I had posted this rant on a blog in January 2009 but feel the need to re-publish this article further to a recent discussion I had with peers on the subject…
I’m sure you’re all familiar with the sensational ‘war‘ declared by the wealthy and the mighty on the pirates (mostly) from ‘Somalia‘…if you’re not, view THIS article for the big ‘spin‘ served to you courtesy of massive sponsorship by some very wealthy ‘special-interest‘ groups…
Now for ‘a‘ truth about the matter…
Let me say before ranting that there may be a minority of ‘pirates‘ out there doing this, as the spin doctors insist, for money and fun…but as far as the vast majority of these ‘rogue‘ elements are concerned, here’s a harsh dose of reality and possibly the ‘real‘ reason behind their actions…
In mid-November 2008, Somali pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil and demanded a $25 million ransom for its release. There was an outrage – the international press and leadership united in a predictably hysterical and racist response, with outraged cries at the ‘lawless Somali coast‘ besieged by ‘pirates‘ and their ‘growing audacity‘…
In any case, the EU got all their greatest minds together and conceived ‘Operation Atlanta‘ – which basically now has six warships and three maritime reconnaissance aircraft patrolling those ‘dangerous‘ waters…(the waters are dangerous indeed as I will explain in this rant – but dangerous for a whole different set of reasons than those spun for your consumption)…of course the great US of A, India, Malaysia, and Russia happily supported this initiative by generously maintaining presence in the area with a solid 10 warships just waiting to nuke those rogues out of existence.
Here’s what your local news channel’s sponsors will never allow them to tell you…
Normal, simple, (otherwise) peaceful Somali fishermen began arming themselves in late 2005, and have since taken to acts of piracy…
WHAT??? WHY???
…remember that 2005 tsunami?…after the tsunami was done with its destruction and damage, tons of radioactive waste and toxic chemicals from the sea bed off Somalia were dislodged by monster waves onto Somali beaches and areas occupied by human beings…
…tens of thousands immediately fell ill, while at least 300 deaths directly linked to this have been officially recorded…
…a subsequent UN investigation into the matter revealed that European companies had been dumping a lethal cocktail of uranium, heavy metals, industrial, chemical and even hospital waste by the shipload since the early 1990s. They noted “reports from villagers of a wide range of medical problems such as mouth bleeds, abdominal hemorrhages, unusual skin disorders and breathing difficulties“.
…these companies took advantage of the Somali civil war in 1991-1992 and the following UN and US occupations of the mid-1990s to use the Somali waters as dumping grounds for their toxic waste – after all there was no stability in that country and no-one was really out there protecting the interests of innocent Somalis – everyone was busy fighting (or escaping from) a war…
“…Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it…there has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention…” – Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia
Oh Yes!…absolutely NOTHING is being done about it – despite the evidence uncovered – in fact the UN investigation was mysteriously dropped without ANY explanation; and, of course, there has been no compensation and no clean-up.
Worse still, the dumping of toxic waste continues… …after all, most of our international community of ‘leaders‘ comprises scared goats, idiots, and corrupt selfish puppets – and as long as their seafood doesn’t ship from Somalia, they don’t care…
…according to some reports (and I’ve been unable to verify their authenticity, so I’ll leave it on as digestible with a ‘pinch of salt’), the ‘contract‘ for taking care of Europe’s toxic waste is with the outfit run by the ‘Camorra‘ of Napoli – the Italian mafiosi who hit the mainstream limelight courtesy of Robert Saviano’s expose ‘Gomorra‘ – who ironically manage most of Europe’s waste disposal…enough said…
…enter some really brave (some might call them stupid – I call them gutsy) ticked off Somali fisherman who have had ENOUGH of unknown mighty powers screwing them for years without anyone helping or protecting them or anyone even concerned about their children and families developing horrendous ailments and diseases courtesy of all the toxic stuff in their system…
…so these poor souls, out of the desperate need to protect themselves and their families, began arming themselves and started patrolling their waters as unofficial ‘coast guards‘ – in the best way that they knew how, they started tackling the polluters and those foreigners who took advantage of un-policed waters to ‘steal‘ shiploads of seafood from them – they seized cargo vessels, luxury cruise liners, tuna fishing boats – and demanded ransom for their return – probably thinking that their actions would not only keep unwanted elements out of their water out of fear, but also that the ‘ransom‘ they collected was ‘compensation‘ for the continued abuse they endured at the hands of the wealthy nations out there…
Januna Ali Jama, a pirate leader, justified the ransom demand of £5.4 million for a Ukrainian ship as follows: “…The Somali coastline has been destroyed. We believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas…”
