The Colloid Base

In the past few weeks, many European and American officials have acknowledged that the path to a free Middle East passes through Tehran. In another words, the only way to see peace and freedom prevail in the Middle East and especially in Iraq, is to see a democratic government taking power in Iran.

Although the Iranian people have been saying this for the past 3 years while being pretty much ignored by the Westerners but coming to this conclusion is by itself a sign of reaching a new and deeper understanding of the region by Western leaders.

Before the war in Iraq, Americans believed that they could some how get along with the Iranians as the biggest neighbor to that country. To be sure, the US, through diplomatic channels, officially asked the Iranians not to meddle in the war and for the duration of the operations and they did actually succeed to keep them out. Later on, it turned out that the Americans had actually met with the Iranians a few times in Europe to discuss the matter.

In return for not meddling during the war, Iran asked the allies to bomb and annihilate their longtime enemy, the Peoples Mujahedin Orgnization of Iran (PMOI) that was based in Iraq. PMOI is recognized as the biggest and the most organized dissident Iranian movement that exists outside the country and has vowed to overthrow the mullahs in Tehran. Just before the war the PMOI declared non-partisan to the war nevertheless their basis were bombed and many of their members were killed.

Soon after though, the PMOI and the American Command in Iraq reached a peace accord putting the PMOI at the protection of the US forces in accordance with the Geneva conventions.

After the war, Iran, finding itself under growing international pressures due to its suspicious nuclear activities and dreaded human rights records, realized the danger of being surrounded by Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In addition, the void of a central power in Iraq blinked the opportunity of achieving a longtime desire by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic, and his followers to pursue the dream of an Islamic Empire, going through Iraq to reach the holly lands in Israel.

By announcing the plan for a free and open Middle East by President Bush and other world leaders, it was clear for the Iranian theocracy that the planed future does not include their backward ideologies. To survive though, the Iranians found their remedies in thrusting ahead full force making sure Iraq becomes “another Vietnam” for the Americans.

Meddling in Iraq was through different ways and means. The Bader group that was based in Iran and had been training for such a day for many years was now in Iraq taking key rules in the newly formed government and it’s security forces. Using the Bader forces and other groups in Iraq , the mullahs managed to create a battle ground against the Americans so they would not think of the unthinkable.

Also by outright cheating in the elections the Mullahs managed to take over a majority of the seats in the new parliament and if it was not for the millions of the Iraqis taking to the streets Iraq chanting “Iran, get out,” they would have managed to actually install a puppet government in that country.

Soon after Iran’s cheating in Iraq’s elections and its bloody hand in the everyday bombing scenes of Iraq were exposed, and after mounting international pressures, the Iranians started losing their grip on the situation gradually and started finding themselves cornered by the international community.

In order to learn from the past and not make the same mistakes twice we must remember that for as long as the Iranian regime exists in the Middle East, it will stand in the way of any formation of democracy in the region as we can see currently in the regeion.

The geopolitics of the region dictates what Iraq’s democratic advocates are testing in practice first hand and that says, “the path to democracy in the region, certainly passes through Tehran.” We will only see peace and democracy in Iraq when there is a newly peaceful democratic government is established in Iran.

Nima Sharif is a political and human rights writer and publisher of the website: http://www.stopfundamentalism.com

Q: After years of dreaming about starting my own business, I finally took the plunge a little over a year ago. To say the least, my dream quickly became a nightmare. The business didn’t do nearly as well as I had hoped. I ran out of money within six months and had to take out a second mortgage on my house just to keep things going. I have now closed the business and am left with a pile of bills that will probably put me in personal bankruptcy. I don’t mean to take it out on you, but instead of telling people how great having your own business is all the time you should also warn them that starting a business is not easy and can be devastating when things go wrong.
– Gene K.

A: Gene, I hope that I have never given anyone the impression that having your own business is a walk in the park. To the contrary, I’m like the proverbial Chicken Little when it comes to warning readers of the obstacles and pitfalls that await those considering the entrepreneurial plunge.

To quote myself from a column I wrote earlier this year, “If it was easy, my friend, everybody would do it.”

Just to make sure we’re in agreement, let me reiterate the standard warnings once again. Starting a business is incredibly hard work. It takes long hours and deep pockets. It demands unbridled passion and unquestioned commitment. It requires that you give of yourself until you often feel there is nothing left to give. And sometimes, even after you’ve done all that you can do and given all that you can give, the business fails.

Period.

Blood, sweat, and tears can only carry you so far in the business world. Good intentions and grand ideas won’t pay the office rent. You can not make payroll with Monopoly money.

I certainly don’t mean to make light of your situation. In fact, I know exactly how you feel. I failed so miserably my first time in business that I swore I would never think about working for myself again. All I wanted to do was to find a nice, secure 9-to-5 job that provided me with a nice steady paycheck. I yearned for the opportunity to grow fat and happy on someone else’s payroll for a change.

I never again wanted to have to think about customers or employees or withholding taxes or accounts receivable or anything else even remotely associated with being in business.

I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die because my business had failed, and in my All-American, macho male, “you are what you do” brain that meant that I was a failure, too.

Getting over the failure of a business can be extremely difficult, especially if you are one of those entrepreneurs (like I was) who wrongly relates the success or failure of a business to the success or failure of you as a person.

The best way that I know of to get over the failure of a business (and the deep feelings of personal failure that go along with it) is to do an autopsy of the business to help find out exactly what went wrong. Only by discovering our weakness can we build on our strengths (Yogi Berra eat your heart out).

It took a long time and an enormous amount of reflection to realize that the business had failed for many reasons, not simply because I was a miserable excuse for an entrepreneur. I wasn’t looking to shuck the blame so much as simply trying to understand what really went wrong. A few years later when I mustered the courage to take the plunge again, I did so with the knowledge gained from my first failed business. I knew what I had done wrong and I knew what I’d done right. Lessons learned, put to good use. Knock wood, this time so far, so good.

Performing an autopsy on a failed business is a simple process, but one that can reveal a wealth of information that you can use should you ever decide to step out onto the business high wire again.

To do your business autopsy find a quiet place where you can sit and reflect on the life of your business. With pen and paper in hand (or laptop on lap) write down everything that you can think of that went right with the business and alternatively, everything that went wrong. Your goal is to create a “Success” versus “Failure” spreadsheet that will help you better understand exactly why the business went south.

For the autopsy to be effective, it is imperative that you are completely honest with yourself. Shove your ego in a drawer and be completely realistic or the autopsy will just become an exercise in futility. You will end up looking for scapegoats instead of reasons.

If your lack of experience was a contributing factor to the failure of the business, write it down. If your brilliant negotiating skills allowed you to close a big deal and beat out a competitor, write it down. If you were undercapitalized or incorrectly estimated your share of the market, write it down. If you had a partner who didn’t pull his weight or a product that didn’t sell as well as you thought it would or your building was flattened by an earthquake, write it down. Write it all down.

Once you have all the facts in front of you, it’s easy to see why the business really failed. You might be surprised to find out that the failure of the business wasn’t completely your fault, after all.

Then again, you might discover that the business failure was your fault. If that turns out to be the case, don’t beat yourself up for long. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and that’s OK.

The world would be a miserable place if everyone sat around whining about their lack of customers or complaining about their employees.

Next time we’ll take a look at the primary reasons businesses fail and discuss how you might avoid them.

Here’s to your success.

Tim Knox

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.

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