US STATE TERRORISM AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN!

A SUPERPOWER AGAINST CIVILIANS WHO ARE NOT EVEN HALF AS ARMED YET WINNING A WAR AGAINST STATE TERRORISM FROM THE US AND ITS EUROPEAN ALLIES!

Martyrdom-seeking Operations: "Zenith of Courage and Bravery"The following excerpt is from Ayatollah al-Udhma Sayyed Ali Khamenei's speech on the current situation in Palestine, delivered on May 1, 2002:In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. First of all I would like to welcome you my dear brothers and sisters. In particular I would like to welcome the esteemed families of the martyrs as well as my friends, brothers and sisters who have come from other cities and remote areas...The issues of the Islamic world are very important. It should not be imagined that there is no connection between our domestic issues and the problems of the Islamic world, Palestine and Middle East. No, today the issues of the world are all inter-connected. The problems of nations are all inter-related. The powers, which formulate policies that lead to problems for the nations of the world, do not distinguish between this or that nation in their bid to fulfill their objectives and interests. The Palestine issue is not merely an issue for a single nation. The issue is in effect about the sovereignty of international dictatorship and the domination of force and coercion. Just look at the events in the Palestinian lands today. We are witnessing some of the most tragic events in history in Palestine. The usurper and counterfeit government of Israel - relying on its military power, tanks, aircraft and the ruthless and oppressive firepower - has imposed a siege on Palestinian towns. It is occupying these towns one after the other, and continues to massacre the people and destroy their homes. One day it is Ramallah, and the next day it is the turn of Jenin, Nablus and Al-Khalil [Hebron] and other cities. One cannot begin to even describe the tragedies that have taken place in these towns. We have seen military forces entering these towns, killing, wounding or arresting many innocent people. There are many thousands of wounded people and thousands of martyrs in these towns now. Moreover, they have kidnapped thousands of young people out of their homes and have taken them to unknown locations. They have destroyed countless number of homes. Generous US support for Israel I have heard that 70 per cent of Jenin was destroyed by Israeli forces. Can you imagine, tanks rolling in and destroying 70 per cent of a city? What is the meaning of these crimes that are committed before the eyes of humanity? It means that a government that is a tyrannical government that does not care about any humanitarian, religious and divine regulations. Such a government is creating these tragedies to satisfy its own greed and to continue its tyranny of the past several dozen years. Despite doing so, the American government offers total and unstinting support to Israel. In the midst of these developments, all the international slogans in support of human rights, defense of nations, democracy, freedom and the rest are forgotten. Despite the fact that the global conscience was moved, the conscience of the American leaders and the White House administration was not distressed in the slightest. They, the American administration, intend to make the world understand the following two points: The first is that they intend to keep this cancerous tumor at all cost. Secondly, they wish to make the world realize that they are going to resort to force. They say: We intend to force and bully the rest of the world and we do not care what is said against us. In other words, they wish to convince the people of the world that no word and no action will be able to stand up to America's power of bayonet and military might. That is what they are trying to prove, but they have failed so far. Despite all their demonstration of might, they have not reached their objectives so far. Why? Because the nation of Palestine has not surrendered. They - by exerting pressure, by resorting to massacre, by demonstrating lack of compassion and by trampling on all humanitarian principles - intend to force the Palestinian nation to surrender. They intend to force the nation of Palestine to submit totally to their demands and abandon its own justified wishes. But they have failed to realize this objective. Contrary to the assumption of America and Israel, the power of force will not win. The final word in all problems is uttered by the people's power of determination and faith. This is true in this case too. Martyrdom-seeking Operations: "Zenith of Courage and Bravery" In response to the horrendous tyranny that the people of Palestine are subjected to these days, there are two solutions. These two solutions are inevitable and must be accepted by everyone. The first is to continue the intifada. The people of Palestine must continue their resistance. Praise be to God, they have stood firm so far. The climax of this resistance can be seen in the martyrdom-seeking operations. It is the zenith of honor for a man, a young person, boy or girl, to be prepared to sacrifice his life in order to serve the interests of his nation and his religion. This is the zenith of courage and bravery. This is what frightens the enemy. We have therefore seen that everyone, from the American president to the lowest rank of officials who work to serve the American policies all over the world, has tried to put a stop to these martyrdom-seeking operations by censuring and denouncing it. On the contrary, martyrdom-seeking operations demonstrate the pinnacle of a nation's honor. They demonstrate the zenith of the epic. Are there not any martyrdom-seeking operations when a military force is offering to sacrifice everything to defend its homeland? Are there not any martyrdom-seeking operations when a belligerent and ruthless army commits an aggression against another country, whose people put up a resistance against the invading army? In such cases, who can condemn such operations? Who can mar the value and esteem of such operations in the minds of the fair and conscientious people? Martyrdom-seeking operations are the zenith of the Palestinians greatness. This is the truth even though some people may decide to utter and write contradictory words and censure a nation which has been suffering for 50 years, because of the failure of the past generations to pay attention to its long-term interests, and is now left with no option but to sacrifice its blood to restore its rights. The Palestinian nation is alive and alert and is moving forward. This was the first solution. Suspending Oil Exports The second solution is support. The entire world should support the Palestinians. Of course, the nations have lent their support. Even in Europe, the nations have given support and have staged demonstrations. They have used different vehicles to express their heartfelt support. Even inside the United States there has been expression of support. These trends will continue. Nonetheless, the governments must also fulfill their duties. In particular, the governments of Islamic countries, and specifically the Arab states, must do their duties. What we said about suspending oil exports for a month was a fundamental issue, which obviously cannot be approached superficially. Of course, this action is not merely a theatrical move that one government alone says I will suspend oil exports and it is not clear whether that has happened or not. It is a real and serious action. Everyone must make this decision. Some arguments have been offered saying that in the first place, such a move would be detrimental to those cutting off their oil supplies. This is not true. This is an error in calculations. Cutting off the oil supplies is not disadvantageous to the nations. It will in the end prove beneficial to them. Right now one day the price of oil is 24 or 25 dollars per barrel and within a few days, it comes down to 15 or 16 dollars. You can see that the nations are coming to harm because of the dramatic fluctuations in the oil price. This is because someone else holds the reigns. By cutting off oil exports for a month, the Muslim nations will demonstrate their decision making clout. The Islamic governments and nations will prove their ability to take action against the system of international dictatorship, and against the will of those bullies who only rely on the power of their bayonet. They should do this. This action is unavoidable. Some governments such as Syria and Lebanon have adopted good positions on this issue. All the Muslim governments, and the oil-producing and exporting countries must attach a lot of importance to this historic duty. History will judge them for their ability to take decisive steps. Even today, the nations are going to judge them and come to a decision about their sincerity and virtues on this basis. Of course, this is only one of the ways by which help can be given to the Palestinians. There are, however, other ways. The governments and nations must provide financial aid. I said this to our nation and other nations in one of my recent Friday prayer sermons. One should support the oppressed people who are fighting in defense of their homeland, Bayt al-Muqadas and the identity of a Muslim nation, and are seeking to put a stop to the presence of global arrogance in this region. Both the governments that neighbor Palestine and all the liberation movements and popular resistance forces must assist the Palestinians. Anyone who is able to render such assistance must do so promptly. This is a duty for everyone. Islamic Republic Not Scared of the U.S. The American government is standing firm behind the Israeli government, despite all the deceptive claims that the American media relentless put forward about the leadership of the world, human rights, and so on and so forth. One is really astonished at the shameless audacity of some arrogant statesmen of the world. They consider their actions to be the embodiment of justice, even though they do not understand the meaning of the concept. The American government does not know what justice means. Which of their actions can be called just? They consider this the Israeli action as a just war and as a war against terrorism. However, they themselves are openly supporting the most cowardly terrorists. Humanity's brow is covered with the sweat of shame and embarrassment [Audience chants: Death to America]. Of course today the Americans have totally fallen from the eyes of the world nations that is, they have lost the respect of the world nations, thanks to their irrational behavior. They are despised. They have attracted the hatred of all the people who have pure hearts and clear conscience. In the eye of the American government any state that adopts a justified stance against their actions in Palestine, is a forsaken state. They bear a grudge against the Islamic Republic because the Islamic Republic speaks of justice, because the Islamic Republic is not influenced by fear of America, because it is not scared of America, because it refuses to abandon its will just to please America's statesmen and because it is not prepared to lose its independence. That is why they are hostile with the Islamic Republic. In the past, whenever they intended to say something against the Islamic Republic, they used to make allegations that human rights are not respected in Iran, etc, etc. But today everything has become obvious. It is now clear what the reason for their opposition to the Islamic Republic is. The reason is that the Islamic Republic has not submitted to the logic of bullying and shall never do so [Audience chants: Allahu Akbar, Death to America, Death to Israel]. The Islamic Republic of Iran's stances are very clear and 100 percent rational. The state authorities have mentioned these stances on many occasions. The esteemed president has repeatedly reiterated these stances during his visits in recent days before other nations and at international organizations. These are the logical stances of the Islamic Republic. When you look at the Islamic world, you will see that every single member of the Muslim nations lauds these stances. The nations are after justice. The basic strategy for global system of arrogance and bullying is to force the nations to accept its logic of coercion, oppression and injustice. They are seeking a world that is based on oppression and tyranny. They want to run this world with tyranny to the advantage of large companies and capitalists or the Zionist or non-Zionist managers of the world's huge financial resources, and to the detriment of the nations. Moreover, they expect everyone to obey these stances. But, how can this ever materialize? It is possible that some governments may give in to this pressure, because they want to safeguard the personal interests of their officials. However, a justice-seeking government or nation - which speaks and acts under the banner of Islam and adopts its stances on the basis of its independence and national identity - is never going to succumb...

