Posted on 11/27/2005 11:34:29 PM PST by humint
This is the first submission in a series of works to compile suggestions that seek to solve each of the international crises the Iranian government has created. Because of these crises, the United States is in an official state of EMERGENCY with regard to Iran. Iranian regime behavioral changes toward degrading regional stability are the trigger to produce these works. Suggestions to simply mitigate the crisis are not sufficient to end Tehran’s sponsorship of international terror, nuclear weapons program and domestic human rights abuses and will therefore not become topics of our discourse. When the United States is suffering in a state of emergency, nothing short of a full cessation of the cause of the emergency should be considered acceptable.
IRANIAN BEHAVIORAL TRIGGER FOR THIS ISSUE OF AMERICANS ENGAGE [IRAN] Vol. I
SOURCE: Iran’s hard-line president Mahmood Ahamdinejad said Saturday [27 November] the Bush administration should be tried on war crimes charges, and he denounced the West for pressuring Iran to curb its controversial nuclear program.
Iran is a habitual violator of human rights and this latest statement from Iran’s President is an affront to American and our coalition partner’s efforts to facilitate security and pluralistic democracy in Iraq. Interestingly the timing of Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s speech is no accident. This latest Iranian maneuver is a new effort to blur a recent and legitimate call for Iranian officials to go before special tribunals for their crimes against humanity. This is the latest attempt to shift the Iranian people’s focus from the failures of their own leaders onto the President of the United States and is also indicative of Tehran’s long standing propaganda effort to disparage and criminalize its enemies with baseless accusations. The call for tribunals for Iranian officials was most recently proposed by Newt Gingritch.
Announce Formation of Special Tribunals for Members of the [IRGC] and the Basij: Active public discussion and planning for the trials of the worst of Iran’s human rights violators or its leaders might restrain some or compel a few to provide evidence of what goes on in the political prisons across the country. Could we not start a program here in the U.S. to collect evidence of human rights violations among the Iranian expatriates? Could we facilitate legal activities against the violators by making it easier to sue the current Iranian regime just as we have done with terrorism cases?
Hard evidence of human rights abuse exists to indict a significant number of Iran’s sitting leadership. The 1988 massacre of political prisoners took the lives of tens of thousands of Iranians. The locations of mass-graves that hold the bodies are currently in the hands of organizations like Amnesty International. Proof of torture could be found to corroborate witness accounts by exhuming and examining the remains of political dissidents in these mass graves. American-Iranians who survived the massacre are readily available to international investigators to testify, in morbid detail, against the responsible individuals. But like everything else, these calls for justice in Iran have a shelf life. Within the last month Iranian officials announced their plan to erase evidence of at least one grave under the cover story of commercially developing the location. Mr. Gingritch’s call for tribunals became available to the public among other policy suggestions all of which support regime change in Iran as the ultimate goal:
SOURCE: The following are a set of additional thoughts on how to bring about regime change in Iran:
Mr. Ginritch is not alone in his thinking. Michael Ledeen, an ardent advocate for regime in Iran for many years recently argued that the American people must Engage! so that we may achieve our goals in Iraq and elsewhere. It makes sense that American Iranians who have suffered under the ruling dictatorship in Tehran come forward and engage in the debate he is referring to. Upon close inspection, Dr. Ledeen’s article reveals the following suggestions.
CONCLUSION
The Iranian regime has escalated its propaganda war against the United States by maligning America’s war record and the Presidency of the United States. This behavior is fully consistent with maintaining an American “state of emergency” with respect to Iran. A plausible explanation for the timing of this escalation is that recent policy suggestions in Washington have played an important role in increasing pressure on the Iranian regime. The Iranian regime’s response to this increased pressure is only slightly more destabilizing than its behavior while not subjected to international pressure. Regardless, Tehran’s drive for regional domination must be aggressively checked or the United States and its allies will be able to fulfill the most basic acts in the Middle East. It is reasonable to assume that Iranian officials are revealing a significant weakness by escalating their propaganda efforts in this way and at this time. While the United States and its allies continue to push for a fully verifiable cessation of Iran’s nuclear weapons program the U.S. should take advantage of the weakness exposed by the Iranian regime and begin compiling evidence to indict Iranian officials in an international forum. Doing so may play an important role in increasing pressure to precipitate a positive behavioral change in the Iranian regime. Under the current international relations architecture, the Iranian government still believes that it has more to gain by “behaving badly” in both word and deed.
