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cyrus
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:29 pm    Post subject: Boston Police Department rejects Governor's Romney's comment Reply with quote

Boston Police Department rejects Governor's Romney's comment about Khatami...
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:57:16 -0400
Hello Everyone,

The Boston Police Department in response to Governor Mitt Romney’s very correct and righteous statement yesterday, has issued the following statement:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/09/06/romney_bars_state_security_for_iranians_harvard_visit/

“…after Romney issued a statement yesterday outlining his position -- in which he called Harvard's invitation ``a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists" -- the Boston Police Department said it would step in.

``We were asked by the State Department to assist in protecting a guest of the United States, and the Police Department plans to oblige," spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.


I urge you write the Boston Police Department a polite and intelligent note (http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/contact.asp), explaining that it is in fact the State Department that has shown extraordinary insensibility in extending a criminal-against-humanity such as Khatami, an invitation to United States . Apparently Foggy Bottom’s appeasement of Khatami is “democracy” and wronging respectful law-abiding Iranian/Americans who have lived in this country and embraced it’s ways, is their modus operandi these days; this therefore has become a good reason for the Boston Police to be faint of mind in dealing with the arrival of this criminal against humanity.
.






cyrus wrote:


Governor Mitt Romney wrote:
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Department
State House Boston, MA 02133
(617) 725-4000
Source:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=pressreleases&agId=Agov2&prModName=gov2pressrelease&prFile=gov_pr_060905_khatami.xml

MITT ROMNEY
GOVERNOR

KERRY HEALEY
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 5, 2006 CONTACT:
Eric Fehrnstrom
(617) 725-4025

ROMNEY DENOUNCES KHATAMI VISIT TO HARVARD
Declines to provide escort, or offer state support for trip

Governor Mitt Romney today ordered all Massachusetts state government agencies to decline support, if asked, for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami’s September 10 visit to the Boston area, where he is scheduled to speak at Harvard University.

“State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel,” said Romney.

Romney’s action means that Khatami will be denied an official police escort and other VIP treatment when he is in town. The federal government provides security through the U.S. State Department.

Romney criticized Harvard for honoring Khatami by inviting him to speak, calling it “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists, especially on the eve of the five-year anniversary of 9/11.”

Said Romney: “The U.S. State Department listed Khatami’s Iran as the number one state sponsor of terrorism. Within his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of dissidents who spoke out for freedom and democracy. For him to lecture Americans about tolerance and violence is propaganda, pure and simple.”

Romney cited a litany of hateful actions by Khatami, including his support for violent jihadist activities:


During the period of time he was in office, from 1997 to 2005, Khatami presided over Iran’s secret nuclear program. Currently, the Iranian Government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is snubbing the international community’s request to cease nuclear weapons production.

In the recent conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border, Khatami described the terrorist group Hezbollah as a “shining sun that illuminates and warms the hearts of all Muslims and supporters of freedom in the world.”

Khatami has endorsed Ahmadinejad’s call for the annihilation of Israel.

During Khatami’s presidency, Iran refused to hand over the Iranian intelligence officials who were responsible for the attack on the Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. military personnel.

In his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of Iranian students, journalists, and others who spoke out for freedom and democracy. Khatami relaxed freedom of speech laws giving democracy reformers a false sense of security only to engage in one of the largest crackdowns in the country’s history.

In Khatami’s Iran, there was no religious tolerance. According to the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom, Iran was one of the worst offenders of religious persecutions. Minorities, such as Evangelicals, Jews, Catholics and others, have suffered.
“Khatami pretends to be a moderate, but he is not. My hope is that the United States will find and work with real voices of moderation inside Iran. But we will never make progress in the region if we deal with wolves in sheep’s clothing,” said Romney.

###


Governor Mitt Romney: Romney on the Terrorist in His Backyard
Please Submit Your Thank You Message By Email With Your Word Of Support For Governor Mitt Romney By Clicking The Following URL:
To: http://www.mass.gov/Agovwebmail/WebMailPageControl.ser?level=101
CC: activistchat@yahoo.com


cyrus wrote:



Petition 37: A Plea for Justice - FREE Iran Real Cases Mock Trials Against Mullah Khatami, Khameni, Rafsanjani, Amadinejad ... As Islamic Fascists And For Crimes Against Humanity


Sign the Petition -
View Current Signatures

http://www.petitiononline.com/achat8/petition.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch Geneva, Reporters Without Borders, U.S. President, U.S. Congress, Heads of Free World’s States, the European Parliament, and The International Law Professors, Judges, Lawyers, Prosecutors and Freedom-Loving Activists (Left, Center, and Right)

The ethics of life are the pursuit of awareness about truth for ourselves and others. The ultimate goal is total awareness by increasing public awareness about the truth .

FREE Iran Real Cases Mock Trials declares Khatami, Khameni, Rafsanjani, Amadinejad ... as Islamic Fascists leadership and Occupiers of Iran who are considered as guilty for Crimes Against Humanity according to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and established International Law. They have created Fear Society, Terror and have taken 70 million Iranians as their hostages.

Due to extensive nature of Islamic Fascists leadership crimes against humanity in Iran and outside, therefore we examine Mullah Khatami criminal case record as an example of so called more moderate Islamic Fascist leadership element and master of deception to expose tip of iceberg for our fellow freedom-loving people of the world review, and consideration.

Over the past 28 years the Islamic Fascists occupiers of Iran and regime's agents, courts, judges and vigilantes have all committed acts of: International terrorism, mass execution of political prisoners, murder, stoning, torture, assault, theft, destruction of property, arson, perjury, falsification of testimonials and material evidence, illegal surveillance, kidnapping, rape, blackmail, fraud, obstruction of justice, creating fear society, conspiracy, cover-ups and every other form of butchery and depredation.

Top Iranian scholar Dr. Assad Homayoun regarding Khatami Era :
“It is universally known that the former President has declared himself a proponent of “dialogue between civilizations”. But it is not commonly known that in a number of speeches and pronouncements he has consistently characterized Israel as “a cancer on the body of nations”, and on numerous occasions when officiating at Friday prayers in Tehran, he has led the congregation with slogans of death to the Great Satan.
As the President of the Islamic Republic, by all documented accounts, his tenure was rife with corruption, brutal suppression, illegal incarceration, torture and murder of students and other dissidents, murder of prominent members of the opposition both inside Iran and abroad, continued plunder of national wealth, rampant increase in drug use by the youth, and prostitution becoming a thriving export industry. But of course, there were some achievements as well: The secret development of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the development of short and medium range missile systems in Iran, and the financing of international terrorist organizations.”
Source: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29534#29534

Freedom-loving Iranian-American Activist Ms. Saayeh Saeedi Sirjaani:: "Mohammad Khatami is my father's murderer"

Freedom-loving Iranian-American Activist Writer and Poet Mr. Amil Imani:
“More importantly, Khatami is a genocidal criminal who should be tried in a court of law, rather than being received as a high-ranking dignitary. Here is a partial indictment.”
Source: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8238


