Check this link out. It is the other side of the story. I cried over this. This is why I don't doubt your stories about Iran.
http://www.sabbah.biz/mt/

WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC ~ eds

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

but I find it germane. This is the Middle East. This is part of the problem.
Iran is one of the problems that Bush call part of the "Axix of Evil".
But in the same time he supports Israel. Even though they have occupied the Gaza for over 40 years.
This is a part of the whole problem in the Middle East.
If you tell us that Iran is a country to visit. Why don't you tell us that Gaza is a country to visit?
You can't just select one country in the area and ignore all others. They are all interconnected!
They are all in their own political situations. Except the Palestinian states, because they are all occupied.
You can ban me for my comments. I am at the point that I don't care!
The whole Middle East conflicts are interlocked and these include al Queida.
What happens in Iraq, Iran, Palestein, Jordan and others affect the whole region. Like it or not!
This is a reality that has to be accepted and understood.
If Iran treats you nicely, that is great. But they are still concerned about other Muslim countries. Palestein is still a thorn. (For the US and Israel.)
Blair has actually decided to take a progressive approach.
Work with everyone.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

I am listening to you radio show and you mentioned that Bush won't listen to anyone.
The pictures on Sabbah's site are reality of what is happening in Palestein.
Won't you listen?
Check this site,
http://ifamericansknew.org/

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

start a diary if you must and in the future I would appreciate being warned of graphic pictures. This thread is btw about Iran. I would also suggest reading the new UN report:

Myth and reality feed West-Muslim gulf and the linked report.

with just journyman knowledge. I don't know how to start a diary.
I look for a link for my comments.
If I am wrong, please guide me.
I am not perfect (Iam not Bush), I just want to let the news out that is not reported over here.
If I am wrong, tell me what to do.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

I listened to a presentation about a week ago on the forces driving the nuclear program in Iran, presented to the annual meeting of the the History of Science society. One Kai-Henrik Barth, of Georgetown University, gave a talk on "Scientists, Clerics, and Nuclear Decision Making in Iran."

Right away he showed his membership in the reality-based community by stressing that he was discussing the nuclear "program," since there is no evidence of the nuclear "weapons program" which so many DC talking heads assume is there. But what he said about the forcews pushing forward a nuclear program was interesting.

He said that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran [AEOI] after the Revolution went from about 5000 members to about 800. Basically, it imploded. Scientists, skilled workers left for abroad. In 1982 the new head of AEOI, Amrollahi, was supported by the moderate president of Iran Rafsanjani (who held quite a wide variety of trusted positions and served as president from 1989 to 1997). Amrollahi is/was a relative of Rafsanjani and offered the nuclear program as ameans of strengthening the country and supporting the development of modern technology. Under his command the membership of AEOI grew to several thousand.

The next head of AEOI, Aghazadeh, took over in 1997. He previously was minister of oil, and his brief in taking ove AEOI was the normal bureaucratic defense of the jobs of skilled workers. On this basis there is resistance to the demand from Western world powers to curtail the nuclear program. The program is a national pride, it promotes modern development, and it applies modern technology. The engineers are its strongest supporters.

We should be able to understand that. Look at how our own nuclear programs have been supported by the employees of the national laboratories. Sure, the work makes possible the extinction of the human race; but it has good job security!