SPEECH GIVEN BY OUR LEADER IN IRAN: EXPOSING AMERICA, ITS ALLIES BRITAINN AND TERRORIST STATE OF ZIONIST ISRAEL:

The Leader of Muslims: Iraqi Muslims Should Not Cooperate with Foreign RuleThe Leader of Muslims, His Eminence Ayatullah al-Uzma Hajj Seyed Ali Khamene'i (d.) has asked Iraqi Muslims not to cooperate with foreign rule and said: "Today, if anyone assists foreign forces to consolidate their rule in Iraq, this will be recorded in the history of Iraq as a shameful stain for any individual or any group that does it.” Addressing Iraqi Muslims in Arabic in the second khutbah of Friday-prayers on 11 April, Ayatollah Khamene'i said: "The American and British claim that they are giving freedom to the Iraqi people is a travesty. In reality, they are acting to secure control of Iraq, its oil and the Middle East and they are trying to suppress the Palestinian intifada. They are also trying to bury the Islamic revival. The appointment of a foreign ruler in Iraq is a humiliation for freedom and popular sovereignty in Iraq. They are scheming to obliterate Iraq's Islamic identity and nationalism and to turn it into a springboard for American domination of all the Middle East and its valuable human and material resources."Ayatollah Khamene'i delineated Islamic Republic's policy as follows: "As far as the war between Saddam on the one hand, and America and Britain on the other, is concerned, we believed that both sides were wrong. We have not given any help to any of them, and we declared our neutrality towards both of them. However, we will not be neutral in the confrontation between the occupiers and the Iraqi people." THE FIRST KHUTBAH In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate... I would like to call upon all my brothers and sisters who are performing their prayers, as well as myself, to be pious and frugal. I would like to advise you to be careful about your words and your deeds and even your thoughts. Today, in the first sermon, I am going to talk about the important issue of the day, which is the issue of Iraq and the extremely complex events taking place there. In the second sermon, I shall spend most of my time addressing my Arab brothers and sisters in Iraq and other Islamic countries in Arabic... On Iraqi history, an important event has transpired in Iraq. A military attack has been launched and the group that was in charge has been toppled. There is a nation that has its own demands, ideals, and desires. It has its own capabilities and a group of claimants has surrounded it. Of course, perhaps you know that Iraq encountered many difficulties in the last century. Bloody events happened. After the fall of the Ottoman government, the British put a non-Iraqi family in charge and that family was supposed to be the royal family. They had three kings over a number of years. The first one died. The second one was killed in a mysterious accident. The third one was chopped into pieces by the people. They were appointed by the British. Then government after government came to power, after staging coups. These governments lasted almost a decade, from 1337 [1958] until 1347 [1968] when the Ba'athist government came to power, in which Saddam was the second man, and the first was Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr. They ruled for 10 years - three rulers resulting from military coups. The first was killed, the second was murdered in suspicious circumstances, and the third was removed from power. From 1347 onwards - the Ba'athists have been ruling for some 30-odd years. One should consider these 37 years as Iraq's hardest period, particularly the period of Saddam's independent rule. Now, Saddam's government has been toppled, and no one knows where Saddam is - which is a very suspicious situation. This issue is in fact not just a isolated case. What has now taken place in Iraq involves four issues. The Americans, the British and their propaganda organs want to wrap things up quickly, and turn this into a simple issue, and to create a yes or no scenario about it in public minds. Yet, their attempts are futile. This involves four issues, not just one. It was only yesterday, or the day before that, when a message from Bush and Blair to the Iraqi people was broadcast. Well, of course, the Iraqi people did not have any electricity, and could not receive it. The gist of the message was that we came to Iraq to liberate you. They wrapped up the issue in the remark: we have come to liberate you and free you from Saddam's clutches. There are two major mistakes in this brief remark by the gentlemen. American aim is not to liberate Iraq: One is that they are saying: we have come to liberate you', meaning that the Iraqi nation does not have the ability, strength and competence for doing that, and that they should do it for them. This is indeed a major mistake. Secondly, that this remark was also a lie, since one does not liberate a nation by attacking them with fire, bombs and missiles. One does not destroy cities, villages, and residential areas on such a scale or cause such tragedies - which I shall briefly talk about - under the pretext of destroying a military garrison. No, the issue is not that of liberating Iraq. There are four issues, which one should separate. One issue concerns the fall of Saddam. Some kind of irritation and contradiction had occurred between the interests of Saddam and the interests of the ruling American administration - on which I will briefly elaborate later. This led to dispute and fight. Well, they were stronger and toppled Saddam. This is one issue. Our stance on this issue is clear, and I will also elaborate on that. We have a clear stance on each of these four issues. We separate these issues to clarify the stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is based on Islamic thinking, Islamic wisdom. One issue concerns Saddam's downfall. The second issue, which has occurred in Iraq, and still continues, concerns the tragedies which have been inflicted on the Iraqi nation. That is different to Saddam's fall. There is a different ruling for this, and we will also declare our stance on this. The third issue concerns the fact that an act of military aggression has been carried out by foreign forces against an independent country - a military invasion - under various pretexts, saying that they possess weapons of mass destruction, or are supporting terrorism. Well, one can make such remarks anytime from behind tribunes. These are not permits for launching a military invasion against a country and violating a country's borders. This is the third issue, on which we will also outline our stance. The fourth issue concerns the management of Iraq's future, for which they have also devised plans, programs, and projects, with the futile ideas that they are harboring in their minds - which is also a separate issue. There is a ruling for each one of these issues. Regarding the first issue, which concerns the fall of Saddam, the issue is basically is that in the beginning, earlier on in his rule, Saddam did not have any conflicts of interests with America. The Americans themselves have claimed that from the very start of Saddam's rule America's CIA had played a part in the coup staged by the Ba'athists in Iraq in 1347 [1968]. On American policy towards Saddam However, there is no doubt that after that, their interests were intertwined. That was especially after the Islamic revolution and the formation of the Islamic Republican state. Before that, they got together with the Iranian satanic tyrant, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi [the Shah]. It was clear that their interests were similar to one another. Then after the revolution, they had common interests. He had coveted the territory of our country and America opposed the establishment of the Islamic Republican state. So they were connected with each other. Therefore, in 1359 [1980], when Iraq started its war on Iran, that is the imposed war, Saddam launched an air raid on he first day. The Americans did not even so much as scowl at him from the first hour of the war. In fact, they increased their assistance to him every day. Those are the facts of the case. It means that this is not about different probabilities. Of course, one probability is that he had already coordinated his activities with America beforehand. I cannot make any claims about that because I simply do not know what happened. Of course, there are reports on this issue. During my visits to other countries, when I was president, a number of Islamic heads of state said the same thing to me. They said that he had already coordinated with certain quarters. Now, we are not sure about that. What we are sure about is that after the war started, America gave Saddam maximum support. They supported him and they even put pressure on the UN and compelled it to support Saddam in various ways. We tolerated that war for eight years and Saddam served their interests. Because Saddam acted to further American interests, he kept the Islamic Revolution busy for eight years, and he kept it focused on an internal bloody affair, namely, the war. If a fledgling country or revolution is not involved in a bloody war, then, well, they will have an opportunity to focus on reconstruction and they will be able to accomplish great tasks. Now, Saddam took advantage of the best periods of our lives, that is eight years, and he kept us busy in a way that served American interests. Their interests were interwoven. Later on, in 1369 [1990] Saddam attacked Kuwait. That was when their interests became incompatible. They saw that, no, this man was so ambitious that he was endangering American interests in the region. That is because attacking Kuwait was tantamount to attacking American interests. If they had not stopped Saddam, he might have attacked Saudi Arabia as well. Indeed, he used to say these things as well. He said: When I take Kuwait, I will go forward as far as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar and I will go as far as possible. I mean that was Saddam's intention. Well, their interests became incompatible. From then on, the UN started to put pressure on Saddam and there was a propaganda campaign against him as well. Saddam was not a person who could put up resistance against America. He was prepared to make concessions or make a deal. However, the Americans could not do that. They faced a complex problem. If they had made a deal with him, they would have lost their friends in the Persian Gulf. The rulers of the Persian Gulf could not bear to see America strengthening Saddam as it had done before. That was because they were scared. If America wanted to exert maximum pressure on Saddam, then, well, it would have had to forego its interests in Iraq. Therefore, America faced a paradox. Iraq is a country that has vast oil and other resources. It has a population of approximately 20 million people. It was really attractive to America in this important part of the Middle East. It wanted to stay there. It wanted to maintain its presence there and pursue its activities. It wanted to plunder its resources, but it could not do that. That was because if it made a deal with Saddam, it would have faced problems elsewhere. If it did not make a deal, it would have had to forego its interests. That is when the contradiction between America and Saddam's regime became more serious. They started thinking about the situation. They wanted to eliminate Saddam and pave the way for themselves in Iraq and make things easier for themselves. These things happened later on. Therefore, when the Americans or the British claim that they went there to remove Saddam to help the Iraqi people, they are telling a blatant lie. They did not do this for the Iraqi people at all. Iraqis hate both Saddam and occupiers They removed Saddam because their interests started to come into conflict with Saddam's interests. Otherwise, when their interests were the same, they used to support him, just as they supported him during the war with Iran. ? Well, they came, put pressure