Vote for democracy
Kurdish Americans and the US elections
November 2, 2004
iranian.com
November 2 is a challenging day for
Americans in general and for Kurdish Americans in particular. As
a minority without
international representation to safeguard its basic human rights,
the Kurds always hope for a radical change in national and international
politics. As members of a non-partisan organization, the Kurdish
American Education Society, we should avoid as much as possible,
public endorsements of any candidates; however, we would like
to highlight a few relevant issues for the undecided voters in
this election.
It seems that President Bush is concerned about the spread of
the fundamentalism as the contemporary threat to western democracy.
He compares the religious fundamentalism of the Middle East with
the fascism of Western Europe during the World War II and communism
of the Soviet Union. Since those obstacles of the West have been
eliminated, he seems determined and willing to risk American lives
and resources to eliminate this contemporary threat with all the
means at his disposal, with the help of the world if necessary
and alone if needed.
 Senator Kerry, on the other hand, seems to be more considerate
and less determined in a proactive approach in dealing with the
threat of religious fundamentalism. He is worried about the consequences
of the war and about alienating the international community. He
hopes to be able to share the burden of the war with other UN members.
However, he seems to ignore that many members of the international
community are directly or indirectly involved with the promotion
of terrorism and fundamentalism.
There is also the view of Mr. Nader to consider. His worries
include "poverty,
discrimination, joblessness, the troubled conditions of education,
environment, street and suite crime, budget deficits, costly and
inadequate health care, and energy boondoggles."
To deal
with these issues, he advocated a Jeffersonian style civic rebellion
in his article, Democratic Revolution in an Age of Autocracy,
published in March of 1993 in Boston Review, which was beyond reproach;
but
today his views are out of touch with the potential threat facing
the world in the troubled Middle East whose rulers only understand
the language of force!
Regardless of whom we vote for, this land
of immigrants, innovators, and pioneers remains unique. The American
democracy seems to be
self-regulating; it catalyzes extreme changes internally as we
as internationally; once changes are made, and the society is
accustomed to them, the country returns to its baseline to prepare
for further
challenges.
 Independence from the Great Britain, abolishing slavery,
promoting women's equal rights, and defeating fascism in
the West and stagnant communism in Eastern Europe are among some
of the major achievements of this unique country. In its way to
defeat a major intolerant hurdle, the religious fundamentalism,
and to promote change in a very troubled region such as Middle
East, America deserves all the support it needs.
If for no other
reason at all, at least for the symbolic practice of our own
democratic rights, we ought to vote on November 2, 2004.
About
Kamal H. Artin, MD, is from the Kurdish-American Education
Society in Orange County, California.
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