Day: August 5, 2008

Could this be?


First we hear of the hostility Iranians have towards the American way of life.  You’ve heard the chorus, ‘they hate us because of our freedom’ that always punctuates any discussion of east and west.  Hyperbole always seems to characterize such discussions and during times of international tensions, such exaggerations can have deadly consequences.  Here is a story which portrays a different picture than the one we’ve been seeing about Iran, and I doubt you will see it in many venues besides this one. It addresses two stereotypes that are common place about the Muslim world.

Two Christian pastors have returned to Martinsville after a year and a half of study in Iran, where they set out to learn and build trust and love between the people of both nations.

Husband and wife David Wolfe and Linda Kusse-Wolfe, both Quaker ministers, studied Islam and Iranian culture at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, Iran, from January 2007 to May 2008. There, they found a “very hospitable, very gracious people” and made lasting friendships, Kusse-Wolfe said. “It was a really privileged look at a society many Americans don’t get to see,” she said.

*snip*

Before the trip, “we had people ask us, ‘Aren’t you scared to go over there?’” Kusse-Wolfe said. “I’m convinced the (Iranian) people would’ve laid down their lives for us.”

“We never heard an unkind word,” Wolfe said. The city of Qom has a “significant number” of English-speaking people, Kusse-Wolfe said, especially among university students. “They would almost immediately invite us home to meet their parents and share a meal,” she said. “There’s a saying in Iran that guests are friends of God. They really understand that.” Iran is “very diverse,” with communities of Christians, Jewish people and Zoroastrians, Wolfe said.

Some people were surprised to find out that the couple — and other Americans — believe in God, Kusse-Wolfe said. But by living their faith, they proved the stereotypes wrong.

“As we practiced our faith and shared with them, that opened a lot of doors. It meant we had integrity,” she said. Muslims consider Jesus an important prophet, and the people they encountered showed a great respect for the couple’s faith, she added. Muslims consider Christians and Jews to be “people of the book,” Wolfe said. “They believe that we all worship the God of Abraham, and they are all protected and have a place in Iran.” “Islam is a great monotheistic faith, very moral and ethical, with a deep sense of community and respect,” Kusse-Wolfe said. “What impressed me was their deep practice of their faith in God.” Explaining Christian beliefs to their Muslim hosts was educational for the couple, as well. “We’ve learned from having to explain what we believe,” Wolfe said. Kusse-Wolfe added, “My personal faith is certainly deeper, more joyful, more trusting now.” Before the trip, Wolfe was the chaplain at Memorial Hospital in Martinsville, and Kusse-Wolfe ministered at First United Methodist Church. “We’re significantly different people from having done this,” Wolfe said. “So what does this mean for our ministry? We don’t know yet.” They do know, however, that encouraging peace and understanding begins at home. “We could start by loving our Muslim brothers and sisters in our own towns. That would be a huge step forward for peace and friendship,” Kusse-Wolfe said. “Even if we disagree, we simply have to advocate for each other to live in peace.”

It’s too bad that most Americans don’t have the moral courage of the Wolfes.

What is Israel up to?


I first saw speculation about Israel possibly conducting a false flag operation and blaming Iran in order to get the US to retaliate, and thought nothing of it. However, I ran across an interview a former CIA official who was saying the same thing and decided the story might have legs. Here is the radio interview with Philip Giraldi.

Apparently a retired ex CIA officer is not the only one thinking this.

The top American military officer has warned Israel against orchestrating ‘USS Liberty Part II’ to provoke a US-led war against Iran.

The fact that American officials have to issue these types of warnings to an “ally” is frightening, and speaks volumes of the relationship between the two countries.

A dire prediction


“In short and simple terms, we would be plunged into a depression that would make the Great Depression of the 1930s in which I spent my childhood look like boom times.

Industries would fail, banks would collapse, government revenues would dry up, universities would have to close, health care, even as limited as it now is for roughly 75 million Americans, would virtually cease. In short, something like [what] the South suffered at the end of the Civil War would plague the country.

Even at today’s price, as you know, 14 airlines have gone out of business while others are hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and most have curtailed service and laid off personnel. At double or triple today’s price, none could fly unless nationalized. A whole range of other industries would be quickly drawn into the quicksand. Ironically, war would push America into a form of socialist economy.”

So says William R. Polk, former professor of history at the University of Chicago and a member of the Policy Planning Council under President Kennedy, describing what a post war with Iran America would look like, and it doesn’t look good.  My question is why would American politicians risk this catastrophic landscape knowing that Iran poses no threat to America, or for that matter America’s ally Israel, and that the same deception techniques used to enlist America in an Iraqi war are being used against Iran.