Freedom-loving Iranian-American Activist Mr. Pooya Dayanim president of IJPAC:
"Mohammad Khatami was the president of Iran between the years of 1997 and 2004. The State Department listed Iran as the number-one state sponsor of terrorism during those years. Among other things, during the Khatami years, Iran refused to hand over to the United States the Iranian intelligence officials who supervised the attack on the Khobar towers that killed American soldiers. Khatami continues to support Hezbollah, Hamas, and has called for the destruction of the state of Israel." Source: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29564#29564

Top Iranian Journalist Mr. Amir Taheri , France's leading foreign-policy journal:
” This may well provide an opportunity for the U.S. media to ask Khatami about the atrocities committed by his administration, including the assassination of dissidents, the arrest and torture of thousands of people, including trade unionists and student leaders, the closing of over 150 newspapers and magazines, the banning of hundreds of books and dozens of films, the arming of the Hezbollah in Lebanon, shipping weapons to Yasser Arafat’s terror units and Islamic Jihad, and providing the Jaish al-Mahdi in Iraq with money and arms.
Let us not forget that it was during Khatami's administration that the Islamic Republic speeded up its nuclear program to acquire the so-called “surge capacity” needed for manufacturing atomic warheads.
Khatami would also have to explain whether or not he still regards Hassan Nasrallah, leader of he Lebanese branch of Hezbollah, as “The Sun of Islam shining over the world,” as he put it in a message on July 15”.
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29564#29564

Statement from Senator Rick Santorum Expresses Outrage: "one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic Fascist regime "
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29560

Statement from Senator Brownback:
”Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984, and under Khatami's watch, Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terror. In addition, President Khatami led a government responsible for numerous human rights violations. His government brutally cracked down on Iranians who called for political reforms and engaged in repeated and systematic persecution of religious minorities. He should not be allowed to become the highest ranking Iranian official to visit the United States since the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. " Source: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29561#29561

Statement from Senator George Allen:
" Khatami’s visa was granted three days after his application when ordinary Iranians are required to wait months for their visas to be approved and when Iranians who have been granted visas have reportedly been detained upon their arrival in the United States and forced to leave our country. " Source: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29562#29562

Statement from Dr. Michael Ledeen is resident scholar in the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute :
"Khatami is very much a member of the clerical fascist regime. He was the empty vessel into which the Iranian people poured their dreams of freedom when they elected him; now he couldn’t win an election for dog catcher. He presided over brutal repression, including the grisly murders of the Forouhars in 1978 and the mass murders and arrests of student demonstrators a year later."
Statement from Ms. Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and at Touro College Law Center.
"The U.S. visa to former Iranian President Khatami - who wasn’t exactly AWOL during the buildup of Iran’s nuclear program - is not an isolated event. As the pattern of all talk and no action takes hold, this move too will undercut any demand to the international community for immediate, serious sanctions on Iran. If we aren’t prepared to isolate Iran, why should anyone else?"
Statement from Mr. Gary Metz is editor of Regime Change Iran :
" He should be arrested."
Statement from Laurent Murawiec is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute :
"Judgments regarding Iran must be based on the nature of its regime, from Khomeini to today’s Guide Khamenei and Ahmadinejad: the regime of the Islamic Revolution is apocalyptic, millenarian, eschatological. It wishes for the apocalypse that will bring forward the coming of the Mahdi, who will in turn win the great battle with Satan that will extend Allah’s writ to the entire earth. It devoutly believes that the nuclear Holocaust where Israel would perish would hugely advance the timetable of reappearance of the Twelfth Iman, the Mahdi."
Source URL for all the above from NRO Symposium:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzhmNTQ0NDQ3MmIxZDlmZWVlNmViMzE0YjkzMTNiYmM

The Rev. Canon Keith Roderick, D.D.:
”In 1984, Khatami declared that Iran was at war with the United States . During his administration Hezbollah was born and he continues to support it. The Anglican Church in Iran was decimated during his presidency. During the last year of his presidency legislation was introduced into the Iranian parliament to adopt a strict Islamic dress code, which not only reversed the progress of individual _expression, but also was designed to segregate Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians by assigning colors that they must wear, reminiscent to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear under the Nazi regime in Germany. Iranian activists and youth recognize that the “Smiling Mullah” has an appeal to the West, but it is only a façade that veils the insidious failure to bring about authentic change during his presidency.”
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29619#29619

Statement from JCRC :
" His earlier behavior was not any better. As a member of the council under Ayatollah Khomeini, Khatami did nothing to prevent or protest the murder of 3,000 political prisoners in a single week in 1998. In charge of censorship for a decade in Iran, he banned over 600 books and he stated in the Iran daily Keyhan in 1980 that only clergy should serve in government."
For furthure details regarding the above Real Cases Mock Trial please visit the following URL: http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=29569#29569

WE, the undersigned, as members of the civilized world, call urgently on the free world to set up a committee to investigate the involvement of the clerical regime in crimes of conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity according to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and established International Law.

We, the Undersigned, therefore demand based on over 28 years evidence:
- That world governments declare the Islamic Clerical Regime of Iran as illegitimate and unfit to govern and expel from UN and all International Institutions.
- That all high ranking regime officials be investigated and prosecuted by respected International Courts for genocide and many other crimes against humanity.
- Mullah Khatami, Khameni, Rafsanjani, Amadinejad ... as Islamic Fascists, Terrorists and International criminals. They must be arrested outside Iran on basis of the following facts:
1- Human Rights Violation, Women Rights Violation, and Stoning Women.
2- Using religion as a tool against the majority who demand for Free Society and Secular Democracy.
3- Threat to global peace and security.
4. Support for Terrorism.
5. Interference in other sovereign nation's affairs, and destabilization of...

In the name of all victims who have suffered, died and currently endure in the struggle for freedom, now is the time to rise and be most vigilant and make your voice be heard.

"Human beings are all members of one body.
They are created from the same essence.
When one member is in pain,
The others cannot rest.
If you do not care about the pain of others,
You do not deserve to be called a human being."
A Quote from Famous Persian Poet Saadi Shirazi
( 13th century Persian poet, from Shiraz the birthplace of Ms. Zahra Kazemi)

"To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men." Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 -- October 30, 1919)

To become more familiar with ActivistChat FREE Iran Real Cases Virtual Mock Trials please visit http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8234 and if you are freedom-living Lawyers, Prosecutors, Judges, International Law Professors , Law Students who wish to contribute your time by becoming the active members of the Activistchat FREE Iran Real Cases Virtual Mock Trials for defending Iranian youth cases against Islamofascists Terror/Torture masters over Internet ... or if you are one of million IslamoFascist Terror Victims who might wish to present your case or family case please contact us by Email To activistchat@yhoo.com , activistchat@gmail.com and cc: forum@activistchat.com


Sincerely,



http://www.petitiononline.com/achat8/petition.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Last edited by cyrus on Wed Sep 06, 2006 5:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:42 pm    Post subject: Urgent Reply with quote

Urgent


Quote:
Boston Police Department rejects Governor's Romney's comment about Khatami...
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:57:16 -0400
Hello Everyone,

The Boston Police Department in response to Governor Mitt Romney’s very correct and righteous statement yesterday, has issued the following statement:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/09/06/romney_bars_state_security_for_iranians_harvard_visit/

“…after Romney issued a statement yesterday outlining his position -- in which he called Harvard's invitation ``a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists" -- the Boston Police Department said it would step in.