on him with military force, and Saddam left. Is the Iranian nation happy or not? Of course, it is happy. The Iranian nation has been saying Death to the hypocrites and Saddam' for 20 years. Now, death has come to Saddam. The happiness of our people in this affair is like the happiness of the Iraqi people. Our stance is exactly the stance of the Iraqi nation. The Iraqi nation, too, is happy about Saddam's departure and we, too, are happy about Saddam's departure. He was a dictator, bad, cruel, unmindful of obligations and commitments, very unruly. That was the kind of person he was and he was ruling dictatorially over a nation. He was a bad creature both for the Iraqi nation and for us as a neighbor. Hence, the idea that the occupiers should say that the happiness of the people of Iraq is because of their presence, this is a claim that is worthy of derision. No, the Iraqi people's happiness is because of his Saddam's departure. A few days ago, a European TV showed a sight from Baghdad. They asked something of a youth, the youth clenched his fist and said in Arabic: Death to Saddam, Death to Bush. He said death to both of them. Of course, they only showed it once. In other words, news censorship did not allow it to be repeated. Otherwise, if they asked 1,000 people in Iraq, 900 of them would give the same answer. Happiness about Saddam's departure has nothing to do with the arrival of the occupier; it cannot be put to their account. Well, a few people in Baghdad may wave their hands; then, to quickly say, yes, the people have welcomed us. No. Not at all. I have information, clear information from various perspectives. Neither in Basra where the British have come, nor in other towns where the Americans have come, the people have shown no delight at seeing the occupiers. Iranian, Iraqi people were neutral in war ? Even if the people of Iraq were happy about Saddam's departure, their happiness paled because of the bombardments of the American and British forces. During those few weeks, they truly inflicted a great deal of hardship on the people. ?Therefore, the people of Iraq remained neutral in the war between Saddam and the invaders and aggressors. The Iranian government also announced its neutral stance towards this war. That is what being neutral means. Both sides are oppressors, both fronts are oppressors, Saddam is an oppressor and the invaders are oppressors too. The Iraqi nation did not support any of the sides in this war and the Iranian nation and government did not support any of the sides either. That is the meaning of being neutral. That is, we did not provide the least bit of support to any of the sides. We neither helped Saddam to save himself nor supported the invaders to win faster. We used all our resources to make sure that none of the sides was helped. Of course those who spy on everywhere with their satellites know that well and we do not need to tell them. But, the Iranian nation should know that during that time the war the Iranian government and the country's officials did their utmost - and were successful – in stopping any kind of help to any of the sides. Obviously, if the advance of the invaders was swift it was because the Iraqi nation stayed neutral. If the Iraqi nation had been behind Saddam in this war, the aggressors know well that they could not have advanced in the manner, which they did. That is what happens when a nation does not believe in a system, in a country and in its officials. The Iraqi nation had been assaulted, hurt, insulted, and tyrannized by the country's officials; therefore, it did not extend any kind of support to them. That is how the enemy, the enemy of the country, the invaders, managed to make swift advance, and there are things to be said about that too. As we said, our nation is happy in this affair. Our government is happy. Our officials are happy. Of course, they are also a bit suspicious, both the nation and the government and officials. They are a bit suspicious about this affair, about why Baghdad did not resist like Basra. In other words, after the first week of the war, the situation of the war changed. The first week, there was a serious war. They were saying that the serious war will come after this, but after that - the aggressors were stuck for a few days. Then, when the aggressors started to move, there was no proper defense. Baghdad surrendered in two, three days. That is to say, it fell. No one defended Baghdad properly; whereas, in Baghdad itself, according to the information that we had, there were about 120,000 armed troops. While, the defense circles of 100-km width that they had arranged around Baghdad along with the Saddam's Guards around Baghdad were much more than this. Setting those aside, even Baghdad itself, with about ?100,000 to 120,000 armed troops was unable to resist for more than two, three days in the face of the attack. Either it was unable or it was ordered not to resist. It is not clear now. The future will clear up these ambiguities. Anyway, therefore, as far as the first event is concerned, namely the American and British aggressors toppling of Saddam, our policy is - if I can sum it up - that we did not help either of the tyrants. We are very happy that Saddam was overthrown. Our nation is happy as well. We were neutral and we did not support either of them. The Iraqi nation was neutral as well. We are happy in the same way that the Iraqi nation is happy. That is the first thing. Criticizing bombings in Iraq The second thing that happened was the atrocities committed towards the people of Iraq during that period. These are not things that will be forgotten. You see, 27 years have passed since the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War came to an end in 1354 [1975]. Now, 27 years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War. Many things about the Vietnam War have been forgotten. However, the atrocities that the Americans committed towards the people during that war will not be forgotten. Just look at how many films have been produced and how many stories are being told. The people of the world remember those things and the conscience of the people of the world will always keep them alive. That was an attack on the people. The most important right of human beings is the right to live and exist. Those gentlemen claimed that they were defending human rights and they denied the peoples of those cities the right to live by bombing them. More than 1,000 Cruise missiles were fired. Unfortunately, I do not have the accurate statistics handy. Thousands of super heavy bombs were dropped. There were innumerable rounds of artillery fire. They repeatedly dropped those things on those cities in various ways. The cities of Basra, Al-Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah, Al-Hillah and Baghdad, as well as other cities, were affected. People, lived in those cities. We know the meaning of being bombed. We were bombed ourselves. ? Missiles fell on us in Tehran, Dezful and other cities. The same was true of other cities. We know what that means. Tens or hundreds of missiles were fired on a particular city over the course of only one hour. Is that a joke? They claim that they wanted to destroy military targets. How many military targets were there in Iraq that they had to be attacked with more than 1,000 Cruise missiles and more than thousands of bombs? Those things exterminated the people. They created a reign of terror for the people. The people's children were frightened. The people's children were killed. The people's children went hungry. Only those people who have infants in need of milk, but they do not have any milk to feed them, and mothers who do not have any food and drinkable water to give their children can understand. Only, they understand the meaning of that statement. Look how many children broke their parents' hearts because they were crying. Look how many young people were laid up in hospitals and their wounds could not be nursed. Look how many children who were dear to their families were taken away from them. Then they have insulted the people. They have entered their homes. Such scenes are really heart-rending. Really heart-rending. They enter people's homes and handcuff a man in front of his family. They cover his head, blindfold him, and handcuff him. Then they insult and threaten him just because someone may have accused him of something or because they may have had unfounded suspicions about him. Are these things not important enough? They handcuffed Arab men from behind, they wrapped their heads with their kaffiyah and made them lie down on the floor, and they were standing over them with their rifles. Foreign troops were there. Are these things not serious calamities? Can one make amends for such things? That is a really, important event. American troops frisked veiled Arab women. Arab women who were wearing veils, cloaks and long coats and they were covered from top to toe. Then a young American that no one knows who he really is starts frisking them to make sure that they are not carrying bombs. Is that the meaning of human rights? Is that the meaning of showing respect for human beings? Is that the meaning of respecting human liberty, which those liars claim they are doing? Such things cannot be resolved by apologizing. They have hit them and they are saying that they are sorry and they made mistakes. That is just what they did in Afghanistan. The same thing has happened in Afghanistan. This sort of thing has happened many times since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Only a few days ago there was another such case. They bombed an entire crowd and then they say that they were sorry and that they had made a mistake. Can one erase the impact of one's crimes by saying sorry, we made a mistake? That was the second thing. We sympathize with the Iraqi people. We condemn the aggressor. If the aggressor claims that it is defending human rights, then we say that the aggressor is a liar. Now, the third issue is that a country was militarily invaded under the pretext of its possession of weapons of mass destruction. That is one of the ugliest and vilest things that could have been done. The conscience of the people of the world condemned it and considered it to be illegitimate. I remember that anti-American demonstrations were occasionally held in certain parts of the world during the Vietnam War. However, I did not see such gatherings that we saw during this affair during the Vietnam War. Such things did not exist. It happened in all parts of the world. Back then, it was said that the Soviet Union organized the assemblies and demonstrations. Who is organizing them today? People gathered and there were massive gatherings of thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Africa, as well as in Europe and even America itself. All of them chanted the same slogan. Who organized them? There is no headquarters to organize them? It is the conscience of the people of the world. It is the conscience of human beings. It condemns such things. This should be condemned. It sets a really, ugly precedent. This means returning to the era of wars of aggression and the kind of expansionism that prevailed in the old days. They found a pretext against a country and no matter how many times UN inspectors said that what they were saying was not right they told them that they did not know what they were talking about. They said that they knew what they were saying was right. Then they attacked. That was really, wrong. We condemned and we shall condemn it again. America proved itself as "axis of evil" We, of course, believe that the UN failed to carry out its obligations in this matter war on Iraq. Why did the Security Council not condemn the American and British attack against Iraq? Why did they not issue a resolution against them? It would have been fine even if they America and Britain had vetoed the resolution. The actual issuing of a resolution at the Security Council would have been a move against them. Why did they not do that? Why did they not