January 3, 2004 5:57 AM

There is a special place in Hell for people like this

Iran refuses U.S. offer of assistance: Tehran reportedly views move as too political during time of crisis

OK, let me see here...you've got a city where the death toll has just passed 30,000, and basic services are minimal at best. You have an offer of assistance and expertise from the United States...and you turn it down for political reasons? What sort of callous jackasses are in charge in Tehran? Yes, that WAS a rhetorical question, because I think we all already know the answer.

WASHINGTON -- Iran has rebuffed an offer from the United States to send a delegation led by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., to assist in the distribution of relief supplies to earthquake victims in Bam, the Bush administration said Friday.

The offer had been seen by the administration as a gesture of American concern for Iran at a time when the United States has declared that some -- but not all -- of Iran's recent actions had been positive and could lead to a resumption of dialogue to improve relations.

Administration officials said that Tehran cited the overwhelming difficulties facing relief workers in the ancient city of Bam in southeastern Iran as the reason it could not accommodate the American offer now. The officials did not rule out the possibility of a future visit.

Administration officials said the decision to make the offer to send Dole, a former president of the American Red Cross, came at Dole's suggestion.

A spokesman for Dole said that based on her experience overseeing relief deliveries from the Red Cross to Rwanda, Somalia and other disaster-plagued areas, she wanted to both assist operations in Iran and report back to Congress....

No political intent aimed at signaling a change in administration policy was intended, an administration official said. Indeed, President Bush on New Year's Day said that Iran still had to rid itself of terrorists and nuclear weapons programs and to open its political system.

In Iran, however, there were indications that the government there saw the proposal differently. On state television, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted as suggesting that Iranian leaders felt the delegation would have been too political a gesture during a time of humanitarian crisis.

The delegation would have been the first since the 1979 hostage crisis. Iran accepted assistance by the rescue workers, but on the other, they insisted the Americans were "volunteers" and not official representatives of the U.S. government.

What is such a insurmountable challenge about recognizing that sometimes politics needs to take a backseat when it comes to the safety and well-being of your people? Of course, if the Iranian powers-that-be were to be be honest, they'd have to admit that they could really care less about the people they rule. What seems to be truly important is the same (and only) thing that matters in any despotic regime- maintaining their own personal power. So we lost 30,000 people, the ruling class could say, it's God's will- and who are we to question the wisdom and grace of Allah? Right; just as long as someone else is doing the suffering and dying....

With that sort of attitude, it's actually quite easy to refuse assistance that might legitimately help save lives. If the Great Satan extends a helping hand, is it REALLY an offer of assistance, or is it a thinly veil attempt at world domination? I suppose the answer depends on how thoroughly cynical you are. In the final analysis, of course, the mullahs in Tehran don't give a tinker's damn about the lives of their people. At least this sorry episodes exposes them for what they are...like there was any doubt prior to the tragedy in Bam.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 3, 2004 5:57 AM.

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