The following is a message I got from one of our log readers. I wanted to share it with you all as it really tells it like it is not only in Armenia, but in the world today. I bolded the part that directly relates to Armenia, though in reality it all relates to Armenia, just the names in print are different.

Hi Ara,

I read Clinton�s speech. I think it was good speech, but hardly anything enlightening. I am very glad that such a high profile person made that speech, but many people have said these same things over the years. In fact, Chamski and others were saying this very loudly
while Clinton was so enthusiastically climbing the political ladder. Too bad he is not in power any longer. That is the problem, there is no one in power now that is saying the same things. Blair and Bush are only talking about �stamping out evil�. They do not have the courage to say the things that Clinton hinted at in his speech:

��if you don't want to live with barbed wire around your children and grandchildren for the next hundred years, then it's not enough to defeat the terrorist. We have to make a world where there are far fewer terrorists, where there are fewer potential terrorists and more partners. And that responsibility falls primarily upon the wealthy nations, to spread the benefits and shrink the burdens.�

That is the real problem: if they did say these things, they would not last too long. It is �big business� with its very shortsighted and self-absorbed objectives that decide the policies of the Western nations. Leaders such as Bush and Blair are �leaders� because of the support that they have received from the business world.

I liked Clinton�s closing remark.

�So that's what I want you to think about. It's great that your kids will live to be ninety years old but I don't want it to be behind barbed wire. It's great that we're gonna have all these benefits of the modern world, but I don't want you to feel like you're emotional prisoners. And I don't want you to look at people who look different from you and see a potential enemy instead of a fellow traveler. We can make the world of our dreams for our children, but since it's a world without walls, it will have to be a home for all our children.�

On another note, this AIDS thing in the FSU scares me.

�And lest you think it's an African problem, the fastest growing rates of AIDS are in the former Soviet Union, on Europe's backdoor.�

The problem is only just starting in Armenia. It is all linked to poverty, which forces women into prostitution. We have to do something about this or we will be in big trouble. We Armenians delude ourselves into believing that we are a saintly people. We can not fathom the fact that, yes, our girls are forced to prostitution and our men don�t have the moral fortitude to not take advantage of the situation.

I thought Clinton's comment about Iran was right on because the CIA destroyed democracy in Iran when it organized a coup and then supported the Shaw. This is well document and not even denied by the US.

�Same thing is true in Iran: the government's very anti-Western, but the people aren't, in part because they have real elections and real votes, and the only time that real democracy is thwarted is when their own people do it, so they don't blame us. So we should be
advancing democracy and human rights and once a country makes a decision to be more open and free, we should help them be more successful. Elections are only part of the job.