Iranian Democracy Activists Really Do Want Our Help
“Those in Iran who favor receiving foreign assistance and consider international solidarity essential to the success of Iran’s homegrown civic movements cannot speak freely. If they do, they will be subject to immediate retaliation by the regime.”
Solidarity With Iran
By Akbar Atri
Don’t believe it when people say Iran’s democracy activists don’t want U.S. help.
As I write this, close friends of mine are sitting in cells of Evin prison in Iran. They are suffering from torture, solitary confinement and denial of medical care. Despite their suffering, they write and smuggle out of prison essays about the brutality of Iran’s government and about how the democracy movement can stay resilient despite mounting repression.
Here in America, where I have been living since 2005 as an exiled activist, a controversy has emerged over the Bush administration’s pledge to provide $75 million in democracy and human-rights assistance to Iranians. Critics of the funding, among them some Iranian-Americans, say the money endangers the lives of activists and gives pretext for the Iranian regime to crack down on their activities. Supposedly speaking on behalf of the Iranian people, these critics claim Iranians do not want and do not need America’s help in their fight against oppression.
But it is not just among Americans that this debate is taking place. Even during this highly repressive time, Iranian democracy activists are debating the merits of accepting foreign support. Last month, in an open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, my friend and fellow activist, Akbar Ganji, who spent six years in Evin prison, condemned the “intolerable” human-rights violations in Iran. But he also argued that funds from the U.S. to promote democracy in Iran had “made it easy for the Iranian regime to describe its opponents as mercenaries of the U.S. and to crush them with impunity.”
I respectfully disagree. There are many sides to this debate, but one thing is clear: Those in Iran who favor receiving foreign assistance and consider international solidarity essential to the success of Iran’s homegrown civic movements cannot speak freely. If they do, they will be subject to immediate retaliation by the regime. The lack of robust, transparent appeals for outside help by civic leaders should not be confused with a lack of need or desire for such help.
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“During the year 2000, Akbar Ganji, a former Commander Pasdar : a guard of the revolution who was amid the responsible for the taking of hostage of the American embassy, becomes the following day the star of the reforming newspaper Sobhe-Emrooz.”
Iran Resist
again, one should question if it not a “mise-en-scène” with fake journalists and fake resistants
October 15th, 2007 at 1:13 pmSome Iranians may want democracy and may want a MLK-type of revolution. however the Iranian regime has already set in motion the seeds of its own destruction. Neither the Israelis nor the US can allow the Iraniac regime to acquire nuclear weapons.
The chances of a quiet revolution occurring in Iran before the Iraniac regime acquires a neuclear weapon are slim and none. And slim just left town.
The democratic elements in Iran need to decide now, what they will do when the bombs start falling on Iran’s military-industrial complexes…and whether or not they are willing to put their revolution in motion or will they sit back or side with the regime.
It is pure dellusion to believe that a non-violent revolution will stop a Nazi regime as it exists in Iran. It is further dellusion to believe that these democratic Iranian elements can turn the clock back from where it is vis vis regarding the acquisition and first use of NBC weapons against the west in the name of some ushering in of an evil armageddon.
By all means fund these anti-regime agencies and groups.
Unfortunately, the ayatollahs and their puppet Ahmedisajerk have already decided that war is the answer.
It’s 11:55 on the Iraniac doomsday clock. Not much time left.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:09 pmDan,
Weren’t you the one who said you hate all Iranians?
October 15th, 2007 at 4:31 pmKippy:
Well if it ain’t the moonbat comming to pay us a visit. What’s a matter moonbat, got bored with the porno channels?
Or did your mommy forget to tuck you in this evening?
Listen pussy, nothing would please me more than to wipe Persia off the map. Yet I cannot make up my mind whether I hate them more or whether I hate punks like you and your useless libistan party more.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:39 pmYou see, Dan the infidelity, when you make idiotic comments they come back to haunt you. When you insult people based on speculation you then become a fool. Wiping countries off the map would ruin centuries of history and culture for the short term goal of destroying a petty regime that will go by the wayside and become part of the dustbin of history. It seems that something in your past has dulled your ability to reason. If we had people like you during the Constitutional Convention we would have ended up with a government like Iran’s. Keep trying though. You will have to do better than vomiting insults.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:51 amKippy:
Glad you liked my comments pussy. Now go on back to your porno channel little boy….maybe you can pound your pud before your mommy walks in.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:45 amKippster:
Any fool that thinks that a Democracy movement in Iran is going to change anything is living in a dream world. The only thing that is going to change the dynamics in Iran is an updated version of shock and awe.
The Iranians have had 30 years to affect change in their country, and have accomplished zip to date. There is no more time left to wait for some kumbaya velvet revolution to happen.
The IROC has the money and the guns. The Iranian people have only words. Words don’t stop bullets, nor will they close down the torture chambers of Evin Prison.
You want to sing kumbaya with ahmedinajacket, then go hang out with the rest of the sheep.
Your brain synapse problems seem to have become more acute.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:26 amTry re-tuning your tinfoil hat, maybe you could then get a better signal from your mothership.
Infedelity,
This again shows how ill informed you are about Iran. A-jad controls nothing. He is merely a front man for the mullahs. The Iranian gov’t was making some headway when Mohammad Khatami came into power. There were protests in the streets against conservative rule. Going to war against Iran would be foolish endeaver that would turn the Iranian people solidly against the US. But why am I telling you? You hate all Iranians. Singing kumbaya with A-Jad is much different than effective policy that isolates the Iranian regime from the rest of the civilized world on one hand and fomenting dissent internally that would lead to leftist change in Iran on the other. That’s right, leftist change. When you have a theocracy (a conservative government) in Iran, a move toward democracy is a move to the left. Comprende, slow boy? Learn from the progressive. You will get a heavy dose of that in 2008. The mothership just crashed on your head.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:17 pmKippy-boy:
Got under your skin…didn’t I fucktard? You know you should really study Islam before running off at the mouth, then maybe you won’t sound as stupid as you always do.
Go on home little man…your mommy’s calling you.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pmKippster:
Forgot to mention dipshit, that I’ve already made mention of where the power is in Iran. Secondly, no one is going to let a fool like you determine US policy with regards to Iranian nuclear weapons.
The Iranian government has made its choice. Whether their people side with the US or not is their choice. And I’ve seen recent stats that indicate as much as 35% of the Iranians would side with the US even if we attack.
Irrespective of your desires, if the Iranian government
gets nuclear weapons, those weapons will be destroyed.
If the Iranian people want to side with their insane government, and are as thickheaded as you are about it…then tough shit.
The time to overthrow the Ayatollahs is now. They’re not going to be allowed to launch a NBC strike at either the EU, Israel or the US in the ME. Period.
No go back to your porno channel shitbird. I got a new mixed-martial arts vid to study…so unless you got something less-kumbaya to say…take a hike….Otherwise I’ll just stop by again and throw more shit in your Iranian face.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:59 pmFirst off, there is no way you can get under my skin. It would take someone way more intelligent than you to do so. Second, you need to keep watching those mixed-martial arts videos to keep your boyfriends at bay. Thirdly, I would like to see your source for the 35% who would side with us. It sounds like the same kind of boo-shee sources the Bushites used before invading Iraq. The reality is we don’t know how Iran will respond to a US attack. I would guess it would pretty much mirror how Iraq responded. Finally, you don’t throw shit in my face, you throw soft pedals of ignorance. Shit would have the sensation of biting wisdom which you lack.
October 17th, 2007 at 7:56 am