Adventures of Mr.Behi

The Meltdown in The Hague

The spring has announced itself conspicuously here in The Hague. Steady sunshine for some days in a row has awakened the trees and all across town, flowers of all kind are in blossom. For this Iranian couple, this is the first spring in The Netherlands and as it turns out, we just witnessed another kind of meltdown in our neighborhood and this is not an ordinary frost but a thick ice of over 30 years of age that has just cracked between Iran and the US.

Today, just a few streets above us, the Afghanistan summit provided a chance for an ice-breaking meeting between the two countries. Although this is not the first time they collaborated over Afghanistan but this can be considered a strong message -in a positive way- that Obama administration is willing to change the game. I hope Iran and the US to cut the crap and instead of only talking about Iraq and Afghanistan, sit and talk about their own issues. Ironically, The Hague is also home to an everlasting tribunal that is supposed to resolve disputes over Iranian investments in the US before the revolution. Hope to see The Hague as a starting point for an end to all this. (Update: and here: it just blew out)

The weather changes very fast here and it may become gray and wet in no time again....lets enjoy the Sun for the moment.

And Change Prevailed

Last night as many put it, turned a new page of history in US and perhaps who knows in world politics. Me, keeping myself awake on our living room couch, watching data and analysis on CNN found myself delighted not only through high tech performance and glittering hologram show but also by watching the enthusiasm and joy shared by many in America (By the way, would someone please ask Wolf Plitzer of situation room not to tell us ten times per hour that his team is best political team on television?). 

It may seem incomparable but to me as an outsider, the atmosphere is so similar to the time when we in Iran elected reformist Khatami to office. Apart from the shear and obvious difference between these two elections in many aspects, I can see two major drivers that worked similarly to help change prevail. The young and first time voters and their enthusiasm was the major player in both elections who seek and admire change.  One can also say that the high turnout in both cases was a reflection of the disgust from the past. People in distress choking of terrible experience of past governments could embrace any strong hand tapping on their shoulders, opening the path for fresh air.

One thing I am hoping is that a rationale and structure of thoughts that we have seen from Obama could defeat the language of dogma that shadowed White house for eight years and resonated into the safe havens of all the other dogmatic power beholders, creating a cascade of hate that polluted our minds and still itches our senses. Maybe the first thing Obama should do is to release some emergency oxygen masks. After all, two engines are burning on war fire and the economy is plunging hard. By the way, seems that the previous pilot forgot to turn on the fasten seat belt sign!

The honest kid is still a kid

After all those trips to New York, I would say it was collectively better than what we heard from Ahmadinejad. At least with an acceptable level of embarrassment. As one of my dearest friends always puts it in real funny way, the guy tries hard to float a pink elephant in the air and he always comes back with a great deal of self induced happiness (ear to ear). However, I think many can agree that this time, he correctly pointed to the elephant in the room when he talked about bullying governments with double standards. He literally was like the little boy shouting "The king is naked". The only problem is why Iran chose the boy to replace the king! He could well become an honest man with some exaggerating sense in his speeches, good for a podium in a street political debate. Yet as it happend, this boy is now in a position where you are just worried that he wouldn't tell everyone on the planet, the next bad word he learns in the street.

I watched most of his interview with Larry King and some highlights of his press conference. King asked him all the stuff Mahmoud rehearsed over and over. I liked some of the remarks as a person but as always, was disgusted as an Iranian. The double standard that Ahmadinejad complains about when it is about nuclear issue, is vividly visible in much broader scale on many domestic social and political matters that he openly denies when he goes outside.

Bush/Ahmadinjad did/(hopefully did) their final UN speeche of their presidency. They both rocked the world with their controversial ideas during their years and brought the economy of their respective countries to the knees. Two religious man who think they know better than others how the world should be ruled. We have heard their shouting and our windows are broken by the stones they have thrown. Know a good kindergarten?

I am off to Spain for a little field trip. I will wander around a little village in the Pyrenees. Till later...

Harrassement

CNN: Iranian boats 'harass' US. Navy

You can find this term in the manual of all human resource offices in todays business corporates. The word Harassment is so exclusively replaced by its most risky type (you can guess which). Almost in all grave cases of harassments of this kind, someone gets fired and will get an open blame. When the issue gets escalated to top management and the HR department, the harasser tries to show innocence and pretend that the action was all normal and not a big deal. However, he (normally the "he" end of the harassment case) leaves with his office box with all the eyes and fingers following him to the exit door.

