Now I've Seen Everything: Iranian President Starts a Blog
Iranian president Mahmood Ahmadinejad has started a blog and posted a message about his life and where he comes from. He also appeared on a television interview (60 Minutes) here recently. (You can find it here - scroll down to "Interview with Iran's President," August 14, 2006.)
I think this is a positive development and I wish more people from that part of the world would do the same, and that people from our part of the world would respond. It's harder to dehumanize people when they're communicating directly with you. I decided to post a comment on his blog to that effect. You never know, he might actually read it, and maybe it'll do just a tiny bit of good. Maybe he'll realize we're all human beings over here too.
I know this sounds naive or possibly even outrageously ambitious, but it's at least remotely possible that the blogosphere and the Internet community can make some progress where our governments have been unable to. I know Ahmadinejad is a tough guy, and I know some people don't want peace or don't want the same things we want. I'm not stupid enough to think that a few Internet chats will transform hearts and minds or solve all the world's problems. But we might as well try it because nothing else seems to be working. Let's think outside the box. It's not so far-fetched if you consider that bloggers and others in the Web community are now a powerful new element in politics and media, which formerly were largely controlled by those within the power structure who had the big bucks. A new force to be reckoned with, if you will. Now all the "little people" are having an impact too, because they have the tools to reach the world directly (and let's keep it that way, but Internet access is a topic for another blog).
And if nothing else, isn't technology amazing these days when someone from America with no involvement in government can post a comment to the Iranian president's blog that he might actually read one day? Maybe some postings from Americans to his blog will make him think a bit, somewhere deep down, in the middle of the night when nobody's watching. Maybe he'll be just a little bit more hesitant in condemning the West if he sees that we're not all out to dominate or even destroy his country and his people, which is unfortunately a prevailing perception over there and one root of the problems we're having now.
Here's my comment:
"Just wanted to say thanks for setting up this blog, and for appearing on television in America to explain your views. I think it would be very helpful if people from your part of the world did these types of things and talked to us directly (the people, not the government) more often. We are desperately in need of education about the Middle East here and we don't get it by watching the news, which is full of nothing but war and threats. There are a few good TV programs that have been shown *about* the Middle East, but if people in the Middle East spent more effort on communicating directly through interviews, outreach, and cultural exchange, as you seem to be doing now, I think we could make some real progress and people here wouldn't be so fearful of people over there. I know the perception is that the West wants to dominate the Middle East, and that unfortunately seems to be true of at least some of our governments, but most of us 'regular' people don't have such aspirations and just want things to be peaceful and people to cooperate on goals of mutual benefit, if at all possible. I know I'm sickened and saddened by the death and destruction on all sides of these recent conflicts. And if your life really is about Islam, showing us your human side will win converts or at least friends. It's hard to make a case for it now when all people see on TV is innocent people dying and new threats every day, and it's hard to make peace when that's what people on the other side see too.
Thank you."
Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad, Middle East
I think this is a positive development and I wish more people from that part of the world would do the same, and that people from our part of the world would respond. It's harder to dehumanize people when they're communicating directly with you. I decided to post a comment on his blog to that effect. You never know, he might actually read it, and maybe it'll do just a tiny bit of good. Maybe he'll realize we're all human beings over here too.
I know this sounds naive or possibly even outrageously ambitious, but it's at least remotely possible that the blogosphere and the Internet community can make some progress where our governments have been unable to. I know Ahmadinejad is a tough guy, and I know some people don't want peace or don't want the same things we want. I'm not stupid enough to think that a few Internet chats will transform hearts and minds or solve all the world's problems. But we might as well try it because nothing else seems to be working. Let's think outside the box. It's not so far-fetched if you consider that bloggers and others in the Web community are now a powerful new element in politics and media, which formerly were largely controlled by those within the power structure who had the big bucks. A new force to be reckoned with, if you will. Now all the "little people" are having an impact too, because they have the tools to reach the world directly (and let's keep it that way, but Internet access is a topic for another blog).
And if nothing else, isn't technology amazing these days when someone from America with no involvement in government can post a comment to the Iranian president's blog that he might actually read one day? Maybe some postings from Americans to his blog will make him think a bit, somewhere deep down, in the middle of the night when nobody's watching. Maybe he'll be just a little bit more hesitant in condemning the West if he sees that we're not all out to dominate or even destroy his country and his people, which is unfortunately a prevailing perception over there and one root of the problems we're having now.
Here's my comment:
"Just wanted to say thanks for setting up this blog, and for appearing on television in America to explain your views. I think it would be very helpful if people from your part of the world did these types of things and talked to us directly (the people, not the government) more often. We are desperately in need of education about the Middle East here and we don't get it by watching the news, which is full of nothing but war and threats. There are a few good TV programs that have been shown *about* the Middle East, but if people in the Middle East spent more effort on communicating directly through interviews, outreach, and cultural exchange, as you seem to be doing now, I think we could make some real progress and people here wouldn't be so fearful of people over there. I know the perception is that the West wants to dominate the Middle East, and that unfortunately seems to be true of at least some of our governments, but most of us 'regular' people don't have such aspirations and just want things to be peaceful and people to cooperate on goals of mutual benefit, if at all possible. I know I'm sickened and saddened by the death and destruction on all sides of these recent conflicts. And if your life really is about Islam, showing us your human side will win converts or at least friends. It's hard to make a case for it now when all people see on TV is innocent people dying and new threats every day, and it's hard to make peace when that's what people on the other side see too.
Thank you."
Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad, Middle East
posted by Christine M. Hanson | 10:56 AM
1 Comments:
I am just amazed that you apparently believe the American public is more in tune with the president of Iran than with our own government, and that he should talk to us rather than to our government. This about a man who thinks Israel shouldn't exist and the Holocaust is a myth, and is running a country in proximity to Israel and developing nuclear weapons!
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