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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (2495)	6/18/2003 11:51:25 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

URL:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/toons/ramirez/ramirez1.asp

To: calgal who wrote (2495)	6/18/2003 11:57:08 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Iranian Resolution America speaks up for freedom--finally. Wednesday, June 18, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT President Bush lent his support to the rising democratic protests in Iran over the weekend, calling them "positive" and "the beginnings of people expressing themselves towards a free Iran." But the bigger news may be that he has managed to persuade the State Department to agree. Foggy Bottom spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday that the U.S. is "concerned about the use of violence against the demonstrators" and that "it's time for the voices of the Iranian people to be listened to and heard." And yesterday Colin Powell called the protests a "positive" step toward freedom. That's an Iranian revolution in its own right, given State's previous unwillingness to have the U.S. confront the ruling mullahs' dictatorial rule. It's never easy to peer inside a tyranny, but the recent, week-long Iranian protests do seem to be something of a watershed. While the leading protesters are university students, their ranks have swelled with people of all ages. Public sympathy is likely only to grow if Tehran's rulers continue to sanction "vigilante" violence against the demonstrators. Yesterday there were reports that protesters were being arrested. These public uprisings have become increasingly frequent, and have forced the regime to bend. Last fall, thousands took to the streets to protest the death sentence of Hashem Aghajari, a courageous lecturer who questioned the authority of Iran's mullahs. The protesters won that round: Aghajari's death sentence was lifted, and the clerics' capitulation revealed the fundamental weakness of their position. This time around 250 Iranian intellectuals have signed a statement informing Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that, contrary to his self-image, he is not regarded as God's representative on earth and must be held accountable to the Iranian people. They are risking their livelihoods, and maybe their lives, in the process. All of this is encouraging news in both the war on terror and Mr. Bush's campaign to drive the Mideast into the 21st century, or at least the 20th. Iran continues to bankroll Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorists. It has attempted to undermine the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and American officials believe it has become a hub for al Qaeda. The leaders of the recent suicide bombings in Riyadh may have operated out of Iran. This all coincides with new U.N. pressure on Iran to allow more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities. Nuclear inspector Mohamad El Baradei, hardly a hard-liner, told his International Atomic Energy Agency board Monday that Iran should "provide credible assurances regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities." A recent IAEA report found that Iran is building a secret heavy-water nuclear power plant that can be used to produce plutonium for bombs. An Ayatollah nuke is only years, or less, away. The debate in U.S. policy circles has been, in distilled form, whether to engage the mullahs in dialogue or instead seek "regime change" as an American policy goal. State and its allies have supported dialogue, hoping to pry the reformist president Mohammad Khatami into a deal that would give up nukes and moderate Iran's anti-American foreign policy. But Khatami has been around since 1997, and the Clinton Administration failed utterly in its attempt at engagement. Khatami's credibility has suffered enough inside Iran that the protesters in Tehran's streets are now demanding his resignation. Ayatollah Khamenei, for his part, has twice accused the U.S. of orchestrating the current unrest--an accusation echoed by his hard-line press. If only that were true. The Bush Administration has so far failed to support legislation, proposed by Senator Sam Brownback (R., Kansas), that would set aside $50 million for pro-democracy radio and satellite TV broadcasts into Iran. The potential influence of such broadcasts became apparent when Persian-language TV stations based in California beamed news of the demonstrations to Tehran last week. In response, throngs of Iranians--entire families included--drove to the protests to show support. The activists have vowed to continue their demonstrations until July 9, the fourth anniversary of a violent crackdown against an earlier round of protests in Tehran. The aspirations of these Iranian democrats deserve American support, both official and otherwise. Whether or not a revolution is imminent, Iranians should know that the U.S. is on their side. The weapons in this battle to topple the second member of the axis of evil are modems, PCs, fax machines and satellite dishes. The U.S. should do everything in its power to help the Iranian people liberate themselves. URL:http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003640