Iranian Alert - October 12, 2004 [EST]- IRAN LIVE THREAD - "Americans for Regime Change in Iran"

Why the Election Will Change Afghanistan

[Excerpt] October 12, 2004
The Wall Street Journal
George Melloan

An elderly Afghan voter told my colleague Mike Gonzalez Saturday that he wasn't afraid of terrorists. "I am an Afghan," he said, proudly. That conveyed more than defiance, although his countrymen's defiance of terrorist attempts to block Saturday's national election must be greatly admired. The voter also was displaying his sense of national identity. He sees himself not as a warlord's minion or a Tajik or Pashtun -- but as an Afghan.

If the election instilled in the millions of others who voted a sense of nationality, it achieved one thing that gives democracy its power. Transitional president Hamid Karzai -- who is favored to emerge the winner of the country's first presidential election when all votes are counted -- on Saturday conducted something Afghans have rarely seen, a press conference. He fielded the usual questions about glitches and fairness and then delivered eloquent praise of his fellow citizens:

"We are not like America or like France or other European countries, which have had this freedom and right of franchise for centuries. We are not like Indians who have done this for 50 years. We are just emerging from the bed of thorns, misery, poverty, homelessness and destruction and interference. We have succeeded in just three years. There are countries which could not do this in years. . . . We should not weaken this foundation. Rather we should make it even stronger. This is the national responsibility of every Afghan. ..."

For all its past failings, the nation-state is still the fundamental instrument of security and order in the world. With the advance of democracy its positive attributes have become dominant in the form of greater order and security, and political and economic freedom. If the Afghans can succeed in emulating the modern structure of the more advanced states, last Saturday was the beginning of a less violent and more constructive chapter in their history.

Initially, the most important institution will be a national army and police force that are strong and respected enough to maintain order and security without the aid of foreign troops. At that point, they can disarm the militias of the warlords and thereby rob them of their means of challenging the legitimate government in Kabul. To build this force, the national government will have to attract young men with a firm allegiance to Afghanistan as a nation. Saturday's election will further that cause by establishing the legitimacy of the national government. That legitimacy will also further the development of other institutions vital to a modern state, such as an independent judiciary and a fair and reliable system of taxation to finance state institutions.

None of this will be easy. Saturday's dramatic demonstration of a zest for self-rule is only the beginning, however vital. The rest will require the emergence of leaders at all levels whose ambitions go beyond the mere exercise of power in search of constructive achievement. There will be enemies of the project, and not only al Qaeda or the fanatical remnants of the former Taliban government. The mullahs of Iran certainly do not welcome Afghan democracy and will continue to try to keep the country divided into warlords' fiefs. Democratic, Western-oriented governments in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan will only make the mullahs' subjects, already restive, more resentful of clerical dictatorship.

Interim President Karzai clearly is wary of the potential for renewed divisiveness. He declared last week that if he wins permanent election, the days of horse trading in Afghan politics will be over. By that he meant that he will feel no obligation to hand out power and favors to warlords in return for their loyalty. By virtue of the national election, he will have earned the loyalty of the Afghan people as a whole and will no longer need to bargain with the tough guys who hold regions hostage through their command of private militias.

The allegiance the president will command has been bought with personal freedom, not political favors. Women, oppressed by the Taliban, voted in great numbers and will now increasingly take their rightful roles in nation building. Education will be a big task in a country where illiteracy is widespread, particularly among women. But schools are up and running again and girls as well as boys are in the classrooms. They will be needed to serve as teachers for the next generation. Their loyalty to the principles of democracy and social and cultural modernization will be vital to future economic progress.

If this project succeeds, George Bush will have some justification for his arguments during the U.S. presidential campaign that the Afghan election was one of his proudest achievements. He ordered the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11 to root out al Qaeda and its Taliban backers. But of course, when you invade a country its politics become yours. So the American battle against terrorism morphed into a particularly difficult exercise in nation building, something Mr. Bush was not enthusiastic about at the outset of his administration. But he rightly discerned that the job requires the establishment of representative government, a national constitution and free elections.

The process will now be repeated in Iraq, with elections scheduled for January. Gaining mastery over the insurgency in Iraq will be just as hard and maybe harder than it was in Afghanistan; but the coalition and Iraqi forces are making progress, most recently with the promise of the al Sadr militia in Baghdad to disarm. The Afghans have led the way bravely with Saturday's free elections. They should be congratulated for yet another display of persistence and courage.

Iran vice-president quits
Tue 12 October, 2004 16:53

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, one of the Islamic state's most outspoken liberal clerics, says he has left his post because religious hardliners were preventing him from carrying out his job.

"Yes, it's true I have been replaced," Abtahi told Reuters on Tuesday, confirming his third resignation letter in eight months had been accepted by his close ally President Mohammad Khatami.

Reformist cleric and former parliamentarian Madjid Ansari takes Abtahi's post as vice president for legal and parliamentary affairs. Iran's cabinet has six vice presidents.

Abtahi was retained as an adviser to Khatami whose second and final term in office ends in mid-2005.

A rotund and jovial figure who expressed liberal views on issues such as human rights that drew the ire of hardliners in the Islamic state, Abtahi told Khatami he was unable to work with the new parliament elected in February.

Islamic conservatives won a comfortable majority in the February polls after hundreds of reformist candidates were barred from running.

"Since the formation of the parliament until now I have submitted my resignation to the president three times," Abtahi wrote on his often-entertaining Web site (www.webnevesht.com) where he often posts pictures of senior officials snapped by a camera on his mobile telephone.

"I was unable to create any cooperation between parliament and government," he said.