``We were asked by the State Department to assist in protecting a guest of the United States, and the Police Department plans to oblige," spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.


I urge you write the Boston Police Department a polite and intelligent note (http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/contact.asp), explaining that it is in fact the State Department that has shown extraordinary insensibility in extending a criminal-against-humanity such as Khatami, an invitation to United States . Apparently Foggy Bottom’s appeasement of Khatami is “democracy” and wronging respectful law-abiding Iranian/Americans who have lived in this country and embraced it’s ways, is their modus operandi these days; this therefore has become a good reason for the Boston Police to be faint of mind in dealing with the arrival of this criminal against humanity.



======================================

The State Department goes exactly the opposite way of the President of the U.S. G. W. Bush!?
Khatami is a guest of United States? What more we should expect from them?!
Read the following article!!
And this is the URL address of Boston Police Department
Thanks,

Hashem




http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/default.asp

Bush steps up war of words with Iran
by Olivier KnoxWed Sep 6, 4:44 AM ET

US President George W. Bush called Iran's leaders "tyrants" as dangerous as Al-Qaeda terrorists and said they must not be allowed to get nuclear weapons -- "the tools of mass murder."

"The world's free nations will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon," he said as the US ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna said it was time to slap sanctions on Tehran over its atomic activities.

In a response Wednesday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Bush was "nothing" compared to God's will.

"I am telling him (Bush) that all the world is threatening you since the general path that the world is taking is towards worshipping God and divinity," Ahmadinejad told a conference in Tehran.

"This massive stream is moving and you are nothing in comparison to God's will," he added.

Bush on Tuesday branded Iran's leaders "tyrants" as dangerous as Al-Qaeda, saying said they must not be allowed to get nuclear weapons -- "the tools of mass murder."

"If you (Bush) think you are sitting in your glass palaces and governing the world, you are mistaken," Ahmadinejad said to the conference, held ahead of the birthday of the "hidden" twelth Imam of Shiite Islam, Mahdi, on Saturday.

"If we are telling you something it is for the sake of your own prestige. We are doing this so you do not reach the point of no return.

"The development of the world is quickly going towards the government of the pure Islam of (the Prophet) Mohammed," he added.

The sharp escalation in rhetoric came as Bush made the second of a series of speeches on the war on terrorism in the run up to November US legislative elections expected to be overshadowed by the unpopular war in Iraq.

It followed the White House's release of a 23-page anti-terrorism strategy that called Iran and Syria "especially worrisome" threats and downplayed the role of the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in fueling terrorism.

In Vienna, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gregory Schulte, said that "the time has come for the (United Nations) Security Council to back international diplomacy with international sanctions."

Bush made no explicit reference to sanctions in his speech but stressed that: "The world is working together to prevent Iran's regime from acquiring the tools of mass murder."

Quoting Ahmadinejad as saying last month that the United States must "bow down" before Iran, the US president fired back: "America will not bow down to tyrants."

Bush accused Iran of funding the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and other groups in order to attack Israel and the United States "by proxy" and said Tehran aimed to dominate its neighbors.

"Like Al-Qaeda and the Sunni extremists, the Iranian regime has clear aims. They want to drive America out of the region, to destroy Israel, and to dominate the broader Middle East," said the US president.

"The Shia strain of Islamic radicalism is just as dangerous and just as hostile to America and just as determined to establish its brand of hegemony across the broader Middle East" as Al-Qaeda, he said.

But, he said, Shiite extremists have done something Al-Qaeda only dreams of by taking over Iran in 1979, "subjugating its proud people to a regime of tyranny and using that nation's resources to fund the spread of terror and to pursue their radical agenda."

"The Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies have demonstrated their willingness to kill Americans, and now the Iranian regime is pursuing nuclear weapons," said Bush.

Tehran has insisted that it seeks only civilian nuclear power, but has rejected an incentives package from the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany in return for freezing uranium enrichment.

In its report, a reworked version of previous anti-terrorism blueprints, the White House warned that the United States was "not yet safe" from terrorism five years after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It labeled the possible acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) by terrorists "our greatest and gravest concern" and said: "Most troubling is the potential WMD-terrorism nexus that emanates from Tehran."
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hashem,

Khatami was invited by private parties here in the US, not by the US government...of which the State Dept. is part of.

Boston police statement "...guest of the United States..." may have led to your confusion on this point.

I have posted exact transcripts of State Dept position on the matter...in which they have urged Americans (including Iranians) to put hard questions to him.

It would be very bad for a number of reasons if Khatami were to be assasinated or an attempt be made while he is on US soil.

As an American, beyond considerations for who Khatami is, his crimes, what he represents, or his former position as leader of a government sponsoring terror , building WMD's ...etc.

My issue then includes spending taxpayer money to protect him via diplomatc security detail because the Dept of State decided to take an unneccessary risk in allowing the man to come, simply to excericise free speech...which he supressed in his own country.

If the Opposition does "take it to the streets" in America, and put's the hard questions directly to Khatami, then perhaps some good may come of his visit , as the opposition to the IRI will have used this as a platform for freedom .....which folks in Iran cannot do.

Take care,

-Oppie

P.S. here's an update on this issue:

Daily Press Briefing
Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
September 6, 2006

(excerpt)

QUESTION: Now let me ask you one other thing. You've said it at least twice
about no contact with Khatami.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: But it's timely to ask again because he's around.

MR. MCCORMACK: Okay.

QUESTION: You also on one occasion -- I think it was you -- sort of welcomed
tough questions from the American public who might be part of these events.

MR. MCCORMACK: And the news media who happened to be interviewing him.

QUESTION: Yeah. Well, can we go through the drill one more time? Is there any
possibility that U.S. officials will take the opportunity to meet with Khatami?

MR. MCCORMACK: Nobody from this Administration, Barry.

QUESTION: Can you -- I saw a report in the Boston Globe today and I think it
was on the wire yesterday quoting Governor Romney as saying that he was not
going to allow state, you know, police officers to provide any assistance to
him. Is the State Department providing any kind of security or other assistance
to former President Khatami while he's here?

MR. MCCORMACK: We are. Our Diplomatic Security Service is providing security
services for the former president. There is precedent for this, former
high-ranking officials traveling throughout the United States. We've done this
type of thing before.

Diplomatic Security has been -- they worked with the Massachusetts government,
the Massachusetts State Police. Our Diplomatic Security folks believe that they
have the assets in place so that they can fulfill the mission that they have
set out for themselves.

QUESTION: So it's not a problem that the Massachusetts State Police are not
going to help?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, no.

