| Re:“A Pipeline to Peace” by,
George Perkovich and
The Bush Administration has, in fact, proved unwilling to back any
project that offers an economic benefit to Iran. Many reasons have been
offered in explaining the underlying reasons for the US reluctance,
Among them, fear of terrorism, the development of nuclear weaponaries,
fundamentalism and a growing threat to neighbors have been advanced
and gained some credibility. What most analysts stay away from, however,
is a more direct reference to an obvious reluctance by Washington to
a scenario where Iran could play a critical role in the world's future
energy equation. This scenario could easily take shape by looking closely
at the latest estimate of Iranian gas and oil reserves. At present,
Iran's gas reserves represent the equivalent of about 155 billion barrels
of oil, i.e. slightly lower than Saudi Arabia. While Iran’s production
today could be considered as marginal, its vast reserves and its plan
to reach a peak production by 2010 could explain Washington’s
fears. Strategists see Iran as the future tsar of energy in the Middle
East with the power of dictating its own rules to the growing global
demand for oil and natural gas and to those who require energy for their
development. If Iran plays such a central role in the So, the decision to subdue Iran may represent a preventive measure. As the United States gears up for an attack on Iran, one thing is certain:
the Bush administration will never mention oil as a reason for going
to war or inducing "regime change". In such attempt, WMD –
among many other reasons - may nevertheless be invoked as a strong argument
for Washington to justify its plan to eliminate rivalries and to replace
the present leadership with one far friendlier to U.S. strategic Mehri Madarshahi-d'Orville _________________________________________________________________ Date: March 30, 2005 Letter to MAXIMS News Agency Regarding an Article published on Kofi Annan Despite your disclaimer on your Web site that, "The views expressed
are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of MaximsNews® LLC." , by reflecting on the tone,direction
and substance of the selected articles on Let me back up this statement by exemplifying today's selection of
articles about the UN Secretary-General and his sense of having been
cleared from all wrong doings by the Volcker report. Well, good for
the SG and good for his far reaching PR capability to drum up such a
unanimous support from all concerned. In my school of thought, however,
there is something which is called " Ultimate accountability"
where the "buck
b) The Chief is aware of some but probably not All wrongdoings. This
may very well be the case in the United Nations! A responsible Chief,
however, should assume the utmost responsibility when things go wrong
and to provide managerial and moral support to his underdogs, otherwise,
one can say THE CHIEF DOES NOT
_________________________________________________________________ Date: March 17, 2005 The following was a response to Mr. Kristof's Op-Ed Piece for the New York Times entitled "Who gets it? Hillary" Dear Mr. Kristof,
____________________________ Date: 29 November 2004 The following letter was sent to UNESCO on Nov 29, Subject: Imminent danger of disappearance of Pasargad-Iran Dear Mr. Director-General, It is with great anxiety and despair that I decided to write to you and seek your urgent attention to the immediate danger facing a number of historic cultural sites in Iran. Among these, mention must be made of Pasargad that was selected as one of the World Heritage sites by UNESCO in July 2003. In a few months, Pasargad will be submerged under tons of mud, as a result of the Sivand Dam constructed at the Polvar River in Teng-e-Bolghi, four kilometers from the ancient capital of the Achaemenids. The dam is scheduled for completion on 21 March 2005. In addition, last week, Iran’s historic Shalu Bridge was submerged under the Karunn-3 Dam built in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province. This was Iran’s first suspension bridge that was built some hundred years ago. As a result of an engineering mishap, a nearby old bridge was also destroyed. More extensive damages are expected as the reservoir of the Karun-3 Dam fills up and becomes operational. An ancient site from the Elamite era as well as several sites and artifacts dating back to the Stone Age are in danger of being flooded. In the meantime, the region’s inhabitants have been relocated and smugglers are active in looting the ancient sites. Mr. Director-General, the world has only six month to act! Other disturbing news relate to Gilan Province, where the construction of another dam could result in the disappearance of some 16 historic sites. This dam is to be constructed near the city of Rudsar in Gilan province. These are but a few examples among hundreds of careless actions undertaken
in countries like mine and around the world. I certainly hope that UNESCO, No Government or institution should be permitted to destroy by commission
or omission, by greed or carelessness what is left behind by history.
