One Simple Thing
I feel this is somehow related to Saman's post, and this article in the New York Times.
In the democratic elections in Iraq, people voted for an Iranian-revolution-style conservative Shia Islamic system. In the democratic relations in Palestine, people voted for Hamas. Turkey is continuously trying to keep a secular system, despite the fact that Turkish people tend to elect/prefer a stricter Islamic government.
In almost all muslem countries in the region of Middle East, people are more strict, conservative and anti-west than they are in Iran. In all countries in the region, the government is trying to show a secular and pro-west image whereas the people are exactly the opposite.
Only in Iran, the young public is more secular, open minded and more west-friendly (or pro-west) than the government.
If Americans understood this one simple thing, things would have been much better by now.
They are now frowning at the result of the "free and democratic" elections in both Iraq and Palestine. On the other hand, they frowned at us, the people of Iran, when we took a big step towards reform. They labelled us "Axis of Evil" on the height of the Iranian reform movement. Dast Marizad ! Was there any better way to support the anti-reformists at that time?
Certainly the failure of the reform movement in achieving practical results was not totally the fault of the American policy, but they could have cleverly supported it much better, if they were/are genuine about their slogan of "spreading democracy" in the region. Unfortunately they have not yet come out of their "Cold War" way of thinking, in which there exists always be a deadly enemy who wants to destroy the US! Condoleezza Rice, who specialised in the politics of the cold war and the Communist block, is now dealing with Iraq and Afghanistan (and perhaps Iran) the same way she was trained to deal with the might of the USSR.
The US, for it's size and influence, is too ignorant towards the facts in the world. And with ignorance comes fear, and fear leads to the dark side!
What are you challenging my friend? The idea that Americans are envoys of peace and democracy around the globe? My friend, this propaganda only has a domestic market for them. Internationally, they do what is in the interest of the US, which primarily means trying to control the sources of energy, especially now that the powerful EU is neighbouring Middle East from the west, and the powerful India and China are neighbouring energy resources from the east. Unfortunately, they seem to think that the only way to overcome their rivals is through war. Or maybe, the businessmen who are in charge of their administration only know this way.
(at January 30, 2006 01:11 AM)
The comparison is not proper. Incubation phase of a democracy is quite not dispoiled and not decided area. Iranian model of Mullah Aristocracy has "legal" instruments that call the event a voting which is not one by any logical definition. The call to name this fact can not be blamed for a help of the raise of the radicals. Bush did, and does, many confused and confusing disicions, but this blaming is rather trying to call the iran's political landscape as the acceptable base, which is a totally false basis to build any theory on.
(at January 30, 2006 02:49 PM)
Bush and Co are certainly not in the business of spreading democracy in the region. Forget about what they say publicly. It's just a nice label for what they're after. What I said does not make US a 'bad' country necessarily. Maybe they don't know any better way of doing international politics. Still if you open the gates of America, many Iranians (among other nations) would like to immigrate there.
The fact that US labelled iran axis of evil during the haydays of the young iranian political reform shows more than before that we need to take control over our destiny, reform, politics, etc. This could only happen slowly. Step by step.
Little by little is the name of the game. You have 50% proper elections, the next round you make it 60%, then 70% and so on.
(at January 31, 2006 02:11 AM)
You are Iranian? " fear leads to the dark side..."
Funny you should say that. It's how your country got where it is... from within the average iranian home and family to out on the street, up to the tops of 'government' if you call your khamaeni shah a government.
' fear leads to the dark side...' there's a chance to confront the man in the mirror. And, a perfect case of as we say in America, the land of the free of mind, the most important thing, to the land where the mind is a slave,Iran;
" It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black"
:-)
your welcome, sincerely your true american friend of persian descent.
-Cydawg!
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