January 22,1980
Kissinger preaches return of Shah
By Gordon Palmer
Features Editor
The button reads: "Death To
The Shah U.S. Imperialism Get
Your Bloody Hands Off Iran."
The button is mounted on the
inexpensive-looking light
brown sport coat of Clark Kis
singer, member of a delegation
that recently visited Iran and
keynote speaker at UNC-G's
Cone Ballroom Tuesday night.
Kissinger is also wearing a
dark-yellow button-down shirt
with a white T-shirt and, behind
the podium, khaki jeans and
beige work shoes.
As one might guess from his
button, Kissinger is considera
bly left of center on the Iran
issue. This is nothing new; in
the '6os, he was National Secre
tary of Students for a Democra
tic Society (SDS), an organiza
tion which was outspokenly in
the forefront of the Vietnam
War protest movement.
Now, bald-headed, standing
in a college lecture room,
cracking numerous jokes and
occasionally leaning forward or
raising his voice slightly to
make a point, Kissinger is more
like a poised lawyer or a
professional speaker than a
political activist.
However, the passage of time
and events has not mellowed his
views on topics like Iran, as he
demonstrates in a telephone
interview earlier in the after
noon. "I was aware (in the 6o's)
that the U.S. had put the Shah
on the throne in the 1953 coup,
and my sympathies have always
been with the struggle of the
Iranian people. I think the thing
which most immediately
spurred me to go on this trip
was the war preparation hyste
ria campaign that's being orga
nized in this country.
"Also, I was watching televi
sion one night, and I saw this
press conference by three Ame
rican women living in Tehran
JwK I
#r : ■%*' TnP/A/I
I ■ -
- •" ■"**"
What's the next step? A Bengal tiger asks trainer Karoly Donnert, making his debut with
the 110 th Edition of Ringling Bros, and Barmtnt * Bailey Circus at the Greensboro
Coliseum Feb. 12-17.
who said that if the United
States were to invade Iran, they
would fight side by side with the
Iranian people, and I said,
"Wow, that's the stand every
one should take!"
The trip in which Kissinger
was included took some weeks
to organize. Support for the
Delegation was provided by the
National Committee, and con
tacts were arranged by the
Iranian Students Association.
However, the other delegates
did not meet Kissinger until the
day of the flight to Iran
I They made the distinction between the
American people and the United States."
Says Kissinger, "We went
down to the Iranian Embassy,
got the visas stamped on our
passports and drove right to the
airport, with tickets just for
Paris because we knew that the
government would do anything
they could to prevent a delega
tion from going that was going
to come back and tell what was
actually going on."
Once one is on the plane,
though, "anybody but a news
man or an agent can get
in . . . those two are seen as
being pretty much in the same
boat." The delegation was in
trigued to experience warm
friendliness from "the sup
posed mob of screaming Iranian
fanatics" in the streets.
. . They made the distinction
between the American people
and the American govern
ment . .
The topic of the U.S. media
deception is very important to
Kissinger. The reason for his
speaking tour (and tours of
other delegates) is the feeling
that they are blacked out by the
news media because they are
Guilfordian
opposed to the standard view
point about Iran.
Later, in his speech, Kissin
ger returns to the media-cam
paign - to - prepare - for - war
theme, also expressing confi
dence in Americans in general.
"They tell us, 'Never has the
U.S. been so unified,' and so
on, but people don't want to
start World War 111 to save the
Shah's ass."
An Iranian-born woman who
now lives in Hendersonville,
N.C., shares the podium with
Kissinger. Her name is Sima
Ruff. Her long, rippling black
hair with a stroke of middle
aged gray in the center is
supplemented by her prismatic
eyes and black turtleneck shirt.
Mrs. Ruff starts out on a
somewhat meek note. "I really
am not prepared to make a
speech, but bear with me
please." She then describes a
transformation from the great
trading nation of Persia to the
brutal, repressive autocracy of
the Shah's reign, to the point
where "I knew my sons would
lose their legs if I said anything
against Shah."
Although Mrs. Ruff was not
originally part of the program,
she agrees with Kissinger on
most of the fundamental issues,
particularly the idea that the
real enemy of the Iranian people
is not Americans as a whole but
the men in Washington.
