“Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.” George W. Bush
Nothing to lose…the protests in Iran may not be a clear cut case for legitimate elections, rather they an opportunity to end the Iranian regime without the use of military force. Freedom is a messy enterprise and when people get a dose of it; they do not let it go peacefully. The Iranian elections were a sham from the start. In Iran, the candidates are selected by Supreme Leader Khamenei regime. So, in order to qualify a candidate can’t really be a reformer. Even if there is a candidate that is less of a hard liner; the opaqueness of the system allows for government to simply manipulate results (cheat) as they did 2006. So what is going on in Iran today; why if the system is already rigged are people protesting the results?
The Iranian people are young (70% under 30), educated (literacy rate 80%) and westernized. What about crowds of cheering Iranians when Amadinejad says: death to Israel? Well Dorothy, this is not Kansas; it is a brutal totalitarian state where people are arrested, tortured and killed for opposing the regime. Just because the likes of Kruschev and Breshnev got 99% of the vote did not mean that the majority of the Soviet Union’s citizens truly supported their enslavement; they just wanted to survive. Three years ago to the day, Natan Sharansky (credited architect of Bush Democracy Plan) explained: “in a fear society, there are three categories of people: 1) true believers who believe in the ideology; 2) dissidents who don’t believe in the ideology and speak openly against it; and 3) the overwhelming majority of people who are double thinkers. Over time, the tougher the dictatorship and the longer it exists, the number of double thinkers-people who don’t accept or believe in this ideology, but who feel that they are not strong enough to speak against it because they are afraid of punishment-grows all the time.”(1) Today, the people of Iran are crossing the line into the second category. They are doing it because it is a time when the world is watching. They have chosen to protest the election. They have not because they believe elections are legitimate. Rather, they provide an opportunity to get their message out; they want freedom. Professor, Author and Iranian expert Dr. Walid Phares: “The massive demonstrations against Ahmadinejad were (and are) conducted by real opposition masses. Students, young people, men and women have been emulating the Tiananmen Square uprising, as well as Eastern Europe’s awakening against the Soviets and going beyond the electoral dispute. In reality, the people clashing with the regime’s militia aren’t solely Mousavi’s supporters. Most of them are anti-Khomeinist protesters who are seizing the opportunity of the election fraud to show the world how disenfranchised they are.”(2)
Most Americans take their freedom for granted; we have forgotten how we achieved as well as how much sacrifice it takes to keep it. Also, we ignore that every human being desires it. I have heard that the people of the Middle East are incapable of handling freedom; they don’t want to be free…President Bush was continuously mocked for statements: “On a individual level believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom.”… “They hate what we see right here in this chamber — a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms — our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.” For the record, we cannot overlook the doctrine of Islam as the foundation of the philosophical rationalization for Osama’s vision of a worldwide caliphate. Yet, we also cannot turn a blind eye to this simple fact: dictatorial regimes hate threats to their power, and those who would advocate freedom are a direct threat. Again, President Bush firmly understood this: “Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.” How long will Islamic Theocracy last in a free society not forced to bow down to its intellectual thuggery?
Yes, the people of the Middle East want to be free. At great risk, the Iranian people are marching for this freedom. They should be supported, at very least, rhetorically. President Obama clearly is unwilling to use force against the Iranian regime; he would be wise to embrace the Iranian people by acknowledging the corruption of the election, and more importantly, the illegitimacy of their government. Unfortunately, he seems willing to play Khamenei’s game: “I have always felt that, as odious as I feel some of President Ahmadinejad’s statements (are), as deep as the differences that exist between the United States and Iran on a range of core issues, that the use of tough hard headed diplomacy, diplomacy without illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries, is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests. Specifically making sure that we are not seeing a nuclear arms race by Iran getting a nuclear Iran. … We will continue to pursue a tough direct dialogue between our two countries and we’ll see where it takes us.“
The people of Iran are protesting for change. By focusing on moving forward with negotiations, President Obama fails to deliver it…
1 Sharansky, Natan Is Freedom for Everyone? Heritage Foundation Lecture # 960 June 15, 2006
2 Phares, Dr. Walid Iran’s Elections - A National Show Designed to Delay Democracy Fox News June 15, 2009.
3 Comments
“President Obama fails to deliver it….” When did it become the responsibility of the United States to deliver freedom to the world. If you want freedom, get it the “old fashioned way”.
The opportunity is now. Our president should let the Iranian people know we are behind them if they overthrow the country. But if he does this then he better hope that they don’t fail, because then his overtures of peace toward the Iranian president will fall flat on its face. I don’t think he had much of a chance of getting peace with the current government anyway. Now if the revolution is successful and he was behind the Iranian protesters, he will come out looking good. And then the other countries that are opressed by tyranny will be encouraged and may push for their freedom also.
The people of Iran don’t want, or need the U.S. to “deliver” freedom to them. They, and anyone in this world can see our country for what it is: still the land of the free, and the home of the brave. We stand as a shining example- we are in stark contrast to many other coutries. Where do other countries look to in time of disasters? To the U.S. But our President could/ should stand up in front of the world, and plainly and clearly take a stance-a position on the side of those willing to risk their lives to cry out for a change in the opressive regime as it stands today in Iran. We have been at that same crossroads about 200 years ago, and our country stands out in a world of all other forms of government as the best, but not perfect country with freedoms that the people of other countries do envy.
He could urge all of us in the U.S. and all the freedom loving peoples of the world to do whatever we can ( send cellphones servers, whatever) and he could make a statement of faith in the God of creation, and ask everyone to give prayer requests to God for his mercy and deliverance from that tyrannical regime. He could say that the martyrs of that freedom movement are being prayed for and that our hearts are being broken as we watch the horrible display of the abuse of power, and of the murder of innocents by a regime that lacks basic human compassion.
He could at least have advisors who believe these things, could he not? OR on the other hand, are there any in his circle of advisors who see it that way ?
I PRAY ” there might be ten in the city…”