Another pirate leader, Sugule Ali said in a phone interview: “…We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas…”
Today, our fearless, mighty, and wealthy ‘warriors‘, engaged in the ‘war against piracy‘, are indiscriminately sinking ANY Somali fishing boat that floats anywhere near a cargo vessel or trawler – their objective is to protect the polluters and plunderers of this planet from attack by those seeking to protect their families from destruction…
I will note again, that a small number of rogue elements have taken to the sea to ‘terrorize‘ for profit and out of greed – so not all pirates are really out there to defend themselves from the toxic waste off-loaders – but, if there was no dumping of waste and plundering of resources, then there would be no need for common, ordinary citizens to take on the responsibility of policing their waters – and if those ‘legitimate‘ defenders are no longer in the mix, these rogues would be pretty easy to identify and catch…
…it’s common sense as far as I am concerned…
…sadly though, we choose instead to nuke the innocent for the protection of the rogues dumping toxic waste into African waters and robbing them of an existence…
…forget the ‘god-forsaken-toxic-waste-DNA-carrying-Somali‘ for a moment…we have no time to think about how we’re going to protect those 3000 children that die every single day courtesy of a very curable disease called malaria (CLICK HERE) – and we have no desire to send our brave and fearless warriors on the ‘war against slavery‘ where 27 million people are estimated to be enslaved and are traded in slave markets like common inanimate goods just about everywhere on this planet in this day and age (CLICK HERE)…
…I chuckle when I read, time and again, in the puppet mainstream media about the growing ‘audacity‘ of the (Somali) ‘pirates‘ – if these corrupt slaves of sponsorship dollars only took a moment to reflect on the ‘audacity‘ of their own ‘hypocrisy‘- just one brief moment – you and I would be living in a much better world…
Curious to find out what the crooks will do next…the biggest problem in the world today is that people refuse to get out of their comfort zones and challenge the status quo…they enjoy living a meaningless life in ignorance and apathy…and choose to chant at the top of their lungs for an unknown, unseen super-power who apparently resides way up in what they call the ‘heavens’ to do all their dirty work instead of getting off their lazy backsides and taking ownership for their own existence…
Why do we insist on remaining ignorant and blind to the fact that ‘war‘ as we know it is but a ‘cash-grab‘ for the elite and a means by which they propagate their agenda…
The newest web of deception – what we call ‘the war on terror‘ – is nothing but propaganda at its best…we have so easily succumbed to the brain-washing and have conditioned ourselves to believe that we are fighting rabid, primitive, violent people of a certain faith to protect ourselves from their perceived monstrosity…
This is far from the truth…
“…I don’t think Islam is any more violent than any other religions, and I suspect if you added it all up, more people have been slaughtered by Christians over the centuries than by Muslims. But the key factor is the demographic factor. Generally speaking, the people who go out and kill other people are males between the ages of 16 and 30. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s there were high birth rates in the Muslim world, and this has given rise to a huge youth bulge. But the bulge will fade. Muslim birth rates are going down; in fact, they have dropped dramatically in some countries. Islam did spread by the sword originally, but I don’t think there is anything inherently violent in Muslim theology…” – Samuel Huntington (from his Clash of Civilizations theory)
We fall prey to our reptilian tendencies and allow these manipulators to brainwash us into killing each other for their benefit…these conflicts are nothing more than vehicles for the greedy elite to get more and more powerful…
“The wars of mankind are like children’s fights – all meaningless, pitiless and contemptible” – Rumi
I’ll let a 1933 speech by Major General Smedley Butler (who was simultaneously the highest ranking and most decorated U.S. Marine) do the ranting for me today – for those interested, Major General Butler wrote a book titled “War is a Racket“, published in 1935 that exposed how wars are used by the corporate elite to promote their own interests…
Without further ado, the speech:
“
War is just a racket.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we’ll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
I wouldn’t go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn’t a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its “finger men” to point out enemies, its “muscle men” to destroy enemies, its “brain men” to plan war preparations, and a “Big Boss” Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.
It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
“
A mere 5% of greedy, selfish rogues from amongst us are so easily able to trick us into engaging in meaningless, pitiless, and contemptible childish squabbles with each other…what a shame…
“Is there any man, is there any woman, let me say any child here that does not know that the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry?”
