Iran Kidnaps Another American Citizen
This week Sen. Biden put his foot in his mouth by predicting to private donors — he did not know he was being recorded — that the United States would face “an international crisis, a generated crisis,” should Sen. Obama be elected to the White House. “And he’s going to need help,” Sen. Biden continued, because “it’s not going to be apparent initially; it’s not going to be apparent that we’re right.”
These remarkable comments have been covered extensively by many journalists over the past few days. What has not been covered, however, is that we are undergoing an international crisis at this very moment. The Islamic Republic of Iran has, yet again, kidnapped and imprisoned an American citizen for no crime other than her citizenship.
Esha Momeni is a young Iranian-American woman and a graduate student at California State University-Northridge. She is a member of Change for Equality’s California chapter, an Iranian women’s organization which focuses on women’s rights, or lack thereof, in Iran.
Esha, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in California, traveled back to Iran a few months ago to complete her thesis research project. On October 15, just a little over a week ago, Esha was arrested by Iranian security officials for “unlawfully passing another vehicle while driving,” and thrown into the notorious and brutal detention system known as Evin prison — a series of damp, dark cells with dungeon-like conditions, reserved not merely for legitimate criminals, but for Iranian dissidents and political prisoners. Evin is managed by Iran’s infamously deviant Intelligence Ministry.
Anyone who has survived Evin’s penitentiary system, like my friend Amir Abbas Fakhravar, can attest that the routine beatings and solitary confinement are hard to endure. The regime gives its political prisoners a treatment known as “white torture,” a strenuous process whereby prisoners are dressed in white, in an all-white room, with bright, white lights for days, weeks, and months. The all-white surroundings eventually erode the prisoner’s capacity to determine colors and burn a searing whiteness into the prisoner’s mind and consciousness for weeks, even after the torture has ended.
For young women like Esha Momeni, Evin’s interrogators have been known to be particularly evil, participating in practices that would be best left unsaid right now.
“Esha Momeni is a young Iranian-American ”
Which one? An Iranian or an American.
So she’s a California liberal “feminist” who’s also a Muslim who travelled to Iran on her own dime. Is she an American citizen? If not, why do we care? If so, have Obama get her out, since I’ll bet dollars to donuts that he’s her choice for President.
Taking responsibility for one’s actions also means taking responsibility for doing Really Dumb Stuff which is what this female person did. And I’m not willing to go to war because of actions she took under her own will power.
…”American citizens: Haleh Esfandiari…Parnaz Azima…Kian Tajbakhsh … Ali Shakeri…Esha Momeni”
These are not my people & I wont support a drop of my own peoples blood to save them. Let the middle east have them, they should have never left.
Multiculturalism = Western culture smothered.
Welcome to reality Esha! You grow up in the la-la world of political correctness and then want to take your liberal women’s rights to Iran. Well, sorry to say but they play by different rules over there. Maybe next time you should just go to Disneyworld.
Angry White Dude
Juke: I disagree. If she has American citizenship she is entitled to our protection. However, I am sure she traveled to Iran against the advice of the State Department, so I wouldn’t go to war to free her.
People who seize Americans should get the modern equivalent of Teddy Roosevelt’s telegram — “Pedicaris alive, or the Raisuli dead” — along with the arrival of a gunboat and a battalion of Marines.
“Juke: I disagree. If she has American citizenship she is entitled to our protection. However, I am sure she traveled to Iran against the advice of the State Department, so I wouldn’t go to war to free her.”
While I agree in sentiment, it seems today that American citizenship is handed out mostly to those who are as far from the typical American as possible in order to change who we are as a people. I can only support cultural suicide for so long…Im done.
No matter WHAT her politics are, she’s one of ours, dammit, and this “serves her right” crap is disgusting to say the LEAST.
Personal distaste for her religion or politics doesn’t come into it. Bullies and tyrants have to be faced and innocents (and she is innocent of anything malicious or contrary to Liberty, I presume) protected, no matter who they are or how annoying they might be.
We’re not tribal anymore. We have the Enlightenment and Greek philosophy in our veins to fall back on. We have, or USED to have, a moral compass patiently built by generations and generations of passed down wisdom and history. The “enemy of my enemy” is not our friend. There are enemies of Liberty that must be opposed and those who are their victims…and the Iranian regime is an enemy of Liberty.
