September 14, 2007

Celebrating Human Lives

It's almost pointless to go over all the rational reasons why a US attack on Iran doesn't make sense. The people that need to be convinced not to do it aren't thinking rationally — to them, what matters most is whether they might be able to get away with it. So, in a sense, going over pros and cons only encourages them to try stirring up enough confusion and laying enough blame to create the opportunity. Instead, they should be thought about, talked about, and treated as the criminals that they are: An unprovoked attack by one state upon another used to be called the "supreme international crime" for good reasons. To help us remind ourselves that the issue is about arbitrarily taking away other people's lives I thought it would be interesting to talk with an Iranian who is working hard to explain that Iranians are ordinary people, too, just like us. Fatemeh Keshavarz, author of the recent book Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran is a marvelous cultural Ambassador and it was most kind of her to talk with me. I hope you find Fatemeh as inspirational as I do. Total runtime here of an hour and twenty nine minutes. Enjoy!