LETTTER

Today's letter to The Oregonian:

Phillip Simone (ltrs 2/13/07) is incorrect in
describing Iran as the nation which "has
repeatedly pledged to destroy Israel." It is
actually their wild-talking president who
uses such hyperbole. (As does ours).
Iran's U. N. envoy assures us that their
nation has no such intention.

Our president has promised to rid the world
of evil and wipe terrorism from the face of
the earth. Both presidents are steadily
losing support, and their sides have lost in
recent elections. They shouldn't be taken
seriously.

Nor is Iran "the No. 1 sponser of terrorism
throughout the world," as Mr. Simone (and
the Bush administration) charges. Al Qaeda
is. Iran opposes al Qaeda as fiercely as we do.
They helped us against al Qaeda and the
Taliban in Afghanistan, and have offered to
do so again.

They do support Hamas and Hezbollah in
opposition to Israel's brutal, illegal
occupation of Palestine. Those are not
considered "terrorist organizations" in the
Muslim world. They are seen there as
legitimate freedom fighters, and Iran is
widely seen as a hero for helping them.
Most of the rest of the world agrees with
Iran on that one.

If we will force a just and lasting resolution
of the Palestine/Israel issues, as the Iraq
Study Group (and Jimmy Carter) urges,
there will be no more Hamas and
Hezbollah, and Iran will no longer
support "terrorists." We need to keep
first things first. And keep our facts
straight.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net