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Editorial: Iran, Students, and Deportation

By VVAW

Exactly like rats deserting a sinking ship, the relatives of the Shah of Iran are scurrying to the U.S. where they can join such notables as Lon Nol, ex- U.S. puppet dictator of Cambodia, ex-Vietnamese President Thieu (who probably ran off with millions in gold from the South Vietnamese treasury) and ex-General Loan, famous for his personal execution—without even a semblance of trial—of a liberation fighter in the streets of Saigon (see "Fraggin'") but even more damned for his job as kingpin of the heroin trade.

Jimmy Carter and the rest of his government have expressed alarm because a thousand Iranian students burned cars, fought the police, and tried to overwhelm the home of the Shah's sister behind a wall of flames in the exclusive Beverly Hills area where they have bought palatial homes with the money pillaged from the sweat and blood of the Iranian people. And Carter is being joined in a chorus of dismay by those who, among other things, are scared to death by the idea of militant demonstrations in the suburb haunts of the wealthy, wishing passionately that the rebellions would be confined to the ghettos.

VVAW remembers the statement inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, hungry, your huddled masses yearning to be free...." Think of that as you read the newspaper accounts of the entourage around the mother of the Shah: "She spend Wednesday night at the Marriott Hotel where her party rented an entire floor of 33 rooms...." Under the guard's care were 90 pieces of luggage, a black poodle and a number of birds of various colors." Hardly the "huddled masses!"

Iranian students are fighting for freedom, fighting in this country the sane fight as millions of their countrymen in Iran—and fighting the same enemy: the Shah and his U.S. backers. That the Shah should feel free to run off to the U.S. is an outrage. His billions of dollars do not cover what he is: the fact that his mother is portrayed as a sweet, white-haired lady of 90 years old does not change what she stands for. If people want to feel sympathy, save it for the 18-year-old Iranian peasant girls whose eye sight is being lost during the intricate, 12-hour-a-day chore at slave wages to make the famous Persian carpets which the Shah's family walks on and milks for millions of extra dollars in trade.

If Jimmy Carter is even half serious about his "human rights" advocacy (something that he has so far shown only when it's convenient for him) let him tell the Iranian students that they—and their struggle for freedom—are welcome here in the U.S., and further tell the Shah and his family to find another sanctuary to hide in. The U.S. should not be a haven for war criminals, even those who have worked hand in glove with the U.S. government, like the ex-leaders of Cambodia and Vietnam, nor for the blood-stained money stolen from the people of Iran. Support the Iranian students—and other students fighting for freedom in their own countries. Down with the Shah in Iran or in the U.S.