Looking at the most recent harassment case between US navy ships and Iranian revolutionary Guard boats, it is firstly surprising to see the USS warships feel harassed by a few speed boats. If I am a little fish, I would consider even the presence of a huge shark as nothing but harassment :)
However, like the office example, the alleged harasser is making up contradicting stories. So far reading Iranian news websites, I noticed different accounts of this story from complete denial, story about invading US ships, and that the whole thing was a questioning and nothing else.The surprise is that normally these things make big news bombs inside the country and the government uses such incidents as political fuel. Hearing the foreign office calling this "not an important matter" is indeed a new change in the workflow. All this happening after recent eyebrow rising speech by Iranian supreme leader that "Talk with the US could happen" puzzles the mind. This is the leader who used to condemn US three times in every two sentence of such former speeches. Maybe after his recent speech he suddenly realized that he had gone too far and wanted to show the Americans that it is too soon to be very happy.

I am happy at least that this time, the harasser is not fired (at). I am sure just looking at an up to teeth armed USS ship is by itself a harassment to the peace of mind of any coast guard boat! but provoking a bull with twisted horns is not wise even if the provoker is as little as a small red handkerchief.
We still remember July 3, 1988 when a civilian Iran Air plane was shut down by a US warship in the same area. The excuse was that the US warship was in such hide and seek with IRGC boats and considered the approaching Airbus as an F-14 (a hard to buy story). Link: Wiki page of the incident

The academics who they are not

After watching the entire cast of Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia, I can summarize my reaction in one phrase: "Feeling pity for two people who believe they have academic spirit and they are so far from it".

Columbia President Lee Bollinger repetitively called himself an academic with right to know while he used an outrageous language not expected from a professor. It is not the degree but you would expect some personal growth to have happened in a person after reaching such academic level. Seems that he panicky reacted to criticisms of holding such meeting and had to scape somehow! He did so but from the limits of social behavior. If you call someone a petty from the beginning, then you are not ready to listen and "academically speaking", you are biased. It was so disappointing  listening to those words and the shadow of those strong and unwelcoming words prevented enough attention to be given to some of his true statements and questions and gave chance to Ahmadinejad to escape them easily. Again, our first big academic of the day certainly lost the purpose. If I was a Columbia student, I would have delayed my graduation to avoid his signature on my degree!   

Interestingly, Ahmadinejad called himself an academic at the same time. He does so in many of his speeches no matter where. The start of his talk was funny when he made that religious speech on importance of science to enlighten humanity :) As if he was talking to a group of elementary school students in a remote village. This self-called academic was not afraid to make a lot of big-fat lies either and showed how he himself is biased with only a few information channels. This was true for the case of freedom in Iran, freedom of women, freedom of speech at universities and the Middle-East conflict. He did a lot of cursing in there by answering questions with other questions without getting to the point. This was a brief snapshot of his general policy...talking big, not specific, without aim and certainly not in the shape of a president nor an academic intellectual. I would however say that with him under such blistering attacks in there, not much could be expected.

Ahmadnejad in NY

There is a proverb in Persian saying “This coat is too big for you” used for someone who pretends doing what he/she is too immature for. Since Ahmadinajad became president, we started regretting as this proverb started to make sense about him. To me, He is politically so immature that he rarely thinks what he puts himself into and what future outcome his remarks might have or else he does think and his framework of thinking is so away from reality. He is a simple man for whom presidential chair is too big, so big that after two years, he still could not come to comprehend his own position and has never learned to abide to normal diplomatic behaviour that is expected from a president. From such an unfair election, no better president elect would have come out.

Last year after coming back from the UN, he claimed that during his speech, a rim of light surrounded him. Domestically, he claimed so many unrealistic things as well. I would say that his talks about holocaust and the wiping off Israel are as insignificant as his other statement. As a result, I think comparing him to Hitler is a very unrealistic and is truly propaganda to fuel a war. The regrettable fact is “why he has put himself and his country in such position by talking before thinking?” We will add this question to the tons of others we have left unanswered from the Islamic republic.

