AXIS OF EVIL Iranians for Bush
The president sides with the people, who aspire to freedom.
hughhewitt.com
BY S. ROB SOBHANI
Wednesday, February 6, 2002 12:01 a.m. EST
"President Bush has spoken to our hearts, which yearn for freedom. He will be remembered as another Abraham Lincoln by the freedom-loving people of Iran." These are words of support from within Iran, in reaction to last week's State of the Union address, uttered by an Iranian calling the Voice of America's Persian service. As a guest at the station that night, I witnessed hundreds of calls, faxes and e-mails from inside Iran praising Mr. Bush. For the first time since the establishment of the theocracy, a U.S. president had chosen to speak to, and for, Iran's downtrodden.
An outpouring of support from within Iran for Mr. Bush would surprise those who have heard loud criticism of aspects of his address, particularly his attack on the "axis of evil," in which he included the Iranian regime. European officials, having begun to cozy up to the Tehran mullahs, are loath to do a turnaround. Besides, the more sophisticated dislike all this talk of "evil."
But not those who suffer under the mullahs' rule, and know evil when they see it up close. An overwhelming majority of the people of Iran welcomed President Bush's comments. Here was an American president who had separated the nation of Iran from its oppressive government.
Not surprisingly, the regime's reaction has been harsh and crude. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared "the American government's statements are coming from a person thirsty for human blood." He's not alone, and Iran's "moderate" leaders, much lionized by the likes of Madeleine Albright, are just as rabid in their opposition to the U.S. president. Mohammad Khatami ripped into Mr. Bush by claiming that the State of the Union "statements were bellicose and insulting toward the great people of Iran."
In fact, Mr. Khatami's message was worse in some ways, as it amounted to an attempt to deceive the people of his country, given that Mr. Bush praised the "Iranian people's hope for freedom." But people inside Iran were not swayed by the Khatami lie: "Please President Bush, don't be fooled by such distinctions as 'reformists' and 'hardliners' in the government of Iran, since they are one and the same and part and parcel of the same evil group, opposing peace and spreading hate and terror throughout the world," said one of the messages VOA received.
These reactions point to four fundamental flaws in U.S. and European policy assumptions toward Iran that need to be addressed. The first is that the theocratic regime wants to have diplomatic relations with Washington, and that if the U.S. only tries hard enough it can convince the mullahs to play nice.
The very raison d'être of the regime is to be anti-American and anti-Israel. The moment they established diplomatic relations with the U.S., the mullahs would lose any legitimacy they have with their constituencies. Moreover, were the American flag to be hoisted at an embassy in Tehran tomorrow, young Iranians would line up for miles to obtain U.S. visas. Such an event would be a humiliation to the mullahs. Their goal regarding the U.S. is merely to weaken sanctions against Iran so that American oil companies can pour money back into the country.
The second assumption is that the tussle inside Iran is between the "reformist Khatami" and the "radical conservatives." This is false. Reactions to Mr. Bush's comments confirm that the vast majority of Iranians are looking beyond the whole Islamic regime, of which Mr. Khatami is an obliging server. The honeymoon he enjoyed with Iranians is over. He has not addressed pressing socioeconomic problems and, therefore, has lost almost all of the goodwill he once enjoyed.
The third assumption is that the Palestinian cause resonates with the Iranian people. Again, not true. Iranians are not Arabs and their whole frame of reference, historical and cultural, is Persian. Moreover, they object to resources being diverted away from Iran to terrorist organizations. Underpaid teachers in Tehran recently took to the streets chanting: "Forget about Palestine, pay attention to us."
The final assumption is that the Iranians are "anti-American." Most Iranians would welcome any constructive dialogue that Washington pursues with members of the Iranian opposition both inside and outside Iran. Within Iran, students, journalists of reformist newspapers, clerics who question the legitimacy of an "Islamic Republic," and women who are at the forefront of defying the ruling theocrats are America's natural allies. Like all oppressed people longing for freedom, Iranians look to America for hope. President Bush's comments reminded them of Ronald Reagan in Berlin demanding that Mikhail Gorbachev "tear down this wall."
The Bush Doctrine on Iran seems simple: The U.S. will be a partner in Iran's quest for freedom. To the rulers of Iran, the most alarming part of President Bush's speech were the words, "while they export terror we will export freedom and liberty." This message, more than any other, irks the clerical establishment because it signals that the U.S. will not wait for the mullahs to change their behavior. Rather, change will be thrust upon them.
The people of Iran heard the president the first time when he said after Sept. 11, "You are either with us or against us." Candlelight vigils sprang up across Iran in open defiance of the regime. Now that Mr. Bush has signaled his awareness of the division between the regime and the Iranian people, for a second time since Sept. 11 the people of Iran have responded positively. Increasingly the voices of change inside Iran are drowning out the mullahs' weekly chants of "Death to America."
Mr. Sobhani, an adjunct professor of politics at Georgetown University, is president of Caspian Energy Consulting. |