Thank you for your attention, Mr. Director-General. I Mehri Madarshahi The Guardian Wrote: The flooding of the eight-mile Tang-e-Bolaghi gorge because of the construction of a dam will destroy ancient Persia's imperial road which ran from Persepolis to Pasargadae. The Sivand dam has been planned for 10 years as part of a project to provide irrigation water for farmers in the parched south of the country. But the speed of its construction and the scale of what will be lost have surprised scientists and the UN. Iranian archaeologists have pinpointed 129 sites of interest in the gorge, ranging from prehistoric finds to remains of the Qajar monarchy which fell in 1925. Stretches of the cobbled road have already been unearthed but caves, ancient paths, burial mounds, canals and other sites which have never been excavated will also be lost. There are also legends of a long underground "king's passage". Unesco said yesterday it was hopeful that the world heritage site of Pasargadae, Cyrus's capital city, renowned for its palaces, gardens and the tomb of the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, would be only marginally affected. The city, which was included in Unesco's world heritage site list last
year, is less than three miles from the end of the gorge. It was built
on the site where Cyrus defeated "We understand that only the buffer zone will be affected by the flooding. There is no immediate physical risk but the site's potential [heritage] value will be shrouded in mystery for ever", said Junko Taniguchi, a Unesco officer in Tehran. Unesco and Iran have called on international archaeologists to go to the sites and eight teams of Iranian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish and others are expected to arrive next month. "But they will only be able to do initial research. It is unfortunate but the work is very urgent," said Ms Taniguchi. Mohammad Hassan Talebian, the Iranian director of the group conducting the "rescue archaeology", said the sites held a wealth of information on Iran's past. "One clearly sees the unspoken thoughts of past peoples in Tang-e Bolaghi. We are not in a position to say 'don't do that project', but we can delay the construction process," he said. The dam's opening was planned for next March but the Iranian energy ministry has delayed it to early 2006 to give the archaeologists more time to examine the sites. Masoud Azarnoush, director of archaeological research at the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation in Tehran, was stoical about the flooding of the valley. "We are losing irreplaceable human heritage here but we have to take into account the fate of the country and people as well," he said. [END} _________________________________________________________________ Date: 21 October 2004 America will vote for a President -What about the rest of the
world?
I wonder when all this happened? I left America just over a year ago.
Was I blinded for some 28 years when I lived in that “Land of
Free”, or was it just my blind trust in the American sense of
judgment and determination to defend what they had achieved after a
long struggle, that endowed me such dismissiveness? How could I, or
anybody else, have ignored or taken lightly the formation of such a
close and explicit alliance between church and the state? Having escaped
my natal land some 40 years ago in search of freedom and democracy,
for me the present reality is rather painful. How shocking it is to
see that America is sacrificing its hard-earned freedoms for an illusion
of feeling more secure, not realizing that it may take it back on a
road to the past. So, probably an election in America should not only be left to Americans
alone, given the enormous influence of the religious communities most
of them tilted to the right. The Europeans ought to be apprehensive
of the results of the upcoming election in the US, given the enormous
force, influence and pressure of an almighty America; the Asians alike,
leave alone the Africans and Latin Americans. After the disappearance
of the bi-polar world, we all live in a world with one “superpower”
and have to look to its dominating influence for enlightenment, models
of modernity and moral values. Given the vast and widespread impact
of American moral values and its political, military and Mehri Madarshahi _________________________________________________________________ Date: February 6, 2004 12:52:58 AM CET I read your stated justifications and reasoning concerning past stratfor
misinterpretation of developments as unfolded in Iraq. This is what
I think. With all due respect, in my humble opinion, staging war of
such magnitude and costs (both in financial and human terms), just based
on a set of misinformed information is so surreal in 21st century that
it makes us all wonder. I still vividly recall with what firmness the
Secretary of State appeared before the UN Security Council and told
the world that "America can go it alone" if the old Europe
is so reluctant to help the US and still interested in pursuing a path
of diplomatic negotiations and solutions. Following this statement,
the next day, out of rage and protest, French wine bottles were broken
in the streets of the United States and restaurants openly displayed
signs that no desserts were served with German chocolate! I wonder,
why despite all what was said and done by the global community at the
time - including the facts in IAEA and Blix reports and the views expressed
by millions of marchers worldwide opposing the war, some - including
your own analysts - shut their eyes and ears and decided not to ponder
for a moment the possibility and need of more factfinding and search
for a possible diplomatic solutions? One must really wonder! Today, in light of all revealing information which has become available
on both sides of the ocean, a wondrous mind could guess - as you may
have for a long time - that the reasons for starting this ugly war were
neither WMD nor terrorist-related activities that Saddam may or may
not have financed. Today, however, the dilemma of the US Administration
is how to spell out the real reasons for its hasty or preconceived intervention
to a public, who so honestly believed in its politicians. I guess this
could have been made a bit easier if, from the start, the Administration
and the "bandwagon" media would have explained to the public
the real reasons for which a war on Iraq or any other strategic zone
in the world was essential for the US empire: America is the only superpower;
it needs strategic expansion, it needs resources for its expanded territories;
and therefore, Iraq was a ripe target. Some would had to swallow hard,
but others would have sanctioned this and other interventions as they
did in colonial Europe and Asia. For the strategists of this war it is unfortunate that this intervention
has proven to be so costly and unworkable. It is more unfortunate for
Iraqis who will inherit either a divided country or will no longer be
able to enjoy a secular state. More than that, it is unfortunate for
America who - for a while at least – can no longer dictate the
principles of good governance and democracy to the world. The American
people lost not only part of their civil liberties in the course of
this war campaign, they also lost the moral authority in a world which
is so deeply divided with religious strife and conflicts. At the end of this game, I believe a publication such as Stratfor should
take a very serious look at the direction it has taken and the information
and guidance they provide to faithful readers. You have the responsibility
to ensure that a degree of integrity, honesty and independence is maintained
by you as the main principle of your profession. This is what your subscribers
expect from you.
_____________________________ This is a copy of Stratfor's Response
From: "response" <response@stratfor.com>
Sincerely,
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