P.S: We arrived in Tripoli today from Rome with so many great memories from Italy and gigabytes of pictures. In days to come, I put all the details in the blog

US-Iran positive blaming

Link from the BBC
Well, this is supposed to be so significant that US and Iran are talking! But is it so? They did so much yoohoo and woohoo about this talks to finally sit face to face and do this:

US: Stable Iraq is our interest
Iran: Stable Iraq is our very interest
US: We warn you...you are sending arms, you are making Iraq unstable
Iran: We warn you...get out of here..you are making Iraq unstable

after the meeting:

US: we are positive for future
Iran: There was a positive fruit in the talks

They probably had a chit chat. US is upset but as always, says there is a positive future (means current sucks) and by the way, what is "a positive fruit"? 

And happily ever...so far

Thank you! finally the Britons are released and Ahmadinejad could assume he was a compassionate winner out there and felt good. I am telling you, you want to win with this guy, make him feel good about himself and you are set :) He will write in his diary today: I gave a gift to Britain!

I hope that the world would also please stop evil-izing Iran. So we have a naughty government...you do not have to tell us over and over, we already know it :) and this playground is so full of such problem children. We -Iranians- do not have to be punched just because we go to the same school as this naughty boy goes. And you told on us to the security council? ooh man...all the school knows that they go to the same bar as your dad! man...Iran and UK were seriously telling each other "me! you! outside" but seems that someone gave both of them a chocolate bar this time:)

Jokes apart, this is a good news to hear. I am sure some people in Iran and UK are looking for good pillows for the first nice night after a while.

Going back home is great and thank you Libya! Mrs.Behi now has a visa to join me in Tripoli. The difficult time apart is over. I am still living in an empty apartment without her and am just picturing all the fun we will have together. This is a fantastic apartment..It is higher than the main road and has a good view of tripoli sea port , is looking west to enjoy romantic Mediterranean sunsets and is overlooking a very nice garden that you hear birds singing from its trees every morning. I got my company car today and all I need is to buy a GPS, mount it on and map Tripoli on Google Earth...sounds like an idea in a place were maps are scares Till future adventures...

The 15 British soldiers

I was happily working some days ago when a friend of mine who works for BBC popped up in chat and it was the moment when I heard the news of captivity of the British army personnel. At first I thought this would be like the last one and they would be released soon but now that after a long busy week, I finally get the chance of writing, this incident made yet another negative headline against Iran.

I can not believe these guys in Iranian administration! What are they trying to achieve keeping these guys? And these video and letter releases! They always do this in case of political activists but how they thought it may work for the Brits?….I don’t know and probably will never know. I just hope that this does not result any more stupid military chain reaction. Iran is afraid...it is cornered politically and militarily..I think this is a panic reaction.

None of the governments should expect the other to accept the proposed position of the boats by one another. This border line for Iran, Iraq and Kuwait over there has been a major dispute for a long time.

This Iranian administration is not very rational. Don't poke it lik this...I should say this to the Iranian government too. These guys who are surrounding us are not that rational eaither...do not poke them like this.

Tehran Holocaust Conference

There is a term in business when you want to sell an idea called :"WIIFM" or "What is in it for me?" and people try to judge business situation based on the logical answer they give or receive. Seems that when you live in Iran, you should ask "WTHIHTDWM" or "What the hell it has to do with me?" when you hear about political moves. I have been trying to answer this since I heard the news about the Holocaust conference in Tehran but still no luck!. It is very normal in Iran to see things that you do not understand and approve mainly because the politics here is mainly to impress people of other nations of the middle-east even if it kills Iranian reputation. When I was in Libya, I met many people from different countries of the Arab world and they were all so happy about this much opposition Iran puts against Israel exactly the opposite to many people in Iran who ask WTHIHTDWM?

In the streets of Tehran, I bet not many are even aware of the conference, the city is so covered by election posters for the upcoming city and expediency council elections next Friday and many people are basically more interested in the Asian games than anything else.

For us as humans, there is always a great regret of any tragic event in any human society, that is the lesson we should learn from history and if Iranian government wants to show sympathy with Palestinians, it should not let such historical lessons to be jeopardized.

I am sorry that the Iranian Holocaust is very much forgotten. By the end of WWII when the allied troops invaded Iran and used it as the bridge of victory to help Russian, hundreds of thousands of Iranians died from hunger, historic records are showing that the invading troops were intentionally buying and dumping tons of food to keep it like that. Any need for a conference on this Mr. President?