Dr. James Zogby

Viewpoint with James Zogby: June 25, 2009 Episode

AAI
Posted on Thursday June 25, 2009

On Thursday’s edition of “Viewpoint with James Zogby”, Dr. Zogby and guests discussed a range of issues including the Iranian American response to the crisis facing Iran, the approaching deadline of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq cities, as well as homeland security issues.

Rudi Bakhtiar, Director of Public Relations for the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), and former anchorwoman for CNN and Fox, discussed the reaction of Iranian Americans to the protests in Iran. Bakhtiar said they are “devastated” with the images coming from Iran, calling the situation “horrifying”, and said that the Iranian American community is “outraged”.

When asked about the role Iranian Americans play, she responded “[We] are not trying to determine the course of Iran—that is for Iranians to do…Iranian Americans hold a grave responsibility in shedding light on tremendous human rights violations that are going on right now inside of Iran”.

Bakhtiar said it is becoming more “difficult and dangerous” to communicate with journalists inside of Iran, but stated that she is “very happy that the news about Iran has stayed front and center”.

In response to President Obama’s handling of the situation, Bakhtiar stated that Iranian Americans “understand the delicacy of the situation”.

Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S., Samir Sumayda’ie assessed the situation in Iraq with regards to the approaching deadline of U.S. troop withdrawal from cities. “[The] situation now compared to two years ago is immeasurably better for everybody- for the average citizen,” he said. The Ambassador also said that Iraq security forces do “practically all of the heavy lifting.”

With regards to ethnic tensions within Iraq, Ambassador Sumayda’ie said, “the election brought more representative councils,” which gives both legitimacy and a way to move forward to minorities in the “hot” regions.

Juliette Kayyem, Assistant Secretary of Intergovernmental Programs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security discussed a range of homeland security issues.
Kayyem explained the actions DHS was taking with the H1N1 flu, as well as civil rights issues facing Arab Americans such as racial profiling, watch lists, and visa questions.