hold a UN General Assembly so that the action could be condemned at the General Assembly? There was a great deal of works, which the UN secretary-general should have done. There are many expectations from the UN. Of course, it is years since we have stopped to expect anything from the UN, because we see the actions, we see the influences. Nonetheless, such expectations exist. They UN and Security Council failed to carry out their obligations. With its act of aggression, America proved that it is a rogue country. That it is what a former American president attributed to a number of other countries of the world. A rogue state does what they did the war on Iraq. That is what a rogue country does against humanity, against other countries' stability. They proved that it is the axis of evil in the true sense of the word. They proved that they are what our honorable Imam Khomeini called them: the Great Satan. It is indeed the Great Satan. The British have also made a big mistake. They have followed America so that they can get a share of the spoils. However, they have made a mistake. This is because in this region and particularly in Iran, Iraq, and India, the British have a hateful and shameless reputation because of the bad things they have done there. After 30 or 40 years, a government more evil than them appeared in the world and gradually this reputation was being forgotten. Mr. Blair has once again enlivened this hateful and shameless reputation in the minds of the people. It was a great mistake. Therefore, in this third case, which is a military attack, we were in agreement with the world people and deplored this action and we still deplore it. We believe it to be an unprecedented departure in international relations and an aggression against an Islamic country, Islam, the Muslims and the Islamic Ummah. The fourth issue is again different from the others. It is the future domination of America over Iraq. In addition to the fact that they have attacked and carried out such atrocities and crimes, they want to rule Iraq by installing a foreign American military ruler, who may be a Zionist or a person who is totally, attached to Zionist circles, in that country. They want to place him at the head of an Islamic country and a brave Arab nation. This is the fourth significant issue. Britain likes the scent of oil They have made a division between themselves or so they imagine. Of course, there are clear signs of differences between America and Britain. However, on the face of it, there seems to be a division. In Basra, the scent of oil is a bit more intense and it is closer to the oil regions. The British like the scent of oil. Basra is for the British according to the division. Baghdad is the centre for the Americans' power. The Americans like making a show of power and acting like a brawny actor. So, Baghdad is for them. A kind of division of this kind has taken place between them. Of course, they have many differences, these will increase, and they will become known to the people. However, for the time being, they seem to have agreed on this kind of arrangement. This is a return to the very first era of colonialism and mere reaction. It was like this in the early days of colonialism. Colonialist European governments would go and seize countries by force in Asia, in Africa. Then, they would put in place a military ruler so that that person could control the entire the region. They did this in India. They did this in Australia. They did this in Canada, In Africa, in numerous countries. Then, after a while, they realized that this is wrong, this is a mistake. Putting a foreign, military ruler over a nation, this is a mistake. They changed the formula. They would find rulers from those countries and put them in power, so that they would be entirely obedient to them. They would help them, provide them with facilities, and they would allow the colonialists to pillage the country freely, openly; so that they could do whatever they liked with that country. Another period went by like this and they realized that they had made a mistake. That method was not correct either. Because, the nations will rise up against such rulers, despite the fact that they may be from their own country, one of their own, but because they are affiliated to them big powers and because they are tyrants and oppressors. Later they changed their methods. They adopted a so-called democratic method through cultural domination and hegemony. They chose a ruler who supported them through so-called election. The same thing happened during the era of the taghut rule of the former Shah. First of all, the British brought to power Reza Pahlavi and then Mohammad Reza the last shah and his father before the revolution. Then, they realized that there would be problems. So, they forced the shah to appoint Ali Amini as prime minister so that he could introduce the so-called reforms. Then the shah realized that he might lose his authority, he said that he was going to introduce the reforms himself. He introduced the disgraceful six-point reforms during the era of the taghut. These are what the colonialists have carried out in practice in various places at different times. Now they have returned to the first period. That is, they occupy a place with the force of arms, and then they themselves appoint a ruler. That is a very strange, reactionary, ugly, insulting action, which derives from such arrogance, and which will eventually topple them. It is due to lack of understanding of the situation and time. Almost the whole world has condemned such an action. They have said that such an action cannot be carried out. On future American plans in Iraq ?This is adding mistake to a mistake. The ruler should be neither a foreigner nor a Zionist. The Iraqi people want a ruler who has been elected by themselves and without the support of the aggressive powers. Of course, the Americans think that they have everything planned. They think that they will install him [Jay Garner] and then take control of the state of affairs and give some help to the Iraqi people and, at the same time, change the people's culture by controlling the education system. They think that they can do the same in Afghanistan. The Americans have published tons of Farsi and Pashto primary school textbooks in an Asian country so that they can distribute them in Afghan schools. Thus, through the lessons, the Afghan children's culture, religion and historic outlook changes completely and America's image is not tarnished in their eyes. This is what they think they can do in Iraq. Such a thing will most certainly not happen. The hatred of the Iraqi teachers and people towards their Americans and British atrocities is so deep-rooted that, without a doubt, it will be transferred to the next and later Iraqi generations. At any rate, this is their American and British plan. This is the fourth issue. This issue is not the same as the previous issue. Even if they do not do this, the aggression, which is a great mistake and sin, would still exist. Regardless of whether they do such a thing or not, every other issue which I have mentioned is independently a great sin and mistake. It is an insult to the Iraqi nation. A person is surprised at how shameless they are. They are prepared to openly say in the television that the Iraqi nation cannot elect a ruler for itself. How can a person be so shameless and be prepared to speak in such a way and accuse a nation, with such a background, history, people, scientists and politicians, of being incapable? We believe this to be disregard for the Iraqi nation's rights. We deplore and cannot accept such a thing. The Iraqi people will not accept a new dictator. The Iraqi nation has not come out of Saddam's ditch to fall into the well of an American military ruler. Even if they bring an Iraqi national to power in such manner, the people will most definitely not accept it. In any case, we believe what they are saying at the moment is an act of aggression against the sanctity of Islam and Muslims. Military victory, with all the ambiguities, which surrounds it, does not mean final victory. The Americans have endured losses and they have suffered defeats in war on Iraq. Of course, they may not know it, but, most definitely, in the near future they will see the effects of such failure. They have experienced defeat in three main areas. One is their defeat concerning the slogan of Western democracy and freedom, the kind of liberal-democracy, which they propagate throughout the world. That concept was lost because of the war. They showed that liberal-democracy could not bring freedom to a nation in the true sense of the word. When its America's financial interests are concerned, it is prepared to trample upon the peoples' freedoms, lives, and their right to choose. America, Britain and Israel are the "axes of evil" If they were telling the truth and believed in democracy; if they believed in the rights of the people, then they should have immediately withdrawn their military forces from Iraq and not interfered in Iraq's affair. However, that will not happen. It is obvious. They have been defeated from an ideological standpoint. Their slogans have turned out to be false. The people around the world also came to see that. This became apparent in the slogans they broadcast around the world. It became apparent that the people around the world had become aware of their mendacity. Some 10 to 15 of these slogans, which the people had chanted or written on placards, were passed on to me. They are all indicative of the fact that the people around the world have understood the exact truth. ?This war is a war for oil, not a war for freedom and human rights. This was one of the slogans. This war is for saving the bankrupt American economy. This war is an aggressive occupation of the Hitler kind. America, Britain and Israel are the axes of evil. These were slogans chanted by people around the world, not just the people in Tehran. The people of Iran had felt these slogans from some time ago, thanks to their clear-sightedness. Today the world public opinion has become aware of them and is repeating them - and many other such slogans. Therefore, they have been defeated concerning their thinking and their freedom and democracy- seeking slogan. Their second defeat is their political defeat. Today, America has been isolated around the world from a political standpoint. This American formula, this American solution, which is to install an American military ruler - a retired American major-general in Iraq - has been rejected by almost every country in the world, apart from the two or three from among themselves. It has been rejected by Arab states, by Islamic states and by European states. Their third defeat was that their military awe was smashed. They were pretending that they could overcome the Iraqi forces within three to four days. Ultimately, it became clear that, more than three days, four days and even more were needed and if the Iraqi forces had fought this story would have continued and it would not have been clear right to the end if they would have achieved a military victory because of the large number of casualties. They Iraqi forces did not fight when they had to. That leaves many questions and ambiguities. As I mentioned earlier, we are not making a judgment here, but this is one of the question the answer to which will become clear in the future. Their fourth defeat was the defeat of their media credibility. The credibility of their news media was totally lost. The whole world realized that they censor reports and they kill reporters. They shot a reporter and then they said that they had made a mistake and no one believed that they had made a mistake. They disseminate false reports about the number of their casualties. They said during that time something like 80, 90, or 100 forces were killed. Everyone knows that this is a lie. We do not know the number of their casualties. But, the number of their casualties should apparently be asked from the workers in Kuwaiti mortuaries. They