Posted on 07/13/2005 9:35:50 AM PDT by DoctorZIn
Top News Story
Standing With Ganji
New York Sun Editorial
July 13, 2005
One evening not many years ago, we fell into a conversation about the heroes of the Cold War with Stephen S. Rosenfeld, who had recently retired as editorial page editor of the Washington Post. When we proffered the name of President Reagan, Mr. Rosenfeld cocked an eye and offered in return the name of Sakharov. Mr. Rosenfeld didn't gainsay Reagan's achievements. But it was important, he said, to remember that being a hero was much harder when one risked being thrown into the dungeons.
We thought of that wisdom as news came in over the wires of President Bush's decision to enter the fray publicly in respect of Akbar Ganji, now nearing death from a hunger strike in Evin prison at Tehran. The president, it turns out, understands the point Mr. Rosenfeld was making in a profound way. The White House statement characterized Mr. Ganji, a journalist who has repeatedly gone to prison for his protests in support of free speech, as "demonstrating that he is willing to die for his right to express his opinion."
The president's demarche represents a sharp escalation in his public diplomacy against the regime of the mullahs. He called for the regime to release Mr. Ganji "immediately and unconditionally and to allow him access to medical assistance." He called for all supporters of human rights to take up Mr. Ganji's cause and, in a calculated move, called on the United Nations to take up the case. Given the predicament that Secretary-General Annan is in, Mr. Bush's suggestion could almost be seen as a life-line of an assignment for the secretary-general.
Mr. Bush's statement is all the more dramatic for the fact that Mr. Ganji's case had heretofore, as our Eli Lake reports from Washington today, attracted little attention in Western capitals, though not, we don't mind saying, for lack of effort by Mr. Lake, who has been pounding the keys for weeks on this story. This is because Mr. Ganji has become in recent months both a symbol and an architect of a democratic movement in Iran that will not be satisfied with the kind of sham election Iran has just held but seeks, instead, to mobilize a democratic uprising in the tradition of Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel.
What Mr. Bush understands is that while America has many allies in the global war against Islamic terrorism, none is more vital than the vast population of Iran, a population of millions of individuals who aspire to nothing less than the kind of liberty that the civilized world is fighting for and that is - as Mr. Bush has pointed out with an eloquence matched by few if any previous occupants of the White House - the inalienable right of all people, wherever they live on the planet.
Mr. Ganji believes he can achieve his goal through civil disobedience and without violence against a regime that has been a fountainhead of Islamic extremist terrorism since it seized power in 1979. It is no small thing that one brave man, starving himself close to death in a desolate cell inside one of the most notorious prisons on the globe, has inspired thousands of his countrymen and won the attention of the most powerful man on the planet. The alliance is vital to this struggle, and Mr. Bush knew what he was doing when he put out the statement, "Mr. Ganji, please know that as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."
- Eli Lake, The NY Sun reported that as Tehran University students clashed with police in Iran yesterday during demonstrations demanding the release of political prisoners, President Bush joined the growing movement calling for the release of dissident journalist Akbar Ganji.
- Iran Focus reported that a government official from the town of Chabahar (southeast Iran) was gunned down by unknown assailants.
- Iranian.ws reported that Iran will soon have women only parks built in all the cities of Tehran Province.
- Reuters reported that Iran insisted its nuclear policy would not change.
- Press Trust of India reported that Iran will have new ideas on its contentious nuclear program the country's ultraconservative president-elect has said.
- Reuters reported that a little-known Sunni Muslim group has beheaded an Iranian security agent abducted last month in officially Shiite Iran and has issued a video tape of the killing.
- The Associated Press reported that as Hamas moves to the mainstream, Islamic Jihad (funded by Iran) seeks to upstage it with violence.
- Eurasia Daily Monitor reported that an Iranian nuclear team arrived in Moscow seeking new partnerships.
- Iran Focus reported that Iran'’s State Security Forces on Sunday opened fire at youths in the north-western volatile Kurdish town of Mahabad, leaving one young man dead, dragging his body through the town. Graphic photos.
- Red Nova News reported that the Ukraine is increasing energy machinery deliveries to Iran.
- The Washington Post reported that Iraq's defense minister said Monday that a military agreement reached with Iran last week does not include any provision for the Iranian armed forces to help train Iraqi troops.
- And finally, a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: To sin by silence...
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One problem we have here is that anybody in Iran that we show support for is instantly harmed within Iran. When our media called Rafsanjani his popularity went down.
Maybe it's OK in this case if his life is in danger but we do have to keep the Iranian contrarian reaction in mind when we try to accomplish things over there.
Ella Wheeler Cox's "Sin in Silence," very profound.
Very thoughtful posting, DoctorZin.
Wilcox.
How have the London attacks influenced our thinking on Iran? Is there any indication of policy changes yet?
When it comes to individuals, the more publicity, the better, as far as their safety.
Thinking this over, I believe you are right - I was thinking political strategy - that our approval of somebody over there might make them less popular but you are correct, I think, that if the issue is safety the attention may help keep him alive.
"I think, that if the issue is safety the attention may help keep him alive."
Yeah. It's worked in the past.
CNN, ABC, CBS, CBC, BBC, NBC .......... are all crap!
Zoroastrians in Iran
Statement on a Call for the Unconditional Releases of Akbar Ganji in Iran
Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist who since 1999 has been routinely sentenced to prison by the Iranian government for advocating free speech, is again in jail because of his political views. Through his now month-long hunger strike, Mr. Ganji is demonstrating that he is willing to die for his right to express his opinion. President Bush is saddened by recent reports that Mr. Ganji's health has been failing and deeply concerned that the Iranian government has denied him access to his family, medical treatment, and legal representation. Mr. Ganji is sadly only one victim of a wave of repression and human rights violations engaged in by the Iranian regime. His calls for freedom deserve to be heard. His valiant efforts should not go in vain. The President calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran. The President also calls on the Government of Iran to release Mr. Ganji immediately and unconditionally and to allow him access to medical assistance. Mr. Ganji, please know that as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/07/20050712-5.html
Thanks for the ping. Beautiful picture. Prayers for Ganji.
Islam must not be allowed to destroy Persia.
sure!
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