Second Hand

Listening to a speaker yesterday, who had first hand experience in the Jewish Holocaust, got me thinking about my friend from Iran who basically has no experience/expertise in anything that promotes either his country or religion in a positive manner.

My second hand experience, as many of my second hand experiences over the past 16 years have been, convince me that not only was there a holocaust, but that man is easily capable of more if given the chance. I have heard at least 50 first hand accounts and unless there is some sort of WWW II club of survivors in which they are given a script to memorize, the story is just too true, too personal and too indelible to have been contorted in any manner. But I am sure that there are those who have no personal connection to this experience who take great pride in the doubt they cast.

And it makes me wonder. Makes me question what the real motivation to expend so much time and energy in denying that a race of people were almost wiped out (well at least more than half in Europe). Is Iran (40% below the poverty level and dependent on oil with really little else to support themselves) really in a position to focus on this? Why isn’t there more of a focus on taking care of their people and dealing with their own social issues?

But back to first hand. The speaker I heard yesterday survived because she was lucky and because she took the necessary preemptive steps. Without having done these things she would have died. What Iran needs to realize is that there are many of us who do view them as a threat and if they prove to be a threat to our existence, then the price they will pay is their own existence. I wonder if they fully comprehend this?