should know. The people of America will find out later. After the war in Vietnam, they said that they suffered 50,000 casualties. During the Vietnam War, they had mentioned small numbers such as ?10, 20, 100, and 200. In any case, these are their failures. Let me say one sentence, at the end of my remarks. First of all, my reading is that, in the event that took place - the issue of Iraq - the Zionists had the biggest role; both in encouraging the American administration to do this and in laying the groundwork for this task. The Zionists played a very big role. For the Zionists, this new map of the Middle East which Bush speaks about and repeats - as well as his cronies - means a map for spreading out in the Middle East, in the Arab and non-Arab countries around us, spreading out both in political terms and in economic terms, as well as - if it gets the chance - spreading out geographically. This is what the new map of the Middle East means. They have the most to gain in this affair, and they were the ones who laid the groundwork for it. For the time being, too, the evil Israelis and the evil Sharon have exploited it the most. These days, all the world's attention is on Iraq. The Palestinians are being killed on a daily basis, being put under pressure. Heart-rending calamities are taking place. Iraqis must not cooperate with foreign rule Well, let me say a word to the political activists of Iraq. The Iraqi stage has had many political activists. Today, the political activists of Iraq are faced with a very big test, a historical test. They must be careful not to commit a strategic mistake. They must neither be over excited by America's victory over Saddam, military victory; nor terrified. Both over-excitement and fear will harm them. Political activists must keep an eye on two things in Iraq: one is the issue of chaos, irrational acts of revenge, harmful rivalries. That is one of them. They must be very careful. Chaos is to the detriment of the people of Iraq and the future of Iraq. It will give an excuse to the occupiers to make their presence lasting there. They must prevent futile rivalries, wrong-headed acts of revenge. They must sit and think, plan. They must not allow this. It is possible. That is one thing. Second, cooperating with and assisting foreign rule - they must be careful not to commit this error, because it will be recorded in Iraq's history. Today, if anyone assists foreign forces so that they can consolidate their rule in Iraq, this will be recorded in the history of Iraq as a shameful stain for any individual or any group that does this. The Iraqi people seek independence. They seek freedom. They seek a government that is based on their religious and national ideals. That is what the Iraqi people want. Those who have been speaking in the name of the Iraqi people for many years must remain loyal to the Iraqi people. They must remain loyal to those ideals. They must demonstrate that this is indeed the case in practice. Underhand activities or making deals with foreign powers will make the people turn their back on them. The only things that they must bear in mind are God's, as well as their people's, satisfaction. They must know that military victory over the Saddam regime is not tantamount to political and cultural victory over the Iraqi nation. Yes, they have gained military victory over the Saddam regime. However, that does not mean that they have vanquished the Iraqi nation from political ad cultural points of view. We beseech Almighty God and ask Him to consider the bloods of the oppressed people and to help the Iraqi nation, all the oppressed nations, and the Palestinian nation to confront agents of tyranny. We ask Him to enable them to gain victory out of their steadfastness and religiosity...? THE SECOND KHUTBAH I will now say part of the things that I said to you to our Muslim, Arab brothers in Arabic. Peace be upon the Muslim brothers and Muslim sisters across the world, especially the wronged and persecuted Iraqi people. The events lived by Iraq these days are extremely important and complicated. As a matter of the fact, the Saddam regime has been overthrown. It was a model of wrongdoing, cruelty, and violence and, for many years, it threw the Iraqi people into the prison of its bloody tyranny and despotism. Therefore, its overthrow should be a day of historical joy. Nevertheless, the terrible disasters visited upon the people because of the American-British attack, and the plots hatched by the attackers to define the future of this people have made this proud and noble people feel bitter and they have saddened all the Muslims of the world. On criticizing US-British massacres in Iraq. The massacres are committed against an unarmed people who have found nowhere to escape. The cries of bereaved women and the injured; the cries of hungry; injured children left without medical treatment; the demolition of people's homes; the arrest and imprisonment of passers-by under futile pretexts; the disparaging of the sanctity of families; the spreading of widespread terror and fear; the humiliation of proud men and the shameful acts committed against them in front of their children and wife; the destruction of the vital infrastructure of the country; the dropping of thousands of bombs and missiles and the cannon shelling of cities; each of these acts constitutes a war crime. In this way, the invaders have committed even more crimes than those perpetrated by Saddam over many years. On US, British support for Saddam Hussein during Iran-Iraq war. There is nothing more hurtful and bitter for a people than to see foreign soldiers, who are in a state of drunken stupor because of their victory, enter their homes and lands unimpeded, and take over the control of their destiny. The Americans and the British claim that they have launched this attack of theirs to remove Saddam and establish democracy and freedom in Iraq, but they deliberately turn a blind eye to the fact that they were the ones who had equipped that cruel offender, Saddam. They backed him with everything they had to pave the way for him to perpetrate his cruel and criminal acts. They were the ones who had unleashed him to commit the horrendous massacre of 1991. They did not reproach him for what he did and they did not even bat an eye lid. They were the ones who helped him use chemical weapons against the Iranians, and worse still, against the people of Iraq in Halabjah. They turned a blind eye to what he did, and, during the eight-year war he imposed on the Islamic Republic, they backed him and supplied him with weapons and offered to help him to manage the news media. On US, British aims in Iraq They had turned a blind eye to all the disasters he had been inflicting on the Iraqi people, day and night. The American and British claim that they are giving freedom to the Iraqi people is a travesty. As a matter of fact, they are acting to secure control of Iraq, its oil and the Middle East and they are trying to suppress the Palestinian intifada. They are also trying to bury the Islamic revival. The appointment of a foreign ruler in Iraq is a humiliation for freedom and popular sovereignty in Iraq. They are scheming to obliterate Iraq's Islamic identity and nationalism and to turn it into a springboard for American domination of all the Middle East and its valuable human and material resources. They do not regard the Iraqi people as capable of self-determination and of being in control of their natural rights to their land. In their opinion, the best Iraqi elements are those who offer the biggest service to the foreign aggressors and who turn their back to their own people and their own homeland. The general feeling of the Iraqi people and all free men, as well as the judgment of history, is that any service offered to America that would help it achieve its vile colonial objectives is tantamount to the betrayal of Iraq, its people and its history. On predicting failure of US, British policies towards Iraq, The American and British dreams will not come true because, there will be resistance everywhere and it will have its own language and style in the face of acts of aggression with their own language and behavior. The Iraqi people who are renowned for their zeal, fervour and ardour, will not be an exception to this rule. Through their valiant resistance, the wronged Palestinian people have deprived their Zionist enemy, who has been shedding their blood and imposing ferocious repression upon them, of its ability to undermine the resistance. Similarly, the faithful and revolutionary Iranian people, through their unity and rectitude, have been able to foil the war of aggression imposed on them by the Saddam regime, which was relying on the assistance of the same America and Britain, as well as of the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. They helped the Saddam regime with arms, the news media and politics, but the Iranian people succeeded in preserving their borders - the borders of their country - and driving the enemy out of their borders. At the hands of this criminal Saddam, the Iranian cities had suffered, for years, from missile attacks and bombs and their self-sacrificing, free youths were hit with chemical bombs. However, the resistance of the people explodes the myths of dictatorship, colonialism, repression, and aggression. On Iraqi people's right to govern themselves The invaders have been able to subjugate the Ba'thist regime, and this is what we had expected to happen to a regime that was not protected by its people - a regime that used to rely on organs and elements of repression. However, these invaders will not be able to subdue the Iraqi people, and if they want to avoid a confrontation with the Iraqi people, then they should evacuate their armies from Iraq immediately, and completely avoid interfering with the destiny of Iraq and its people. Who rules Iraq is the business of the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi resources and wealth are its property. The Iraqi people are capable of appointing their own future government and if the Americans mean what they said and claimed about democracy, then they should not interfere in Iraqi affairs. In this way, through a general referendum, the Iraqi people themselves will be able to form their future government, elect its officials, and define the appropriate method to reconstruct what has been destroyed by these invaders. The position of the Iranian government and people is clear: We had been at loggerheads with the repressive and criminal regime of Saddam and we have opposed the foreign aggression against Iraq. As far as the war between Saddam on the one hand, and America and Britain on the other, is concerned, we believed that both sides were wrong. We have not given any help to any of them, and we declared our neutrality towards both of them. However, we will not be neutral in the confrontation between the occupiers and the Iraqi people. The occupier is an aggressor and it should be condemned, and the people against whom an act of aggression has been committed are right and they have been wronged. Our political help goes to every wronged and aggressed people, and this is the line from which we will not deviate. The Iraqi people today have a serious responsibility, and any abandonment or fragmentation of its position would entail a difficult future for them. National unity, presence in the arena and contributing to the formation of an independent government that defends the Islamic identity of Iraq, are the most important duties of the Iraqi people, especially that of the religious scholars, the intellectuals and the scientific and political elite. I pray to God to guide our Islamic Ummah to follow the right path of honorable record and piety, to achieve its desired objectives; Almighty God hears prayers; "Work, God, his messenger and the faithful will see what you do" [Qur'anic verse]. I ask for the forgiveness of God for me and for you.

END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ NOW MR. AMERICA, GET OUT!!!

