Authors
Blyth & Russ Carpenter
University of Oregon
Knight Library Browsing Room
Tuesday, March 11
7 p.m. • Free
“The Blessings of Bhutan”
Beautiful slides and insights from the “Dragon Kingdom”
adventures of these cultural ambassadors.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE
For more information on “The Blessings of Bhutan" visit www.uobookstore.com
Iran
continued from page 1
Many across Iran share their op
position to a war and distrust of
U.S. motives. Ask average Iranians
why they think American troops
are preparing to attack and the an
swer is usually the same: to gain
control of Iraqi oil. But at the same
time, Iran is one of the few Muslim
countries where citizens aren’t
demonstrating in the streets against
a U.S.-led attack.
The reason for this dichotomy is
that Hussein remains a hated figure
here, an enemy who killed a quar
ter-million Iranian civilians and
more than three times as many sol
diers in a war that ended in a draw
15 years ago.
The war began in late September
1980, with an Iraqi invasion of
western Iranian cities including
Qasr-e-Shirin. It began over a terri
torial dispute over the Shatt al Arab
waterway that empties into the Per
sian Gulf and forms the boundary
between Iran and Iraq.
The United States and several
European countries became in
volved in 1987, in response to
Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti oil
tankers in the Persian Gulf. Iran
was ultimately pressured into ac
cepting a United Nations resolu
tion ending the war, but Iraq nev
er signed on and issues between
the two countries — including the
fate of prisoners of war — remain
largely unresolved.
Now that the United States and
other nations want Hussein gone,
Iranians are at least tacitly jumping
on the bandwagon. While the anti
American government of Iran has
been waging a domestic and inter
national campaign against any U.S.
led war on Iraq, the same leaders
are quietly providing Iraqi opposi
tion groups backed by the Bush ad
ministration with protection and
material support.
Yet it’s unlikely that most Irani
ans old enough to recall the eight
year conflict with their western
neighbor will change their minds
about a war to remove Hussein. Too
many innocent people will be hurt,
they believe, no matter what assur
ances President Bush offers.
Shirin Ghatr-Simah, 47, who pic
nicked with her daughters on a re
cent Friday in a Qasr-e-Shirin park
named after the local militia that
tried in vain to protect their town
in 1980, said she prays the United
States will change its mind.
“I’m too old to run again,” said
Chatr-Simah, 47, who bore her
younger daughter, Afsaneh Boua
rooh while fleeing into the moun
tains near town to escape Hussein’s
advancing forces. Her 11-year-old
son, Marzhan Bouarooh, died a
month after the invasion, his heart
irreparably damaged by a shell that
fell onto their neighbor’s home.
“Maybe this time we won’t see
Iraqi soldiers and their weapons,
but we will definitely see refugees
who will cross over and take over
our homes and lands,” Afsaneh
Bouarooh said. “There is nothing
good that can come out of this war
for the Iraqis or for us.”
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
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