QUESTION: Can you -- following on that, is there any estimate of how much the
American taxpayer is paying for or what costs associated with Khatami's visit
are being borne by the American taxpayer?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't know that anybody has done those calculations, James.

QUESTION: I'm starting to get confused. Last week you were saying this is a
private visit and yet the State Department is obviously helping out with
security. Is this because you're required to or is this because you want to or
what?

MR. MCCORMACK: It is something that we thought was prudent to do. Again, this
in no way changes our policy views with respect to the visit. He is not here at
our invitation. He is here at the invitation of private individuals and
organizations. We felt as though however that it was a prudent step to take to
provide the security while he was here.

QUESTION: Well, do you think then it may be helpful for the U.S. in any sense
to have somebody here who is from Iran, was the former president, who doesn't
necessarily espouse the views of the current regime that he, for example, does
not deny the Holocaust, that he does recognize -- say that the Iranians should
recognize the right of Israel to exist.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Do you welcome that?

MR. MCCORMACK: We've gone over this before. He is here at the invitation of
private groups and individuals. He is here for a variety of different reasons
to engage in this "Dialogue of Civilizations," which is a private effort. Look,
while he was president of Iran he talked about the fact that Iran and the
Iranian people should recognize the state of Israel. So that's on one hand. On
the other hand, Iran continued at the same time he was saying that providing
money and funding to Palestinian rejectionist groups like the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad. So others will assess whether or not the label "moderate" or any
other political label applies to the former President of Iran. We have not put
ourselves as the U.S. Government in the position of standing between those
private American organizations and citizens who wanted to hear what former
President Khatami had to say. That's the extent of our involvement in this
visit.

QUESTION: Well, not exactly, Sean. In providing security, because you thought
it was the prudent thing to do, the appropriate thing to do, I mean, do you
fear for his safety if you didn't provide security? What was the rationale? Why
was the --

MR. MCCORMACK: I won't get into the details of it, Charlie, but we have done
this in the past and we -- our security people took a look at it and believe
that it was the smart, prudent thing to do.

QUESTION: Back on the nuclear issue if I might --

QUESTION: Can I just --

QUESTION: Sure.

QUESTION: To follow on this.

QUESTION: Sure.

QUESTION: What is the precedent? I'm sure that the U.S. Government has provided
security for former official from other countries, but I'd be interested to
know whether the U.S. Government has done this for former officials from
countries with whom the United States doesn't have -- does not have diplomatic
relations and that are on the state sponsors of terrorism list.

MR. MCCORMACK: I will check for you on that, Arshad. Off the top of my head, I
don't think there's any overlap in those two categories, but we'll see. I'll
see.

----------------end excerpt---------

Comment; "prudent" in the fact that it would be one heck of a propaganda coup for the current regime if he was "off-ed" or an attempt was made.

Below in bold is news to me....

"Look, while he was president of Iran he talked about the fact that Iran and the Iranian people should recognize the state of Israel. So that's on one hand. On the other hand, Iran continued at the same time he was saying that providing money and funding to Palestinian rejectionist groups like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. So others will assess whether or not the label "moderate" or any other political label applies to the former President of Iran. We have not put ourselves as the U.S. Government in the position of standing between those private American organizations and citizens who wanted to hear what former President Khatami had to say. That's the extent of our involvement in this visit."
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:39 pm    Post subject: Mohammed Khatami - Who Let This Butcher In? Reply with quote


Mohammed Khatami - Who Let This Butcher In?
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=khatami9606.htm

September 6, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - The first logical question is why was Iranian despot and terrorist Mohammed Khatami even allowed to visit the United States?

One must ponder what exactly was the argument that convinced ICE that this Islamist troglodyte qualified for a visa and what the hell is going on in the Bush administration that makes it possible for former leaders of terrorist states to conduct agitprop campaigns within the confines of the United States?

Why he is a guest of CAIR and Harvard needs no explanation at all...however his appearance at the National Cathedral is blasphemous, and those responsible for that should be forced to accompany Mr. Khatami on a one way flight back to Tehran.

It is situations like this that justify the question if Mr. Bush is really serious about conducting a war on terror or has it all at this point - five years into the "post 911" era that seems remarkably similar to the pre 911 era - devolved into window dressing, dull sighs and vapid statements by Department of State morons like Karen Hughes.

If Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and if Iran is a terrorist state - part of the "axis of evil" - then why isn't Khatami right now on his way to a military brig somewhere, there to be greeted by a bull necked interrogator in a pissed-off mood?

At least one elected official has it right, with Massachusetts' governor Mitt Romney having banned the use of state funds to provide security for Khatami during his stay.

One might refer to an interview Khatami gave to CNN in 1998 that reveals him to be nothing but an obsequious liar, an evil charlatan with the blood of thousands on his hands [consider please his days in Ayatollah Khomeini's revolutionary dictatorship] veritably prancing around the truth as if it were a May pole.

In that interview Khatami characterized America's post war record of largesse and sacrifice as a, "flawed policy of domination."

His critique, veiled Marxism:


"Unfortunately, policies pursued by American politicians outside the United States over the past half a century since World War II are incompatible with the American civilization which is founded on democracy, freedom and human dignity. We ardently wished that those who enforced this foreign policy were representatives of the prominent American civilization; a civilization which was achieved at a heavy cost, and not the representatives of those adventurers who were defeated by the American people themselves." - CNN, January 7, 1998, Transcript of interview with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
In a piece carried by the Washington Post Khatami adopts the popular Democrat circular logic that resisting terrorism causes terrorism.

The problem with the idea that it is reasonable to conduct a foreign policy based upon dialogue with supremely evil men, is that words and their meanings exist outside of that world.

That is why it is possible for Ahmadinejad's, "Israel must be wiped off the map" to be transformed by Khatami as, "The practical policy of the Islamic republic has never been to eliminate or wipe Israel off the map. And I don't believe that this policy has changed with the change of president..."

Khatami has one thing right, Iran's policy has not changed with this regime. It remains defiant, malevolent and believes itself beyond the reach of the only nation who can conceivably rein it in.

Judging from this low ebb in American willpower, perhaps he is correct.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:25 pm    Post subject: Police Pledge to Protect Khatami Reply with quote

Police Pledge to Protect Khatami
KSG seeks help of Boston, Cambridge, and Harvard police after Romney refuses security

Published On Wednesday, September 06, 2006 5:34 PM
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514130
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

Crimson Staff Writer


The Kennedy School of Government said today it had secured protection for former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Harvard on Sunday, one day after Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney ordered all state agencies to refuse requests to provide security for the Muslim cleric.

The school will rely on support from the Boston and Cambridge police departments, the U.S. State Department, and Harvard’s own police force when Khatami delivers a speech on the “Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence” at the school’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets to the event are available via a lottery that closes at midnight tonight.

In a statement released this afternoon, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said that the city is complying with a request from the State Department for security “in the interest of general public safety.”

“Boston has an obligation to offer police protection to provide security to Khatami,” Menino said in the statement.

