the ONLY thing(i can think of) that POS jimma carter ever did right in his four years of office was NOT giving up the Shah and his family to the iatollas in Iran.
Posted on 05/30/2006 2:52:13 PM PDT by freedom44
POTOMAC, Maryland (Reuters) - The exiled son of Iran's late shah on Monday called on the Bush administration to put action before rhetoric in ousting Tehran's Islamic regime, which he said has long been the source of global instability.
Reza Pahlavi, 45, the eldest son of the late Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, said Iranians are ready to actively oppose the Islamic regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but need more than pro-democratic utterances from world leaders like U.S. President George W. Bush.
"Fantastic, we love to hear that, motherhood and apple pie," Pahlavi said of Bush's statements that the United States supports a free, democratic Iran.
"What remains to be seen again is in what concrete way the U.S. administration will take the necessary steps," Pahlavi told Reuters in an interview at his home in a suburb of Washington, flanked by the Iranian flag and portraits of his mother and father, the U.S.-backed monarch who was deposed in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The United States and other nations should actively support Iran's dissident groups and give them the technical gear and expertise to get their message out, Pahlavi said.
Pahlavi said regime change in Iran will leave the Middle East a safer place, and said that Iran's clerics have long been a prime mover behind violence in Iraq, Lebanon and Sudan.
"For 27 years we have seen the world sending their firetrucks to try to extinguish fires all over the planet," he said. "But nobody has asked the question 'Who is the main culprit?' ... When you come to think of it, it has been Tehran all along."
The United States and Iran are at odds over Western accusations that Iran's nuclear program is a cover for making weapons. Iran says it wants to use the enriched uranium for electricity generation.
Pahlavi, who trained in the United States as a jet fighter pilot, said Iran has the right to nuclear technology, but not to threaten other nations with it.
"It was never a question of Iran having the right -- the problem is the finger on the trigger," he said, referring to Ahmadinejad's public calls for Israel's destruction.
However, Pahlavi said the United States should not pursue military means to take away Iran's uranium-enrichment capability. Bush has said military options are on the table but has stressed the need for diplomatic talks.
Instead of a military strike, Pahlavi said global leaders should help Iran dissident groups' overthrow the current regime from within.
You don't think Son of Shah has an axe to grind here?
I am sure the Son of the Shah will be Welcome with Open Arms in Iran.
Having visited the country several times I can say he's not that popular. This isn't because of his ideas but his of his family name. He's still got following among the younger - remember 70% of Iranians are under 30 who don't remember pre-1979 era that well.
From what I've read about Reza, his level of gravitas is well below the minimum level required for leading an overthrow-the-mullahs movement. He's been around the US and Europe for many years now, and never seems to get very far even with aides willing to join and die for the struggle.
the ONLY thing(i can think of) that POS jimma carter ever did right in his four years of office was NOT giving up the Shah and his family to the iatollas in Iran.
The son had better have a lot of body guards.
Do more than talk, but do not do military action...
What's left?
Other then a few college kids I see no mass uprising in the offing in Iran. If we attack Iran we should do it in our own self-interest and safety and have nothing to do with freeing the Iranian democratic movement. Like Iraq, few and far between would describe those who will help us in Iran.
I agree and, personally, I'm sick of everybody wanting us to bail them out and then all they do is criticize, criticize, criticize. My message to this international playboy is, 'Sonny boy, if you want to change things then get on yer ole lil horse and trot right back to Iran and DO something on your own!'
"You don't think Son of Shah has an axe to grind here?"
Of course he does, but I don't think he expects to be personally involved, in the future.
"What's left?"
Support an insurgency with equipment, training, and logistics, but that will only work if there's already a strong insurgency.
It also has the drawback that you don't know how things will turn out after the revolution. Remember Cuba, anyone?
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