End the Occupation of IraqIn the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.The following is a translation of the second khutbah of the Friday Prayer led by Ayatollah al-Udhma Sayyed Ali Hussaini Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on 19 Ramadan 1424 [14 November 2003] Excerpts for the second khutbah [translated from Farsi]. In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. . . . Today, the most important thing which the Islamic Republic system is doing is that it is calling for justice. Today, we call for justice to be served. All attempts and endeavors are being made for justice to be served in society. This is because if justice is served, then the people's rights and freedom will also be secure. Justice is the axis of everything. Today, the Islamic system is confronted by the arrogant system of the West, headed by America, and which is confronting justice. They want to fight justice. Today, if justice were to be served, the gang-leaders of global arrogance would be the first degree culprits to face the whip of justice. They cannot talk about and pursue justice. As a result, they mention democracy and human rights in order to counter the value of and undermine justice in the world. They say that they value democracy. However, they do not place any value on democracy. They propose democracy in order to undermine justice. On significance of justice What we, the officials of the Islamic republic, need to know is that justice is paramount. The world yearns for the coming of the Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his advent. His coming mainly symbolizes the establishment of Justice. His coming, first and foremost, will bring justice to the world. Everything else will then follow. All through history, the oppressed people have always yearned for justice. Our system today obligates us to pursue justice. This is our goal and slogan. We must choose the right path. Pursuing justice entails certain problems and costs. To tread on this path, we will certainly make enemies. In a letter to his military commander Malek Ashtar, Imam Ali (AS) advises him to listen to the ordinary people. Well, such action would naturally make the privileged class unhappy. This should be our slogan and ethical yard stick. Our plans, policies and actions should be based on this principle. However, it is easy to speak about justice but difficult to achieve it. We need to devise long term plans. We must base our future plans on justice. All our plans should bring us closer to the establishment of justice. This is our duty. This is the lesson taught by Imam Ali (AS). My first point in the second sermon is to advise piety. This speaker, more than you, is in need of piety and advise. I pray that the Almighty will bless us all with piety and the straight path. One of the subjects of my second sermon is the 20-year perspective of the Islamic republic; policy making and planning. The plan has been prepared and announced. Our dear people should know that the 20-year perspective, which has been sent to policy makers and planners is practical, realistic and rational. You shouldn't think that the words used repeatedly in the 20-year perspective are just a dream or unpractical. With God's blessing the Iranian nation and our dear country can achieve this perspective in 20 years. This is a befitting future, a big step towards the lofty ideals of the Islam. There is material progress in the plan. There is economic progress in it. There is cultural progress in it. There is spiritual and moral progress in it. There is Islamic identity in it. This is the clear future perspective that the system of the Islamic republic can plan as the result of the hard work that has been carried out in the past years. This is progress in itself that the Islamic republic is able to plan a 20-year future perspective rationally and calculatedly and in view of the realities of the country and the world. With the blessing of God, this future will be realized. We are determined to realize this with the help of sympathetic officials. Insha Allah, this will be realized. On Iranian youth The groundwork for the country's future was laid down by the previous administrations. This gave the officials the courage to draft the 20-year plan. The works done by the previous governments, especially in the past 10 and 12 years, have moved the country to the point where it can now build a desirable edifice on this foundation. By laying the groundwork we do not mean only the tangible achievements such as dams, roads and factories but more importantly the blossoming of the country's hidden and potential talents - Namely the Iranian youths and their educational and scientific endeavors. Their achievements show that this nation has made great progress in the fields of science and technology. The self confidence which is visible in our scientific and research circles is a precious commodity. We should neither underestimate it nor should we lose it. We can cite many examples of such accomplishments. However, the enemies of the Islamic system and the propaganda apparatus of the arrogant Zionist regime would like to turn everything into a defense issue. But this is not true. The Islamic Republic, our researchers and our talented young people have made great progress in numerous non-defense related fields. We can witness the fruits of their efforts. Media has reported on these achievements and our people are aware of their accomplishments. These are valuable groundwork. Our religious and faithful youths play a pivotal role in the country's scientific development. We must be aware of this fact. The enemies' propaganda tries to convince the world that the religious people are lagging behind in the scientific arena. This is not true. In fact, our religious and talented young people spearhead some of these scientific movements. They have distinguished themselves in various fields. Our youths have made great and precious achievements in various fields. US has supported dictators since World War II My second point is this: The remarks made by the officials of the arrogant American government indicate that they have certain plans and objectives in the Middle East against the nations of the region. It is therefore imperative that the nations of the region wake up. The president of America has made certain remarks about democracy and the existence of democracy in the region. People in our part of the world who know about how America has defended tyrannies for the past 40 or 50 years, since World War II, can only feel shame when they hear the president of this regime claim support for democracy today. Why should such wrong and senseless remarks be made with insolence and without shame? These are the very people who have supported most ruthless dictators for years. In our country the Americans implemented the 28 Mordad (19 August 1953) coup. They fully supported a most difficult and bleak dictatorship in our country for 25 years. In every tragedy committed by that regime in Iran, such as 15 Khordad (5 June 1963 unrest) or 17 Shahrivar (8 September 1978 unrest) in which a large number of civilians, ordinary people, were killed by the regime's mercenaries, they took the side of the dictator and spoke against the people. The first case was at the time of (President John F.) Kennedy and the second case was at the time of (President Jimmy) Carter. They supported this very Saddam Hussain who today they say they are opposing. Their situation is no different today. They are the same people. On misuse of democracy Today in Iraq, which is a an independent country with a population of 25-30m and is situated in a sensitive region, they have appointed a foreign American governor in that country. They have ignored the will and demands of the Iraqi people. They have murdered hundreds of people at once in Iraq and Afghanistan solely because of their suspicions. They haven't even apologized for all this. In Afghanistan, they killed people who participated in a wedding ceremony. Then they said it was a mistake. They didn't even think it was necessary to apologize. In Iraq, they have daily clashes with the people and destroy the peoples' homes, which is their safe place. They don't even apologize. How can those who ignore human rights, the rights of nations and the people's vote, dare to name themselves as the guardians of democracy. [The masses chant "Death to America"]. Presently, they have categorized this region. They have indicated which country is democratic and which one isn't. This itself demonstrates their ill intentions and shows that they are faced with a scandal. They don't believe in democracy. The present American administration and president came to power on an order by a judge and with less than 25 per cent of the people's vote. What kind of democracy is this? They ignore and don't even bother about the people's vote. As I said, democracy is used as a deception to strangle the world nations' calls for justice. This is so they can secretly trample on the Palestinian people's rights. It is so they can occupy the oil-rich and geographically sensitive regions which serve America's illegitimate interests without facing any opposition. This is how the issue of democracy is used. On US' Middle East policies Everyone in the world knows the meaning of such rhetoric. Therefore, there is no need to dignify it with a response and I do not intent to offer one. Instead, I would like to address our own people and officials. Beware of the policies that America is pursuing and the role it is trying to play in the region and in our country. Although, it utters tough words and assumes a proud posture, it has clearly been humiliated by the Iraqi and Afghan people. This is a fact. America is humiliated everyday by Iraqis. Under the guise of liberating the Iraqis, it invaded that country and created the current depressing and dreadful situation. It replaced a native dictator with a foreign one. It would, if it could, suffocate the voices of the Iraqi people in the same way Saddam did. And it has done its best to do so. The American military forces cannot afford to confront the Iraqis more that they already have. The important issue for our people is to know that while projecting an outward aggressive image, America has realized the ineffectiveness of its previous plans for the region - organized around military campaigns. Afghanistan and Iraq experience has shown that nothing can be achieved in the region through military campaigns. Such actions will cause numerous problems, especially if the opponent is a country such as our great Iran with its brave and religious people. This is a country with great cultural depth, enthusiastic religious sentiments and a government elected by the people's votes. America will have a difficult time. It used to threaten us with a military attack. But now it has disregarded that plan, admitting that it was a mistake. US promoting division inside Iran The plan now is be to transform the Iranian people from within. This is their plan. Transformation has two aspects. A cultural one and a political one. The Iranian nation should be vigilant. The objective of the enemy - i.e. America's arrogant system and the Zionists who work hand in hand with them in a single front - is as follows. They want to be able to make our nation indifferent and apathetic towards its ideals, beliefs and objectives so that they will be able to send in their own mercenaries and elements and prepare the ground for the re-establishment of an American rule over Iran. This is their plan. [The masses chant "Death to America"]. Their main plan in the political domain is to create divisions. They want various factions, all of which have risen from the revolution and are affiliated to it, to smash each other. This faction smashing that one, that faction smashing this one. These are the main objectives of the American plan for the region. They want to create unreal challenges and a climate on tension in the country. They want to promote debates and arguments about the definite principles of the system of the Islamic Republic, about the constitution, about religion, and about the Islamic foundations of the system. They want to create challenges. They want to promote division. These are the political and intellectual issues which they pursue. Of course, there are certain people who are ready to act as their loudspeaker and they are being utilized. Recently they said that they should strengthen the Iranian newspapers which speak in favor of America. And if they don't have such a newspaper they say this is what they intend to do. Speaking here a few years ago, three or four years ago, I said that some newspapers are a base for the enemy. They are now exposing these facts themselves. Today, they themselves reveal their plans against Iran. Our dear young people must watch for the cultural onslaught planned by America. Their planned cultural onslaught is to promote decadence and lack of respect for Islamic and moral values. They plan to drag our young people into decadence, debauchery and self-indulgence. Both our young people and the state officials who are responsible for the education and training of the younger generation must be vigilant against such plans. This is the arena of combating America today. The struggle against America goes on in the arena of science too. They are unhappy with our scientific progress. They are bothered by the scientific progress of our people. They are unhappy with the economic advance of our people. They are unhappy to see our government is offering a service to our people. They are unhappy when we manage to resolve some of the problems facing our people. Anyone in this country who helps to keep our people backward in the scientific field is serving the interests of America. Anyone who prevents the government from offering the necessary services to the people is working at the service of America. Anyone who publishes the Americans' ideas in newspapers or expresses them in rhetoric platforms is serving the interests of America. One way of serving America's interests is through spreading rumors and making allegations. The same problem existed during the era of Imam Ali (AS). There were daily instances of spreading rumors and making allegations. The same psychological war exists today. Anyone who contributes to the atmosphere of making calumny in this country and fans the flames of psychological