- Woodrow Wilson
“For the corporation executives, the military metaphysics often coincides with their interest in a stable and planned flow of profit; it enables them to have their risk underwritten by public money; it enables them reasonably to expect that they can exploit for private profit now and later, the risky research developments paid for by public money. It is, in brief, a mask of the subsidized capitalism from which they extract profit and upon which their power is based.”
- C. Wright Mills
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Now think for a bit about how this ‘war on terror‘ has so conveniently allowed mammoth corporations to cash in on tons of taxpayer ‘bailout‘ dollars…and believe me, the financial crisis is but the tip of the iceberg…these monkeys we see and hear from everyday are the equivalent of ‘peons‘ in this scheme – mere pawns – the real players remain unseen and unheard – and even more than their great counterpart in the heavens above, they are in complete control of mankind’s destiny…and are making much, much more from this chaos than you and I could ever imagine…
While I’m not a fan of Ahmedinajad, I think it’s important to share his recent speech at the UN General Assembly. With the amount of spin that our sponsor-dollar-hungry media feeds us everyday, it is very important that we listen to all sources of information to be able to confidently separate truth from fiction for ourselves…
As a Canadian, though, I must rant about the fact that our mega-crook in power, ‘Stiffy’ Harper, called on his troops to boycott (his fellow crooked, corrupt goon) Ahmedinajad’s speech at the UN on the basis of the latter’s opinions and views on the holocaust and continues using Iran’s ‘perceived‘ nuclear aspirations as the basis of his assertion that Iran is a rogue nation that needs to be punished…he also threw in the ‘unfair‘ recent elections in Iran and the violence that ensued as reasons enough for anyone with a conscience to boycott this ‘monster‘ and his speech…
Really Stiffy? Do you want to tell Canadians about your continued non-cooperation with international regulatory bodies when it comes to Canadian nuclear aspirations? And your blind support to Israel – a nation that is in violation of more UN resolutions than any other – together with the blind eye you choose to turn on the atrocities and mass genocide committed in that part of the world under the guise of ‘national security‘…you shun one oppressor to take sides with another…why don’t you come clean at least once in your lifetime about what you really think and do when Canadians are not looking? At least dudes like Ahmedinajad have the balls to tell everyone exactly what is on their mind…how about you treat all monsters alike for once…don’t pick and choose who you’re going to boycott on the international stage while representing Canada…oh wait! that would piss your buddies off now, wouldn’t it? And if your buddies weren’t behind you, pulling all those strings and spending all that money on (and for) you, you may never have been able to get elected…talk about ‘fair‘ elections, eh? I guess if Ahmedinajad and his fellow goons handed you a heavier package of the good stuff that makes your world go round than your current pimps, you’d be dancing to a whole different tune…
And after all is said and done, if and when the crooks of the world unite to invade Iran, it is only the innocent that will suffer…folks like Ahmedinajad will be just fine…but Iran, its wonderful people, its culture, its identity, its riches, and its potential will be destroyed…these crooks will exploit, rape, and plunder Iran in the name of ‘national security‘ and the Stiffies and Ahmedinajads of the world will be chuckling all the way to the bank…
I digress…Stiffy, Ahmedinajad, and all their cronies out there are as crooked as they come – there’s no point in ranting about them…
Here’s Ahmedinajad’s speech at the UN (the transcript that follows the video is missing three or four sentences from the speech and the original article from which I have sourced the verbiage has made some grammatical corrections - but it is, for the most part, a near-accurate transcription of what the translator relays in the video)…
Transcript of speech
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Muhammad, and his pure Household, and his noble Companions. O God, hasten the arrival of Imam Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those who attest to his rightfulness. Mr. President, dear friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank Almighty God for granting me once again the opportunity to address this important international meeting. I wish to begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on having assumed the presidency of the 64th Session of the UNGA, and wish you all success. I also extend my thanks to H.E. Mr. Miguel d’Escoto, President of the 63rd Session of the GA, for his excellent stewardship of the work of the GA during his term.
Over the past four years I have talked to you concerning the main challenges facing our world. I have talked about the roots and underlying causes of these challenges and the need for the world powers to review their outlook and work out new mechanisms to address the pressing international problems. I have talked about the two conflicting outlooks prevailing in our world; one that is based on the predominance of materialistic interests, through spreading inequality and oppression, poverty and deprivation, aggression, occupation and deception, and tending to bring the entire world under its control and impose its will on other nations. This outlook has produced nothing but frustration, disappointment and a dark future for the whole of humanity. The other outlook is the one that espouses belief in the oneness of Almighty God, follows the teaching of His messengers, respects human dignity and seeks to build a secure world for all members of the human community, in which everybody can equally enjoy the blessings of sustainable peace and spirituality. The latter is an outlook that respects all human beings, nations, and valuable cultures, in defiance of all types of discrimination in the world, and commits itself to a constant fight to promote equality for all before the law on the basis of justice and fraternity, laying a solid foundation in order to guarantee equal access for all human beings in their quest to excel in knowledge and science. I have laid emphasis time and again on the need to make fundamental changes in the current attitudes towards the world and humanity in order to be able to create a bright tomorrow. Friends and colleagues, today I wish to share with you a few points about the changes that should take place.
