Michael Ledeen has repeatedly emphasized that the best way to achieve our policy objectives with respect to Iran is to support the indigenous opposition and thus undermine the regime. A spontaneous uprising against the mullahs, supported by the United States, could legitimize a new democratic government in Iran and make the issue of nuclear weapons less apocalyptic.It may be that such an uprising is beginning right now. According to the expatriate Iranian blogger The Spirit of Man, students staged massive protest rallies in Iran today:
Protests in Tehran
There are confirmed reports from inside of Iran about students protesting in and around the University of Tehran, mainly at Kuy-e-Daneshgah where famous protests against the regime were held in July of 1999 and June & July of 2003.
This can be a very important moment. I really think these guys need massive support right now to be able to achieve some thing, at least if we expect the change to come from inside of Iran.
A blogger says there are about 2000 students clashing with the security officers in western parts of Tehran where their campus is located. Many were detained, 40 police officers injured and 200 students wounded. He says, it started by a group of 20-30 students and then more people joined the crowd.
All we can do is stand on the sidelines and witness. Since the legacy media are unlikely to pay any attention, we’ll have to spread the word in the blogosphere.
Pass it on.
3 comments:
Islam trumps all. Especially when you add in the mystiqueof the Hidden Imam.
Most of the anti-Mullah Iranians are no longer living in Iran. And while some demonstartions may go on, and some dissidents exist, I don't se them as viable at this time.
In order for the regime to truly topple, we will have to humiliate the mullahs and their front man Ahmadinejad. It's important to remember the culture we're dealing with, and the fact that the whole idea of a `nation-state' is largely a Western idea.
Let alone democracy!
adaneshju - you may be right but EVERY emigre group in America has been despised (especially by Americans) as an unrepresentative elite. And there is plenty of democratic Iranian resistance inside and outside the country, that is not directed by the old elite, or aiming at restoration of the Shah.
Victor Davis Hansen believes that the greatest pressure on the Iranian regime is coming across the border from Iraq. Not every Iraqi shia wants to be an Iranian stooge. Our best hope for regime change in Iran is a stable, representative and increasingly powerful regime in Iraq. Which is, of course, why Iran is tryig so hard to destabilize it. It doesn't explain why the US Democrat party is trying to accomplish the same end, though.
Not many people are aware that the Nazi government executed thousands of German citizens by the guillotine during World War II, many for voicing their dissent or distributing posters, pamphlets, and leaflets criticizing Nazi policies.
Unless some Western government is prepared to give more than lip service to a couple thousand protesters, I can't be very sanguine about the chances they will sway their fearless leaders, or enjoy getting to know their grandchildren.
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