YOUR AD HERE »

Look for good in Iran

Dear Editor:

May Mr. Kopstein (“Iran is culpable,” Letters, Feb. 27, The Aspen Times) wonder no more “how she (me) would characterize the 1982 offensive against Iraq, resulting in the deaths of as many as 500,000 Iraqis.” You have your facts wrong. Iran was defending itself against Iraq’s attack.

In 1980, Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, seeing chaos in Iran after the overthrow of the brutal Shah, invaded Iran hoping to grab oil-rich Khuzestan and the Arvand River. This resulted in the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988 with an estimated 500,000 Iranians as well as Iraqis killed. Iraq bombed nearly 3,000 Iranian villages and 87 cities, causing 5 million Iranians to lose homes and jobs, etc. I could go on with the devastation this caused in Iran. Hardly any Iranian family was untouched by death or injuries. The U.S. sided with Iraq in its attempted land grab.



I am not a fan of the Iranian Mullahs as there are lots of things I observed that I did not like as I traveled around Iran, but their brutal efforts to control protesting citizens seemed very much like U.S. efforts to dismantle Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Like many people, Kopstein has fallen for the media’s characterization of Iran as the enemy, but when you look at the facts, that is not always the case. The U.S. has had crippling sanctions on Iran for decades, making it difficult for it to get repair parts for its aircraft, for example. It would be great if Americans would visit Iran and see its rich culture and meet Iranians who I found have much national pride in their rich history.




Cathleen Krahe

Missouri Heights