As a lifelong Democrat, I voted for Obama in the last elections. I was glad to see the eight years of Bush madness come to an end and looked forward to seeing a sane U.S. foreign policy toward the rest of the world. But, when it comes to dealing with Iran after this year’s post-election uprising, I think that Obama is making a mistake and is placing the United States at the wrong side of history once again.
Fifty six years ago, the United States engineered a coup that toppled the first democratically elected government in the history of the Middle East. The Iranian people never forgot that treachery, and that single event was the biggest catalyst of the 1979 anti-monarchy and anti-American revolution. That single event was also perhaps the biggest cause of anti-Americanism in the Iranian society in the latter part of the 20th century.
Now, in the 21st century, the United States is at a crossroads again when it comes to taking sides in the conflict between Iranians masses and their government, and in my opinion, Obama is choosing the wrong side. You see, for the eight years of the Bush presidency, the Bush administration legitimized the IRI by its belligerence, its threats and its over-exaggerated claims-yet minimal actual attempts-of helping the “opposition” in Iran. His threats of military attack against Iran were God’s gift to the IRI, which masterfully used the excuse to hand over control of the government and Iran’s economy to the Revolutionary Guards, and to essentially transform itself from a theocracy into a military dictatorship. At that time, Bush stood against the wishes of the Iranian people, who truly thought that they could transform this regime into something resembling a democracy by their votes. Instead of taking sides with the Iranian people and not giving ammunition to the IRI, Bush did the exact opposite and gave the IRI the tools it needed to further solidify its hold on the country.
Today, Obama is making yet another mistake by trying to engage the IRI. The June elections in Iran showed that there is very little hope, at least at this time, for a peaceful transition from IRI’s military dictatorship to a democratic system. Engaging it at this juncture is, therefore, a mistake. Don’t get me wrong. I am not talking about “crippling sanctions” or a military attack. I am simply saying that Obama should take a stand and declare that the U.S. will not negotiate or sit at a table with a regime that shoots its population on the streets and corners a defenseless woman against a wall and beats her in the head with a baton. All he has to do is to do a press conference and show videos of Neda being shot and the other woman being beaten on the street and say: “ladies and gentlemen, here its is. I won’t sit at a table with a government that does this to its citizens”. Just like Bush legitimized the IRI with his threats and belligerence, Obama is legitimizing them with his overtures of “engagement”. He is legitimizing a government that has no legitimacy with its own citizens.
The IRI is on its death march. It will be removed by the Iranian people at some point, and unfortunately, I do not believe that it will be without more sacrifice and bloodshed. When that happens, the Iranian people will remember who was with them and who was wheeling and dealing with the IRI when they were being beaten, shot and raped by this monstrous regime. The question that Mr. Obama needs to ask himself is this: which side of history does he want to be on? Does he want to have another 1953 moment, or does he want to be remembered as the U.S. president who, for the first time in the history of this country, stood with the people of Iran?