She was born in the US. She was dumb to go back to Iran. Maybe she thought protesting against the mullahs was like protesting against Bush, something fun with no consequences. In any case, it’s terrible, I feel sorry for her and hope for her fast release.
Seguin I completely agree, disgusting is the biggest understatement, to say “it’s her own fault too bad”, can you imagine being in that position right now? First of all, no matter what nationality she is to begin with that makes her no less of an American, second of all even if she was not American and indeed one of Iran’s own people we cannot turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior because people that do these kinds of things won’t just stop at that.
I do feel bad for her personally but this is not an international crisis. She went to Iran against State Department advice. The State Department should definitely put pressure on the Iranians but going to war is absurd for an American who put themselves in harm’s way against their government’s advice.
Seguin, why so heated?
Obama will sit down with the iranian thug (thugs of a feather flock together) and will exchange those prisoners with the permission for iran to build the nuclear bomb.
Obama’s brain “mhmhm, extraordinary intelligent move, so now the prisoners are safe and ready for my photo ops and iranian loves us now”
Don’t you think the outcome will be exactly like this?
She is one of them. Don’t worry about her.
“Esha, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in California, traveled back to Iran a few months ago to complete her thesis research project.”
I would suggest not doing that until AFTER we attack the mad mullahs and drive them out of power. If you insist on going there with conditions as they are now, I have no more sympathy for you then I would have for someone who insists on playing stoop tag on the freeway.
she is one of us. state department should put pressure on but i know how it works they are playing for something else entirely. who remembers how the last hostages got out and after how long. it so sucks to be them. if there is no media then they are being treated like Iranians.
Anyone take notice of where the author of this boo-hoo piece is coming from? He’s a graduate of school of diplomacy, majoring in U.S. Foreign Policy. Sounds like a wannabe State Department spy who will sell his country out by leaking secrets to the NY Times at the first opportunity. But in the interim, he’ll try to make the Administration look bad by drumming up a “crisis” over this Iranian female student person where none really exists.
(I wonder if she’s related to the Shah or if her parents were, since all of the Persian immigrants in SoCal are richrichrich from the money they smuggled out of Iran when the Shah fell. Maybe Ahmadinnerjacket et al just want some of their filthy lucre back in exchange for her feminist ass.)
The Islamic Republic does not regard this girl as a U.S. citizen unfortunately; her parents are Iranian and she is in Iran visiting family and relatives…so there are even deep roots still in Iran…EVEN IF she was born here, they consider her Iran. IF she travelled to Iran, she must have also had an Iranian passport…that’s just the way it works. So U.S. citizen or not is nothing more than a technicality that they can’t be bothered with…like everything else whose legality and legitimacy they happily ignore.
The Iranians will do anything they want with a citizen of the west as they fear no one. I don’t advocate going after Esha as she knew or should have known the possible dangers of what she was getting into.
The west has decided this behavior is just fine so we need to learn to live with it.
I hope she likes white.
Remember what happened to Canadian citizen Zahra Kazemi when she was jailed in the same infamous Evin prison ? Remember what acts were perpetrated on her during her detention, what became of her, and how they disposed of her after that ?
Do you want the same thing to happen to an American citizen documenting Women’s rights abuse in Iran ?
For me, this is as clear a Casus Belli as it can get.
Burke
What world is this that when reading a story about a young American Iranian student is arrested without cause others find it in their hearts to condemn her instead of her jailers? Has up become down, has right become wrong? She traveled to Iran where her parents live to visit and conduct research showing how strong Iranian women are and dispel misconceptions Americans have about them. She should be immediately released and allowed to come back to America and finish her education.
I’m with you, Lynn…
I went to a conference in Iran this past August, against the State Department’s express wishes, but I am not Iranian-American and I went as an official guest of the IRI government. Even then, I was nervous considering some of the politically-incorrect things I’ve written about Islam. I would NEVER go to Iran without an official invitation–the risks are simply too great. And I don’t think I’ll accept the invitation to return.
