mash_ghasem
5/2/2009 1:15:00 AM
That was a one hell of a story! You did ask some questions and since
I live in US, don't have any answers for you. I will ask and let you
know. You did talk about abandoned air fields. After what happened in
Iran Iraq war and US attack on Iraq, mullahs aren't that stupid to
bring and line up airplanes on any air field for easy pick'n. Abadan
was blown to smithereens by Iraqis and was never been rebuilt. I hope
there is no attack from US to Iran. The vast air force and army in
bunkers you mentioned is no match to US technology and Iranian people
are going to suffer. What Brits and US did to Shah by bring IRI to
power has send Iranian back 200 years with alot of missed opportunity.
BTW, didn't Iran have enough pilots during Shah's time? I thought Shah
used to send Iranian pilots for training to US?
Also what was you favorite Iranian food? Do you get it in US?
On May 1, 7:12 pm, Larry <no...@home.com> wrote:
> mash_ghasem <ghyath_ab...@yahoo.com> wrote in news:f99d5534-e001-45d2-b5c2-
> b75178132...@g37g2000yqn.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Greeting from a born again Iran atheist :-) But really I don't
> > believe in any religion. You mentioned you were in Iran. How did you
> > find our people and culture? I deleted alt**Islam and posted to
> > iranian and alt.atheism newsgroups. If you like please post only to
> > soc.culture.iranian on this topic. I might have some more questions if
> > you don't mind. Thanks.
>
> For an American, Iran is at first quite a culture shock, probably as much
> as for an Iranian coming to the USA his first week. The time lag added to
> the confusion, of course, but it all smoothed out nicely after a couple of
> weeks and most of us shed our Zionist brainwashing from American TV that
> everyone ELSE in the Middle East is evil, which is simply not true.
> Americans look through a Jewish-controlled media pinhole at the rest of the
> world. I'll be attacked for saying the obvious, but it's not the first
> time.
>
> In 1979, my parents back in America would see some horrible atrocity
> presented on American TV showing an awful bombing or bullet riddled bodies
> and panic. They'd call me in the day, their time, and get me out of bed to
> answer the phone at 3AM in Tehran to see if I was ok. I never did get them
> used to the idea I was on the other side of the planet...(c;]
>
> I was a very unusual American in that most of the Americans I worked for
> never actually were "in" Iran. They stayed as isolated as possible from
> the Iranian people, hardly venturing out to the local supermarket, and
> never really mixing with the people they seemed terrified of. On our days
> off, I would disappear for days into the real Iran, getting out of Tehran
> or venturing into parts of the city we were warned by the stupid American
> Embassy to never venture into. A couple of us were quite adventuresome.
>
> The company hired taxis from Auto Star, actually just private vehicles
> driven by their owners, and forbid us from driving anything during our
> stay. We made a logo and gave it to the little taxi stand Auto Star had.
>
> "AUTO STAR - THE LEADING NAME IN RENT-A-CAR"
>
> We nearly froze to death in a couple of cars. Their air conditioners were
> dead and we had our own vehicle mechanics in our group. My driver had an
> Arian with an A/C hanging uselessly under the dash. After our mechanics
> fixed them, we rode around Tehran with two strips of FROST blowing across
> the front seat!
>
> I was delighted when my driver, Raffick, too me home to meet his parents.
> He was what we'd call a street-wise teenager in the USA. I never got over
> the load of HOMEWORK his school put upon him. Iran was teaching College-
> level courses in high school! I helped him with English, he helped me with
> Farsi. My Farsi was always just terrible, for which I took a lot of
> kidding. He'd take me to a restaurant where noone spoke English and force
> me to order dinner off the menu, a real ordeal, do or die situation. Many
> Iranian waiters walked back into the kitchen laughing in tears from my
> interpretations. I'm very fortunate they didn't bring me what I actually
> ordered. But, they all seemed very pleased I took the time and tried hard
> to learn some of your language. Shahanshah's government collapsed and we
> left the country before I got more comfortable with it.
>
> Speaking of the time just before the regime change, an amusing story......
>
> The American Embassy warned all of us in mails to our homes and offices NOT
> to even talk to the Army troops in the streets. They warned that the
> troops would smash our cameras if we took pictures. I didn't understand
> because every morning as I got to Doshen-Tappeh AFB early to avoid the
> traffic delays coming across town from Park-e-Saie to work, I would eat
> breakfast in the Army's mess tent with the conscript privates in their area
> behind our hangar. I was the only American who did, by the way. How
> stupid my American co-workers were....