First, clearly, continuation of the current circumstances in the world is impossible. The present inequitable and unfavourable conditions run counter to the very nature of humanity, and move in a direction which contravenes the truth and the goal behind the creation of the world. It is no longer possible to inject thousands of billions of dollars of unreal wealth into the world economy simply by printing worthless paper assets, or transfer inflation as well as social and economic problems to others through creating severe budget deficits. The engine of unbridled capitalism with its unfair system of thought has reached the end of its road and is unable to move. The era of capitalist thinking and the imposition of its thoughts on the international community, intended to dominate the world in the name of globalization, and the age of setting up empires, is over. It is no longer possible to humiliate nations and impose double-standards on the world community. Approaches in which realization of the interests of certain powers is considered the only criterion to weigh democracy, using the ugliest methods of intimidation and deceit under the mantle of freedom as a democratic practice, and approaches through which sometimes dictators are portrayed as democrats, lack legitimacy and must be totally rejected. The time is up for those who define democracy and freedom and set standards whilst they themselves are the first who violate its fundamental principles. They can no longer sit as both judge and executioner, and challenge real, democratically established governments. The awakening of nations and the expansion of freedom worldwide will no longer allow them to continue their hypocrisy and vicious attitudes.
Because of all these reasons, most nations, including the people of the US, are waiting for real and profound changes. They have welcomed and will continue to welcome change. How can one imagine that the inhuman policies in Palestine may continue: to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion; to attack them with all types of arms and even prohibited weapons; to deny them their legitimate right of self-defense, while, much to the chagrin of the international community, calling the occupiers peace-lovers and portraying the victims as terrorists? How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children, and destruction of their homes, farms, hospitals and schools be supported unconditionally by certain governments, and at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and the heaviest economic blockade, being denied their basic needs, food, water and medicine? They are not even allowed to rebuild their homes, which were destroyed during the 22-day barbaric attack by the Zionist regime, while the winter is approaching, whereas the aggressors and their supporters deceitfully continue their rhetoric in defense of human rights in order to put others under pressure. It is no longer acceptable that a small minority should dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even of the European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions.
It is not acceptable that some who are several thousands of kilometers away from the Middle East should send their troops to conduct military intervention and spread war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation in the whole region, while branding the protests of nations in the region which are concerned about their fate and their national security as moves against peace and as interference in others’ affairs. Look at the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is no longer possible to bring a country under military occupation in the name of the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, while the production of illicit drugs has multiplied, terrorism has widened its dimensions and has tightened its grip, thousands of innocent people have been killed, injured or displaced, infrastructures have been destroyed and regional security has been seriously jeopardized; and those who have created the current disastrous situation continue to blame others. How can you talk about friendship and solidarity with other nations, while you expand your military bases in different parts of the world, including in Latin America? This situation cannot continue. It is becoming more and more obviously impossible to advance expansionist and inhuman policies on the basis of militaristic logic. The logic of coercion and intimidation will produce dire consequences, exacerbating the present global problems. It is not acceptable that the military budgets of some governments exceed by far those of entire countries elsewhere in the world. They export billions of dollars of arms every year, stockpile chemical and biological weapons, as well as nuclear weapons, establish military bases or have military presences in other countries, while accusing others of militarism, and mobilize all their resources in the world to impede scientific and technological progress of other nations, on the pretext of countering arms proliferation. It is not acceptable that the UN and the SC, whose decisions must represent all nations and governments by the application of the most democratic methods in their decision-making processes, be dominated by a few governments and serve their interests. In a world where culture, thought and public opinion should be the determining factors, the continuation of the present situation is impossible, and fundamental changes seem to be unavoidable.
