After eight years of traveling to Iran and trying to distill insights about life there for Americans, it’s been a jarring experience for me to see so many people all of a sudden concerned with a people they considered their enemy just six weeks ago. Still, maybe you have been wondering, “why should I care about the people of Iran?” Is it because they’re about to get nukes and we need to be nice to them? Is it because separation of church and state is the only way to go? I was so surprised a week after the election when friends back in Marin started asking me, and I’m quoting one of them, “What can Whitey do to help?” It was an interesting question and one I still have a tough time answering. My first response was that what the Iranian people want is for the rest of the world to pay attention. I cautioned that with the media blackout, if any reports coming from Iran turned out to be fabricated it may cause the world to turn away. I don’t think this has happened. The thing, though, that I am worried about is that Iran will become another Free Tibet type cause; a bumper stick and a list of statistics that are easy for celebrities to remember. What this is, and maybe Tibet is, too (I’m not sure,) is a struggle for self determination by a nation that’s waking up to the fact that if they want something they’re going to have to take it for themselves. Supporting that right in whatever way we can as Americans is what they want. Sound vague? It m… >>>