On Tuesday, Romney, who earned joint degrees in business and law from Harvard in 1974, called Harvard’s invitation of the former Iranian leader “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists.”

The governor’s decision means that Khatami will not receive the customary VIP treatment and state-police protection that foreign dignitaries are typically provided.

The Kennedy School pledged on Tuesday that the event would go forward as planned, despite Romney’s announcement.

“We can understand and often share [Romney’s] disagreement with the positions of Khatami,” the school said in a statement. “The school nonetheless believes that active and open dialogue are a critical part of effective education and policy.”

Romney isn’t the only public official opposing Khatami’s visit to Cambridge.

Harvard’s decision to invite Khatami has come under attack from two U.S. congressional leaders, newspaper editorial pages, and several Harvard students and professors over the past week.

A spokesman for Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., condemned Harvard for extending the invitation to Khatami, who the spokesman called a “propagandist…spreading his boldface untruths.”

“No college or university should have allowed him to speak,” Robert Traynham, the spokesman, said.

In a statement released to The Crimson, U.S. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R.-Fla., said that Khatami’s appearance at the Kennedy School is an “affront to all freedom loving people at Harvard and in the U.S.”

“I would hope that the incredibly talented students at Harvard would question Khatami on the many issues which prevent his country from becoming a responsible member of the world community,” she said in the statement.

Khatami’s appearance at Harvard has also been the subject of critical editorials in the Boston Herald and the New York Sun over the past week. The newspapers have likened the former Iranian president’s views to those outlined in the contentious “Israel Lobby” paper co-written by Belfer Professor of International Affairs Stephen M. Walt.

Khatami’s visit, the first trip of an Iranian leader to the university since the U.S. State Department severed ties with the country in 1979, has also met criticism from within the Harvard community.

Students and professors have criticized Khatami’s failure to act when police arrested and tortured several hundred Tehran University student protestors in July 1999.

Patrick Clawson, deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a critic of Khatami, said that even though the former president was not directly involved in the event, many wonder whether he could have done more to punish those responsible.

“He didn’t lift a finger,” Clawson said.

Harvard Students for Israel released a statement over the weekend calling Khatami’s invitation “surprising and alarming.”

“This man has no standing to speak about the ‘ethics of tolerance’ at a university,” the group’s president, Rebecca M. Rohr ’08, wrote in an e-mail. “This invitation is beneath the dignity of Harvard, which has always prided itself on moral uprightness and integrity.”

Khatami has criticized Israel in the past and once called it an “illegal state” and a “parasite in the heart of the Muslim world,” according to newspaper accounts from 2000 and 2001. He has also supported the militant Islamic group Hezbollah.

But Alexander L. Edelman ’07, chair of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, said that while Khatami is “no friend of Israel,” he supports the ex-Iranian leader’s right to speak.

“Khatami is a reformer, and although he wasn’t ultimately successful, that doesn't change that he's been a force for good in a country that has a pretty extremist, right wing government,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature Ruth R. Wisse called Khatami “the world’s exemplar of intolerance,” noting his role in the Tehran University crackdown.

“This degrades the standards of elemental decency, let alone abdicating the quest for truth,” Wisse wrote in an e-mail. “I do not think that Harvard should have given Khatami a pulpit unless it was to abjectly apologize.”

Martin Peretz, a longtime Harvard lecturer and Cabot House associate, said Khatami is "a front for a despicable dictatorial regime" and that the event would not provide an opportunity to rigorously challenge the former leader.

"Why don’t they invite him to a tough seminar?" he said, adding that he believes the often-crowded question-and-answer sessions at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum are “bullshit.”

But Abbas Maleki, a former deputy foreign minister of Iran and senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said Khatami had done much to extend democracy to Iran and would bring his expertise in the origins of violence to the Kennedy School.

“I propose to all of us that it’s better to enjoy from this opportunity and ask the questions that we have mind,” Maleki said.

Khatami was at the country’s helm in 2002 when Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, was named part of an “axis of evil” by President George W. Bush for pursuing nuclear weapons.

The ex-Iranian leader’s Harvard speech comes as the United States is seeking punitive action against Iran for failing to meet a United Nations deadline on suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Khatami will participate in a question-and-answer session following the speech as well as a small, invitation-only dinner and reception. The address will be delivered in Persian and translated into English.

No formal protests of Khatami's visit had been publicly announced as of Wednesday afternoon.

The decision to invite Khatami was made in May, Kennedy School spokeswoman Melodie L. Jackson said, after professors at the school’s Belfer Center and the school’s dean, David T. Ellwood ’75, learned the former president would be traveling to the United States.

The school extended the invitation on behalf of Harvard under the belief that Khatami could further the discussion on improving relations between cultures, Jackson said.

In an interview last week, Interim President Derek C. Bok said he was not involved in the decision to invite Khatami and "knew nothing about it."

"I think to have a wide exchange of views is very good," he added.

Khatami is also expected to visit Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia during his visit, according to the Kennedy School.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:30 pm    Post subject: Mass. Gov. calls planned Khatami talk "propaganda" Reply with quote

Mass. Gov. calls planned Khatami talk "propaganda"
Tue Sep 5, 8:40 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060906/us_nm/khatami_romney_dc_3

BOSTON (Reuters) - Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday said Massachusetts would not provide any security support for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's weekend visit, calling his planned speech at Harvard "propaganda."

Heat kills by taxing the body beyond its abilities.


Khatami is due to speak on Sunday at Harvard University in Cambridge on the "Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence."

Romney said Khatami will not receive a state police escort or any other state help. Federal officials will attend to his security.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the state normally provides a police escort to visiting dignitaries. He said U.S. State Department officials had contacted the state police's tactical unit, which typically coordinates traffic-stopping escorts, prior to Romney's statement.

Romney, a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful, called the visit "a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who lost their lives at the hands of extremists, especially on the eve of the five-year anniversary of 9/11."

"The U.S. State Department listed Khatami's Iran as the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism," Romney said. "For him to lecture Americans about tolerance and violence is propaganda, pure and simple."

"We are surprised and disappointed by Governor Romney's position," on Khatami's visit, Harvard said in a statement.

"In keeping with its educational mission, Harvard University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government have a long tradition of providing an opportunity for leaders from around the world to speak to the community on public policy issues, and just as importantly, to give the audience the opportunity to ask challenging and unfiltered questions of these leaders."

"We are currently reviewing the security arrangements for this visit in light of the Governor's decision. We expect to go forward with the event and will work diligently with federal and local officials to ensure a safe environment for all."

The United States last week issued a visa for Khatami's visit. He was also scheduled to attend a United Nations conference in New York.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:41 am    Post subject: BROWNBACK, IRANIAN DISSIDENTS TO SPEAK AT PRESS CLUB Reply with quote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact Brian Hart/John Rankin
September 6, 2006

BROWNBACK, IRANIAN DISSIDENTS TO SPEAK AT PRESS CLUB
Will oppose U.S. visit of former Iranian President Khatami


WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback will join former Iranian political prisoners and torture victims at the National Press Club tomorrow to protest the U.S. visit of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami

“The unprecedented U.S. tour of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami brings into focus the need to evaluate a regime at odds with its own citizens, at the center of international conflict, and notorious for past and present human rights abuses,” said Brownback.

