Old Right Topic News Senior Editor Mark Dankof counts Persian human rights activist Shirin Neshat of Sarbazan as a close personal friend. The pro-Persian Monarchist site Sarafrazan, based in Canada, runs Ms. Neshat's recent article on Solzhenitsyn's relevance to freedom-loving Iranians. An archive of Ms. Neshat's other recent articles can be accessed by clicking on other URLs at the bottom of Sarafrazan's page. Don't be intimidated by the Farsi language of some of the URL's.

URL for Shirin Neshat at Sarafrazan

Mark Dankof on Iran and War:

Meanwhile, a coherent policy on Iran continues to elude America's neo-conservative policy elite. How can the IRI be neutralized and eventually eliminated, while avoiding a series of political, economic, and military disasters that eclipse the mess neo-conservatives have already made of Iraq? Will we witness the killings of massive numbers of Iranian civilians in American airstrikes? Will the IRGC be introduced actively in cross-border insurgency warfare in Iraq? Will the hardened/dispersed nuclear sites in Iran be harder to eliminate than the American and Israeli air forces estimate? Will Asian banks--especially China's--dump some of the 2 trillion dollars in American debt they presently possess onto an international currency market in a retaliatory action that will cause the dollar and the global economy to plummet? Will oil surge to $130-$260 a barrel if a tanker is sunk in the Strait of Hormuz courtesy of a Sunburn missile? Is the United States ready for terror activities within its own borders at the hands of IRI cell groups already in place? What happens if the political blowback caused by an American and/or Israeli strike on Iran results in the destruction of the present governments in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan? And has the United States thought about what would replace the IRI regime in Tehran if the latter is effectively eliminated? If American boots on the ground become necessary in the aftermath of aerial preemption, will occupying Iran and its 70 million inhabitants be easier than in Iraq? And will the American public support a reinstitution of the Military Draft if aerial preemption produces the effects of the "law of unintended consequences?" To what extent is potential American military action in Iran driven by oil bourse politics and Israel? All of this must be examined by the American Congress before it is too late.

Khuzestan represents 90% of Iran’s oil production. The control over these massive fields will force the oil-dependent nations of China, Japan and India to continue to stockpile greenbacks despite the currency’s dubious value. The annexing of Khuzestan will prevent Iran’s bourse from opening, thereby guaranteeing that the dollar will maintain its dominant position as the world’s reserve currency. As long as the dollar reigns supreme and western elites have their hands on the Middle East oil-spigot, the current system of exploitation through debt will continue into perpetuity. The administration can confidently prolong its colossal deficits without fear of a plummeting dollar.