Tough times ahead, Bush’s impact on Iranians, now and the future by Peter Khan Zendran

Many had an idea it would happen, but few anticipated it. This November 2, 2004 George W. Bush stole the election. Again. By tampering with the election process in Ohio with his Republican cronies, causing voters to be disenfranchised in places like Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati where recent police brutality turned voters away from Bush, Toledo, Youngstown the home of Jim Traficant who was railroaded out of Congress and into Federal Prison by Bush’s cronies, Akron, etc Bush once again maneuvered his way into the White House. Unless the Electoral College takes a stand Bush’s win is certain.

Bush’s “re-election” means things in America and around the world will get even worse. Many, myself included, have been disillusioned by the promise Bush brought with his initial “win” in 2000. Sure, we knew he was a dummy, but a dummy who would, we thought, screw up in our favor. At the start of his first term the price of Platinum, Gold, and Silver went down, opening up opportunities for serious investors. By cutting many taxes and giving people tax breaks across the board many people in America received much needed cash. He even began to focus on social programs that were much needed. I remember back in March 2000, when Bush was Texas Governor and I was working as an Advocate, reading Bush’s executive order implementing the Olmstead decision and how it helped many people in Texas who were homeless and needed mental health services. Then came the 9/11 attacks. I remember watching how every news station focused so much on what happened in New York City that people were distracted by other events that showed Bush’s complicity in letting 9/11 happen. Most people forget the meager security around key government instillations and that key government facilities like the courts and mints were kept in operation during the attacks. Or the planes that were allowed to enter America after the flight ban. Or the companies and organizations that had foreknowledge of the attacks. Or how attacks on people from the Middle East and Central Asia that occurred and went unpunished because Bush was quick to scapegoat Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein for the attacks, when they didn’t have the means to do them, but Bush certainly did. Yet few people in America were awake to what was going on and went along with Bush’s criminal “war on terror” which focused on invading Afghanistan and Iraq as well as aggression towards Iran and gangstering the people of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

If anything Iranians of all backgrounds have more to fear now than before the 2004 elections. During Bush’s first term thousands of people have been sent to detention centers around America because of their ethnic origin and political views. Millions more have been spied upon for the same reasons. The majority of these so-called opposition groups who oppose bush’s actions have had next to no success in stopping his actions and by their own inept actions only have brought greater hardships on themselves and those they claim to act in defense of. Let us not forget those who have been killed because of Bush’s aggression in America and abroad.

One thing that Bush has made clear through his actions is that he is planning an invasion of Iran, by whatever means he sees fit. By occupying Afghanistan and Iraq Bush has essentially put bases on the Northeast and West of Iran’s border for staging an invasion. He is also putting pressure on countries like Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan to use their territory as a staging ground for an invasion. Only Iran’s military buildup, stiff resistance in Iraq, questionable intelligence, and strong foreign opposition has prevented him from executing an invasion of Iran. However, any change of events and an invasion of Iran could become a reality. If an invasion of Iran is to occur America will be doing it alone since after the criminal horrors of Iraq no other nation is willing to join in an American alliance and those who would are overextended to do so. Iranian forces, which can retaliate with technology similar to America’s, will put up a stiff resistance so that if Iran is occupied it will be impossible to exert control over Iran by American forces. One only has to look at what has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq to see what an American occupation means, nothing but death and destruction. An invasion of Iran will only cause the destruction of Iranian land, Iran’s economy, industry, and population.

If anything Bush’s “election” is a sign for Iranians to be more vigilant. One thing Iranians in America can definitely anticipate is more surveillance, more bogus arrests, and more conflict with the American government. Iranians in America of every background should anticipate these actions and prepare accordingly. The question will be what is your ethnic background, not how loyal to the American government you are. If there is one thing the years after 9/11 should have taught us is that we can not let others do the fighting for us. That is the mistake the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine have made and it was a mistake many Iranian exiles made after 1979 by working with the very governments in America and Britain that helped bring they’re country’s downfall. By allowing the American and British governments to act on their behalf the Iranian groups who did so deprived themselves of the means to take action. That is now showing by the fact that many Iranian groups in America and Britain are powerless to act to remove the Islamic government in Iran by themselves. Their main focus of action is to get others to do they’re work, which if successful will leave them indebted to those groups and if unsuccessful will cost those groups their independence. Therefore if any Iranian group is to have an impact it must do so by building up it’s own resources so it will not be dependent on anyone for assistance. Iranians must look to the example of the Palestinians, Native Americans, and Afro-Blacks as for what not to do. Those groups started out strong but by acting in solidarity with other groups their goals became confused and their movements lost strength thanks to groups like Solidarity International, International A.N.S.W.E.R., ISO, Green Party, Ruckus Society, etc. Iranians must keep themselves strong by focusing on the freedom of Iran and Iranians in America.

Iranians must also come to understand that for them and Iran to be strong and free any change in government must occur so that the Islamic regime is removed but that Iran is strong enough to resist any foreign invasion, as when Iraq invaded during the 1979 revolution. We must remember that in 1979 though Iraq did not posses the means to successfully seize territory from Iran but only the means to cause destruction. America has the power to occupy and cause destruction so Iran must make sure that it has the power to repel an invasion, cause sufficient casualties to prevent an occupation, or sufficient alliances to prevent an invasion. Individuals like Reza Pahlavi, Bahman Nassiri, and groups like the Rastakhiz National Council of Resistance have proven themselves unable to help remove the Islamic regime and have become soft and dependent on American assistance. If any Iranian organization is to be successful it must be successful with as marginal assistance as possible from outsiders and it must not let groups like Solidarity International, International A.N.S.W.E.R., become dominant.

If Iranians in America and the people of Iran are to survive they must never forget what it will cost for them to survive as Iranians. In America that cost will be maintaining their identity in the face of government harassment and standing up to threats, be it government or some other source. For Iran that cost will be the preservation of it’s people, economy, culture, and industry by building a strong Iran to resist any threat.