I Love this flag and I'll die for it!
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Posted on 01/22/2005 2:03:08 AM PST by F14 Pilot
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation… America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom."
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, who was watching President George W Bush's speech on television at his hotel in London, noted the language. He was relieved that the phrase "regime change" was not used.
He believes that American military intervention in Iran would be wrong: "Iranians are not willing to buy freedom at any cost. They do not want the freedom of an American general marching in. It is a matter of national pride. We do not need an American soldier to save us."
Mr Pahlavi, 44, has been actively campaigning for secular democracy in Iran since September 11. He says that it is only the regime that stands between an educated, well-resourced country and the free world: "All the unemployment and poverty in Iran is a by-product of political asphyxia."
But Mr Pahlavi says that the rising against the regime must come from within. He looks to the Ukraine or Yugoslavia as a model and rejects comparisons with Iraq: "Iran has a different history, polity, totally different scenarios. Our society is more dynamic and capable. We don't need teachers from American universities to come and teach us about democracy."
What Mr Pahlavi wants from Europe and America is "support for the Iranian people. This means refusing to deal with the regime".
He is particularly opposed to any weapons for trade negotiations: "Other countries should take a principled position on the regime. They must not be seen to cut a deal, at the expense of the Iranian people." There has been little reporting of protests against the regime since the elections last year but Mr Pahlavi's adviser, who asked not to be named, claimed the frustration is at boiling point, particularly among students.
"President Khatami addressed a meeting recently and the students started chanting 'shame on you'. It was moving," he says.
The opposition in Iraq is fastening on the May presidential elections as the moment to force the collapse of the regime. Petitions are being compiled on the internet for a referendum. The opposition claims that the election will be hollow.
"Saddam had elections," says Mr Pahlavi. "Let's not be infatuated by elections." Will the Pentagon have the patience to wait for an internal uprising? A report this week by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker revealed that special forces are already on the ground in Iran.
Mr Pahlavi responds that America must anticipate scenarios but he again rebuffs any sort of intervention. He will not accept, for instance, an American bombing of nuclear installations in Iran to pave the way for a popular uprising. He says that this would immediately strengthen the position of the Mullahs. "It has to be the right mechanism," he says.
He agrees that the stakes are high. Iraq has little chance of becoming a stable country while Iran is supporting insurgency there. "Iran doesn't need to invade Iraq," says Mr Pahlavi. "It is already in there."
He is also clear about the purpose of Iranian Mullahs acquiring nuclear weapons: "It is to blackmail the rest of the world." He says the regime is acutely aware that it is exposed by the toppled tyrannies on its borders and is ready to lash out.
Is he pushing for a restoration of the monarchy as part of a new Iran? "My political mission is over the day that Iranians have the freedom to go to the polls," he says.
I am aware..That is why I believe your "no bloodshed" is a bit dreamy eyed.
Ah, it doesn't sound like it from what you've written about Iran. It sounds like the Mullahs have made Persians unfree to me. I think all men are free to choose though. But they're not all politically free.
I told you, Mullahs have no mercy but we shouldnt trigger them to kill more!
All men are born free..but some live not with freedom but tyranny.
Yeah and the tyrannies are all hand made! Some make tyranny for others to control them! ;-)
Well that's obvious. And that is why they remain under the yoke of an oppressive theocracy.
Anyone unwilling to spend everything they have for freedom can't afford it.
YOU may get shocked if I tell you that the Mullahs want the Nukes to control their own people! They dont have the gut to use it against the west
Glad we didn't feel that way about the British in the Revolution...We felt that way about Hitler for awhile..look where that led.
I am sorry..there seems to be no real hope..Nothing will pry the power from the mullahs easily and without bloodshed.
For your sake, pray that they don't use them against anyone. But, if Iranians are fine with the Mullahs having nukes, then they'll have to be fine with them possibly being used on Iranians. Even inaction has a price.
no one buys freedom!
Will you accept the idea of being occupied by Germans or French?
I doubt they want the Nukes. Mullahs want the nukes as a stick over the head of their own people!
The man has some excellent points and is obviously highly educated. However, regardless of the condition of his people and his country, he certainly sounded like he's got an unflatteringly ugly, vast disdain for the "stupid Iraqis."
Do tell ... In case you haven't noticed, that's what happens in revolutions. The question is whether the blood spilled by the tyrants to maintain their regime is more acceptable than the blood spilled while removing them.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=57916&d=22&m=1&y=2005
snip
Despite almost daily terrorist attacks most Iraqis appear determined that the election should take place. Almost 75 percent of those eligible to vote under a UN-established list have registered. Over 6000 candidates, from Communists to monarchists and passing-by democrats and Islamists, are contesting the 275 seats of the National Assembly whose main task is to write a new constitution.
Campaigning for the election is most intense in the Shiite and Kurdish areas where the insurgents, despite a number of spectacular attacks, have failed to make an impression. Meetings are held in mosques, schools, village halls and the homes of the candidates where would-be voters are often treated to free meals. In parts of southern Iraq big tribal tents double as town halls for the election.
Much of the debate takes place through the 50 or so privately owned talk-show radios, especially in and around Baghdad, and in the columns of the 200 or so new newspapers and magazines that have appeared since liberation in April 2003.
“We know that there are criminals determined to blow us up,” says Abdul-Hussein Hindawi, head of the independent Electoral Commission. “But we cannot allow fear to shape our future. Iraqis know that they must take risks to build a free society.”
the USA fought for their freedom! They didnt!
no one buys freedom!
Not with money, no. With blood, sweat, and tears, yes.
Will you accept the idea of being occupied by Germans or French?
Now there's a humorous image. No. And I never will because I am willing to use whatever means are necessary to ensure such a patently ridiculous and impossible situation ever happens.
So they will do the same, I guess!
France and Germany have already been invaded by Americans. Now, they fear we won't keep our army in Germany and the Americans won't visit Paris or drink French whine.
I Love this flag and I'll die for it!
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