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SOSIran Conference Washington May 1-2

 
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Rasker



Joined: 03 Feb 2005
Posts: 1455
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:04 pm    Post subject: SOSIran Conference Washington May 1-2 Reply with quote

SOS Iran Conference (Washington DC May 1 & May 2)


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Source URL: http://www.sosiran.com/HTML/English/conference.html

To all volunteers, resistance cells and coalition partners of SOS Iran and the Iran of Tomorrow Movement,

You are invited to the first IOTM's General Assembly conference , taking place on Sunday May 1st - Monday May 2nd 2005.

Those attending the conference must call Fariba ((818) 986-0200) in order to register for the conference. Although the conference center has a capacity of 500 people, this can be expanded to about a 1000 depending on the number of individuals attending. The cut off date for registration is April 22nd.

Special arrangements have been made for those attending the conference. Special reservations can be made at the Sheraton and Embassy Suite hotels( Tyson Corner).

Sheraton reservations: 1-800-325-3535.

Discount Offer: $115/night for April 30th - May 1st 2005. Breakfast and lunch not included.

Embassy Suite reservations: 1-800-362-2779, Local # (703) 883-0707

Discount Offer: $119/night for 2 people, $129/night for 3 people, and $139 for 4 people on April 30th - May 1st 2005. Free breakfast and afternoon happy hour.

To obtain discount rates, please mention the SOS Iran or Iran of Tomorrow Movement group when making reservations. Please remember that special discount reservation cut-offs are on April 9th. Those making reservations after April 9th will not be eligible for the special SOS Iran group discounts.

Please arrive by April 30th and check into your hotels. For questions and queries on the conference center you can contact Sheraton at (703) 448-1234

May 1st - Our first conference will be held on this day at the Sheraton Premier at Tyson Corner. The hotel will provide a buffet style dinner in the restaurant that can be purchased for $15.

Address: 8661 Leesburg Pike Vienna, Virginia 22182 Time: 10 am - 6 pm

May 2nd - Our second conference will be held on this day at the National Press Club.

Address: 529 14th street NW, Washington DC 20046 Time: 12pm - 3 pm Phone number: (202) 662-7500

_________________
The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!
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cyrus
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:50 pm    Post subject: How to save Iran Reply with quote

How to save Iran
Sunday, April 24, 2005

URL: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05114/492969.stm

By Dennis Roddy

The Bush administration has a chance to escape its "you-break-it, you-bought-it" mold of foreign policy, now two years and 1,565 American lives old. But first they'll have to drive all the way from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to the Sheraton Inn at Tysons Corner, Va.

On May 1, a coalition of Iranian exiles gathers to chart out ways their nation can be made free before a president who has too often put glory before honor tries to bomb the place into democracy.

"Overt military action is something we definitely don't want," says Iman Foroutan, leader of Iran of Tomorrow, an American-based exile group with reach into the streets of Tehran, a city that, reputation notwithstanding, fairly brims with people who would like nothing more than to hang a few mullahs from the lampposts. They would likely have to clear space. The theocratic madmen who currently pass for government in that woebegone place have a reputation for killing anything that smells of freedom.

They proved as much two years ago when police yanked Zahra Kazemi, a 55-year-old Iranian-born Canadian photojournalist, off the streets outside Evin Prison, where she was spotted snapping pictures of women protesting. Kazemi quickly died in that prison. The Iranian government has refused requests to return her body to her family in Montreal. One reason might be that an exile doctor who claims to have examined Kazemi's body when it was brought to his hospital from the prison said it showed signs of beating, torture and rape.

If there were any doubt that this is a government that needs overthrowing, the fate of Zahra Kazemi is all the proof the world needs.

But, to borrow an observation from the late S.I. Hayakawa, when tempted to fight fire with fire, it is a good thing to remember that the fire department uses water. War against Iran drops bombs not only on mullahs, but on the people we must rely upon to overthrow them.

"We believe we are very close to being able to support the Iranian people themselves to replace the Iranian regime," says Foroutan. He has a case to make here, and none of it is based on firepower. Foroutan's group has connections throughout Iran, built into small cells of people who agitate for democracy, sometimes take to the streets, and often enough take to the jails, but whose general theory is that the impulse for liberty is its own weapon. His group broadcasts by satellite television and shortwave radio into Iran.

To measure just how deep his group reaches, and how openly defiant his members are of the regime, consider: When I last wrote about Foroutan's group, I received a telephone call of thanks from a woman in Iran. I have no idea how she managed this, but it is pretty clear that in an age of instant information, Internet connections and satellite television, there aren't enough prisons to hold back people determined to rid themselves of monsters.

But military intervention by the United States, which argues that Iran is seeking weapons-grade uranium, would likely create its own chain reaction. Moderates and the unconvinced of Iranian society are likely to react to an attack by the United States much the way American isolationists reacted to Pearl Harbor or, more pointedly, the way a surprising number of Iraqis are currently behaving.

Unlike the assortment of bagmen and chancers the current administration decided to back as the instant government in Iraq, the Iranian opposition has some history of democracy within its ranks, to the point that dissent is welcome even as they try to unify. Both Foroutan's group and the Washington-based Alliance for Democracy, an exile organization with some lobbying heft in the Capitol, have managed to form a coalition with some other splinter groups. They meet May 1 to lay out plans for the future of their nation. Among the speakers will be Reza Pahlavi, the self-styled Shah in exile, and son of the man the Islamic extremists of Ayatollah Khomeni chased out of Tehran in 1979.

As exiled kings go, Reza has been a disappointment. His book about Iran's future is mush. He surrounds himself with sycophants and avoids hard questions. But as a human Liberty Pole he could be very useful.

The coalition has invited him to speak at next month's gathering. He has yet to reply.

"We believe he could be a powerful figure to bring all of the opposition groups together," Foroutan sighs. "But so far he has not taken a strong stand against the mullahs."

Much speculation about Reza centers on whether the U.S. government is counseling him to go slow as the Bush administration fumbles its way toward what could be another disastrous intervention. Simply throwing a few dollars toward the transmission costs of the opposition broadcasts and putting Foroutan and his counterpart in the Alliance for Democracy in the Rose Garden might send a message where it needs to be heard.

Our enemies in Iran already know we hate them. Our friends in Iran need to know we love them. A high-profile visit to the Sheraton in Tysons Corners next Sunday might send that message. If Iran must be occupied, there will be far less pain if it's carried out by Iranians.
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