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June 22, 2009
Exclusive: On President Obama and the Iran Crisis - What's the Plan?
The world is watching Iran as its population struggles to throw off the yoke of oppression imposed by the mullahs. The people have tired of the Khomeinist regime and are yearning for freedom, and are literally putting their lives on the line to get it.
Violence is the name of the day. Armed with only rocks and other crude weapons, the protestors are being beaten and even shot by heavily armed police and others called out to quell the protests. Had it been simply about the election results, perhaps things would have died down after a few days. But the election was just a catalyst. It’s now about real change.
In an e-mail to FSM, Manda Zand Ervin, founder of the Alliance of Iranian Women, confirms this by relating what she is hearing from her sources on the ground:
The information I get from inside is that people are asking where is United States’ president? They want support especially now when Khamenei has let his paramilitary forces loose. Also there is now talk about strike by all. They are hording food. I have also received emails from some women who are persistent that we need to let the world know that this is not about Mousavi it is about the regime that we want to change the regime.
Yes, where is President Obama on this issue? Finally, after nearly a week, a statement was released from the White House:
The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
Don Surber claims the statement might do more harm than good, adding:
The Obaman points are: The world is looking at Iran, I must pretend to do something, and so I will signal my lack of concern by quoting King.
Sullivan immediately seized upon this statement as Gettysburgian. Why he said “justice”!
But the people of Iran do not want justice. They want freedom. “Justice” is a word that can be bent by those in authority to fit whatever meaning suits their purpose. Social justice. Economic justice. Environmental justice.
And then there’s the fact that Obama is still hoping for what he believes would be a huge feather in his foreign policy cap: negotiations with the Iranian government about nuclear weapons, terrorism, Afghanistan, etc.
If Obama thinks he can negotiate with a government that deals with a message it doesn’t like by killing the messenger, good luck to him. He’ll need it.
For decades, the world has looked to the United States for guidance and strength, but worldwide leftists, along with their American counterparts, found such U.S. strength and power offensive. The left seems to have gotten what it wanted in President Obama. Will having their wish granted finally make them happy?
Brought to you by the editors and research staff of FamilySecurityMatters.org.
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