On Sunday October 3rd, as part of it's ongoing pre-election community
education series, Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats (www.baiad.org),
held its third open discussion forum entitled "What Is at Stake,
Why This Is The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime" with
Dr. Abbas Milani, a Research Fellow at Hoover Institution and visiting
Political Science professor at Stanford University as the keynote
speaker.
Mehrdad
Moayedzadeh, president of BAIAD and Chris Urkofsky, a BAIAD officer
were the first two speakers. Moayedzadeh emphasized the importance
of Iranian-American participation in the political engagements
and reminded the audience that without assuming an active role
in the electoral process, "there is no reason for any politician
to protect the interests of our community."
Milani reiterated
the goal of BAIAD, which is to empower the political voice of Iranian-Americans
through grassroots activism and tangible gains at the ballot box.
Moayedzadeh announced public service programs by BAIAD to provide
informational meetings on statewide initiatives and phone banking
operations to get out the Iranian-American vote on November 2nd.
Urkofsky then drew a distinct picture of concept of progressive
thinking and paraphrased James Madison by saying that "America
does not guarantee justice; it just gives its citizens an opportunity
to afford it."
Dr. Milani stated, "Iranian-American Diaspora enjoy enormous
economic and professional success in scholarly, medical, technological
and business fields. However, the economic success has not translated
to political power and such disparity is not realistic; therefore
it would be unfathomable to comprehend a static picture and we
should expect a major stride by this community to have its voice
heard. The impact of greater participation by the potentially powerful
Iranian-American community will have far reaching effects both
here and abroad."
Milani further explained that a second term Bush administration
will have dire consequences not only for Americans, but also for
the entire planet. He characterized the upcoming election as the "world
election" where economic, political and social well being of the
world community is at stake. "The second term for Bush will
move the tenuous mandate of the first term to a new level that
will translate to loss of fundamental democratic values in American
society."
Dr.
Milani presented two faces of the current Republican administration
that are worthy of a closer look. First, the religious face, which
is threatening the genius of the American political system, namely
the unreachable divide between church and state which combined
the enormous moral piety with an accountable system of government.
Evangelical Christians as the religious base of the Republican
Party are gaining
strength and will use their clout in the second
term to influence the political process and reshape the judicial
system, apply pressure on religious minorities and thus undermine
democracy in America. Second, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, every
American president with the exception of Ronald Reagan subscribed
to the concept that it is a role of the government to provide basic
social services and security to American citizens; the notion basically
supported a "welfare state" that granted basic economic rights
to its weakest members.
Realizing that a direct attempt to go against
such system would be politically quite costly, the Reagan Administration
took on an indirect strategy referred to as "starving the beast",
which is a euphemism for making the government incapable of helping
society's neediest by making sure that it doesn't have enough resources
to do so. Bush has continued this process by a policy of cutting
taxes for the rich and engaging in expensive preemptive military
adventurism to unprecedented levels such that the government will
lack the physical capacity to sustain a viable social system.
According
to Milani, "No matter who gets elected as president, "the
war on terror" as well as the question of dealing with Iran will
be top priorities of the next US government. The Bush administration
does not realize that to be successful against terrorism, military
prowess plays a minor role and that most of the energy should be
devoted to education and propaganda; to fight terrorism, one has
to dry the sea that terrorists thrive on. And such sea is nothing
but despotic regimes, anti-American sentiments and disillusioned
masses in impoverished nations." Milani suggested that expansion
of democracy and improving economic conditions in the Middle East
will go a long way in stopping the growth of terrorism.
Dr.
Milani criticized those Iranians who advocate attacking Iran for
the sake of regime change. He cautioned that no matter who gets
elected, Iran will not be attacked since US lacks the resources
to take on such a dangerous and "foolish endeavor"; "We
should remember that after the 1953 coup, the Shah lost the legitimacy
to lead Iran and was rejected by Iranians."