Second: any change must be structural and fundamental, both in theory and practice, involving all the domains of our life. The outdated mechanisms which themselves were instrumental in and the root causes of the present problems in human society can never be used to bring changes and create our desired world. Liberalism and capitalism, which have alienated human beings from heavenly and moral values, will never bring happiness for humanity, because they are the main source of all misfortune, wars, poverty and deprivation. We have all seen how the inequitable economic structures controlled by certain political interests have been used to plunder the national wealth of countries for the benefit of a group of corrupt business giants. The present structures are incapable of reforming the present situation. The political and economic structures created following WW2, based on intentions to dominate the world, failed to promote justice and lasting security. Rulers whose hearts do not beat for the love of humankind, and who sacrificed the spirit of justice in their minds, can never offer the promise of peace and friendship to humanity. By the grace of God, Marxism is gone. It is now history. Expansionist capitalism will certainly have the same fate, because, based on the Divine traditions referred to as principles in the Holy Quran, wrong, like the bubbles on the surface of water, will disappear. There remains only what that can be used forever towards the interest of human societies. We must all remain vigilant, to prevent the pursuit of colonialist, discriminatory and inhuman goals under the cover of slogans for change, and in new formats. The world needs to undergo fundamental changes, and all must engage collectively to make them happen in the right direction, and through such efforts no one, and no government, should consider itself an exception to change or superior to others, and try to impose its will on others by proclaiming world leadership.
Third: all the problems existing in our world today emanate from the fact that rulers have distanced themselves from human values, morality and the teachings of Divine messengers. Regrettably, in current international relations, selfishness and insatiable greed have taken the place of such humanitarian concepts as love, sacrifice, dignity, and justice. Belief in one God has been replaced with selfishness. Some have taken the place of God and insist on imposing their values and wishes on others. Lies have taken the place of honesty; hypocrisy has replaced integrity, and selfishness has taken the place of sacrifice. Deception in interactions is called foresight and statesmanship; looting the wealth of other nations is called development efforts; occupation is introduced as a gift towards promotion of freedom and democracy; and defenseless nations are subjected to repression in the name of defending human rights. Friends and colleagues, settlement of global problems and administration of justice and maintenance of peace will only be materialized with collective determination and cooperation of all nations and states. The age of polarizing the world on the premises of the hegemony or domination of a few governments is over. Today we must rise together in a collective commitment against the present challenges; we must take change seriously and help others through collective work to return to basic moral and human values. Messengers were sent by God to show the light of the truth to humanity; they came to make people aware of their individual and social obligations. Piety, having faith in Allah and His judgment of human behaviour or conduct in the next world, belief in the primacy of justice in everyone’s lives, seeking one’s happiness, well being and security in the happiness, well-being and security of others, respecting humanity, making efforts to expand love and compassion against hostility, were all primary in the teachings offered by the Messengers of God, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and finally Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). All of them came to do something to eliminate war and ignorance, to eradicate poverty and uproot discrimination in order to spread happiness in the entire world. They are the best gifts that God Almighty has granted to human beings. If the belief in Entezar, that is to say, waiting patiently for justice to return, turns into a common one, and we join hands to achieve prosperity for all, then there will be more real and increasing hopes for reform.
Fourth; in my opinion, we have several important agendas in front of us. The Sec.-Gen. and the UNGA can take the lead by undertaking necessary measures for the fulfilment of our shared goals on the basis of (1) Restructuring the UN in order to transform this world body to an efficient and fully democratic organization, capable of playing an impartial, equitable, and effective role in international relations; reforming the structure of the SC, specifically by abolishing the discriminatory privilege of the veto right; restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, by organizing a referendum and free elections in Palestine in order to prepare a conducive ground for all Palestinian populations, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, to live together in peace and harmony; putting an end to all types of interference in the affairs of Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and all countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. As our great Prophet said, a government may survive with blasphemy, but never with oppression. Oppression against Palestinians and violation of their rights still continue; a new group of Palestinians who lived in al-Quds al-Sharif were again forced out of their homes as the destruction of their residential homes continues by the occupiers; bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not yet stopped; Guantanamo Prison has not yet been shut down; and there are still secret prisons in Europe. Continuation of the present situation adds to hostility and violence. Oppression and military aggression must be stopped. Regrettably, official reports concerning the brutalities of the Zionist regime in Gaza have not all been published. The Sec.-Gen. and the UN have crucial responsibilities in this respect, and the international community is impatiently waiting for the punishment of the aggressors and murderers of the defenseless people of Gaza. (2) Reforming the current economic structures and setting up a new international economic order based on human and moral values and obligations. A new course is needed that will help promote justice and progress worldwide by allowing the potentials and talents of all nations to flourish, thus bringing well-being for all and for future generations; (3) Reforming international political relations, basing them on the promotion of lasting peace and friendship, eradication of the arms race, and the elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; (4) Reforming cultural structures, respect for the diverse customs and traditions of all nations, fostering moral values and spirituality based on the institution of the family as the backbone of all human societies; (5) Worldwide efforts to protect the environment and full observance of international agreements and arrangements to prevent the annihilation of nature’s non-renewable resources.
