[Rhodes22-list] Shah of Iran Son

[brad haslett]

Folks, I promise to take the next few days off from
the list and shut-up.  This is just too rich.  A
friend of mine from work was the roommate of the son
of the Shah at Reese AFB.  He was a student at the
Irani equivalent of our Air Force Academy and was
hand-picked to help the 'son' get through training. He
told me this whole story over some beers at the Philly
airport Raddison a few years ago and I re-tell the
story every chance I get.

Let's call him Nathan.  N got chosen to accompany the
'son' to pilot training at Reese.  They chased a lot
of West Texan women but N fell in love with one and
got married.  Three quarters of the way through pilot
training the Shah fell from power.  The Air Force
explained that the Iran government had paid for the
training in advance and nothing had changed.  The
'son' doubled his hops because he wanted to get his
wings and figured his days were numbered.  Near the
end, the Air Force offered commissioned officer
positions to anyone who wanted to stay.  No one did
including my co-worker.  When he returned to Iran the
Mullahs told him not "no", but "hell no" you're not
married and you're not bringing that wench to this
country".  N contacted his wife and she and her family
got their local congressman involved trying to get N a
visa back to the good old USA.  N got a leave of
absence from the Irani Air Force to visit the US
Consulate in Frankfort, Germany.  He's sitting in a
boarding house eating breakfast when the TV starts
showing images of American hostages captured the day
before.  I'm going to skip a whole lot of detail here
for the sake of brevity and press on.  N makes his way
back to the US.  He goes to the FAA to get his
civilian equivalent licenses for his military
training.  They tell him he had six months to apply
for them and the time has expired.  N goes to work as
a bookkeeper for his father-in-law at a West Texas
feed store.  N starts flying lessons in a Cessna 150. 
He gets a job as a flight instructor, charter pilot,
and commuter airline pilot.  After five years as a
pilot for a commuter airline in Memphis, he gets
senior enough to have weekends off so he can
'moonlight' for XX as a box handler.  They interview
for pilots and he gets the nod as an insider.  N gets
hired.  N and I have this conversation seven years
later and I ask him, "did you tell them all this at
the interview?"

"Bradley, when I got done, there wasn't a dry eye in
the room and you could hear Old Glory flapping in the
background!"

BTW, N is still married to his West Texas wench and
has two beautiful children.  He is very easy to
recognize in the pilot lounge.  He's the guy that
looks like a terrorist with a US flag pin on his
lapel.

Here is todays press release that started this whole
diatribe.  Forgive me, I'm done now.  Brad

--------------------

Back to Story - Help
Son of toppled shah sees Iran foot-dragging By ELAINE
GANLEY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 7, 8:49 PM ET
 


The son of the toppled shah of Iran said Wednesday
that the Western proposal to end a standoff with
Tehran over its nuclear program will only lead to
further foot-dragging.

Reza Pahlavi called on the world to support Iran's
opposition groups, which he claimed have put
differences aside and united in a bid to install a
democratic government and rid Iran of the clerical
regime.

"Why waste time ... in endless negotiations?" Pahlavi
said at a news conference after meeting with a group
of French parliamentarians.

The fact that the U.S. added its name to the proposal,
which includes an incentive package, "puts the regime
in an impossible position" — a "lose-lose situation,"
Pahlavi said.

If it accepts the proposal, Iran would have to
backtrack on its propaganda, which he called the
"glue" holding the regime together. Should it reject
the offer, Tehran would face an "economic shock" from
potential U.N. sanctions, he said.

"I'm concerned that the status quo will prevail," he
said.

Iran "will need to take a stand with the world
watching. The only question is how long it could drag
out the game of confusion and suspend the moment of
truth," said Pahlavi.

He appealed to countries to help opposition groups in
exile who, he said, include Iranian rightists,
leftists, monarchists and republicans.

The current clerical regime thrives on crises, and
"the only thing Mr. Khamenei is afraid of is the
people on the streets of Iran," Pahlavi said,
referring to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei.

The opposition represents "the most logical, least
costly and most direct" means for peaceful regime
change, he said.

Pahlavi was 20 when Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi fled his
country as the Iranian revolution took hold in 1979
and installed a clerical regime. The shah ultimately
died in exile.




Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. The information contained in the AP News
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed without the prior written authority of
The Associated Press. 


Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions or Comments
Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright/IP Policy
- Ad Feedback 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com