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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (96308)	4/25/2003 8:23:39 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

You don't give them enough credit CB. You compare them with Saddam and SA. But the truth is that baring Turkey and Israel, Iran is the most democratic country in the middle east. It is the only country in which the government steps down when they don't get the votes. It is of course a flawed democracy. You can run for election only if have proved you will not try to separate church and state. Actually, even that is unfair; there are some of the founders of the revolution who believe the position of the "supreme leader" is unIslamic. They have seats in the parliament and argue against the rule of clerics on religious grounds. This is different than the moderates who agree with the ruling but want much greater social reforms. Then there is the nationalists. Left on their own, they would dismantle the regime. But since they have shown unwilling to pick up arms, they too are allowed to run for elections. But ultimately, it is the grass roots movements that are the driving force behind the change and not the politicians. As to the issue of women, it may surprise you that Khomeini himself decreed that no less than half of university students should be women. As well, nobody even argued against women's right to vote or to run for an office. They were there, even among the hardline Islamists, right from the start. Other than Turkey, find me a neighboring country that has done as well. Why is it that you think the millions of refugees in Iran did not choose to go to another country instead.