Fifth: our nation has successfully gone through a glorious and fully democratic election, opening a new chapter for our country in the march towards national progress and enhanced international interactions. They entrusted me once more, by a large majority, with this heavy responsibility. And now, I want to declare that our great nation, that has made great contributions to world civilization, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the most democratic and progressive governments of the world, is ready to mobilize all its cultural, political and economic capabilities to engage in a constructive process aimed at addressing international concerns and challenges. Our country, a creator of culture. has been a main victim of terrorism and the target of all-out military aggression during the first decade of its revolution. All through the past thirty years we have been subject to the hostile attitudes of those who at one time supported Saddam’s military aggression and his use of chemical weapons against us, and then at another time took military action in Iraq to get rid of him. Today, our nation seeks to create a world in which justice and compassion will prevail. We announce our commitment to participate in the process of building durable peace and security worldwide for all nations based on justice, spirituality and human dignity, while being dedicated to strongly defending our legitimate and legal rights. To materialize these goals, our nation is prepared to warmly shake all those hands which are honestly extended to us. No nation can claim to be free from the need to change and reform in this journey towards perfection. We welcome real and humane changes and stand ready to actively engage in fundamental global reforms.
Therefore, we emphasize that the only path to remain safe is to return to monotheism and justice, and this is the greatest hope and opportunity in all ages and generations. Without belief in God and commitment to the cause of justice and fight against injustice and discrimination, the world structure cannot be put right. Man is at the center of the universe. Man’s unique feature is his humanity, the same feature which seeks justice, piety, love, knowledge, awareness and all other high values. These human values should be supported, and each and every fellow human should be given the opportunity to acquire them. Neglecting any fellow human is tantamount to the omission of a constituting piece of humanity. These are common elements which connect all human communities and constitute the basis of peace, security and friendship. The Divine religions pay attention to all aspects of human life, including obedience to God, morality, justice, fighting oppression, and the endeavour to establish just and good governance. The Prophet Abraham called upon the oneness of God against Nimrod, as Prophet Moses did against the Pharaohs, and Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did against the oppressors of their own time. They were all threatened with death and were forced out of their homelands. Without resistance and objection, injustice will not be removed from the face of the earth.
And the last point I would like to make: dear friends and colleagues, the world is in continuous change and evolution. The promised destiny of mankind is the establishment of the humane pure life. There will come a time when justice will prevail across the globe and every single human being will enjoy respect and dignity. That will be the time when mankind’s path to moral and spiritual perfection will be opened and his journey to God and the manifestation of God’s Divine Names will come true. Mankind should excel to represent God’s knowledge and wisdom, His compassion and benevolence, His justice and fairness, His power and art, and His kindness and forgiveness. These will all come true under the rule of the Perfect Man, the last Divine source on earth, Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh), an offspring of the Prophet of Islam, who will re-engage, and Jesus Christ (pbuh) and other noble men will accompany him in the accomplishment of this grand universal mission. And this is the belief in Entezar: waiting patiently for the Imam to return, waiting with patience for the rule of goodness and the governance of the best, which is a universal human notion and which is a source of nations’ hope for the betterment of the world. They will come, and with the help of righteous people and true believers will materialize man’s long-standing desire for freedom, perfection, maturity, security and tranquillity, peace and beauty. They will come to put an end to war and aggression and bring complete knowledge as well as spirituality and friendship to the whole world. Yes, indeed, this bright future for mankind will come. Dear friends, in waiting for that brilliant time to come and in a collective commitment, let’s make our due contributions to paving the way and preparing the conditions for building that bright future. Long live love and spirituality; long live peace and security; long live justice and freedom. God’s peace and blessings be upon you all.
I had posted this rant on a blog in January 2009 but feel the need to re-publish this article further to a recent discussion I had with peers on the subject…
Why do we insist on remaining ignorant and blind to the fact that ‘
Really Stiffy? Do you want to tell Canadians about your continued non-cooperation with international regulatory bodies when it comes to Canadian nuclear aspirations? And your blind support to Israel – a nation that is in violation of more UN resolutions than any other – together with the blind eye you choose to turn on the atrocities and mass genocide committed in that part of the world under the guise of ‘
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