Iran

[cnelson]

My question to you is: So is Iran actually a threat?

I don't think they are a threat. I don't believe they have a secret nuclear weapons program. If someone wants to claim that, show me evidence and then show me the Iranian's response to it. And I feel as though the media's bias towards sensationalism has painted the Iranian president as a madman (which he may be, but it doesn't even matter because he's a figurehead and has no real power).

That's my 2 cents. Anyone else have thoughts?

[sunken]

Actually I think Pakistan is more worrisome than Iran. They already have nuclear weapons and if the country falls apart, control of those could fall into the wrong hands.

It's hard to tell with Iran because after the portrayal of WMD in Iraq, it's difficult to know what the real story is. Even if they did get a program to completion, there is still the matter of the consequences of actually firing such a weapon. Both the US and Israel are capable of turning them into a glass parking lot and I seriously doubt the supreme council wants that to happen. And just because the Iranian president sabre rattles doesn't mean that much, since as you said, he's not really in charge.

[Niki L]

No one wouldn't have to worry about the whereabouts of nuclear weapons, if all the countries agreed to get rid of those horrible weapons of mass destruction. Last November I wrote a letter to George W. Bush. I tried to encourage him to forbid the nuclear weapons once and for all and to tell the leaders of other countries to do the same.

I wanted to open his eyes to see what actually is the biggest reason causing disagreement and numerous wars between many countries. It's the general classifying of the countries. We have the western countries who are allowed to have nuclear weapons (the approach of West: No questions asked. United States is a reliable and steady country. Americans won't use the nuclear weapons without a good reason. Actually they are just competing with Russia, which country has the biggest collection of these weapons (but what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Was it necessary to kill the hundreds of thousands of innocent people or could it somehow have been avoided?) ) and we have the eastern countries (China and Pakistan make an exception, but still people watch their moves more carefully than the actions of West when it's about nuclear weapons) that aren't allowed to have those weapons (the message of West: "Don't even think about it or we will come and destroy your country completely").

I'm almost sure no one ever read my letter at the White House, but if you never put your plans into practice, you won't be able to change this world or help anyone.

Here's the letter, if you're interested to read it (feel free to use any ideas or sentences of my letter, if you think they could be useful for some petition or letter to decision-makers):


Dear President Bush,

My name is Niki Lahtinen. I'm studying pharmacy at the University of Helsinki. I'm 20 years old and dreaming of a world with no wars. Well, who wouldn't dream of that?

I'm writing to you to offer you some new ideas concerning nuclear weapons. I start from the very beginning. Why do we actually need weapons? Well, it's quite easy to answer. We need weapons, because our planet has witnessed so many terrible wars during the history of humankind. There have been the first and the second world war and the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, just to name a few.

We need weapons to feel secure, feel that there is no one daring to attack us, when we have a powerful army with the latest technology and the most damaging weaponry. It's the so called 'Cold War phenomenon'. When some country buys five battlechoppers and ten battleships, some other countries try to beat those purchases, if they don't already have enough army vehicles or weapons.

An ideal world would be a place where you didn't have to produce or buy any weapons to protect your country or family.
I wonder, if there will ever be that kind of dream world in the faraway future? I guess, we can only pray and hope for that.

If we think about nuclear weapons, the same arms race is going on with them. However, there are some clear differences between nuclear and common weapons. It seems to me, that nuclear weapons are something, that only a few countries are allowed to develope and possess, for example the United States and China. Where as, for some countries, like Iran and North Korea, it's strictly forbidden to have nuclear weapons or even plan to produce them. Can you see the problem, Mr President? I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?

Let's take an example. A seven-year-old girl is walking with her Mom in the streets of Pittsburg. They have been buying some food to survive from that particular, God-given day. At home there are also a husband and three more kids to feed. The Mom, Mary, is happy and grateful for that they can afford at least the basic food and household products.

The daughter, Charity, sees a girl of her own age on the other side of the street. The girl, Miranda, is from a wealthy family and is wearing a new, beautiful dress. A sudden jealousy visits Charity's mind. She asks Mary: "Can I have a new dress, Mom?"