war is a mercenary of America and working to serve America. It does not matter whether such mercenaries receive money from America or offer services without any payment. They work for America whether they are unpaid lackeys of America or not. (The masses chant: "Allahu Akbar" and "death to America") Islamic world hates US more than ever before Today, fighting America is synonymous with resistance against this political and cultural onslaught. You must all be aware. Those who have no ill-intentions and ambitions, should be careful that they don't say things which are in line with America's wishes for this nation and country, because of a short-lived feeling or ambition. They must realize how this enemy is strengthened. They must realize how America tries to give itself a free hand in the midst of this nation and dominate it. We have to be aware of these matters. Alhamdulillah, our nation is vigilant. America's experience has been that it has not achieved anything by attacking this region. Of course, they are taking and using Iraq's oil. And its not clear what they are doing with it. But, unfortunately, this is the situation today. They interfere in the various Iraqi affairs such as its constitution. They are at the head of everything. However, the Iraqi people will inflict a blow on them. The Iraqi people's hatred towards them is increasing day by day. As our great Imam (Khomeini) said years ago - and its the same case today - today, America is hated more than ever before in the Islamic World. The Islamic World does not hate anyone as much as it hates the American president and the leader of the Zionist regime. . . The following is a translation of the Arabic khutbah of the Friday Prayer led by Ayatollah al-Udhma Sayyed Ali Hussaini Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on 19 Ramadan 1424 [14 November 2003]: In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Peace be upon the sons and daughters of our Islamic ummah, men and women everywhere. In these gracious days and special nights, the Middle East region lives under the severity of aggression by the unjust, with its body debilitated by wounds. Palestine is stained with blood and Iraq is under the oppression of the enemies of Islam. The arrogant and unrestrained regime in America doesn't hide its intentions and objectives in imposing its new control over the region. It launches its threats very insolently. Those aggressors are ready to destroy all the countries in the region to realize their illegitimate objectives that are aimed at imposing their hegemony over the region and rescuing the Zionist entity from collapse. What they don't know is the increasing anger of the people and their resentment of America. An example of the will of the Islamic nation and its righteousness is what is gradually appearing to them in Iraq. Anger, wrath and resistance are escalating against the occupation and arrogance, and like the burning flames that blaze more everyday, it will definitely stand up to the arrogant and stop them from achieving their cursed objectives. The blessed intifada on the territories of the blessed Palestine also shakes the Zionist entity and is a cause of fear and horror to the arrogant who so insolently supports all the violent and harsh crimes committed by this germ of destruction. The Iraqi people must disperse the dreams of the enemy to divide Iraq. They must persevere and persist with steadfastness, awareness and in unison for the sake of independent Iraqi sovereignty, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of a constitution supported by the public and based on Islam. They have to make the occupiers give in to their will. The Palestinians have debilitated the enemy in front of their glorious Islamic resistance. They must strengthen their confidence in Allah, draw their victory from Allah Almighty and continue with determination their liberating resistance through their union and Islamic call, until the enemy gives in to their just demands which are to end the occupation and to give the oppressed Palestinian people the right to self determination. Dear brothers and sisters, the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan will be the International Al-Quds Day, a day during which Muslims all over the world are to express their support of the Palestinian issue, their backing of the Palestinian people and their anger to world Zionism and its arrogant protectors. Muslims must declare to the whole world that the Palestinian cause is the cause of the whole of the Islamic world. Muslims will not leave their brothers alone, but will raise their voices in the face of world arrogance, criminal Zionism and will declare their wrath on those aggressors. I seize this opportunity to remind all believers to invest the remaining days of the Holy month of Ramadan to help the needy and to attempt to alleviate their suffering, as it is an essential Islamic responsibility. I also urge myself and you to fear Allah Almighty and the best way of doing that is through defiance and resistance against conspiracies, schemes and raids in all forms from the satans, particularly the greatest of the satans, America. I ask Allah Almighty to protect Islam and Muslims, and make Muslims victorious over their arrogant enemies. Allah Almighty takes care of his good servants. Peace and blessing of Allah be upon you. To see the original video of this khutbah in Arabic please visit: http://www.iribnews.com/video/01/09/12/p6002.wmv For a pdf copy of this flyer please visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuslimAlert/files/

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http://www.khamenei.de/speeches/speech2003_4.htm#14112003

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Leader: George Bush has demonstrated a thirst for human blood (31.1.2002)Islamic Republic's Leader Ayatollah al-Udhma Khamene'i said on 31 January that US President George Bush had demonstrated a "thirst for human blood" in his State of the Union address. Speaking at Tehran's international conference on the world of Islam's media in support of the Palestinian intifadah, Ayatollah Khamene'i said that America with "the greatest number of deadly weapons" and a history of support for the world's most unpopular regimes, was the "world's most cursed Satan" and that Iran would not wish to be praised by such a country.He said Iran was only guilty of defending justice for the oppressed Palestinians and that the Islamic media should, for their part, strive to inspire the Palestinians with hope and encourage their resistance. The following is the text of the speech: In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. I welcome all my dear brothers. I hope that your conference would yield benefits for the world of Islam, especially for the innocent people of Palestine. I would like to speak about two issues. One relates to Palestine which is today one of the most important issues concerning the Islamic world. The other issue concerns the role and responsibility of media. We can say without the doubt that these are fateful days for Palestine. Palestine has certainly been a stage for the struggle between Islam and its enemies during our history. In the last 100 years, especially in the past 50 years, Palestine has been at the front-line of war against the enemies of Islam. In truth, we can consider Palestine as a depiction of the most important events of Islamic history in the recent centuries. However, when seen through all its dimensions, what is taking place in Palestine today is almost exceptional. In the first place, the people of Palestine endure unprecedented pressure. Secondly, the people of Palestine are demonstrating unprecedented sacrifice and whole-hearted resistance. We have never witnessed the nation of Palestine to be present on the scene with such seriousness and with their entire body, soul, belongings, children and dear ones. This is a characteristic peculiar to the blessed intifadah. Of course, America and many Western countries extend their obvious and unlimited support to Israel. They trample upon international values. And once more, it is proven to the world that the superpowers view the international agreements and communities as tools. They use the international communities and agreements towards achieving their goals and interests. They do not otherwise respect them. Without the superpowers' political, economic, media and propaganda support, Israel would not have existed in the past and today. Israel is not the only guilty party in this event. In the first place, America is also an accomplice in atrocities committed by Israel. Since its first appearance in the region, the cancerous tumor of Zionism has established a mutual understanding with the West and the Western powers. Israel's duty has been to protect the interests of the aggressive Western powers in the Islamic region, in other words posing an ever-present and active threat to the Islamic as well as other countries in the region. And to keep Islamic countries permanently in distress, so as to prevent them from uniting, or creating an entity which is of one mind and has one goal, or utilizing their resources, wealth and manpower for their own interests. A tool for creating problems; a tool for sowing discord; a tool for creating division; a permanent threat. And in return, their duty has been to maintain with all their might this malignant tumor in the region. Of course, this role falls on America more than others today. There was a certain amount of negligence at the outset of this great problem and plague facing the Muslim world. No proper measures were taken to combat this problem. Of course, there were prominent figures inside and outside Palestine whose hard work should not be overlooked, such as the late Izz-al-Din al-Qassam and the late Haj Amin al-Husayni, and outside Palestine the late Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghata, who was one of Najaf's clergymen. They all recognized the threat of the existence of a Zionist state in the region and pointed it out and embarked on a struggle. But the Muslim world, and those in responsible positions in the Muslim world, could not play their part properly. Therefore, the struggle of the people of Palestine has had numerous encounters with this very dangerous phenomenon. Iran guilty of defending oppressed Palestinians But today's struggle has two characteristics, which have not existed together in any period of the struggle of the Palestinians. One is the Islamic aspect of the struggle. The other is its popular, comprehensive and all-encompassing aspect. The combination of these two characteristics is making the Zionist regime shake in its boots. A sense of danger is reverberating throughout the foundations of Zionism. They realize, and understand correctly, that there is a major threat today. It is not a group that is standing against the foundations of Zionism today; they are not political figures who can be convinced at the dialogue table. And you know that at the dialogue table people can be convinced with various means: with threats, lures and false promises. But if the struggle falls on the lap of the nation; when there is self-awareness in the people; when the people, with all their being, feel that they are duty-bound to stand against the situation, otherwise they will all perish and be trampled upon when the struggle reaches such a stage; when the struggle stems from Islamic faith and relies on hearts and lives, then the struggle becomes extremely dangerous to the enemy. Such a situation exists today. America is angry for that reason. And it is for that reason that America, and the ringleaders of the arrogant regime of America, are showing their true colors. What is in their hearts and what they have always hidden behind a thick veil of deception is becoming apparent today; it is revealing itself through their remarks. Today they are supporting the cruel Zionist regime - not only that regime, but also the criminal acts of that regime. Without hiding it, without any shame, they are supporting its actions, which are clear crimes. It is not merely a question of assassination, it is clear and great criminal acts. They are supporting the bringing of the tanks onto the streets. They are supporting the wrecking of people's homes. That is the nature of the arrogant regime. The word arrogance which is repeated in the terminology of the Islamic Revolution means this. They call Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah terrorists. Why? What have they done? Their crime is that they have defended their honor, their country, their home, and their people. The Americans want Israel and its executioners to murder small children, like the children of this man [referring to the father of Mohammad al-Dora who is sitting next to him], in front of their father, and for nobody to object, or say anything, or try to respond, or get angry. That is what they expect. The only sin of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah of Lebanon and all other true fighters of the battle is that they have taken practical action against this rare and brutal aggression. The Islamic Republic of Iran is guilty of defending justice and the people's rights. We have never abandoned our efforts to defend justice and rights in order to comply with the wishes of the world arrogance. We have never made compromises or resorted to trickery in this area. We have always defended rights and justice. This is our guilt. Americans have revealed their true nature. In his recent speech, the American president spoke like someone who was thirsty for blood. Thirsty for human blood. He threatened countries and nations. He accused them. Iran does not want praise from the "Great Satan" The whole world knows that America is the great Satan. This statement is supported by reason proof. Calling America the great Satan has not been without reason. If you review the history of the last 30 to 40 years, you'll see that America has committed the most acts of interference aimed at undermining popular and independent movements. America's spy agency, CIA, has assassinated the most religious and pious personalities in the world. America has given the greatest support to unpopular regimes in the world. It has sold the most number of deadly weapons in the world. It has committed the greatest plunders, rubbing nations from their treasures. These are acts of mischief. So, it is