"Forgetting" Is Not An Option . . .

A recent report by the Argentine weekly, Perfil, claimed that Argentina had provided secret assurances to Iran that it would “forget” the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy and the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires in exchange for improved trade relations. Pepe Eliaschev, the veteran investigator that first broke the report, alleged that his review of classified documents revealed that Argentina was willing to suspend investigations into Iran’s role in the terrorist acts in order to renew its trade cooperation agreements with the Islamic Republic.

What is the price tag for 114 dead and 542 wounded civilians? Roughly $1.2 billion per year in trade relations between Iran and Argentina. This result, while disappointing, is not all that surprising. After all, Argentina has harbored a quarter of the Third Reich, so what can we really expect? (Editorial Note: estimates are not based on empirical evidence, but are merely included for shock value . . . are you shocked? I am shocked…Cotton). Perhaps I understand Argentina’s position. In this precarious economic climate, states need to find sources of income wherever they can even at the expense of certain ideological, social, or political norms. Thus, Argentina has adopted a purely realist position that its “economic survival” is more important than a principled stance against terrorism. This, of course, is Argentina’s prerogative. Although I vehemently disagree with it, I at least understand it.

What I do not understand is why Argentina agreed to “forget” Iran’s role in the bombing instead of simply exculpating Iran from any wrongdoing. Why not simply come out and say, “Iran was not involved in the bombings and therefore we are reestablishing trade relations with it”? Perhaps because Argentina cannot honestly say that Iran was not at least partially responsible for these horrific events. If this is the case, then the Argentine government has committed a gross injustice not only against the victims of the terrorist acts, but also against our civilized world.

We can disagree with the findings of an investigation or protest decisions of legislatures; these are tangible results that human beings can conceptualize. However, a decision to “forget” a tragedy, to “ignore” its repercussions, and to “sell out” its victims is something that we cannot suffer. Simply, a state that has been violently targeted, and whose civilians have been indiscriminately massacred, cannot forget . . . it must never forget.