Mahmood Karimi Hakak

In reaction to Ahmadinejad’s recent visit, a number of groups, organizations and government agents have called for more sanctions against and/or military intervention in Iran.  While the efforts of such groups in discrediting Ahmadinejad is appreciated, and indeed, this man and his ruthless, barbaric, and coldblooded backers must be stopped, I have few concerns with their message.  I believe that these wellintentioned groups and organizations are playing into the hands of the dictatorial regime in Iran.  They are asking for exactly what Ahmadinejad wants; more sanctions and/or possible war with Iran! 

Ahmadinejad is not stupid.  He and his backers are evil, but much, much smarter than we may think.  They know that the end of their ruling is near.  They have seen that through what has been happening in Iran in the past few years, and more visibly to the world, in the past few months.  They have (and many political observers have) seen the similarities between now and the beginning of the revolution thirty years ago.  They understand that the only thing that can save them and keep them in power for another 30 years is some "serious" foreign intervention, just like what happened with Saddam's attack on Iran in 1980. 

Stricter sanctions will translate into "indirect foreign intervention" and will cause MORE pressure on Iranian people, more incarcerations, rapes, and executions of political decedents.  And it will probably bring more support for Ahmadinejad’s presidency and will greatly help in effectively silencing mass opposition.  A war will translate into "direct foreign intervention" and will bring many more people to their side.  It will, most probably, mobilize Iranians to defend their country, and march under the umbrella of this brutal regime to fight the "foreign intervention" as it happened in 1980. 

In 1980, there were mass protests against the establishment of an "Islamic" republic, and ruling of the mullahs.  People did not want a religious state; they were holding Khomeini to his promise (made in Paris) that "all [he] wants is to get rid of the Shah, and free Iran."  He said on many occasions (his taped interview with Peter Jennings being one) that once the Shah leaves, he will reside in Qom, and let the people decide on what kind of government they wish for their country. We all know that this did not happen.  Once the Shah left, Khomeini contradicted his previously stated intentions and stayed in Tehran, calling himself the Supreme Leader. 

When people protested against this decision, the American Embassy was taken hostage, creating a "foreign enemy."  America in turn encouraged Saddam to attack Iran (exactly what Khomeini had hoped for) and the eight-year war began.  In the name of saving the country, Iranians marched under his command.  Political activists were jailed, raped, tortured, and killed, and the constitution of the "Islamic Republic" was drafted.  A year after the start of the war, Saddam withdrew; Prince Faizel of Saudi Arabia met with Khomeini, and offered over 90 billion dollars as compensation for the war if Khomeini signed the peace agreement.  But Khomeini and his gang had not yet secured their grip on the country.  They needed more time; thus, Khomeini rejected the offer and did not sign the peace agreement.  Seven years later, with almost a million people killed on both sides, the mass opposition was silenced, women were "put in their place," intellectuals had fled the country or submitted to the regime, mid-level political activists were silenced, left the country, or signed "repentant letters," and high-level political activists were jailed or gone.  Then, in 1988, before he "drank the poison" and signed the peace agreement with Saddam (this time with no compensation), Khomeini ordered the overnight execution of over 3000 political activists still in jails.  Horror stories are legion about that night. One such story is repeated over and over by jailers and executioners themselves.  They say they "did not have enough time” to let each person die; therefore, as soon as they saw signs of weakening, they threw the body into trucks of half dead humans and carried them to mass graves.  The country was "cleared" of the opposition, and now he (Khomeini) could sign the peace accord.  The rest is history: three decades of brutal oppression of the Iranian people, destabilizing the region, and support of terrorism. 

Now, once again, the Iranian regime needs the help of foreign governments and groups to tighten its grip on its citizens and to stay in power for another 30 years.  Having faced massive opposition inside Iran, this regime is playing the same game, dealing the hand that has made it a fortune in the past.  It is provoking "foreign intervention," direct or indirect, in order to achieve its goal of another 30 years of dictatorship.      Why do you think that at this time, again, Ahmadinejad reclaims his disbelief about the Holocaust after almost four years of dropping the subject?  Why exactly in these days has the news of another nuclear site been "leaked"?  Are these all really accidental?     

This is history being repeated, once again.  This time, however, I hope the Iranian regime faces smarter foreign leaders who do not play into its hands as Reagan and Saddam did in 1980.      What the Iranian people need in order to get rid of these dictators is not foriegn intervention in the forms of more sanctions or another war.  What they do need is foreign support.  They need the world to NOT RECOGNIZE this man as their "president."  They need the world to publicize the brutality of this regime toward its own people, and they need the world to freeze these people's PERSONAL assets in foreign banks.  And, of course, a host of other "supports" are required to help the Iranians force this regime out, not just by creating another "revolution" which eventually replaces one dictator with another, but by helping Iranians pave the path of "evolution" that they are already marching on.     

Let’s help the Iranian PEOPLE, not the Iranian GOVERNMENT, please!