Since taking their seats in May, lawmakers have drastically revised a government economic plan which was aimed at opening up the state-run economy to foreign investment and voted to impeach Transportation and Roads Minister Ahmad Khorram.

Abtahi, who is best known abroad as the first Iranian official to publicly acknowledge that Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was killed in a Tehran prison last year, said he remained faithful to the reformist cause.

"I believe the only way to rescue this country is Mr Khatami's pro-reform thoughts," he said. "Although there are many problems and there may be more in the future, I will help this nation."

Here is his resignation letter:
http://www.webnevesht.com/en/weblog/?id=950748022
October.4.2004
My resign

Today and yesterday some news agencies mentioned my resign from being the vice president in parliamentary legal affairs. I found it better to set up the text of my resign which I gave to President Khatami before his trip, for today's webnevesht. President Khatami is supposed to announce who will take my place after he comes back.

As soon as this resign be formally accepted by president Khatami, I will explain more about it.

Dear President Khatami;

The honorable president of Islamic Republic of Iran

Undoubtedly, the grounds for works and offering services for public will be prepared under the umbrella of coexistence between the government and the parliament and if this coexistence does not take place, people will suffer mostly.

Since the vice president in parliamentary legal affairs have the main role in coordinating between the government and the parliament, I offered you my resign right after the seventh parliament election and when this parliament started officially because I'm not able to make this coexistence and coordination happen in the best way but you didn't accept it.

Now after 4 months of beginning of the seventh parliament, I feel it more that this important task is not of my ability and therefore I offer my resign once again and hope you do accept it.

It is natural that wherever I am, I will work hard for the country's development and also for your great ideas and thoughts as the only way of the success of this country.

Sincerely

Seyed Mohammad ali

Despite Threats, Iranian Expatriots Allege Kerry Campaign Welcomed Terrorist Money & Influence; Press Conference Oct. 14 in Washington

10/12/2004 4:01:00 PM

To: Assignment and National desks, Daybook Editor

Contact: Aryo Pirouznia of Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran, smccdi@daneshjoo.org or 972-504-6864 or Fax: 972-491-9866

News Advisory:

When the Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) -- http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/ publish/article_8640.shtml -- and its coordinator, Aryo Pirouznia, uncovered evidence that totalitarian Iran's American propagandists were channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Kerry campaign, SMCCDI shouted it from the cyber mountain tops. The Kerry Campaign is now desperately trying to distance itself from one of its Iranian-American "Trustees" and his highly questionable lawsuit against SMCCDI.

These propagandists know that the best defense is a good offense, and Hassan Nemazee filed a $10 million suit against SMCCDI and Pirouznia in Texas in March and immediately adopted a strategy of delay until after the presidential elections. Perhaps because it knows the suit would embarrass the Democrat nominee, Nemazee has sought to postpone if not avoid answering questions about his suit in a deposition. Thanks to a counter-suit, faith in democracy, and a clear-headed judge in Texas who refused the delay, SMCCDI is going public with the evidence.

Joining SMCCDI are two journalists: Insight Magazine's Kenneth Timmerman and the author of the bestselling "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," Dr. Jerome Corsi -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895260174/ 104-0642313-4295949 -- who is writing a book based on the Kerry-Namazee nexus.

Corsi, Timmerman, SMCCDI, and their legal counsel will hold a press conference, "The current Iranian Regime's Influence on Senator John Kerry's Presidential Campaign," -- http://www.regimeinfluence.com/ -- at the National Press Club on Thursday, October 14, 9:15 AM, in the First Amendment Room on the 13th floor.

The event is scheduled to be satellite uplinked for US-based TV and radio networks. Those interested must call 214-906-8181, on Wednesday, in order to obtain the downlink references or to check the SMCCDI's Website -- http://www.daneshjoo.org ("Public Statements" section).

Key statements by the Kerry Campaign on Iran

Before the Council on Foreign Relations in December 2003, Kerry announced "As president, I will be prepared early on to explore areas of mutual interest with Iran, just as I was prepared to normalize relations with Vietnam a decade ago."

Then the Kerry Campaign sent out an email that somehow made its way to the government-controlled Mehr News Agency in Tehran, where it was trumpeted as evidence of his resolve to patch things up with the mullahs. "It is in the urgent interests of the people of the United States," the message read, "to restore our country's credibility in the eyes of the world. America needs the kind of leadership that will repair alliances with countries on every continent that have been so damaged in the past few years, as well as build new friendships and overcome tensions with others."

Kerry's senior foreign affairs advisor, Rand Beers, confirmed the message was genuine, saying: "I have no idea how they got hold of that letter, which was prepared for Democrats Abroad. I scratched my head when I saw that. The only way they could have gotten it was if someone in Iran was with Democrats Abroad." (R. Beers' statement was made in an interview with K. Timmerman which was published by Insight Magazine on March 1, 2004.)

Then in the first Presidential Debate Kerry said, "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes."

Statement by Hassan Nemazee at AIC Fundraiser

Hassan Nemazee spoke at an American Iranian Council (see page 6) dinner declaring that the AIC "does not attempt to explain or rationalize the position of the government of Iran, nor does it attempt to do so for the government of the United States. Its mission is to educate both sides and to attempt to establish the basis and the vehicle for a dialogue which will ultimately lead to a resumption of relations." (Nemazee's statement was made on June 1, 2002, at the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton Hotel in presence of Sen. Kerry during an AIC event organized for boosting relations with the Mullahs' regime).

If Kerry registered any protest against this assertion that the United States should normalize relations with one of the worlds bloodiest dictatorships, it was not recorded.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.