Current Politics

 

When tomfool simpletons claimed to have seen the portrait of Khomeini on the face of the moon, they never thought they would be blessed by a king!  It took them a quarter of a century to have Mr. Sheibany, in his self defeating argument (Are we worthy?), ask if we the people, as one of the most civilized nations of the world, are worthy of Mr. Reza Pahlavi.  He, of course, wastes no time to say “I believe we are”.  He might have thought we are not capable of answering the intelligent question! 

 

Regardless of your political point of view or whatever Reza Pahlavi stands for, an individual or a dynasty or a political institution is ONLY to serve a nation no matter how great or insignificant that nation maybe.  Then the question must rise to its proper position of: if Khomeini or Reza Pahlavi or Khatami or whoever else is worthy of serving such a great nation?  It can never be asked the other way around.  Otherwise, to sanctify an individual to be above the people is simply moronic logic.

 

Then we have the infamous theorists who still claim the popular uprising of a nation against the late shah and his despotic regime was masterminded by the west and carried out by Palestinians.  All of a sudden, they find a perfect application:  Let’s put it to test or simply actuate it.  Given our tradition of anniversaries, it was obvious a demonstration was to be organized by 18^th of Teer.  So let’s talk about it, and invite the new tyrant of the world to the party.  Okay, it was the other way around! But they did not account for a flaw in the timing.  Something went terribly wrong. 

 

However, they did put the conspiracy scheme to work, except in a different scenario.  A much anticipated protest took place before schedule.  The regime being on the defensive side, and having learned from its past mistakes, tried to contain the spread of unrest without using force, but somehow the element of “the plain clothes thugs” reminds me of the Rex Cinema tragedy before the revolution.  Who could believe shah had nothing to do with it, then? 

 

The majority of Iranians, students in particular, who were leaning towards America and were looking for political normalization, despised American presence in the region, occupation of Iraq in particular.  Despite the fact that both countries got rid of the most brutal regimes, no one in the right mind would be encouraged by what is going on in either one of them.  Even Mr. Rafsanjani miscalculated the shift, who suggested a referendum in regard to America.  That is why it was quietly moved to the backburner.

 

However, Velayat-e-Faqih followed the path of shah to suppress the will of the people.  Unless some major initiatives turn the tine, it will end up the same fate.  As much as the revolution was genuine then, the uprising is real now.  We may argue back and forth that it is different this time, but history will never stop repeating itself.  So are we ready for the next step.  A maze of traps has already been laid down to deprive us of our national wealth on the top of our lost freedom?  But opposition is simply over exuberant to see the reality.

 

Some bumper stickers are really worth reading, like “Don’t follow me, I am lost too” or “think globally, but act locally” both of which seem to explain, and/or suggest intelligence for, our current state of political affairs better than a million words.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not intend to belittle the enormous contribution of people who have something to say about, or something to do with, our struggle.  Quite to the contrary, I think, and thanks to this new wave of global communication, we are fortunate not only to learn more, but also to participate better.  Also as Sa’di enlightened us centuries ago “ta mard sokhan nagofte bashad  eib o honarash nehofteh bashad” that can be paraphrased as your strength and weakness are revealed through communication. 

 

It is equally important to stay focused on the issue at hand.  History has long thought us that in the time of any political crisis or turmoil if you will; there are always opportunities to explore and pitfalls to avoid.  G.W. Bush took the September 11 tragedy as an opportunity to not only reclaim or boost American supremacy but also to settle some old scores.  He, of course, was too arrogant to avoid the pitfall of making America the most hated country in the world.  You do not have to be a seasoned politician to realize he was well equipped to dodge it.  He, or America for that matter, can afford this draw back in the short run.  Given the American system of government, and despite new sweeping changes, I still believe America will earn world respect based on merit, a genuine shift from hate or fear. 

 

How about us, the battered Iranians?  We have a golden opportunity to reclaim and/or advance our national independence.  We have a great prospect for freedom.  Yet, it seems to me we are competing with each other to go down with the pitfalls.  The Iranian mass media is, mostly, either sold out to Washington or simply incapable of living up to its responsibility.  I wonder if we are also too arrogant to learn. 

 

U.S. media urged Americans to “support our troops even if you are against the war”.  But Iranian media is not even ashamed of urging people to write to American government, literally asking Bush to intervene in our internal and political affairs.  Some of them go even further to wise up the administration not to act in a way to look like interfering!  It is more like saying: (come on, I help you taking Iran easily.  We can use angry students in the streets to rob a nation from its inalienable rights again and again.  I will be even a good puppet of yours.)  It is unfortunate, they say, that Bush is too smug to listen.

 

Bush does not refrain from thuggish remarks against anyone he chooses to.  But America’s $50 million aid to the hungry media is too sweet to turn down.  You may ask: how about our national interest?  Well, it can be served!  Setup your own radio or TV station, take advantage of the “no string attached!” grant, and fight the ones you believe do not work for the best interest of your homeland.  That is how the little Israel started it.

 

As Mr. Mirfendereski pointed out in his remarkable short article “Naked in a tree-less forest”, America has a specific international and constitutional obligation not to “intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs."  That is what Iranian mass media is supposed to enlighten Iranians with.  In retrospect, it should’ve been the very first thing to warn America of.  Yet, in the best case scenario, our opposition groups are too consumed with a yearning to topple Islamic Republic at any price.  They simply assume Iranians have already forgotten how they, in almost exactly the same way, toppled shah only to suppress their freedom even more. 

 

Contrary to opposition’s illusion, signs from within Iran multiply that anti government students and most other protestors are well abreast of the times.  While they seek fundamental changes in the system of government to abolish Velayat-e-Faqih in its entirety, they are by no means subject to the much hoopla of self acclaimed harbingers abroad.  Nor have they welcomed Bush’s illegal intention to intervene in the name of support for students and/or Iranians long quest for freedom and self determination.  Despite all the propaganda, only a minuscule number of Iranians, most likely unknowingly, gave up their inalienable rights in favor of asking a foreign governmental body or a senator or the infamous tyrant to intervene.

 

What it all ads up to is simply this.  The great majority of Iranians, whether inside or out of Iran, bitterly despise foreign intervention as strong as ever.  You can hear it load and clear, not from the Islamic Republic, but from Iranian people:  Hands off America, let Iranian people decide their own fate. 

 

I guess we have reached the point where we can “think globally, but act locally” and we can pass the fellow with “Don’t follow me, I am lost too” stamp on his political driver license.  We have an inalienable right to our freedom, our national sovereignty, our national resources, and our national infrastructure and defensive system.  We still hold our government, no matter what a suppressive regime it may be, responsible to protect our national wealth that includes our nuclear infrastructure.  While we fight our government for our freedom, we do require it to abide by our international obligations.  But we should not allow our national wealth, including our nuclear infrastructure, be destroyed under any pretext or circumstances.  However, the world has the unique opportunity to ask for expansion of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to make sure all nuclear infrastructures around the globe are for peaceful applications.

 

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is only meaningful if it is signed by each and every country of our planet.  America is not only sitting on the largest stock pile of nuclear arsenal, but also is about to resume NEW nuclear testing after ten years.  It is a direct violation of the same NPT it wants Iran to abide by.  It is a well known fact that Bush is not concerned about nuclear infrastructure for permanent members of UN Security Council or Israel or India or Pakistan or even North Korea, but it cannot tolerate its peaceful application for Iran because it may turn to Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD).  I must give him credit for having learned from his fiasco.  Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is not labeled as an “immediate threat” like Saddam’s unfound WMD, but simply intolerable!

                                                             

Peace,

Mohamad Purqurian

June 25, 2003