Category: Dr. Ahmad’s blog
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My Lunch with Mahmoud
Immediately after the recent 2009 Iranian elections, I wrote an open letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, emphasizing the importance of seriously addressing the charges of fraud. You can imagine, then how pleased I was to receive an invitation to have lunch with the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his visit to the U.N. with the full…
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My First Mentor Has Passed Away
I do not generally address personal matters in this blog, but the passing of my first mentor deserves a memorial here, for without her nurture and inspiration I cannot imagine that the Minaret of Freedom Institute would exist today. My mother, Qudsia (Holazada) Ahmad died at her home on Dec. 2, 2009. She was born…
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Malalai Joya: To Help Women in Afghanistan–Get Out!
Malalai Joya is the author of “A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice” (co-written with Derrick O’Keefe). She spoke about her amazing story at a luncheon at the Prince Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University yesterday. All who heard her were impressed with her…
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Economic Reforms for Iran
[I was recently interviewed by John Arvidsson and of the Swedish newspaper Nyheter24 about Iran’s economic situation. Here are my answers to his questions.] Q. Taking Iran’s economic and political situation as a starting point, which reforms in a direction of a free market are urgent to implement in Iran? How would the people benefit…
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How to Strategize for Afghanistan
As Gen. McChrystal requests 40,000 more troops for the counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is taking a cold hard look at the situation. Well they should. Our concerns in Afghanistan are, or should be, about terrorism, not insurgency. I was interviewed by the independent Iranian Farspress news agency on the situation. Here are…
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Guantanamo Bay Detainment Center
Posed by Terri Friedman The Beacon, University of Tennessee Q. The Daily Beacon, Knoxville, Tennessee, would very much appreciate any comments from your organization, on the ongoing controversy at Guantanamo Bay detainment center. A. Concerned as all human beings must be over allegations regarding conditions at Guantanamo Bay detainment center, what should be of most…
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Fayyad’s Folly: Disarming His Own People
In the Washington Post’s latest attempt to adequately illustrate the complex political issues regarding Israeli/Palestinian relations, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was highlighted as a “technocrat†steadily gaining political ground thought military concessions. A strategy that alienates Hamas, the other major player in Palestinian politics, Fayyad disturbingly argued, “[T]he state should have sole purview over arms…
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A Window of Opportunity for Iran and the U.S.
I was asked by PressTV to comment on the significance of the G8 position on Iran’s nuclear program. I was asked ny opinion about the relatively soft G-8 statement on the issue (given American and British threats of sanctions) and whether Iran’s insistence on its rights to nuclear power development played a role. The G8…
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An Open Letter to Ayatollah Khamenei
Dear Ayatollah Khamenei, I listened with great interest to your speech regarding the recent elections given last Friday. You certainly had a point when you indicated that America’s tragic treatment of the dissidents at Waco and its violent intervention into Iraq and Afghanistan detracts from the credibility of any advice it may offer Iran. Perhaps,…
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Iranian Nukes: The Way Forward
Today’s New York Times ran a story on the fact that the U.N.’s atomic energy chief “has a gut feeling” that Iran wants nuclear weapons. This is as surprising and newsworthy as my gut feeling that the U.S. wants to hang onto its nuclear weapons. Much more enlightening was a fantastic panel discussion called “Reassessing…
