Comments on: Iran’s Regime: Marching Toward a Cliff

By: coffeecup

coffeecup — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:37:58 +0000

Once again, Ansary provides the most cogent analysis of a Middle East issue. Every time the USA has aggressively backed one side in Iran, it’s empowered the mullahs by giving them a bad guy to point to and rally extremists. Iran never forgave us for our CIA-led overthrow of their democracy in 1953, and they’ve been paranoid about us ever since. We can’t give the mullahs an excuse to demonize us again and thus crush a endemic democratic movement. Iran has to fight it out for itself. Iran has to believe it’s instituting its own democracy without USA help. Incidentally, it will be an Islamic democracy, not a secular democracy. Obama is handling this masterfully (so far). Thank goodness McCain didn’t win.

By: Joseph Quesnel

Joseph Quesnel — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:54:03 +0000

Brian is a complete fool! First of all for challenging Anthony’s Iranian credentials without knowing anything at all about him.
I love these post-modern morally ambiguous jellyfish left wingers on this thread, like Brian, who never stand for freedom and democracy when it counts the most.
Anthony is completely correct in pointing out the achievements of the Reagan years in helping bring down the USSR and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. is not responsible directly for collapse, but helped precipitate it.
I love people like Brian who bitch and complain, but do not stand with freedom when it counts.
Geopolitics is always shades of grey, so pointing out U.S. policy in Iran or the Middle East, where it went wrong, does nothing to advance democracy in Iran right now. We (well you, I am Canadian, not American) supported the country that supported our interests in the region at the time. The U.S. did support Iraq at one point because they faced a greater threat of Shiite anti-Americanism from Iran. You supported the anti-Soviet Muslim fighters in Afghanistan because the USSR was a greater threat at the time.
You know Brian, recycling juvenile Noam Chomsky logic (illogic really) on foreign policy does not advance your case.
Where is your standard bearer Obama in all this? Apologizing to tyrants?
If you had John McCain as president now, you likely would have had a triumphant speech, where McCain identified the Islamic Regime as an Evil Empire, just like the USSR.
It’s time to call a spade a spade.. Iranians know their regime is wrong, they need us in the West to be unequivocal in our support for their democratization.
Pointing to old foreign policy decisions, Brian, does nothing.

By: Mark Methven

Mark Methven — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:02:53 +0000

RE:Lesko comment: “…the creation of democracy in Iraq…”

May be you can enlighten us with the current thinking in democratic theory which allows the complete devastation and looting of a country, to say nothing of the senseless murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, as the way to setup ‘democracy’.

By: Brian Spears

Brian Spears — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:17:18 +0000

Anthony,
First of all, I have serious doubts that you’re part of the “us” who’s working for freedom in Iran. But more importantly, the history of US involvement in Iran over the last 60 years, from the toppling of Mossadegh to the protection of the Shah to setting Saddam Hussein loose against them (using chemical weapons we provided) to selling them arms in exchange for hostages (and then using that money to fund death squads in Latin America–Reagan’s a real fricking hero for that one, bub) to George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil” precludes the US from taking any sort of direct action because we will be playing into the very rhetoric that the current power structure used to gain power in the first place.

Right now John McCain is like a ten-year old kid playing Madden and the only play he runs is the fake punt. Once in a thousand tries, it works, but the rest of the time he’s screwed. All McCain knows is “talk tough and they’ll crumble.” Well, we’re not as fearsome as we once were, and Iran’s got a long history of giving us the finger when we talk tough. Maybe, just maybe, changing the strategy is a good idea. It certainly can’t be worse than what we’ve done for the last 60 years.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:26:26 +0000

Awful piece. You are attacking the one guy in congress that’s standing up for us and our freedom in Iran and promoting the guy who is cowardly standing by idly while our people suffer, why? So much long for the days when Ronald Reagan was President! So many liberals and elite media pundits shouted against his taking on USSR and its powers in Poland, Germany and all around the world! Thankfully he did not listen to those who thought they were wise in their own eyes, and we got ourselves a taste of freedom in many parts of the world for the first time. Thank you John Mccain for your service to Freedom, your country and for standing strong for us Iranians.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:37:11 +0000

What boggles my mind in all the articles on Iran lately is that anyone with a modicum of sense would put their faith in any kind of poll. The polls taken in Iran are just as reliable as a poll taken in the 80’s in Czechoslovakia asking random citizens if they believed in Communism.
Otherwise, a fantastic article head and shoulders above all the others I’ve read to date. Thank you.

By: asdf

asdf — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:20:16 +0000

ofc on war on terror i was refering to iraq and the interests behind it.

By: Cybergabi

Cybergabi — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:08:57 +0000

Excellent piece of writing.
Thanks a lot for this.

By: asdf

asdf — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:07:19 +0000

who cares about 0b4m4? he is only a puppet anyway…
war against terror and all theese lies that only americans could believe.
americans sending americans to die in a pointless war… witch ofcorse happened because of the ‘war against terror’ and not because of the profit usa is now making from exploiting the oil and rebuilding things.

just now its not the same … 0b4m4 got elected by saying he should stop the war so he will have political loss if he interfeers… and maybe (always maybe lol) because russians sell nuclear technology to iran and militery equipment.we cant know for sure but were there is smoke there is fire. history shows us that allways behind theese things there are games for profit and power.

the fact is that persians want to have freedom, freedom to live as they want, freedom to think and say what they think, and a better future.
they dont care about the political games played on their back. they want things to change and they are trying to change them.
the reasons are simple, all big social changes comes with simple reasons.

this is a nice analysis. indeed really nice but the fact is that inocent people die. and we people of the other countries can just watch it happen because some countries have ‘profit’ from the curent regime.
best of luck and i wish strenght for the persian people, but i am really afraid that they will have to deal with this totaly by themselves.

By: Dr Matt

Dr Matt — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:54:38 +0000

Great article. And if further proof were needed that the voting figures were almost certainly made up, it’s to be found here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/20/AR2009062000004.html?1