the greatest evil. There are certainly other evil forces in the world who commit the same acts, but none are as big as America. None of them are as mischievous as America. It is the true Satan. Then the great Satan, whose evil is acknowledged by all nations - I am not saying all governments, but all nations - accuses the Islamic Republic of evil. We are proud that the most cursed of the world's Satans is speaking to us in that tone. We would never be happy if the leaders of the American regime praise us. He accuses our country's officials of not being chosen by the people. In the Islamic Republic the people have chosen all the countrys leaders. And it is not a simple choice, merely for the sake of doing something. It is a majority, an absolute choice, coupled with strong sentiments. Such lack of experience and unfairness about the realities of other nations are what America has been, and will go on being, punished for. The inexperienced officials in America today are gradually driving their large country to the brink of the precipice. They have no shred of spirituality; they are devoid of humanity; they have no idea of human rights. If they could, they would treat innocent nations with the utmost harshness and hostility. If they could, they would do to every nation that does not yield and kneel before them what the Zionist regime is doing to the people of Palestine today; but they cannot. And they are also mistaken in the assessment of their own power. Such a situation exists today. That is, the Zionist regime and its protector, America - two elements totally devoid of spirituality, removed from reality, devoid of fairness, devoid of humanity - are bent on bringing the Palestinian people to their knees and force them not to speak their justified words and withdraw them. And, of course, they will not do so. The characteristic of today's resistance and the Palestinian intifadah is that the Palestinian nation has risen, in the real meaning of the word. As for the role of the media and propaganda, this arena of resistance is a public arena. Any person throughout the Islamic world, to the best of his ability, has a duty and must play a role. And today, the world is the world of the media. It is the world of propaganda. It is the world of reporting. Today, you can see before your eyes a news empire of the enemies of the Islamic world, who are generally controlled by the Zionists. A one-way highway of news and analyses is today flowing by the media in the direction of the world public opinion, which includes the public opinion of Arab and Islamic countries, and the Muslims themselves. Since the onset of their mission, the Zionists have aimed for the propaganda and news publications. One of their policies has been to usurp the world's propaganda newspapers. And this is how it is today. Since the very beginning of their mission they chose a propaganda ploy, which has been very important and influential, and, to date, it has been effective. This propaganda ploy is to appear oppressed. And in order to appear oppressed they fabricated many tales and stories, contrived reports, made relentless efforts, and today, too, this propaganda continues most atrociously. In other words, the most important work of the Zionists in the propaganda world is to appear oppressed. They have raised the issue of the Jew's psychological concerns. They have said that since the Jews have been under pressure for centuries, they have developed psychological concerns, and they need psychological security. In talks with the heads of Western states, and later in talks with Islamic and Arab states, they have been raising the issue of psychological security, saying that they need psychological security and that they must be provided with that security. What does this psychological security mean? It has no clear meaning. There is no end to this psychological security. There is no end to this demand - the demand for psychological security. They can offset any initiative which is not in their interest under the pretext of psychological security. They have convinced many people in the world that they need psychological security, and that they must be provided with psychological security. This is a never-ending trend. Meeting Israel's need for psychological security is more difficult than relinquishing the land. When you lose your land, you know what you have lost, but when you attempt to fulfill Israel's need for psychological security you do not know to what extent you have to go. To what extent you should give concessions. There is no end to these concessions. Concessions must be given constantly. Lessons can be learnt from Europe's experience in this regard. The Germans - the German government has given 150bn mark to the Jews in damages. And this payment of damages by the Germans to the Jews has not yet ended. They continue to demand damages and they demand to be paid. What they have done with Germany, they have more or less done with Austria, Switzerland, France, and even - until a few years ago - with the Vatican. Every country is expected to pay them damages. There is no end to these damages. Islamic world needs a "common strategy" on Palestine From a psychological standpoint, the Israelis are engaged in very important activities. All politicians, all reporters, all intellectuals, all officials, all experts of the West should bow their heads to commemorate the gas chambers. That is, they should all endorse a tale the authenticity of which is not clear, and regard themselves indebted because of that story. That is their propaganda tactic. And it all relies on a pretence of innocence. Of course, in another part of the world, by relying on stories in the Torah - that says this is a land given to the children of Israel - they have brought many Christians in many parts of the world to their way of thinking by relying on fairy tales quoted from the Torah. As I saw in some statistics, millions of non-Jewish Zionists in many countries, mostly in America, have been able to fill public opinion with the same propaganda. That is the propaganda in which they have been engaged for many years. And today, too, that propaganda continues in the world as strongly as ever. Of course, they have taken maximum advantage of incidents such as the 11 September [2001] incident in New York and other incidents, and were able to drive the Palestinian issue to the sidelines in the minds of the people of the world. In that sense it received a 100 per cent help from America. However, in contrast no one in those countries which claim to be free has the right to question and protest at the burning of the homes of Palestinian women and children. No one should even mention the atrocities committed against the Palestinian nation today. Well, it is in view of this propaganda method and the insight one gains into the psyche of the enemy that officials of the mass media in the Islamic countries must fulfill their duties and establish their path. It is a very important issue. This is a vital task not only for the Palestinian nation but also for the Islamic world. This is a grave responsibility. To give you an example, I'll direct your attention to the experience of southern Lebanon which you dear friends are quite aware of. This is a model experience. The young fighters and religious people of Lebanon were able to, effectively and in a most appropriate way, use the propaganda tool in their massive move against the Zionists. They were able to reflect the essence of resistance and sacrifice to the world of Islam. Enemy would come to its knees in this way. The whole of the Islamic world understood the actions and objectives of the resistance in southern Lebanon. Propaganda was used in its most appropriate and effective way in that instance. The spirit of our people rose while the enemy's moral came down and it was forced down to its knees. This is the kind of action that we must always pursue. We are always fighting. We are constantly being attacked. Of course when I say we, I mean the world of Islam. Today, a vital part of the Islamic world is under the siege and relentless onslaught of the Zionists. We must make maximum use of the means and channels of information dissemination, particularly the mass media, to bring this into light. It is necessary to devise some fundamental plans which can serve as the basis for an information dissemination strategy against the usurper Zionists. It is not enough for us to take action merely from time to time and describe only a part of the oppression that the Palestinians are suffering from. We need to have a general strategy in this connection, and this strategy needs to be adopted commonly by the entire Islamic world. We do not have the world's major media channels at our disposal. Nonetheless, what we do have is not insignificant. We need to make good use of our resources and assets, which in effect belong to the Islamic world in general. Everyone has a responsibility in this connection. The intellectuals, politicians, authors, poets, artists and academics are all responsible. These are influential groups in society. The members of these groups are people who can feed the mass media with the right material. For example, with your gathering, all of you who are present here have created a momentous event. You can turn this gathering into the basis for a harmonious cultural move in the entire Islamic world. This is a definite possibility. Why do we sometime fail to use the resources we have at our disposal? Many writers and intellectuals of the Islamic world have expressed their objections to the leaders of some Muslim countries whose attitude towards the Zionists leaves much to be desired. These writers ask why these leaders are not using their oil resources, or their wealth and political clout against the Zionists. Of course, this is a valid objection. In our opinion, these circles are right to raise such an objection. However, one can ask the very same question from the intellectual community of the Muslim world. One can ask the intellectuals, writers and academics why they are not using their great intellect and mental resources in the right way? Sometimes a poem, an elegy makes an impact which cannot be made, to the same extent, by any amount of wealth and money. One day a Palestinian poet wrote an elegy which caused such a stir - after the years 67-68. Sometimes a good propaganda or media ploy, a coordinated propaganda action is more effective than closing oil pipelines. This is what we need today; to boost the spirits of those who are engaged in struggle. They must be given hope; they must know that their future is hopeful. Propaganda organs are bent on undermining this sense of hope. Unfortunately, sometimes the reverse of this is seen. In these recent months when the intifadah needed the greatest support and assistance, we saw how in the Islamic world some pens wrote articles which were lethal for the intifadah; they spoke of the feebleness of the intifadah; they spoke of the weak management of the intifadah. These are lethal. This means that the Palestinian nation has no choice other than surrender and submission before the Zionists. Of course, America and Israel, too, do not think of anything other than total surrender. But they are the enemies, and, of course, they are wrong. This is something which will not happen. They are not going to be satisfied with anything but the absolute surrender of the Palestinians. Their behavior towards the Palestinian side, once again, showed that fact. They are not prepared to give any concession to the Palestinian side. They want to use the Palestinian side as a tool to be used for the destruction of the Palestinian intifadah, and they are not content with anything less than that. We should not help the surrender of the Palestinian nation. We should not encourage the Palestinian nation in losing hope. We should disseminate the truth. The truth is a source of hope. The truth is a new horizon. The truth will make the Zionists shake in their boots. The truth will make the powers which support Zionism lose hope in the face of a general move by a nation which relies on its faith. A nation which moves together and relies on its faith cannot be defeated. That is the truth, and, it is up to us to reveal such facts in order to create more hope in the hearts of those who are on the scene and in the arena. We should prepare the psychological setting for the resistance. The duty of the media is to act in a way so as to prepare the psychological setting for resistance. Today the Zionist media reflect the successive and daily-occurring Israeli acts of aggression in a very brief manner. They would not even mention that much if they could. Of course, their media interests responsibilities dictate that they mention them, but they make brief, superficial, incomplete and selective reference to them. But, they reflect the Palestinian operations - in defense of their lives, honor, country and land - in a manner in which one would think that it is Israel which is the oppressed side. They portray the true oppressed side, the Palestinian nation, as terrorists and criminals, and they portray the cruel, aggressor and criminal side as the oppressed. That is what the world media is doing today. Now we can see politicians repeating the same issues in their remarks. The Islamic media and the Arab media should not behave in a passive way, whether you want it or not, you are right inside the arena. The entire Islamic world and the Arab world, whether they like it or not, are in the arena. Today any of our actions will be registered in history and will have an influence on the future . We hope that the entire world of Islam would realize clearly the various dimensions of this issue and act according to its duty. We hope that God Almighty will bless the Palestinian nation and the world of Islam. We see a clear horizon before us. Through resistance we envisage a good future for the world of Islam and Palestine. We believe that the death of the world of Islam and its final humiliation and embarrassment will be the day when it withdraws against the expansionist policies of the arrogance America and Zionism and surrender to them. We hope that the world of Islam will never see such a day. Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Imaminfo, e-Mail: imaminfo@islam-pure.de Copyright © since 1999 14.09.2003 http://www.khamenei.de/speeches/speech2003_2.htm#29082003