Today, I am proudly Iranian

by PERVEZ HOODBHOY

A baboon-faced thug with hair dyed orange threatens — and then repeats his threat — to destroy the world’s precious architectural heritage. He is not Mullah Omar, who ordered blowing up the 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas. Nor is he from among the ISIS fanatics who levelled the Tomb of Jonah and, later, the 800-year-old Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul. This man is the president of a country that for decades has preached human rights and rule of law to the world.

Could Trump actually carry out his threat against 52 identified sites inside Iran? While temperatures went down after Iran made only a token missile strike instead of a real one, the long-term danger persists. The Orange Godzilla will certainly have a wide range of choices: the massive architectural complexes of ancient Persepolis, the Pink Mosque of Shiraz, the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Imam Reza’s shrine in Mashad, and much more.

Today, I am proudly Iranian in siding against a global bully that flouts accepted canons of law and decency. Outrage at America’s overseas rampages is joining together peoples with hugely different thoughts and beliefs. Vicariously I too have joined the millions thronging Iran’s streets and public squares. In choosing to do so I will forget — but for one day and no more — that Iran’s theocratic government crushes civil liberties, has helped prop up Bashar al-Assad’s murderous government in Syria, and seeks to make atomic weapons.

To their credit, US Democrats and the liberal Western media have also joined the chorus condemning Trump’s intent to put Iranian cultural sites under the crosshairs. Their reaction has forced Trump to step back, even if ever so slightly. But when it comes to discussing America’s ‘right’ to assassinate officials of a rival country, only mealy mouthed mumbles can be heard.

Because the story brings out starkly the corruption of justice by power, let’s ponder upon a tale of two generals.

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