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About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1979)
opinion I I I II We call it the Iranian Crisis. It should be I I called the Iranian Horror. That’s what it is. I While we Americans sleepsafe and sound in I our beds, we forget to realize that we are I facing the most terrifying situation since I the Cuban Missile Crisis. I Right now, innocent, full-blooded U.S. I citizens are being held ransom for one man: I the Shah.. The Shah is hiding in a hospital I suite in New York. I Iran wants the Shah back to have justice I served for what the man did as Iranian dic I tator» Now, stripped of his power< the I deposed shah is undergoing treatment for I cancer. . I Our president, Jimmy Carter, meets with I various and consults over the I situation. people We, the people, sit and wait. I I Carter faces the most difficult decision of I his career as president and his life as a man. I There are many different ways he can go, I and which ever way he chooses will make I somebody angry. I If he gives the Shah up, he will possibly I save the lives of the hostages, but he opens I the door for more terrorists to do the same I thing. That’s what this situation is, pure I terrorism, and if we pay the ransom we will I always be threatened by terrorists. Who I] wants to see someone hijack a plane with, I 127 people aboard and threaten to blow it I up if we don’t give them someone who is -1! rotting in a jail cell? Sure, it happens I anyway, but we don’t need to aggravate that I fact by paying ransom and letting other l| people think that because Iran got away I with it, they can. I Carter could send in military force and l make Iran give up the fight. He won’t make I them give up their fight without a fight, and I who wants to go to war? Well, if you do, sign I up now. I One suggestion is that Carter send over I planes and blow up the embassy. Oh yea, I you who think that are few. The American I people would not go for a president killing l their own people. i Carter facing an easy job. We I should be is a not little more supportive. How I many of you would like to be in his shoes? i l Didn’t think so. I As the crisis goes into its fourth week, we I look for an end. What we can do how is give I I our leaders support as they face this, andz \ I maybe with us behind them we can solve l the problem together. l_ I Iranian Horror | I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I feedback To the Editor: / The cartoon pictured in The Print on Nov. 14 was in the poorest taste, and speaks of the effects of a youth-oriented society. I doubt that those in an Oriental culture, where age is revered, would see any humor in your cartoon. They associate . the aged with wisdom and un- Page 2 destanding to be passed on to thé young. How sad that our culture views “old” as synonymous with “bag,” ugly, and useless. In addition, the cartoon is sexist, as only older women are referred to in such derogatory terms, and again shows a need in our society for values that commentary By Kelly Laughlin Of The Print Emotions are running high, both in Mideast and America, with regard to the crash of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and the taking of some 60 American hostages. Iranians there are shouting, “Death to the Shah, death to America.” Last Saturday, a Chicago man wrote- Senator Adalai Steven son, “I am outraged; invade Iran.” A Delmar, New York, man wrote to Representative Samuel S. Stratton, “Tell Khomeini to take his oil and stick it.” Meanwhile, the Khomeini has Ayatullah denounced the U.S. as “the great Satan.” Even after the release of 13 hostages and the return to their families on Thanksgiving, the crisis still brews. America has threatened military action against Iran if any of the remaining 49 hostages are harmed, and President Carter denounced Iran’s acts as what he calls “an act of terrorism totally outside the bounds of in ternational terrorism or black mail.” Since the chant, “Give us the Shah!” continues, the crisis seems to be stalemated: the Ayatullah Khomeini refuses to negotiate with American diplomats, and most Americans here can only wait. Some grow more hostile toward Iranian students outside the embassy, and possibly develop a greater dislike for Iranians everywhere. At the center of the crisis is one man, the ex-monarch of Iran, Shah Reza Pahlavi. The Iranian government and anti shah activists in the U.S. charged that the Shah has used his apparent illness as a political ploy to seek sanctuary here. This, however, may be only in part true, since he now resides on floor 17 of a Manhatten hospital suite. Time magazine reports he is still recovering from the removal of his gall bladder and is awaiting chemotherapy treatments which should determine *the future of his