I hope and pray that this woman is released soon. And as the author points out, it is a shame that the MSM cannot manage to even report on this. And for that matter–where is the NOW gang? Silent, as usual, when any Islamic entity abuses women.
Bush should say let her go or we’ll let Israel do as they please with you.
I went to wikipedia to read about Zahra Kazemi and I read this sentence: “Immediately prior to her travelling to Iran, Kazemi had revisited Iraq, documenting the American occupation. ”
So those bloody hearted liberals find no moral restrain in documenting the evil imperialistic american “occupation” that attempted to free iraqui people but when they go back to their islamic paradises they die of tortures.
I guess living in the wealthy, free, tolerant west is a commodity for them, something they give for granted.
This is really scary, this is the mindset of Reverend Wright, Michelle Obama, leftist in general, they rather destroy evil imperialistic america (when this doesn’t suit their needs and push their agenda) and join the causes of countries that would not think twice about torturing them.
There is so much rotten in this mentality, and unfortunately, it is glorified by the media.
Those people come from $hitty countries, yet they rather look at the speck of sawdust in USA instead of the the plank of wood of those other country.
This moral equivalence is sickening.
Don’t mistake this attitude with due self-criticism or balanced objectivity. This is the enemy within.
As a Brit I remember our brave marines captured in the Shat el Arab Waterway by Iranian gunboats with one crying over his confiscated iPod. That’s how pc and moral equivalency works. Then remember the teacher in Sudan naming a teddy bear Mohammed? We are living in parallel universes with these guys. They mean it. We blub about rights. And reading of the conditions in Evin I note that the far easier Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib attracted a tsunami of crap both here especially from sanctimonious lefty BBC, and the US but not a peep about the real hell holes. Welcome to the world of madness.
It might behove Sen. Obama and former President Carter to request her release, with further request by Rev. Wright and Mr. & Mrs. Ayers possibly flying over to bring her back and in their driving on the wrong side be invited to visit Evin for a period of time and check out the “cleanliness” of their accomodation’s. We must not allow any American citizen to be held captive for such a minor violation, if this is what she was arrested for”?”, but we must question what her passport and reason stated and documented for going against her country of birth show’s. If she had an invitation, who issued it, if not, then the best she and her family, plus her teacher can hope for is a request. It would be to the Mullah’s advantage to release her showing the world they are not as the American’s view them, like one girl means anything to them is a laugh.
I do believe all those born in America shoud be called American first then their country of family origin. We are united by birth and freedom of rights, which we do not want to loose to any other form of political control, that is why this country has been so successful in the past and so many still want to come here for their freedom, fleeing from what they have been forced to live under in their countries. She did not need to travel to Iran to do her “academic exercise”, video camera in hand, we here in the US have seen many video’s of the problem’s there, better had she interviewed the more recent escapee’s here in this country. I
am sure their stories would be just as informing , maybe more so, without fear of being taken prisoner as a traitor for talking against the Mullah’s etc.
Susan,
Whatever Zahra Kazemi’s political inclination (what’s wrong about documenting the american occupation of Iraq ? There was an occupation, was it not to be documented, regardless of potential bias and distortions ?). Anyway, we know for a fact that she was in no way friend of the mullahs, she went there to report on human rights condition there. That was a courageous act, one I can not condemn. If you really wish to nurture an opinion on her, then I suggest you google a little to find what exactly happened to her, including testimony of the doctor in whose service she was dumped to die. Would you condone this treatment of a fellow (beit liberal) woman for any reason ?
Burke
This is odd. I posted something on this thread, but it’s not here, now. Every time I post something particularly contemptuous, like of this fool woman, suggesting draconian points of view, my post disappears. I’d be okay with that, but the trolls are allowed to just post away with all their rants and spam posts.
Is PJM doing this to my posts?
Burkewitz:
I am italian, living in Italy. In the 40s, USA troops came to free us from nazi-fascism. Nobody, in Italy or outside, never called this “occupation”. Not even the most idiotic leftist moonbat. They say other stupid things but not that it was an occupation. I suppose the same can be said for Germany, France and the rest of ingrates who have been freed by a foreign alliance.
Unless you show me undoubtable documentation that USA’s permanence in Iraq is leading to annex it to the 50 states or that USA there is overthrowing the democratically elected government, it is by NO means an “occupation”.
