Iran

Fire of Liberty

Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute has a stirring piece on the future of democracy in Iran. Ledeen notes that the Bush administration has a clear cut policy in Iran which is regime change. Such was clearly laid out in the president's 2nd inaugural address and especially in his SOTU where he stated, "...to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you." What's even more interesting is the fact that Secretary of State Rice vocally expressed the US policy of supporting the emerging democratic student movement within Iran.

To releave everyone's heart, this regime change envisioned by the President doesn't require an arsenal of military firepower but an arsenal of liberty. Such a regime change will come from within the nation much like Poland in the 1980's or the most recent regime change in Ukraine.

The students (60% of Iran under 25) as well as the whole democratic movenment of Iran has put up with too many years of public executions, women being stoned and the general danger of being beat by thugs brought in by the mullahs. To make the matters even worse, the people of Iran are tired of being offered a list of candidates who are hand-selected by the mullahs. While they have elections, the people's wishes are denied because the mullahs control the so-called "reformers", namely Mohammed Khatami. While Robin Wright, Andrea Koppel and Barbara Slavin fawn over the "reformers" in Iran and report to the US reader all is good, the Iranian voters know better. This discust of the regime actions probably explain why the public opinion polls show a 70% dissaproval of the regime. Unfortunately, the regime continues to place its heavy thumb on the voters of Iran with sham elections.

Such a problem has a solution which is the holding of a national referendum. By holding a simple referendum with a choice of approval or disapproval, the Iranians would determine their fate. Unfortunately, the mullahs favor retaining power and are well aware that if the people ever get a chance to dissolve the regime in a referrendum their goose is cooked. Such a move is afoot within Iran where some 18,000 people ranging from numerous Iranian leaders, internal dissidents, pro-democracy advocates and religous leaders have endorsed a referendum movement, which can be found at www.60000000.com. If the vote was observed by outstanding observers rather than the likes of Jimmy Carter, the referendum would more than likely be the end of the regime of the mullahs. Then the people of Iran would select a transitional government, which would lead to the drafting and ratification of a constitution and a vote on the new government.

While this sounds highly idealistic, it's the best solution for regime change in Iran. The democracy movement needs political and monetary help from the West rather than bombs. The US can do much like they did with the various democracy movements throughout Europe during the cold war. Our leadership needs to reach out to the democracy movement within Iran and promote their leaders, much like we did for Andrei Sakarov, Lech Walesa, Natan Sharansky behind the Iron Curtain. The movement could also use a leader in the West who will challenge the mullahs to hold a national referendum on the future of the regime. They could also bring back the US Information Agency and create a Radio Free Iran instead of the pop-music Radio Farsi. The Iran democracy movement needs our help and brimming with energy to take down the mullahs. Don't let them down.