During the last presidential elections in Iran I knew the situation was grim when one of our progressive, entrepreneurial, feminist friends announced that she would be voting for Ahmadinejad.
Today, while chatting with a friend in a 5-kilometer sea of green Mousavi supporters, I know that these elections signal more than modest changes in Iran. This is the Iranian people telling each other and the whole world that they are peaceful people who want the government off their backs and engagement with the rest of us.
If Ahmadinejad is voted out of office, it is time for the Western world to engage with Iran. We need to immediately reach out and help them build their economy (I know, who will help us build ours?) We need to be as quick in recognizing the message Iranians are sending us as the rest of the world was in understanding what the people of America were saying when we elected Obama.
8 comments:
Excellent post
I admire your blog very much. Lets hope Mousavi does it today and Iran can soon take the place it deserves among the great nations of the world.
Ted from Ireland
Tori
I would not like to shower cold water on you and others but what will change after Mir HOssein Mousavi will be [probably] elected as president?.
Would Iran stop working on nuclear power (read: atom bomb)?
Would Iran stop giving money and munition to Hizbullah and Hamas?
Would Khamenei stop directing foreign and domestic Iranian policy?
Would Iran change its policy regarding US and EU?
Would I stop hearing "death to America" or "Death to Denmark" shouts at meetings and demonstrations?
If the answer to all the above is "yes" - then and only then I will agree with you - US/EU should start having "normal" relations with Iran and help Iran. And that only under condition that Iran wants to be helped.
Dear Anonymous, Are you Iranian? That is my first question.
My response is that there is a lot of room for change in Iran. If Mousavi wins in the first round, which sources tell us is what is going to happen, then the Iranian people have sent a very strong message to the world and to their government. That message is: Engage with the world! I think that engagement should begin immediately, not after Iran has met a bunch of conditions, no matter how important those conditions are. The first condition needs to be the willingness to engage.
We need to be courageous in our approach to Iran now. We need to show that we have heard the message.
The Bush Administration did a LOT of horrendous things. They twisted our genuine concern for our personal safety and our sincere desire for the people of the world to have freedom, and used it to invade Iraq and torture and murder thousands (if not millions!) They did this in our name- but we rejected that falsehood by electing President Barack Hussein Obama, and LOUDLY and CLEARLY sent the world a message about the REAL heart of America.
That's what the Iranian people are doing today: showing us the TRUE heart of Iran. Our struggle and theirs hold so many parallels; we truly have more in common than most of us are aware. Can you IMAGINE what we could achieve if we worked together, as ALLIES?
If they are willing to negotiate, then we MUST be.
On the nuclear issue... That gives both our countries an angle for negotiation. We could HELP them to build power plants- or even strengthen their country's defenses- in exchange for things WE need, such as DIPLOMATIC ASSISTANCE in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Make no mistake: Iran is a VERY powerful force in the Muslim world, and that influence could make a difference where our military might NEVER could.
The Bush Administration did a LOT of horrendous things. They twisted our genuine concern for our personal safety and our sincere desire for the people of the world to have freedom, and used it to invade Iraq and torture and murder thousands (if not millions!) They did this in our name- but we rejected that falsehood by electing President Barack Hussein Obama, and LOUDLY and CLEARLY sent the world a message about the REAL heart of America.
Jessica, that's quite a distortion. It's ok to disagree with President Bush's policies; just make sure you understand what they actually were, and not the negative propaganda and falsehoods and hyperventilating hysteria and exaggerations.
President Obama may seem like he's starting us off on a blank slate, but really, it's all about image and packaging. He's all window dressing and leftist (not center-left) ideology. If you look at his Cairo "New Beginnings" speech, there's really not much different there from Bush's speeches addressed to the Muslim world. But because it's Bush, he gets ignored; because it's Obama, he gets fawning praise, gushing about how his speech was "landmark". Tell me, what the difference is between his speech and this one by Bush:
It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. And the current situation offers no prospect that life will improve. Israeli citizens will continue to be victimized by terrorists, and so Israel will continue to defend herself.
In the situation the Palestinian people will grow more and more miserable. My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror. Yet, at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope.
~~~
I can understand the deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people. For decades you’ve been treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict. Your interests have been held hostage to a comprehensive peace agreement that never seems to come, as your lives get worse year by year. You deserve democracy and the rule of law. You deserve an open society and a thriving economy. You deserve a life of hope for your children. An end to occupation and a peaceful democratic Palestinian state may seem distant, but America and our partners throughout the world stand ready to help, help you make them possible as soon as possible.
~~~
I have a hope for the people of Muslim countries. Your commitments to morality, and learning, and tolerance led to great historical achievements. And those values are alive in the Islamic world today. You have a rich culture, and you share the aspirations of men and women in every culture. Prosperity and freedom and dignity are not just American hopes, or Western hopes. They are universal, human hopes. And even in the violence and turmoil of the Middle East, America believes those hopes have the power to transform lives and nations.
This moment is both an opportunity and a test for all parties in the Middle East: an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace; a test to show who is serious about peace and who is not. The choice here is stark and simple. The Bible says, “I have set before you life and death; therefore, choose life.” The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace, and hope, and life.
Obama is perpetuating much of Bush-era policies when it comes to national security, including renditions, wiretaps, the war on terror (albeit, under a "kinder, gentler" name), etc. Much of the political opposition to Bush here in the States was about partisan politics over patriotism. Now that it's Obama in the office, he gets a pass from all those critics wailing about how Bush hurt our image, civil liberties, etc.
Bush honestly believed in his Freedom Agenda and went out of his way to not have the war on terror mischaracterized as a war against Islam.
"Am I Iranian?" - Tori, what kind of question is that? Should I ask you whether or not you are Iranian.
I am standing by what I wrote. However I wish that IRI and Khamenei recognized that Mousavi has been elected by the people. Many people today and yesterday got beaten, some got dead and courageous people who demonstrated found that at the same time they protested official results of election Ahmadinejad is celebrating his "victory" as if he really was victorious - the liar.
Sorry anonymous, I was just asking out of curiosity, not for any other reason. It's an American habit, not meant to be rude.
Tori
Excellent post and interesting series of comments; I believe that what is important here is the increased awareness of the Iranian people and the outside world looking in, and that the process of Iran arriving as a positive, constructive member on the world stage, has begun.
I think it is possible that the incumbents still have a slim majority of support though; while it is clear for us to see that building bridges and increased international engagement are the best courses of action for all parties, the clerical followers are still more numerous.
Could they be waiting for a leader from a younger generation to step up to the plate before getting all excited about a revolution?
I gather that there is a strong Ahmedinejad majority in the populous rural regions; dould it be that they know if they elected Mousavi they would virtually be getting a like-for-like replacement? And are sceptical about how significant the act of standing up and being heard is?
Inshallah within 5 years there will be new candidates and a better educated Iranian electorate to ensure a genuine landslide in favour of change; and Iran will take the place it deserves among the great nations of the world.
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