The country has been invaded, the tyranny has been removed. End of the story.
This is not an occupation.
(ILLEGAL) Occupation is for example turkey in northern cyprus. Occupation was Russia in Czechoslovakia.
If words have no meaning anymore, it is pointless to talk.
Therefore, just by calling it with derogative/pejorative term implies a negative judgement.
According to what principle a government should compromise with one of the worst countries around (read what happened at the US embassy in Iran in the 70s) to save one person that despised that very country that is trying to save her. This is not moral. This is self- flagellation, this is feeding the enemy. Many people have been rescued from the middle east, the majority of them were from the hard left. After paying loads of $$$ to save them (money that were used to buy weapons to use against our soldiers), those people continued to spew anti- american and anti-western venom.
There is a say here: you can be good hearted, very good hearted,extremely good hearted, after that, you are simply stupid. We are at the last level.
I am not impressed by the tortures inflicted. Those are her people, she should have known better.
IF she thought that all the evil in the world is caused by USA, she learnt at her own expenses that there is worse.
susan -
buon giorno. I get heated because Liberty is very important to me. Whether or not she is on the wrong side of Iraq or our own internal Western squabbles, she had a high likelihood of being on the side of Liberty in Iran. Whenever liberty is deprived to others I get angry. Which is why I hate the American Socialist Democrats (more government always ends up as less liberty e.g. Britain) and Obama, and also why even if I wouldn’t be able to stand her politics I side with her.
Unfortunately, you’re probably right about Barry’s “method”, since he’s an abject admirer of terrorists…Whereas my method would be to raid and grab some IRGC folks and hold them in exchange. Or if they were operating in Iraq as part of the Special Groups, just hang a few. Just to be clear, I don’t favor ransoming or anything of the nature. I believe when someone does something nefarious like this, you should hit back ten times harder until they buckle.
Applause for Susan.
Boo hiss for Burke.
Shame on those who are blaming the captive for her captivity. I’m the first one to say if you don’t love this country get the f— out. The first one to say if you want to be successful learn the language. The first one to say, no we don’t need to be more like Europe but until I meet and understand this young lady I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she’s a liberty loving, constitution respecting American and I’m all for getting her out of the situation she’s in. I agree that it was unwise to go to a country like Iran with a “woman’s rights” agenda but until I know otherwise, as far as I’m concerned, she’s an American regardless of her Iranian name, or her Iranian complexion, or even her Iranian ancestry. If you can show me that she’s burned American flags or avoids paying taxes or works illegally or isn’t a citizen or refuses to speak English then I may reconsider but assuming someone has an anti American leftist agenda simply because she commiserates with the plight of women in an islamic regime or because she was born and raised in California doesn’t necessary make it true.
Multiculturalism is definitely a load of crap but so is “anticulturalism”. Case in point, I’ve met a handful of people that fled to America from Islamic regimes that love, appreciate and would fight for this country far more than a lot of the latte sipping, hybrid driving university brats of western descent that I’ve come across.
My God, you’re really confused…
A military occupation is precisely when you have a foreign army/military in a country without annexion. It is like a – most often temporary – breach of sovereignty, following a military conflict or other dramatic geopolitical turn of events. There can be occupations (like the USA’s occupation of Japan, which was a real blessing to them – look how they performed in the aftermath, US military occupation precisely allowed them to jumpstart a quick and efficient transition to modernity – and the USA’s transitional occupation of Iraq – which I totally approve of. It is nontheless a textbook occupation. I hope this puts an end to your confusion about the terms. An occupation is what it is, don’t let your negative prejudice against the very notion of foreign military occupation obscure your judgment about that. Occupation is sometimes very necessary, and the US have proven it can be done humanely, and with an excellent outcome.
About Zahra and Esha, you’re even more confused. I understand you need to spew your hate of liberals and cultural/moral relativists everywhere (I mostly feel the same), but why unleash your rage on these poor women ? If they had thought for a second that all the evil in the world came from the USA, they’d never have gone to Iran to report on government abuse of women and human rights in general. Your reasoning is preposterous.
Hope this clarifies a few objective notions, like that of a military occupation, defined for all long before you were even born, Susan.
