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Long
Live the Truth, Long Live the Box of Sweets
By Masoud Behnoud
On Wednesday
night when I saw President Bush on TV sending this message to Saddam
Hussein that 'the Game is over', and illustrated the military attack
on Iraq on a military map, I felt terrified. I felt terrified because
it is now twenty four years that I have been waiting for the day
to see the Iraqi dictator wretched and desperate. I felt terrified
because I have been hoping to see his fall, while now I am forced
to align with him and say no to war. I am not an enemy of America,
I am an enemy of Saddam and other dictators like him; why shouldn't
I be happy that America is going to overthrow some bloodsucking
regime? But I am scared, for I am living in a world that can play
with me like a toy. I am scared that in this world or ours, despite
the presence of freedom of speech and democracy, despite the communication
revolution that has made it possible for everyone to have access
to all the news, it is still possible to lie. I am afraid for I
know America and Britain are not going there to disarm Saddam, they
can conceal the truth.
September 22
is the last day of summer in Iran. On that day of 1981 in Tehran,
while getting ready to send our kids to school, as the next day
was the beginning of the school year in Iran, we suddenly heard
a tremendous noise that made us jump up from our seats; very terrifying
noises and a few minutes later the sound of siren from the radio
was heard. Saddam had attacked Tehran and other cities of Iran,
bombing the country with tens of his Russian and French fighters
and we rushed to shelters. Holding their new school bags in their
hands, the kids looked terrified. And this was the outbreak of an
eight-year war that started by the will of Saddam who wanted to
be called the sword of Islam and eat his breakfast in Baghdad and
his lunch in Tehran - the capital of Majusan (literally Zoroastrians,
but in general pagans). Eight years of war and demolition that Saddam
and thoughtless leaders of Iran created left hundred thousands dead
and brought about the destruction of eighteen districts of a large
city that sometimes was bombarded several times a day. There were
days in Tehran when weeping mothers and children received the dead
bodies of hundreds brought back from the Fronts. It took us Iranians
sometimes to believe that America was helping Saddam Hussein. We
had to wait for years to hear the foreign minister of America saying
empathetically, 'Saddam is dangerous for his neighbors.' We had
to wait for years to see CIA report of this year finally mentioning
that in the course of the war, Saddam's army bombarded Iranian border
regions and Iraqi people sixteen times with chemical bombs. In those
days when Iranians said the same, the American representative in
UN did not approve it. America vetoed seven times the proclamation
condemning the invasion of Iran by Iraq. Iraq chemical raids were
never approved at that time. While even today there are still people
in Iran dying after twenty years of pain and suffering due to the
chemical bombs that Saddam dropped on the city of Halabcheh; and
the news of their death does appear in the media.
Even before
attacking Iran on that last day of summer, I hated Saddam. I had
seen him thirty years ago in Baghdad when I had gone there for an
interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Naef, an educated and civilized
man, removed from his position a few months later and killed a year
later by Saddam's agents. On that day in the prime minister's office
of Iraq, an officer in khaki colored military uniform, slightly
tall and very harsh entered the room and without paying any attention
to the Prime Minister took our camera and opened it violently. His
coarse hands were not familiar with small fine instruments such
as cameras and in order to bring out the film, he broke the lid.
He pulled out the film, tore it and threw the camera on the chair.
There was a threatening rifle around his waist; he seemed much younger
than the image broadcast these days from TV. On that day, the Iraqi
driver who was taking me to Al-tahrir Square said, this butcher
will kill everyone and will become king. You could see horror in
his eyes, the same horror that has been overwhelming Iraqi people
throughout the past thirty years. Even when they pour out into the
streets for Saddam's birthday celebrations, dancing, I remember
that driver and I know that while jubilating for him and hanging
his huge pictures from the walls, they feel terrified. Why shouldn't
I be delightful of his fall today?
I am not anti-American.
My two children are Americans now and last year I was arrested for
four months because of writing an article in which I supported the
resumption of relations between Iran and America. I like Americans,
but I am scared of lies and I am scared of living in a world where
it is so easy to lie to people.
Americans attack
Iraq to derive the price of their mistakes from Iraqi people. The
great sin of Iraqi people whom Saddam wants to build a human wall
of them against the attack of American forces is that they failed
to fight Saddam all these years. This is the sin of many people
of the world. But with all the armaments that Saddam Hussein bought
from Russia, France and America with the oil's money, he was in
deed powerful and terrifying. President Bush should prepare himself
to respond to Iraqi people who are bound to ask him the same question.
President Bush will not tell them that 'all these years we were
waiting for September 11 when an Islamic fundamentalist like Bin
Laden would attempt such a crazy venture.' Even if he says so, nobody
will be satisfied with this answer. For among Islamic countries,
many are closer to Bin Laden than Iraq. To verify their closeness
it is not necessary for Collin Powel to forge evidences proving
the brotherhood of the wolf and the fox.
I could be delightful
to see Saddam Hussein broken down and old and desperate. I could
not be terrified when I saw the US president,s man standing in front
of cameras saying 'for the purpose of globalization, improvement
of our economy, showing off our power to European Union, domination
over the energy market in future, we were waiting for a miracle
that happened on September 11 and now we have this responsibility
weighing on our shoulders to send our military forces to the oil
region of Persian Gulf. Accidentally, we have bought a box of sweets
for Iraqi people and their neighbors on our way to there.'
If that happened,
I couldn't then have any excuse to be scared, rather I would rejoice
to see one less dictator in this world, and in the memory of all
those days and nights that I spent in horror under Saddam's missiles
in Tehran, I would shout, "Long live Bush, Long Live the Truth,
Long Live the Box of Sweets."
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