Brownback will also announce the introduction of the Iran Human Rights Act, which would establish a State Department special envoy for human rights and democracy in Iran , support Iranian pro-democracy and human rights groups, and reform U.S.-funded broadcasts to the Iranian people.

Brownback, Iranian dissidents provide media briefing on Khatami visit

9:00 am Eastern

Thursday, September 7
Credentialed media welcome
The National Press Club
529 14th Street NW , 13th floor

Washington , DC

Contact: 202-662-7500


Senator Brownback is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:07 am    Post subject: State Department, Boston Police and Harvard are against US a Reply with quote

State Department, Boston Police and Harvard are against US and as guilty as terrorists?!
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 02:00:53 -0700
State Department confirms that Khatami is here on a private visit, however, it appears that a diplomatic visa has been issued for him and he is being protected by State Department and Boston Police paid by our tax dollars. Hmmm! I wonder why our relatives don't receive such treatment when they are here on their private visits and why they are not escorted by State Department, as Khatami was, from airport landing strip without ever having to go through normal examination for entering the country!

On November 6, 2001, President Bush stated:
You are either with us or against us, there is no room for neutrality in the war against terrorism
On 2003, President Bush also stated:
If you harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists
Now after reading the below article, I'll let you be the judge what kind of a person the Waiter who will serve food for Khatami in this country is. I'll let you be the judge what to label the Harvard University. While you are at it, you might want to determine if Boston Police Department and State Department are with us or against us and if they are all as guilty as the terrorists.

In case you were outraged that Iranian regime was harboring terrorist in Iran, well, the terrorists were just their guests as Khatami is the guest in this country. That is, the terrorists are only our enemy as long as they are not our guests Smile Are we confused yet?

I won't be surprised if Bin Laden and Zarqawi were guests of honor in Harvard any more and while Boston Police is protecting them from us to ensure their safe return to their next host.

Siavash
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:20 pm    Post subject: Protest Reply with quote



A group of Iranians hold up pictures in protest of the visit to the United States from Iranian Mullah Mohammad Khatami, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:21 pm    Post subject: US lawmakers ask Khatami to account for Iran's alleged terro Reply with quote

US lawmakers ask Khatami to account for Iran's alleged terror ties
2 hours, 5 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060907/pl_afp/usirancongress_060907191459

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers urged visiting former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to account for terrorism-linked activities of which Tehran was accused during his administration and the current administration.

Republican Senator Sam Brownback urged Khatami, on a private visit here, to "explain why his government was a state sponsor of terrorism and lead sponsor of terrorism in the world, and why human rights worsened under his watch."

"He should also explain the Iranian government's persecution of religious minorities, repression of peaceful protests and why Iran needs to enrich uranium when it has plentiful energy resources," Brownback told a gathering of Iranian human rights victims protesting Khatami's visit.

When Khatami was in power from 1997 to 2005, the State Department had labeled Iran "the number-one state sponsor of terrorism," said Democratic Representative Brad Sherman (news, bio, voting record), criticizing President George W. Bush's administration for issuing a visa to the Iranian leader.

Sherman accused the Khatami regime of providing "safe harbour and safe passage to Al-Qaeda operatives" ahead of the terror network's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda operatives received "special treatment" and "no visa stamps" on their passports when they transited Iran, he said, citing an independent commission that investigated the September 11 attacks.

"Today and during the post-9/11 days of the Khatami administration, Al-Qaeda operatives at the highest level, including one of bin Laden's sons and other even more high-ranking Al-Qaeda operatives, are given safe harbour," he said.

As the United States prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, "we must reflect that it is an insult to those who died that American taxpayers' money is being used to fund a terrorism promotion tour," Sherman said of Khatami's US trip.

Khatami is the most senior Iranian representative to travel to the United States since Washington broke off diplomatic relations following the 1979 storming of the US embassy in Tehran.

On Thursday, Khatami is to address a select audience at the Washington National Cathedral, and on Friday, he is to attend a UN conference in New York on the "Dialogue of Civilizations".

Brownback announced at the gathering that he would introduce a bill in the Senate on Thursday designed to ensure that the United States raises human rights issues in Iran and supports efforts by Iranians to enact democratic reforms.

It would seek to create a special envoy to coordinate US policy on Iranian human rights and provide financial support to groups that renounce terrorism and work to improve the rights situation in the Islamic republic, he said.

Brownback said liberal university professors being sacked by the administration of current Iranian hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should be allowed to visit the United States to tell their side of the story.

"They should come to the US and speak here about what they were teaching and talking about in Iran that was so bad that Iranian people cannot hear what they were teaching," he said.

Ahmadinejad on Tuesday vowed to cleanse schools and universities of liberal influences, continuing a drive to restore revolutionary values to the Islamic republic.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:09 pm    Post subject: Opening Statement at The National Press Club Reply with quote

سخنان افتاحیه شاهزاده رضا پهلوی در جلسه امروز باشگاه ملی روزنامه نویسان در واشینگتن


Subject: Opening Statement at The National Press Club
Reza Pahlavi of Iran's Opening Statement at The National Press Club



http://www.rezapahlavi.org/NationalPressClub07092006.html

-- September 7, 2006 --


Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests, Senator Brownback, Congressman Sherman, members of the media; Good morning and thank you for your attendance.

My wife and I are proud to be here today, standing in support of, and lending our voice to the courageous struggle and sacrifice of our compatriots who are resisting and defying, every single day, the repressive clerical regime of Iran.

It honors me to stand here today in the presence of men and women who have endured the most vicious, heinous, tortures and humiliations at the hands of their jailers -- the clerical regime of Iran.

This is an unprecedented gathering; in the past, the coming together of Iranians, with such varied political orientations, has been an uneasy task. Today, however, we stand here together – united, in defiance to the clerical dictatorship holding our homeland hostage.

This is important as it coincides with the Washington visit of Mr. Khatami, who for eight years personally forwarded the agenda of a regime that has inspired, funded, directed and sponsored militancy internationally, and suppression at home.

There are many first hand stories that will be told here today. In the interest of equal time, I ask that you hear and retell these stories as they belong to real victims of atrocities committed under the administration of Mr. Khatami, currently on tour of the United States.

Let it be clear that, regardless of Mr. Khatami's propaganda tour and smiling rhetoric, the true nature of the regime he represents is far different than what he wants you to believe.

Today, Iranians of all walks of life and political persuasion are committed to put and end to militancy, chaos and obscurantism; replacing it with civility, the rule of law and modernity. We seek to liberate our homeland; gain freedom and sovereignty for our compatriots; and herald an era of peace, progress and prosperity, under a secular, democratic government.

l salute and bow my head to the heroic struggles and sacrifices of my brave compatriots and turn the microphone over to them.

