Anti-Americanism?

The present crisis in Iran is cloaked in hysteria which obscures the important questions: Why is the Shah here and should he be here? The press dwells on the uncomfortable condition of the hostages, the Shah's failing health, and especially on the "anti-Americanism" of Iranians. When hostages express sympathy for their captors' demands, this is dismissed as a psychological syndrome without consideration of the validity of those demands. Feelings of hatred towards Khomeini and Iranians are whipped up at the expense of reasoned consideration of the issues.

The notion that Iranians hate America has been especially good for fostering ugly and irrational anti-Iranian feelings in Americans. But a leaflet distributed in America during the revolution dispels this myth. It urges Americans not connected to the Shah's regime to spread the "message that Iranians are opposed to the interference policies of foreign governments..but not against foreign people." People of the third world bear no hostility to people of good will in this or any nation. They fight the power structure and the multinational corporations that have sadly come to represent America abroad.

The students holding the embassy are acting in violation of international law, but U.S. intervention in Iran was hardly legal either. Before the takeover of the embassy, the Iranian government made numerous attempts to legally extradite the Shah through diplomatic channels. All attempts failed. The students' demands are addressed to a system which exerts its influence on Iran through force; perhaps they feel that only through force can their demands be obtained and U.S. violations of international law and basic morality redressed.

The Shah must have a fair trial, perhaps not in Iran, but in an international court of justice that the Iranians agree to. He should be tried not so he can be punished and executed, but so that the crimes and atrocities committed during his reign can be exposed to the eyes of the world. Only then can his reign against his own people be understood.

The Shah is protected here along with other fugitives from his government and secret police by the same friends in business and government who supported his regime with economic and military aid. They protect him from a trial not merely out of loyalty to him but to keep their own actions in Iran forever hidden from the light of day. It is for these corporate interests that innocent people are held captive in the American embassy.

Some argue that the U.S. should be a sanctuary for all who are cast from their homelands. Why then did the U.S. not allow intellectuals critical of the Shah to even speak out with impunity here? Why did American intelligence services provide SAVAK with information on their activities in this country which lead to their deaths under torture when they returned to Iran.

Should our country be a haven for criminals? Iran under the Shah, with its one party state, mob rallies, militaristic policies and Gestapo-style security system, has been aptly compared to Nazi Germany. The guilt of those responsible for this horror is not diminished because fewer people were tortured and die.

Some argue that by capitulating to the Iranian students we will dishonor ourselves and invite any terrorist to take advantage of us. If the demands were unjust and self-serving this would be true. They are not. Is it capitulation to admit we were wrong? Is it dishonorable to accede to a righteous demand?

The U.S. decision to protect the Shah is not a decision by the American people. The people have no commitment to the Shah. To make a decision, the people must know the truth, and the press has failed in its mission to seek and spread the truth. It has bowed to special interests. It is helping push us towards a war with Iran that would be disastrous for the whole world.

When the American people learn the truth, they will know what is right. They must pressure their government to represent their interests, not the interests of the oil and arms industries. Only then will our government serve humanity, instead of the few and the powerful. America should not be a retirement home for Generalissimos and Shahs.

Charles Delman '81 lives in Currier House