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That silence is the sound of hearts breaking over the dream of political Islam. When the 1979 revolution swept away the U.S.-backed Shah and his injustices, Iran held out the tantalizing mirage of rule by Islam, even for countries that were not majority Shiite. Thirty years later, Iranians are protesting not a secular, U.S.-backed dictator but a system run by clerics who claim to uphold democracy as long as its candidates are given the regime’s stamp of approval ... Dictatorship by clerics is not more acceptable because its torture and beatings are committed in the name of God.