Thank you.


________________________________




Petition 37: A Plea for Justice - FREE Iran Real Cases Mock Trials Against Mullah Khatami, Khameni, Rafsanjani, Amadinejad ... As Islamic Fascists And For Crimes Against Humanity


Sign the Petition -
View Current Signatures

http://www.petitiononline.com/achat8/petition.html
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:33 am    Post subject: Torture Victims Blast Khatami Visit Reply with quote



Torture Victims Blast Khatami Visit

Kenneth R. Timmerman

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Friday, Sept. 8, 2006

WASHINGTON –- Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., introduced legislation Thursday that would refocus U.S. government-funded broadcasting into Iran to "stand with the people of Iran ."

The Iranian regime's record of "repression, oppression, beatings and abuse ... was "a story that has been told too little," Brownback told reporters and Iranian-American activists. His "Iran Human Rights Act" would also appoint a "special envoy" to pro-democracy groups in Iran and in exile.

"While we are focusing on [ Iran 's] nuclear weapons development, as we should, we cannot deny the human suffering of the Iranian people," Brownback said. "This story needs to be told."

As a backdrop to the new Brownback bill, former Iranian political prisoners and their relatives gave grisly testimony Thursday of torture under the regime of former president Mohammad Khatami, who is currently visiting the United States .

They were introduced by Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, who called the meeting "an unprecedented gathering" and applauded his compatriots for setting aside partisan political differences to work together to "liberate" their country from clerical rule.

He blasted Khatami "who for eight years personally forwarded the agenda of the regime that has inspired, funded, directed, and sponsored militancy internationally and suppression at home."

Nasrine Mohammadi, sister of political prisoners Akbar and Manoucher Mohammadi, described how her father received a phone call from the prison where her brothers had been jailed for helping to lead a massive student protest in July 1999.

"The man from the prison said, ‘the more we torture them, the less they respond. They are like stones,'" she recalled.

Akbar Mohammadi was murdered in jail this July, after prison officials refused to give him medicine during a hunger strike. When he continued to shout defiantly at his torturers, they taped his mouth shut for two days, eventually torturing him to death. "They told him, ‘you are going to die like a dog,'" Nasrine Mohammadi said.

Hamid Alireza Behbahani thanked the United States for helping secure his freedom, after he was imprisoned in Iran . "I was a physician in Iran and only work as a laborer here," he said. "But I am much happier here because I am free. Today I am happy because my children start school, and I know that no one will steal my wife and threaten my children because of my beliefs."

Amir Abbas Fakravar, another student leader who recently arrived in the United States , said he was tortured for 222 days in Iran .

Minou Khomeili, who heads a nonprofit organization in Canada that provides aid to Iranian refugees, said she personally witnessed the rape and murder of a 14-year old girl by Iranian regime prison officials. "I will never forget the way [prison officials] washed the blood off their hands after they killed that girl," she said.

"If Iran were a democratic country, Khatami would have been arrested for these crimes," she added.

Javad Amini told the story of his brother, a medical doctor, who documented torture and helped expose the regime's involvement in distributing heroin and opium in Iran , where non-governmental groups estimate there are now several million young addicts.

"My brother, Jamshid, was arrested on his way to work in Feburary 2000," Amini said. "He was handcuffed and blindfolded by an unknown group wearing no uniform or official ID documents. They took him to a prison belonging to the intelligence branch of the armed forces and tortured him for a full year."

Seven years later, Jamshid Amini is still in prison in Iran . Repeated beatings have left him with an enlarged liver, internal bleeding in his eyes, total hearing loss in one ear, broken teeth, memory loss, and several broken bones in his palms and the soles of his feet.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., blasted the Bush administration for giving Khatami a visa to the United States and providing him security at taxpayer expense during his stay.

"Both before and after Sept. 11, the Khatami regime provided safe harbor and safe passage to al-Qaida," Sherman said. Holding up a copy of the 9/11 Commission report, he said it provided "clear documentation that when al-Qaida operatives transited Iran, they received special treatment and no visa stamp by an Iranian government dedicated to helping al Qaeda."

It was "an insult" to those who died on Sept. 11 that American taxpayer dollars "are being used to promote a terrorism-promotional tour," he added.

Referring to a demand by Iran 's current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that America "bow and surrender" to Iran , he called the Bush administration approach to Iran "a bow-and-surrender policy."

Sherman accused the Bush White House of "refusing to enforce the law" by allowing multinational corporations to invest in the Iranian oil and gas sector without incurring the penalties required under the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA).

Sherman 's harsh partisan attack was out of step with the rest of the meeting, which was devoted to firsthand testimony of torture, political conditions inside Iran , and which ultimately became a workshop on Iranian democracy as Pahlavi fielded questions from supporters and critics.

Pahlavi called on the international community to adopt a three-fold policy toward the Iranian regime: to "confront" the regime politically and diplomatically, to "pressure" it through international economic sanctions, and to "support" the pro-democracy forces in Iran .

Asked why he was not playing a more forceful role in leading the opposition, Pahlavi said, "I don't think this is the moment to give somebody a title." Then he laughed: "Trust me: it's much easier said than done to provide such leadership. I have been witness to that for many years."

Recalling the revolution that overthrew his father and brought "27 years of living hell" to Iran , he cautioned Iranians to think through the type of future they wanted.

"This is not just about changing the regime. We want to make sure that the result of such change is truly what the people want," he said.

"All I care is that it is secular and democratic in nature," he insisted.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:04 pm    Post subject: BREAKING NEWS:Khatami sued in Federal Ct. by Iranian Jews-Se Reply with quote

BREAKING NEWS:Khatami sued in Federal Ct. by Iranian Jews-Served at CAIR-HAHA
Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 21:32:43 -0400
Source: Israel Law Center

Families Of Kidnapped Persian Jews Sue Khatami In US Court
Saturday September 9, 2:47 pm ET


Law suit alleges visiting Iranian implemented anti-Semitic policy of torture and imprisonment

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Jewish-Iranian families have filed suit in an American federal court against former President Mohammad Khatami over charges that he is responsible for the kidnapping and torture of their missing family members. The families, currently residing in Los Angel es and Israel , contend that Khatami instituted the policy of imprisoning their relatives without trials and refusing to provide them any information concerning their whereabouts. The Jews were arrested on different occasions during the years 1994 through 1997, as they sought to leave Iran across its border with Pakistan .

On Friday evening copies of the complaint and summons were served on Khatami at a reception in Arlington , Virginia hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Khatami has twenty days to file an answer denying the allegations or default the case.

The plaintiffs, who are not U.S. citizens, brought the suit under special laws - the Alien Torts Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act - which permit foreigners to sue their tormentors for torture and kidnapping in American courts. The lawsuit filed in the New York District Court is being represented by attorneys Robert Tolchin of New York , Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Jerusalem and Pooya Dayanim of Los Angel es . The plaintiffs are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages against Khatami for his role in the on-going disappearance of their loved ones.

Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, millions of Iranian citizens have sought to escape from the Islamic regime. In normal circumstances when Muslim citizens are arrested attempting to leave without official permission, the established punishment is a small fine or a short jail term. However, in the instances where Jewish citizens have been similarly arrested, the Islamic government has instituted much harsher penalties. The Plaintiffs allege that Khatami has singled out the Jewish community and authorized the policy of secretly imprisoning the Jews indefinitely.

Over the years, the Jewish families have received reports from other former prisoners and guards that the missing Jews are alive and being held in different prisons. In the case of the Tehrani family of Los Angel es , a former Muslim neighbor has sworn out an affidavit testifying that he has seen their missing son, Babak Tehrani, in a Tehran prison two years after his disappearance.

"These Persian Jewish families are seeking to bring Khatami before an American court for his involvement in the torture and imprisonment of their loved ones in Iran," stated the families' attorney Nitsana-Darshan-Leitner, "It is shocking that the State Department would grant this anti-Semitic criminal a travel visa instead of joining with the families in the struggle to bring him to justice. The court case will establish that these missing Jews are indeed still alive in Iranian prisons and that the former President violated international law with his policy of arrests and torture which targeted the Jewish community."
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:36 pm    Post subject: Students Plan to Protest Khatami's Visit Reply with quote

Students Plan to Protest Khatami's Visit

College Dems call on former Iranian president to apologize for human rights abuses during his presidency


Published On Saturday, September 09, 2006 4:09 PM

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

Crimson Staff Writer

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514136

Student protestors seeking amends for human rights abuses in Iran will greet former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami when he makes a highly scrutinized appearance at the Kennedy School of Government on Sunday.

Khatami, an Islamic cleric who led Iran from 1997 to 2005, is set to speak at 4 p.m. tomorrow on the “Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence” at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

The Iran Freedom Concert Coalition, a student group that staged concerts to support Iranian dissidents last spring, is organizing the protest, which takes place when many Harvard College students are still away from Cambridge on summer recess.

“With all the concern over Iran’s nuclear program, we need to do whatever we can to keep the regime’s civil rights abuses in the spotlight,” one of the protest’s organizers, Adrian N. Gaty ’07, wrote in an e-mail. The protest is set to begin at 3 p.m. in the John F. Kennedy Park adjacent to the Kennedy School.

Khatami’s visit to Harvard has made national headlines ever since Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney announced on Tuesday that he would not allow any state agencies—including state police—to provide support for the event.

Romney called Harvard’s invitation of Khatami “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists” and said state taxpayers should not fund any part of his visit.

Kennedy School officials have since made alternate security arrangements.

The visit has also sparked uproar at Harvard. Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, who opposes Khatami’s visit, told the Boston Herald that he had received e-mails and phone calls from offended alumni and students all over the world.

Harvard professors and students in particular have lambasted Khatami’s failure to act when several hundred protestors at Tehran University were arrested and tortured during a wave of protests in July 1999.

Harvard protestors tomorrow will demand the release of Tehran protestor Ahmed Batebi, who was initially charged with a death sentence for “endangering national security.” His sentence was later reduced to 10 years in prison following international outcry.

College Democrats President Eric P. Lesser ’07 said the group supports Khatami’s right to speak, but that it would be “hypocritical” for Khatami not to acknowledge Iran’s own human-rights abuses in his speech.

The group released a statement on Friday calling on Khatami to condemn the abuses and the actions of Khatami’s successor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during the speech.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Mohammad Hafezi, a member of the Harvard Persian Society’s executive board and a native of Iran, said that he was “very happy” to have Khatami at Harvard.

“I disagree on a myriad of issues with him although I have lots of respect for him,” Hafezi wrote in an e-mail. “I hope his visit can initiate a dialogue between Iran and the U.S.”

Several Harvard professors and students who supported Khatami declined to speak on the record for fear that it would hurt their ability to travel to Iran in the future.

Some critics have denounced Harvard’s decision to allow Khatami to speak unfiltered before what is expected to be a packed forum.

Kennedy School lecturer William Kristol ’73 said the school should have only allowed Khatami to speak if he were part of a panel discussion with his critics.

“If Harvard’s going to give him the honor, they should at least ensure that he doesn’t get the chance to propagandize,” he said.

The Kennedy School has defended its decision, saying that Khatami’s visit “contributes to the free exchange of ideas that is a central part of the life of the University.”

Tickets to the event were distributed earlier this week through a lottery system. Attendees are expected to undergo intensive security at the event tomorrow.

After the speech, Khatami will take questions from the audience and also attend a small, invitation-only dinner and reception. The speech will be delivered in Persian and translated into English.



--Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:09 pm    Post subject: Khatami's Disdain for Zahra Kazemi: Dialogue as Brutality Reply with quote

Khatami's Disdain for Zahra Kazemi: Dialogue as Brutality
by Russell Berman
http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news

News & Notes

Monday · September 11, 2006

Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami advocates a dialogue between civilizations, and Harvard defended its controversial decision to give him the prominent forum of the Kennedy School invitation because of the importance of the free exchange of ideas.

Yet Khatami evidently cannot tolerate dialogue within a civilization, i.e., free and open discourse within Iran ; and Harvard has given a forum of freedom to freedom's enemy.

This became painfully evident in a detail of the exchange following his speech. An Iranian in the audience questioned him about an egregious case of the suppression of free speech: the arrest, rape and murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi.

Khatami's propaganda mission has been to present a softer image of Iran to a West perplexed by the antics of his successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yet the material of this question was not immediately relevant to that project, since it involved an internal Iranian scandal—no matter how much it also involved Canada and the world public. "Dialogue between civilizations, but tyranny at home"—this seems to be Khatami's motto. He offered no condemnation of Ahmadeinjad's call to purge Iranian universities, no apology for his own role in the suppression of dissidents in Iran .

Born in Shiraz in 1949, Kazemi moved to Paris to study literature and cinema in 1974. In 1993, she immigrated to Canada and acquired dual citizenship. As a journalist she traversed the Middle East, covering, among many other topics, the US role in Iraq . Working in Teheran, she was arrested in front of Evin prison in June of 2003; nineteen days later she was dead. In the abortive murder trial, her family was represented by Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Prize the same year.

But the issue here is not the scandalous story of Kazemi's murder and the cover-up perpetrated by the Iranian "justice system." It is Khatami's callous response to the student's question. The friendly reformer's reply to a question about a brutal killing:

"Maybe if the relatives of Kazemi had not made into such a big political issue it could have been resolved a lot quicker and more to their liking."

So it's the fault of the relatives who wanted to see a murderer brought to justice. It's their fault for having pursued justice through the institutions available to them. For all his chatter about dialogue, what Khatami lacks is the basic capacity for human empathy. Hardly a good place for dialogue to begin.

This small detail is unlikely to work its way through the press, predisposed as it is to give Khatami a pass. Too bad. One might have expected some solidarity in the press corps with their murdered colleague—let alone some appreciation for those true Iranian reformists who want nothing more than an end to theological tyranny and to propagandists like Khatami.
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