health. Throughout the crisis, which is now ending its 26th day. America’s position,, both politically and economically, has been one of “firmness, and “restraint,” said Carter. The freezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets her, transcend physical appearan ces and’ teach us to see another’s inner being. As An toine de SaintrExupery writes in The Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is in visible to the eye.” Lorraine VanderZanden and U.S. military occupation off the Saudi Arabian coast have helped to make this coun try’s posture quite clear: The appeasment of the Iranian students’ demands will only set a precedent for future terrorist acts. A limited amount of time, though, has been spent assessing, and reaching an understanding about the Iranian government’s stand on the issue. While it is understan dable that most Americans don’t know firsthand what it’s like to be ruled under a monar ch or dictator, the hostage taking shouldn’t be dismissed as an irrational means to an end. While the hostage-taking does violate international law, the act represents years of op pression under the deposed Shah. Mohamed Javad Bahonar, an Islamic Scholar, who has been a leading figure on Iran’s 15-member Revolutionary Council, was quoted saying, “For you, it is easy to say that Iranians need a scapegoat and the regime wants to muster political support, but you are wrong. What this nation has suffered at the hands of the Shah is no less serious than what the Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis. The United States insulted the Iranian national honor and Islamic revolution by giving the deposed Shah a visa. The dic tator represents all the pain, torture, humiliation, deprivation and repression suf fered for decades by our nation. The people want to prove to the world, once and for all, what a heinous criminal he was. It is the principal, not the man, that matters.” The legal implications of the embassy seige and hostage taking were rebutted by Bahonar: “Your insistence on the legalistic aspects of the em bassy siege are specious. The Revolutionary Council did not do it. You deserve the credl for unleashing this rebellio! Don’t talk to me about whethl the seige is right or wrong. Tall to the very people you havl provoked into hysteria. Yol think you can get away wifl murder by hiding behind th! law. The Islamic canol recognizes the right of an ol pressed people, faced'by I government that cites the lai in order to betray justice, tol rebellion. The Iranian people! occupation of the U.S. enl bassy falls squarely within :hi principle.” What is the issue? Fl Americans, the embassy sei! is a violation of a sacred il stitution. Coupled with :h| hostage-talking, our wellbeinl is threatened, both here al abroad. The issue for Iranial is not political, it is person! Their 37-year struggle with th! Shah’s regime, and his su| sequent flight from Iran gal the Iranians hope for a new future, and new governmenj Their hopes were aggrevatel when the Shah entered thl U.S., interpreted by them as al intention for the Shah to legal power. | The name calling on bo! sides is representative of a la! of understanding and empat! for either country’s stand in thq matter. It is my consensoustM if the U.S. and Iran make no| attempts tp stop no! productive “death” and ill-wi statement?,, the crisis ml become more enflamed than! has become already. If this ol curs, the prospects for a speed! resolution is improbable. The existence of a crisis I this intensity is undesirable enough on its own merits. Bui a long-term crisis is always worl se because it tests our ability! reason, and more important! our ability to assess anotfl viewpoint without using oil undirected emotions to exprH ourselves. This would only add] more fuel to the fire now burl ning in Iran. sprint 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045 Office: Trailer B; telephone: 656-2631, ext. 309 editor: Leanne Lally; news editor: Mike Koller arts editor: Elena Vancil; feature editor: Kelly Laughlin sports editor: Brian Rood; photo editor: Duffy Coffman ' assistant photo editor: Kevin Almond staff writers: Sue Hanneman, Ramona Isackson, Don Ives Lee Jeffries, Chris Merritt, James Rhoades, Tom Rhodes Dea Shepherd-Kent, Ruby Smith staff photographers: Cathy Gross, Robert Hand advertising manager: Jack Tucker; advertising representative: Tim Tycer; business manager: Ron Allen professional adviser: Suzie Boss The Print, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Published Association, aims to be a fair and impartial journalistic medium covering the campus community as thoroughly as possible Opinions expressed in The Print do not necessarily reflect those of the CCC administration, faculty or Associated Student Govea nment. ___________________ _—U Clackamas Community Cofl