Mary answers: "My dear child, I'd be real happy to buy you one, if we had enough money for that. But I'll tell you what. What would you say, if I made you a dress myself? Wouldn't that be nice?" Charity hugs her Mom and says: "Thanks, Mom. You're the best Mom, I could ever have!"

Okay, I must admit this fictional example differs in many ways from the situation between the countries I mentioned, but there are certain similarities as well. In this story Charity is Iran and North Korea. Miranda is the United States and China. Charity wants something she knows she can't have, because of poverty. Miranda takes that new dress for granted, because her family is rich.

In my story the limiting factor is money. When we consider the problem with nuclear weapons, the limiting or preventive factor is the unanimous agreement between certain governments of world, like the U.S., France and Germany. The governments have simply decided which countries can develope or purchase nuclear weapons and which can't do that.

Naturally, Iran and North Korea can't understand it, but they are forced to give up of their plans to develope nuclear weapons. I can't possibly understand either, why some countries would be allowed to make this kind of weapons, while some countries aren't allowed to do that.

But on the other hand, I'm very pleased that the nuclear weapon industry isn't increasing when we set some restrictions. But it doesn't solve the problem, does it?. The manufacturing of nuclear weapons should be forbidden once and for all in this world. That is the only way, believe it or not, my friend.

The damage made by a nuclear bomb is devastating. The worst case scenario would be probably, that one of those nuclear weapons were exploded in the sky of some big city, like Los Angeles, Tokyo, London or Beijing. No one wants something so horrible to happen, but that's exactly, what everyone fears all the time.

I've followed your decisions and action in politics with a great interest, Mr President, and I've come into a conclusion that you are definitely a person, who is more than willing to create an eternal or at least a long-term (more realistically said) peace to the whole world.

Currently, the situation in both Iraq and Afghanistan is undoubtetly much better, compared to the situation before the army of the United States started its military and peacekeeping operations in the countries in question. In spite of all the efforts of peacekeepers and the heads of state, like you, Mr President, in the front line, to stabilize the life of the people of those countries and to make Iraq and Afghanistan more democratic, the political unrest and suicide bombings still create a shade of fear and insecurity above the innocent people.

Let's return to nuclear weapons, shall we? I promised to offer you some advice, maybe some fresh thoughts, that would inspire you to make even better decisions during the last months of your presidency and after that. Have you ever imagined a world that was free from the high technology labs and the brightest scientists developing nuclear weapons? If you haven't done that before, I ask you to close your eyes and let your imagination do the hardest part of this practice.

I did this practice myself and saw a world that pleasures me significantly more than the present world we're living in. I see two people sitting and chatting in an outdoor cafe in Teheran, Iran. An old woman, called Fatima, is so happy and pleased with the current situation of world. She thanks God and praises the wisdom of President George W. Bush.

Her 20-year-old grandson, Omar, answers to his grandmother with a joyful voice: "Long live President Bush, who saved our world!". Now, that we don't have to fear nuclear weapons, our future seems much brighter, because political unrest doesn't disturb our everyday life anymore. When I think about the era of nuclear weapons, I must say that a lot has changed since then, hasn't it?"

Fatima: "Yes, our government stopped planning nuclear weapons right after the U.S. Government renounced of its own nuclear weapons. Nowadays, people concentrate on taking care of our precious planet, instead of destroying it with dreadful weapons. The environment issues and human and animal rights are amongst the most popular subjects in political discussion."

Omar: "Yeah, President Bush's decision to forbid all kind of nuclear weaponry was probably the smartest decision that's been ever made in politics. Currently, it's forbidden in all countries to produce any nuclear weapons."

Fatima: "Oh, how I love this peace and silence. People doing their daily shopping in the streets of Teheran, all people seem to have a new, confident and happy expression on their faces. A little child playing with her brother outside their home. All those terrible suicide bombings only a bad memory in people's minds."

The sun is slowly setting down behind the hills when Fatima and Omar pay for their coffees and start walking home. They can go to sleep and wake up in the next morning to a bright new day in a secure, beautiful world.