In a voice of awe and con
viction, Mrs. Ruff, who left
Tehran in 1971, voices her
support of America to the
crowd. "This is a great place to
live because we can even talk
against the President we voted
And her confidence in the
people of Iran is at least on an
equal level, as she reveals in the
same interview (from another
phone extension). "There are
major characteristics (of the
Iranians). One is hospitality;
they will never kill the hostages
because they are in their land."
"Second is honor; they have
been dishonored by Shah, and if
you call an Iranian dishonorable
you may get killed. They have to
restore their honor which has
been wiped out by Shah; their
children, their wives, their
daughters have been raped,
killed, tortured, the treasury
has been emptied.
They have already said 'lf you
want to send the bomb, send it,
35 million, we will die." Still,
she says "I'm an American
now . . . the whole world is my
people. I think understanding is
great; if we can just understand
them, what they want, what
they are screaming for, what
they are shouting for."
So what is it like for Iranians
since the Shah left? Has there
been any economic improve
ment (contrary to what we are
••IIMMIHMiIMIMIIIHMHMMMMIMIWMMMMMMMniMMniIIMMIIIMMMIIIIIMIMIHIMMIIII
"The whole incident was engineered in the
first place by- the United States."
told)?
"Most of (the Iranians) are
still living in the kind of
wretched conditions of the fifty
years of the dictatorship, and
it's going to be a long time
before that can improve, but
what they have done is to begin
to create the conditions for it to
be possible to improve."
Was the action of taking See Sons .'
hostages justified? page seven
I think so, says Kissinger. o
Dipity group forming
Serendipity 1980 promises to
be better than ever because of
the hard work of several groups
that began meeting right after
last year's event
The Quality of Campus Life
sub-committee concerned with
Serendipity has recommended
to the Committee Senate that
this year's event be expanded to
include all factions of the com
munity (students, faculty and
administration). The sub
committee believes that by in
volving all these groups, Seren
dipity can become a unifying
force for the entire community,
an ideal in keeping with the
Quaker heritage of Guilford
A Serendipity Steering Com
mittee will be established to
coordinate all events sponsored
by the different campus groups
This committee will be com
posed of a chairperson and eight
of both the Senate and College
Union along with the Director of
'Student Activities.
The committee will be re
sponsible for stimulating the
various factions of the commun
ity and coordinating campus
activities.
page three
'For two reasons: one is that it
was the only way they could put
effective pressure on the United
States to bring the Shah back.
Iran doesn't have aircraft car
riers it can station off the coast
of New Jersey, the way the U.S.
stations aircraft carriers in the
Persian Gulf to threaten Iran."
"It's not just a matter of
bringing the Shah back; it was a
matter of stopping the organiza
tion works that was going on out
of the Embassy. It's not as if the
countries of the world do not
have experience with U.S. Em
bassies."
"The U.S. Embassy is a
complex with twenty-seven
acres and dozens of buildings
you could fit a football field in
there! -and it's where the
United States ran the whole
country of Iran from for twenty
five years.
"The point is, the whole
incident was engineered in the
first place by the United States.
They knew that the Embassy
would be attacked if they
brought the Shah here, and they
brought the Shah here deliber
ately in order to have that
happen. This is why the stu-
dents are so careful not to let
anything happen to the hosta
ges."
"And if the government
wants their agents back, all they
have to do is return the Shah.
On the other hand, Mrs. Ruff
says, "Personally, I don't be
lieve that was the right thing.
This body will become the
forum for ideas concerning Ser
endipity, a barometer of cam
pus wants and needs about the
events, and an effective repre
sentative body to all factions of
the community.
If Serendipity is to be suc
cessful, all people and groups
are urged to become involved
not only as participants, but
also as organizers and planners.
Students interested in being
the chairperson or a member of
the Serendipity Steering Com
mittee should ask themselves
the following qualifying ques
tions:
Are they willing to devote a
great deal of time to this
project? Do they feel that they
have the energy and creativity
to* help stimulate this project?
What experience with planning
and carrying out campus activi
ties do they have?
Answers to these questions
and any other information or
qualifications should be written
on the application. Applications
must be turned into the Student
Activities Office by 5 p.m
Friday, January 25.