“STATE OF EMERGENCY” REQUEST FOR ACTION
Americans should begin the process of helping all Americans become fully aware, by both mainstream and alternative media that Iranian officials in power today stand accused of crimes against humanity and there are many evidentiary leads an international tribunal could follow to indict current and former members of the IRGC and the Basij. To establish and maintain the essential knowledge base among fellow Americans is necessary because the more seriously Americans consider regime change in Iran, the more likely Tehran will modify its behavior for the positive. If Iran’s leadership chooses not to modify its behavior in this way, the American people will be prepared to facilitate the departure of the current regime in Iran. Paramount to this phase of pressuring the Iranian government to modify their behavior are American-Iranians and European-Iranians who have been subjected to the domestic suppression tactics of the Iranian regime. The Iranian regime’s campaign of oppression is so vast that there are many Iranian expatriates now living in free societies with first hand experience of torture and execution at the hands of Iranian officials. They should begin preparing themselves to provide detailed accounts of their experiences to an international tribunal so that the government of Iran.
#2 Recognize the Weakness of the Iranian Regime and Let it Be Known Far and Wide.
#3 Have Confidence in the Power of American Values and the Words of the American President to Change History.
#4 Support Iranian Democracy Movements.
#5 We Must Think Creatively on How To Make It Easier for Russia and China to Opt Out of their Support for the Iranian Government.
#6 Avoid Broad Economic Sanctions, Especially Avoid Oil Sanctions.
#7 Announce Formation of Special Tribunals for Members of the [IRGC] and the Basij.
#8 Develop and frequently revisit a ballistic missile and EMP Intelligence Military Plan for Iran.
#9 Develop Contingency Plans In Case Iranian Government Collapses or Civil War Breaks Out.
Wow, that ought to have Ahmedinejad shaking in his boots. And the western world mustn't forget to brush after every meal (good hygiene is really frightening to the tyrannical leadership in Iran).
Nothing is more powerful on earth than its most able nation in solidarity to achieve a common goal. I think Newt's suggestions show that he is engaged on this issue and willing to take a leadership role. You'd serve these United States well if you'd turn off your sarcasm and take our state of emergency seriously. What do you suggest our nation do to end the threats the free world face with regard to Iran?
You would do well not to descend to ad hominem whenever you encounter a person who disagrees with you.
And read this written by you (what nation in solidarity could you be referring to?)...
Nothing is more powerful on earth than its most able nation in solidarity to achieve a common goal.
What I am trying (however clumsily) to say is that the problem in Iran is fundamental islam (of course) and there are no political solutions to its threat. It cannot be negotiated with nor can it be trusted in retreat, truce or even defeat.
Ahmedinejad apparently sees himself (as does bin Laden) as the Mahdi (the islamic messiah). He believes it is his destiny to destroy Israel.
Of course, I am not privy to the various options available to the President and other world leaders so it would be naive at best for me to recommend a plan of action. But I would lean toward military action on the part of the U.S. or, absent that, on the part of Israel.
I have thick skin... don't worry about it. More importantly, I don't have the impression you disagree with me. I was referring to the United States, also referred to as the world’s only super power, as the [world's] most able nation. The power originates from the fact that free people have the power and ability to hold detailed and productive conversations about our collective future. The more freedom a society has the more productive they are… typically. Free Republic is a great platform to leverage in order to connect, agree and or agree to disagree and thereby generate intellectual products. The free world's Iran problem is huge and if you look at what is being proposed to address it I think you'll find that you can quickly become an important part of the solution. The first step is frustration and anger at the Iranian government of which you've already taken. The second step is to offer a solution or find one you deem acceptable.
But please let me correct something. In my reply to you earlier I definitely misspoke... if you decide to engage in the debate about how to resolve these problems you will be serving the entire community of free nations, not just the United States. It is in all of our interests to solve these problems. To one of your earlier comments, I can only say that an FR tagline being born yesterday does not suggest its owner was. I look forward to reading your comments.
See ya around the Board, "Darkie"
Newtie...is that you?
Just couldn't resist the urge to insult, heh heh. And who is smaller for it, you or me?
Families of some of the executed prisoners told Human Rights Watch that in September 2005 the new government started to reconfigure the Khavaran site and that makeshift gravestones, put in place by the families, have been destroyed. They said that the government is preparing for a major overhaul of this area to destroy any evidence of burials.
bttt
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