Chicago Nonpartisan Examiner: Iran democracy possible with help from The Great Satan

 

Although the U.S. has been the Great Satan to the Iran Republic for decades, they can take advantage of a democracy movement among a younger generation.

Anytime a westerner thinks of the Iranian revolution, images of Shiite swarms burning stuffed U.S. statesman in effigy come to mind, while mouth foaming throngs chant “death to the Great Satan”. Shocking though it may seem, the fact is perhaps there’s legitimacy behind the accusations that the Unites States has resembled Satan during the course of modern U.S.-Iran history. Iran, of course, certainly not to be outdone, should focus on their side of the street, especially its Islamist theocratic leadership, because one can see demonic likenesses embedded in Iranian wicked rhetoric and actions both internally and on the international stage. The most effective approach to defeating Iran's theocracy is not nuclear deterrence, direct negotiations, economic sanctions or military action, although all those are and/or may be necessary – the most effective approach for the U.S. is to continue developing the seeds of democracy within a new generation of Iranians that crave it.

This is not some far-fetched theory. Ironically, it is U.S. actions that have helped fan the flames of hatred for America, and have enabled an extremist mindset to flourish to date. If there are any doubts, pick up a text on U.S.-Iran relations over the past few decades, and let history judge - especially when we backed Iraq in a bloddy eight year war.  But the U.S. is positioned, and fortunate, that a new generation of Iranians yearn for a secular democratic state and an American lifestyle, as pointed out by Christopher Hitchins in an interview, that was done while Bush was still in office, but his recommendations still hold true for Obama:

Hitchins, the ever skeptical atheist and a great fan of what he refers to as that "good idea" called democracy, despises theocratic rule of any type, and believes that, not only Iran, but that Iraq will have a functioning democracy in 10 years.  Will he be right?  We'll let history judge.

U.S. policy has not only ignited right-wing Islamic fundamentalism in Iran, but the U.S. has gone so far as to stifle democracy in this Persian Islamic Republic, beginning over half of a century ago. In addition, as mentioned in the previous article, U.S. support for Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s has aggrandized America’s image as “The Great Satan”. Although younger generations have revealed a heart-felt predilection towards American freedom, the U.S. can’t simply wait 10 years for democracy to flourish - like a boy whistling in the dark; it must deal with the regime in power that is led by Ahmadinejad and old guard imams, mullahs and ayatollahs immediately – especially to deter them from weaponizing nuclear power for long-range usage.

In order to attempt diplomacy with Iran, U.S. diplomats must understand Iran – and the more one reviews the chronology of U.S. misdeeds since 1953, as outlined by Eric Margolis in a recent article, Iran’s hatred for the West does make more and more sense.

It all began in 1953, when, based on extending the containment policy to the Middle East, the U.S. and British mounted a coup that overthrew an extremely popular Iranian leader, Mohammed Mossadegh – which ended Iran’s first democratic government. Mossadegh, a leader that put the devastated Iranian state on the road to prosperity by securing a larger portion of its own oil reserves from the grasp of Western greed, was replaced by Shah Pahlavi, an incompetent tyrant, and as a byproduct, Iran’s oil wealth was transferred to British and American control, while the Iranian masses wallowed in abject poverty.

This single event was seared into the minds of an entire generation of Iranians, as Mossadegh and his National Front party were focused on decentralizing power, implementing a representative government, providing public education and accessible healthcare, enacting judicial reforms, and, amazingly, ensuring equality before law. Instead, the country eventually fell into the hands of radical Islamic elements that wanted to turn back the clock to the seventh century.

The Shah’s corruption enabled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni to stage the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which led to the installation of an extremist Islamic government. The C.I.A. and British secret service tried everything in their power to oust the Ayatollah, but eventually the Western powers relied on a dubious ally - Saddam Hussein - to prosecute war against Iran. The ensuing eight-year war between Iran and Iraq led to one million Iranian causalities and deaths, while the U.S and Brits, with some help from Israel, provided arms, intelligence and financing to Iraq, along with chemical weapons - including anthrax. The final devastation is summarized effectively by Margolis:

Iran lay in financial and emotional ruins, with an entire generation killed in battle or horribly maimed by Iraq's western-supplied chemical weapons that included the burning agent’s mustard gas and lewisite, chlorine, cyanide, and a variety of deadly nerve gases.

Ahmadinejad actually fought in the Iran-Iraq war, and based on the overall history of Iran’s struggle with the west, one could only imagine what his feelings are, at depth, about the United States, England and Israel. Regardless, resolution begins with knowledge of the past, and we can only hope Madame Secretary Clinton and her team grasp this. Because it will be harder to capitalize on next-generation Iran’s love for America, if we can’t effectively deal with the current generation’s obvious, and understandable, lack of it.

Chicago Nonpartisan Examiner: Iran democracy possible with help from The Great Satan