12) THE MISQUOTE PAVING THE ROAD TO ANNIHILATION
Special to PV
The preparations for military aggression against Iran echo the build-up to the devastating and illegal war against Iraq. The parallels include wild accusations of "weapons of mass destruction," claims that the target country is planning to attack its neighbours, and a massive propaganda campaign to demonize the leaders and people of each country.
The latter tactic proved effective on two occasions in Iraq, before the first Gulf War of 1991, and again during 2002-2003. While anti-war actions were broad and powerful in both cases, the pro-war camp argued that Saddam Hussein was a modern day Adolph Hitler who "must be stopped." This lie distracted many from seeing the real threat posed by the most reactionary sections of the U.S. ruling class, who were preparing (like Nazi Germany) to commit the ultimate war crime of unprovoked military aggression.
One of the most frightening aspects of the current situation is the similar accusations hurled at the leaders of Iran. Most recently, Canada's foreign minister John Baird compared statements by Ayatollah Ali Khameini to Hitler's infamous book Mein Kampf.
This just the latest in a years-long string of unsupported accusations that the Iranian leadership says that "Israel must be wiped off the map." Despite ample proof that these words were never uttered, they are presented daily in the North American mass media as "proof" of the need for preventive war against Iran.
This dangerous rumour was demolished convincingly by Arash Norouzi, in a Global Research commentary first published on Jan. 20, 2007, but it bears repeating today.
On Oct. 25, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech titled "The World Without Zionism". Large posters surrounding him displayed this title in English. Below the title was a graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the narrow neck of the hour glass.
As Norouzi points out, the "quote" in question was itself a quote from the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Ahmadinejad's quote is not only unoriginal, but represents a viewpoint in place before he ever took office.
Ahmadinejad's actual words in Farsi were: "Imam ghoft een rezhim‑e ishghalgar‑e qods bayad az safheh‑ye ruzgar mahv shavad."
One word in this sentence may sound familiar to English-speakers: rezhim‑e is the word "regime", pronounced like the English word with an extra "eh" sound. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country, but the Israeli regime, using the phrase "rezhim‑e ishghalgar‑e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).
Nor was the word "map" used on this occasion. The Persian word for map, "nagsheh", is not contained anywhere in his original Farsi quote, or in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that he threatened to "wipe Israel off the map", despite never having uttered the words "map", "wipe out" or even "Israel".
Translated directly to English, the full quote reads: "The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".
Here is a word by word translation: Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim‑e (regime) ishghalgar‑e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh‑ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
In his speech, Ahmadinejad declared that Zionism is the West's apparatus of political oppression against Muslims. He said the "Zionist regime" was imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he insisted, is the frontline of the Islamic world's struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have repercussions for the entire Middle East.
As Norouzi elaborates, Ahmadinejad has often avoided giving a direct answer when questioned about the controversial statement, preferring to focus on the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.
However, this "misquote" has been deliberately repeated ad infinitum to justify military aggression. War by the U.S. and Israel (and likely Canada) against a well-armed Iran would be far more catastrophic than the attack against Iraq, which left an estimated one million dead and a country in ruins.
Canadians must tell our own government - and the opposition parties, which refuse to take a consistent anti-war position - that we are not willing to support yet another criminal war in the Middle East, especially one based on outright lies.
(The above article is from the February 15-29, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)