I encourage you, Mr President, to tell your wife and children, what kind of world your imagination created in this practice. You can write a short story, like I did, and then discuss with your family about your own and their feelings about a world with no nuclear weapons. The members of your family can also write short stories, if they want. I hope you'll have a great time sharing your thoughts about this issue and perhaps widen the discussion to other topics, like environmental issues and your next holiday destination.

Even though you are a great politician, you are still only a human and need to spend some time with your dear family. You can spend that time at home, shopping, abroad or on a trip to a nearby nature reserve. It doesn't matter where you are. The most important thing is to be with your loved ones, respect them, laugh with them, cry with them and live your life trying always to do the right thing, the right decisions.

In my opinion, politics doesn't have to be always so serious and formal. Sometimes it's good to let thoughts and imagination fly and then see, if you have created something brilliant and useful. You can write, draw, paint, act out or discuss with your family, friends and colleagues, when finding a solution to some difficult problem or apparent social ills.

I hope you enjoyed reading my letter and got some new ideas to your life within family and politics. I wish all the best to your life. God bless you, and your family.

One of the most famous singers crystallizes my thoughts (and this long letter) in one sentence in his song, 'Imagine':

"Imagine all the people, living life in peace." (John Lennon)

Very Truly Yours

Niki Lahtinen

(P.S. I'll send a copy of this letter also via airmail, because I'd like to be sure that you, Mr President, got a change to read some of my thoughts. I'd be honored to get an answer from you, but I understand, if you don't have time to answer me.

More than that, I'd like to see George W. Bush standing self-confidently, as usual, behind a speaker's stand in an international press conference and appealing to the whole world for forbidding the nuclear weapons by law. Wouldn't that be wonderful, Mr President?)

[sunken]

Valid points indeed and good letter, but it will most likely fall on deaf ears even if it did reach the president's desk.

Unfortunately, no one has the power, not even Bush, to put Pandora back in her box. As long as even one country has these weapons, others will. And there is not enough trust between the world governments to take any other country at it's word that they were destroyed completely. Imagine if 99% did indeed disarm, but 1% didn't. This would give the 1% tremendous power to threaten those that did. It's like if they outlawed guns, only outlaws would have guns. No country, including the US, would take that chance.

I agree with you that a world without nukes would be a much safer and better world and it would seem reasonable that people would see that, but to disarm completely would take more trust than exists.

[Niki L]

Thanks for your comments sunken! I certainly agree with you that the lack of trust is a part of human nature. We don't trust other people easily. The trust has to be gained somehow. We have to show other people/nations how peaceful, friendly, caring and trustworthy we are. We have to convince them of our sincerity and honesty and support them during hard times. We have to start to build together the kind of world we all wanted to live in.

I know this seems simple and easy in a paper, but it isn't. Lots of work has to be done to create a bond of friendship between two people not to mention a bond between two countries.

[lihen]

in my view, as most of the outside world , Iran was not a trouble at all, it never was... It was always a race to control the gulf and oil....
Some say the ruler there was cruel and was a dictator, but if you think the other side of he coin he was ruling his country and was not a threat to the world.....
There are always bigger threats in rest of the world , nobody even take them into notice... but as i said it's all about oil my friends.
( above views are my personal )

[tsmaster]

Niki L Wrote:Thanks for your comments sunken! I certainly agree with you that the lack of trust is a part of human nature. We don't trust other people easily. The trust has to be gained somehow. We have to show other people/nations how peaceful, friendly, caring and trustworthy we are. We have to convince them of our sincerity and honesty and support them during hard times. We have to start to build together the kind of world we all wanted to live in.

It's not going to happen anytime soon.

Look at some of the nuclear countries:
USA
USSR
China
UK
France
Israel
Pakistan
India

the USA would never give nukes up, because they are there as a deterrent. I doubt the Russia would either

Pakistan would never give them up, because of not so good relations with India (though it is getting better). In 2002/3 i doubt India would have decided not to invade if it weren't for the fact that pakistan had nukes.

Isreal needs them too, because it sees all it's neighbouring counries as threats.

I'm sure someone will come up with technology that would make nukes redundant.