the New York Times

In the aftermath of the recent devastating earthquake in Iran, news media reported “a miracle”: a man, extracted from the rubble and thought to be dead, stirred on the way to the mass grave. At least two other similar cases were reported. When I read it, my first thought was: In the rush to bury the victims in order to avoid an epidemic, how many people failed to stir in time and were buried alive — for the second time within hours or, at most, days? How many of those would have been alive today had Iran not rejected Israel's offer of help?

Stories of the atrocities and the bigotry of Muslim fundamentalists embarrass the moderate and educated Muslims who desire to live in harmony with their non-Muslim neighbors and feel nothing but compassion for the rest of the world. As we all condemn these religious extremists who blow the buildings, make bombs and engage in acts of terrorism as misguided fanatics we have to question ourselves whether we have any part in these terrorist acts of our most radical fellow coreligionists.

Crossfire War: Middle East - Central Asia: Teheran - Dushnabe - The Offensive Spectrum

Willard Payne 

2005/05/27