When, I was little I used to think of my ethnicity on a scale of 200 percent. I’m still not sure if I was trying to be clever or simply attempting to find out who I really was, but when asked the classic question “what are you?” I would respond in a high-pitched voice and proudly declare that I was 100 percent American and 100 percent Persian.

As an Iranian American, I am torn between two worlds: the culturally rich American soil and the blood-stained Iranian battlefields.

I am not conflicted about who I am, who I appear to be,or who I aim to be. Rather, I find myself divided by a sea of misunderstood characterizations, thoughtless generalizations, and shallow prejudices.

I have little doubt that practically every single non- radical Muslim agrees that Ahmadinejad is dangerously passionate and frighteningly invested in his efforts to blow the United States and Israel off the face of the Earth.

He is so desperate to turn everyone against his two greatest enemies that he is willing to try to convince the world that the Holocaust never happened — that the Nazis did not carry out Hitler’s orders and murder over six million people during one of the worst genocides known to man. To put it bluntly, Ahmadinejad has lost his marbles.

For whatever it is worth, Ahmadinejad did not come up with these ideas by himself. The Q’uran states that the key to the gates of Paradise can be acquired by ridding the world of all of its non-Muslim inhabitants in the name of Allah. Unfortunately, the Iranian government is largely, if not completely composed of radical Muslims leaders who firmly believe that their sole purpose in life is to destroy the “Big Satan,” and the “Little Satan,” also known as America and Israel.

Iran: We can attack U.S. Interests Anywhere

I think it is safe to assume that basically most people hold something against Iran’s political representatives and find little to no reason to place any trust in its authority.

Yet, somehow, we have managed to take this almost universal truth and refer to it under the umbrella term “Iran,” thus associating an entire population of Iranians with a mob of Muslim radicals.

Let me start by pointing out that the media needs to correct its constant use of inaccurate generalizations in its reports. Since the media has directed so much attention towards the War on Terror and the debate over nuclear power, I have seen the word “Iran” tossed around quite a bit in headlines, articles, and news briefs: “Iran Defiant in Face of Sanctions,” (International Herald Tribune); “Iran: We can attack U.S. Interests Anywhere,” (CBS News); “Analysts: Iran’s Nuclear Program Could Provoke War,” (Voice of America).

We live in a society that is governed by political correctness, where we have gone from “blacks” to African Americans.

I have to wonder why the media and the American people feel comfortable enough to turn Ahmadinejad and Iran into synonyms. Why don’t the American people notice or care that they are inadvertently blaming many innocent civilians who live powerless under a corrupt government?

“Iran” is not Ahmadinejad. Rather, the country consists of a government and a people, and it pains me to see the majority of Iranians associated with the lunacy of their government. They are, in fact, a separate entity that has been deprived the opportunity to speak out and voice their opinions.

As Americans, most of us would have no way of knowing what it feels like to live in fear of being beaten with clubs, attacked with acidic sprays, electrocuted in a hidden government facility, or disposed of in the middle of nowhere by a band of ruthless officers.

But I had hoped that we would have, at the very least, extended Iranians the courtesy to be represented properly in a country that advocates for both racial equality and freedom of the press.

What scares me the most is knowing that our country stands potentially on the brink of war against one of the most ruthless governments in the world, and we as a people do not even know who we are up against.

Iran’s government has literally shot down every uprising brought on by Iranian citizens without as much as a hesitation. Sometimes, I cry at night when I hear detailed reports about ordinary people who were brutally assaulted in the middle of the street just because they dared to speak out for justice.

Furthermore, as they have demonstrated through their nuclearprogram,Ahmadinejad and his administration do not play by the rules.

But, while my heart bleeds for the people in Iran who have never known the simple liberties and freedoms that we have grown so accustomed to, I would not dare to agree with “Iran’s” actions because that name is now affiliated with inhumanity, corruption, and destruction.

At some point in Biology, they teach us that the heart is an organ divided within itself by a wall that separates the right side from the left.

Just as I have come to realize that the heart was much more, I have come to understand that I am human – divided by who I was,who I am,and who I might have been.