PAR T II. OPINIONS:

Our Strength Is Our Diversity

By Dr. Sargon Dadesho

("Bet-Nahrain", vol.20, No.l, 1993)

Let me begin with a metaphor. A Navy fleet was on the high seas. All of a sudden a blip appeared on the radar screen. "Tell that ship to change its course 15 degrees!" said the Admiral. The radioman did and the word came back on the radio. "You change your course 15 degrees." "Tell that ship that we're the Navy and to change its course 15 degrees," said the Admiral. The radioman did and the word came back again, "You change your course 15 degrees." This time the Admiral he got on the radio and said, "I am an Admiral in the Navy. Change your course 15 degrees." The word came over the radio, "You change your course 15 degrees, I am a Lighthouse! "

We often expect the world to adjust to our course, but alas, we find we must adjust to the realities around us. I would go further I believe it is the duty and the obligation of each Assyrian generation to perceive the realities of their times. It is easy to be wise in retrospect. Anyone can tell you yesterday's issues, yesterday's realities. But our challenge, and certainly the challenge of every generation of policy makers, is to confront today and tomorrow's realities. President Lincoln said it so well: " As our case is new, so must we think and act anew .We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save the country." New occasions teach new duties.

The leadership of the Assyrian National Congress recognizes this fact of history and the change in our society. Therefore, they charted anew course for their collective

National efforts. They carried on with this task fully aware of their responsibilities towards history and future Assyrian generations, and with the firm intention of ensuring a better future for our children and grandchildren. The task of the Assyrian National Congress is based on real formulas and not on false equation.

I would like to tell you why I should be a pessimist and why lam an optimist regarding the efforts of the Assyrian National Congress to bring unity among the Assyrian ranks. I should be a pessimist because such attempts to bring cooperation and unity among the Assyrians were tried in the past, only to be killed by the worst kind of selfish maneuvering. I should be a pessimist because special interest groups want the status quo. But let me tell you wl1y lam a determined optimist: First, in a cosmic sense, as Churchill said, " the' only causes worth fighting are the impossible ones." But I do not think that bringing unity and harmony in our national program is impossible. I am an optimist because the national program adopted by the Assyrian National Congress has a strong public support and because a powerful base has been established for future actions. The real reason to be an optimist Oscar Wilde once said "basis of all optimism is sheer terror," When I think of what the status quo will do to the dreams my parents and grandparents sacrificed for and what it will mean to future Assyrian generations, I realize that we will find a way to unite our national efforts, BECAUSE WE MUST.