After June 30th
What to do with the IRI
June 22, 2004
iranian.com
With the upcoming June 30th handover of sovereignty
to the interim Iraqi government, and the expected acceleration
of the Iraqization of the anti-insurgency operations -- the question
of the Islamic Republic will be vying for the top foreign policy
topic of the American presidential election. And based on the declared
national resolve to never again wait for another gathering storm
to land on the shores of America, the candidates will be confined
to one-upmanship in taking tougher line on security measures, chief
amongst them, the IRI's menace.
Across the lake, the European
Union's torturous policies,
at times farcical, vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic, has come
to naught. Mostly devoid of national security or human rights concerns
and solely based on appeasement and financial gains via uncompetitive
access to lucrative contracts doled out by the Tehran regime -- there
too it is on the path to become the top topic of major concern.
With
the resounding failure of the experiment to "strengthen the hands
of the moderates within the regime" in the hopes
of eventually steering the "first government of Allah on
earth" back to the family of nations; the EU is smarting
from its years of fruitless dogged "constructive" come "critical"
come yet again "constructive dialogue". They are back to
square one plus the urgent question of IRI's WMD, including
apparent uranium enrichment capability to boot.
Now, as before,
there are basically two policy options to be considered. First,
try to come to terms with the existence of the regime which
is a concoction of a rabidly anti-Western, fascist and increasingly,
cult of deity state, sitting on top and within striking distance
of major energy producing centers in the Middle East and the Stans.
Second, make the decision to change the equation altogether.
Oh
yes, there is a third option. The let's chop it up to a more
manageable bite size option. That being so alien to the historical
facts
on the grounds, one expects the more seasoned hands would prevail
over the sophomoric bunch. The coming to terms with the Islamic
Republic option is exactly that which has been tried for the past
quarter of century. Ignoring
the 300 pound, foaming at the mouth, gorilla in the middle of the
room and going on with business as usual has not worked. The advantage
to this option, aside the protection racket's holding tight
to the leash of the terrorists from attacking, used to be lucrative
preferential contracts. Although the majority has been awarded
to France in the past year, still, there has been something in
the pot for everyone.
Under this option, the Europeans continued
showing off their deep understanding of the Middle East and the
"natives",
after all, they've been strutting their stuff based on this
pivotal claim. Considering the upsurge of anti-Americanism, the
world is still in the mood to lull its fears with this approach.
Besides, who is to say that the mullahs in Iran are worse than
their unknown replacement, the better the devil you know. Or
for that matter, fair is fair, other American approved neighbors,
i.e. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are essentially in the same league
as the Mullahs, why not tackling them first-- are just two of the
supporting
arguments for the now defunct EU approach. Two - forgo any delusional,
tried and failed policy and face the facts on the ground. The
regime in Tehran is overwhelmingly detested
by its oppressed subjects
who will be elated to see the back of it. Being fully cognizant of this fact,
the Janus-faced mullahs have been in the process of procuring insurance policies
for its survival in the forms of intercontinental missile systems and WMDs.
While the good mullah has been grinning and the bad one grimacing,
both have been united
in their ultimate goal, survival through any and all means.
There has never
been nor ever be a scenario under which it would be wise to use
force to eject the regime from Iran. What the West can do is
to stop feeding,
financing and equipping this monster and leave it to the capable hands of
Iranians to do what is needed. Moral and small logistical support
for the Democracy
advocates
inside Iran would suffice.
 From the Philippines to Algeria to Guyana and beyond,
hundreds, if not thousands of turbaned and bareheaded imam wanna-bes
are looking up to the Islamic Republic
as the big brother for a helping hand for them to reach untold riches and
power that till the advent of IRI was just a too fantastic a dream to be
even dreamt
of. Unfortunately, one needs to add to these tyrants-in-waiting, the many
motley crowds who are in cahoots with them, if for no other reason than
to poke a
finger into the eye of the "American and Zionist".
Unless and until the
Islamic Republic is delegated to the dustbin of history, to expect
calm and some semblance
of sanity to prevail in the vital region of
Middle East and beyond, is just whistling Dixie.
*
*
|