Milani
also dismissed as "unlikely" a US or Israeli strike against Iranian
nuclear facilities since such undertaking will not bring tangible
results and only intensifies the tension in the region, especially
at a time when Iran's influence in Iraq and America's need to use
that positively is rather evident. "In addressing the Iranian
issue, America has to bring Europe, China, and to an extent Russia,
on the same page to be successful." "Kerry," he
argued, "has a better chance of achieving that goal and that
may result in reaching a grand bargain with Iran." Milani
stated, "The problem is that the US has not had an articulated "Iran
strategy" since the days of Nixon. The lack of a consistent policy
and a solid strategy has led to mixed signals and failed policies
over decades. It is time to realize that imposing embargo on Iran
has only benefited some of the European countries as well as opportunist
elements within Iran at the expense of the Iranian people and US
companies."
Dr. Milani concluded the meeting by asking Iranian Americans to
watch for media bias and question the information they receive
from TV, radio and newspapers. "That is the only way to remain
objectively informed and make better citizenry." he said.
About Hamid Karimi is a volunteer
at BAIAD (Bay Area Iranian American Democrats) BAIAD is a grassroots
political organization that stands for protecting the rights and
interests of Iranian-Americans by empowering the Iranian-American
political voice. BAIAD seeks to promote social justice through
political participation, grassroots activism, public and political
advocacy, and education. To learn more about BAIAD, please visit:
(www.baiad.org)
Mehrdad
Moayedzadeh, president of BAIAD and Chris Urkofsky, a BAIAD officer
were the first two speakers. Moayedzadeh emphasized the importance
of Iranian-American participation in the political engagements
and reminded the audience that without assuming an active role
in the electoral process, "there is no reason for any politician
to protect the interests of our community." 
Dr.
Milani presented two faces of the current Republican administration
that are worthy of a closer look. First, the religious face, which
is threatening the genius of the American political system, namely
the unreachable divide between church and state which combined
the enormous moral piety with an accountable system of government.
Evangelical Christians as the religious base of the Republican
Party are gaining
strength and will use their clout in the second
term to influence the political process and reshape the judicial
system, apply pressure on religious minorities and thus undermine
democracy in America. Second, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, every
American president with the exception of Ronald Reagan subscribed
to the concept that it is a role of the government to provide basic
social services and security to American citizens; the notion basically
supported a "welfare state" that granted basic economic rights
to its weakest members. 
According
to Milani, "No matter who gets elected as president, "the
war on terror" as well as the question of dealing with Iran will
be top priorities of the next US government. The Bush administration
does not realize that to be successful against terrorism, military
prowess plays a minor role and that most of the energy should be
devoted to education and propaganda; to fight terrorism, one has
to dry the sea that terrorists thrive on. And such sea is nothing
but despotic regimes, anti-American sentiments and disillusioned
masses in impoverished nations." Milani suggested that expansion
of democracy and improving economic conditions in the Middle East
will go a long way in stopping the growth of terrorism.
Dr.
Milani criticized those Iranians who advocate attacking Iran for
the sake of regime change. He cautioned that no matter who gets
elected, Iran will not be attacked since US lacks the resources
to take on such a dangerous and "foolish endeavor"; "We
should remember that after the 1953 coup, the Shah lost the legitimacy
to lead Iran and was rejected by Iranians."
Milani
also dismissed as "unlikely" a US or Israeli strike against Iranian
nuclear facilities since such undertaking will not bring tangible
results and only intensifies the tension in the region, especially
at a time when Iran's influence in Iraq and America's need to use
that positively is rather evident. "In addressing the Iranian
issue, America has to bring Europe, China, and to an extent Russia,
on the same page to be successful." "Kerry," he
argued, "has a better chance of achieving that goal and that
may result in reaching a grand bargain with Iran." Milani
stated, "The problem is that the US has not had an articulated "Iran
strategy" since the days of Nixon. The lack of a consistent policy
and a solid strategy has led to mixed signals and failed policies
over decades. It is time to realize that imposing embargo on Iran
has only benefited some of the European countries as well as opportunist
elements within Iran at the expense of the Iranian people and US
companies."