Burke
And thanks NB for your decency, which comes as a stark contrast to a few other comments here… Is it just me or is the average quality of readers’ comments/contributions on PJM quickly plumetting as the election draws closer ?
Burke
your semantic distincion of the term occupation could score a point among unbiased people, nobody is so fool NOT to understand what the leftist mean with the word occupation, and that is precisely what I was pointing at.
secondly
“About Zahra and Esha, you’re even more confused. I understand you need to spew your hate of liberals and cultural/moral relativists everywhere (I mostly feel the same), but why unleash your rage on these poor women ?”
I am not confused, muslim women or even self proclaimed ones are part of the problem, not of the solution.
And the only thing they have poor is their judgement.
People escaping from Cuba when castro took power, or Germany when Hitler took power ,never went back to “visit relatives”.
You are actually praising the total lack of self-preservation feeling. I don’t.
“If they had thought for a second that all the evil in the world came from the USA, they’d never have gone to Iran to report on government abuse of women and human rights in general. Your reasoning is preposterous.”
you are deluded and naive. YES, there are people that report the abuse of women and blame the USA for it. They go back to the fall of the shah of persia and say it was pushed by USA.
For anti-americanist there is NO limit.
Go and talk to people, according to some the problems in a small remote country in the middle of the ocean is USA’s fault.
We had an article some years ago about some women from afghanistan being trained as a nurses/doctors in Rome and they were freely walking around the city with make up and nail polish. And with lipstick lips they dared to say it was all USA’s fault.
I guess it was better to be burnt under the burka.
I do not buy your subjects. It’s perfectly clear what a leftist person means with occupation. And it’s NOT what you are saying.
It is morally wrong to rescue those people. If they have american passport they should have been denied this trip in the first place. USA do not have diplomatic relationship with that country.
Going there willingly is suicidal.
Sometimes hostages are released in exchange of murderers and terrorists who later are free to go back to their actions against the west.
If this for you is normal and acceptable we have different views on what is “charitable” and what is “common sense”.
She is an American. Period. A stupid American for going to Iran given her political record? Yes.
Since when does America go to war in the name of a single American citizen? Never. And we’re not about to do it now for this specific American who went despite the State Department’s warnings.
America (or ‘we’) should do whatever we normally do in such situations. Why? Because it’s in America’s best interest and in the interest of Esha.
You can loathe her politics, her judgement, and her agenda, but it all pales in comparison to the fact that she is one of ours.
We’re more divided as a nation than ever, especially, many of us think, because of this fraud Obama who might become our next president. I agree with those of you who are sickened by this prospect. But we still need to think as a single people, as Americans, especially in case likes these.
Forgive me the sermon, but it was sincere.
Jack Shepard is asking for a visa to better our American Iranian relationship starting with Esha Momeni and very soon I hope to be, travelling to Iran to laying the foundation for opening an American Government Office in Tehran; as President Bush almost did recently.
We must start acting as Allah or God demands.
Especially between two powerful nations that when Allah wishes, I ask you all to pray for God to beg him use his mercy and love to start breaking out worldwide through the strength of our pray.
Iran and America Will become the best of friends. The new administration who every it is we must start on the right foot because this thing can get real bad if we do not place our faith in God and care about every living soul and begin to meet and learn about the many thing two such difference cultures have in common. We are all God’s children just living out his plan for us
Dr. Jack Shepard Eamil: shepardj@shepardjack.191.it
please email with contacts and indea’s to help better Iranian and American friendship and free Esha Momeni
Dumb little girl she is…..She knew better, now she is in prison. What to do? Maybe she will appreciate America better when or if she gets out?
hey NahnCee…maybe you should research this writter before jumping to the conclusion about what his ideologies are. I happen to know a lot about Guariglia and he is far from wanting to drum up a crisis and make the administration look bad. take a look at FamilySecurityMatters.com or why not just google his name and look at the hundreds of other articles he has written and what he stands for. You may be surprized to find that you actually agree with him.
You are in my prayers and thoughts , I am an American soldier and I would fight for an American any place any time, no matter your heritage!
When I was in Teheran sb told me not to go on the Bazaar because it is the place where the most foreigners are being kidnapped.