had many followers. It is believed
that he was kidnapped and murdered in Turkey last January but
stories of his imminent execution were leaked recently to various
news sources as a means of locating dissidents seeking more
information about their missing leader.
My friend trusts only one site-www.iransara.info for accuracy.
When I went to that site I noted a photo of Jimmy Carter under a
sign that said “The worst case of treason against Iranian
people in history.”
What should the United States do to help, I asked? “There
are two ways to treat cancer,” he said. “You can
surgically remove it or you can help strengthen the body so that it
can fight the cancer itself. What we need are supplies to help
communicating with the various groups and the Iranian people.”
We need to improve our communication here as well because many
regard the truth as “scare tactics.” The Democrats
charged that the GOP convention exploited 9/11 by showing graphic
footage of the attacks. Wrong. We’ve grieved for seven years
and now it’s time to focus on making sure it never happens
again. Next month when that Free Iran flag flies over Ground
Zero, let’s add one that reads-“Rebuild the Towers Now.”