>
> At the end of our street, the Army parked a Russian-made T-72 tank operated
> by a full compliment of tank troops, just for show I supposed. I stopped
> to talk to the tank commander, a lieutenant who spoke very good English,
> educated in the US. I showed them my Iranian Air Force ID card and got the
> grand tour of the tank. Early one morning, after bringing "the boys" some
> cool drinks in the heat, they decided I should be allowed to DRIVE this
> beast down the street and back! If you get the chance to drive a Russian
> tank, you don't pass it up....I didn't crush any parked cars or Orange Cabs
> and spun it back around to its parking spaces to the delight of the crew.
>
> I asked the commander if I could take some pictures to take back to the
> States with me as this was one of the neatest things I ever did in Iran.
> He politely refused. "No pictures, today." OK, his guys have guns. "You
> come back tomorrow!", he continued....no explanation. I came back the next
> day and found out why. They had completely cleaned the tank from the tip
> of the gun to the diesel exhaust and the whole team was in full dress
> uniforms for the picture taking! The officer was in his beautiful uniform
> complete with his medals and decorations and his military sword. I went
> through 4 rolls of 35mm film, delighted.
>
> I took the film to a photoshop and had prints made and put into photo books
> whos main cover was the team lined up at attention in front of their tank,
> the officer with his sword in full salute. I had a copy made for each man
> in the tank, one for the American Ambassador and his assistant I'd met,
> sent one home to my family in the States and kept 2 for myself....much to
> the American Embassy's dismay. The looks on their faces was PRICELESS. I
> should have sent one to the White House!
>
> ===================================================================
>
> I keep a close eye on Iran from Google Earth every time they change or
> improve the satellite pictures. I can see my apartment building is still
> there, but Park-e-Saie is more beautiful than it looked when I lived there.
> What bothers me most is the military bases like Doshen-Tappeh and the
> industrial centers I flew over in C-130 planes with the Air Force.
>
> Zionist American TV makes big noise about attacking Iran, Iranian nuclear
> dangers, etc., etc., but Iran must have become real MASTERS of deception
> since I lived there. The air base in NE Tehran is DESERTED! There are no
> planes, there are no cars, there are no trucks, there are no gadgets to
> service the planes parked on the runway.....It's nearly EMPTY! Other bases
> that were bustling when we landed there in many other Iranian cities in the
> late 70's, look similarly abandoned. The planes I do see look like pieces
> of planes someone tore apart to get parts to fix other planes. Few
> complete-looking aircraft can be seen, anywhere! There must be some vast
> underground bunkers where this vast air force and army is just waiting for
> the attack! Look for yourselves.
>
> Most disturbing is Abadan on the waterway. We landed there with engine
> trouble in this busy city....full of tank after tank of oil, its waterfront
> full of ships coming and going....a very busy place. Today, from the
> satellites, it looks like most everyone abandoned it! There are circular
> pits where all those tanks the Iraqis probably burned in the war used to
> sit. The airport was empty. Khorramshahr, too, looked in trouble.
>
> I've been watching the photos from Bandar-e-Khomeyni, the island port at
> the NW end of the Gulf. Take Google Earth to it. Where is everyone??
> Where are the SHIPS at the docks? Where are the streams of VEHICLES in and
> out? There's a nice picture of "Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone 2"
> taken by Ali Farnam posted there. Who left all the lights on? Now, zoom
> Google Earth's satellite photos in on the petrochemical plants. Look
> really close at the 1000 ft level. See any cars, trucks, people? See any
> traffic on the roads? This is a huge facility! It should have thousands
> of workers, staff, managers, tank trucks full of some really awful-smelling
> stuff moving around. WHERE IS EVERYONE? Did they tell them "Hey,
> everybody hide! Google Earth is going to take our picture from space!"
>
> I flew over this port when I lived in Iran. You couldn't fit a 2 meter
> rowboat between the ships docked on all those piers. Trucks were lined up
> waiting to load and unload. Today, it might as well be on the MOON.
>
> Someone isn't telling us the TRUTH. Can you guys help me understand what
> real Iranians are going through, today? Some must really be suffering as
> this island is repeated across the country. What happened to it...them?
>
> It's hard to tell who to believe any more, we've all been lied to so much.