Posted on 04/22/2006 5:12:04 PM PDT by Amil
Recently, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has requested $75 million to support pro-democracy elements inside Iran and also assist the Iranian opposition groups outside of Iran.
While I am grateful for this kind gesture from President George W. Bush’s administration, I have serious doubts that this amount can change anything in Iran. I doubt that the $75 million (if Secretary Rice indeed receives it) will be used effectively and wisely.
President Bush, in his 2005 state of union address, once again reiterated his support of the Iranian people. He said, “And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.” A Tehran University student responded, “As long as President Bush stands with the Iranian people, the Iranian people will stand with him and with America."
Is it not totally ironic that the presidential race in the United States was won by a few percentage points, but in Iran, President Bush won by a landslide? What also remains irony is while President Bush is sinking in the polls in his home country, his popularity is climbing in Iran. Yes, the Persian speaking people have found a friend who says he cares about the Iranian plight. But, really, how serious is President Bush about the Iranian plight? Is it simply a lot of rhetoric with no action?
It has been 5 consecutive years that President Bush has adamantly supported the Iranian people in his state of the union address. What we have seen is too much carrot, but not enough stick or as they say in Texas all hat and no cattle. Mr. President, while I have supported your efforts to liberate Iraq and bring democracy to the region, I am afraid the key to peace in Iraq and the region is in the hands of the Iranian people. As long as the Islamic regime rules over the defenseless people in Iran, Iraq will never see the light of democracy.
While we are spending over $200 million a day for the war in Iraq, in contrast, a $75 million proposal to bring change in Iran seems utterly unreasonable and unrealistic. We are talking about the Islamic republic in Iran "the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism", according to the U.S. State Department.
According to research by the Iranian Studies Group, an independent academic organization at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), more than one in four Iranian-Americans hold a master's or doctoral degree, the highest rate among 67 ethnic groups studied. Iranians continue to be among the most highly educated in U.S. and annually inject over $600 billion into the U.S. economy.
It would be a travesty for the Iranian opposition groups to accept such an insignificant amount of money while the Iranian-Americans are such large contributors to the U.S. economy.
So far Iranian-Americans have not given big money to the cause of liberating their fellow Iranians in Iran, nor has the U.S government given any significant amount for the eradication of the mother of all terrorist groups in the world, the Islamic regime in Iran. Again, we are back to square one.
The United States still holds billions of dollars of the Iranian assets in U.S. banks. It only makes sense to utilize this fund for the regime change by the Iranian opposition abroad. This money must be returned to its legitimate heirs, the Iranian people.
So, if the U.S. is serious about a regime change in Iran, if the U.S. is hoping for a democratic form of government in Iran and if the U.S. truly advocates a broader democracy in the Middle East, then I urge the white House to consider unfreezing the Iranian assets and supporting all the Iranian opposition in doing what is best for their country. After all, Iranians know Iranian mentality much better than any foreign governments.
It is time for the US government to get serious about this issue. Bombing Iran’s installations will not help the cause. As a matter of fact, it probably creates unity with the regime inside Iran. The most effective way is spending the Iranian frozen assets in the right direction.
Let us create a secular, democratic Iranian nation and obliterate the venomous theocratic regime in Iran which the majority of Iranians consider to be alien occupiers. The clock is ticking and the majority of Iranians want to be free from the oppressors now. So I urge the administration to stop the bureaucracy and get down to business immediately.
Amil Imani is an Iranian born/United States Citizen and pro democracy activist who resides in the United States of America. Imani is a poet, writer, literary translator, novelist and an essayist who has been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native land, Iran. He maintains a website at www.amilimani.com
This WOT will be fought at the time and places of our choosing...
>>So, if the U.S. is serious about a regime change in Iran, if the U.S. is hoping for a democratic form of government in Iran and if the U.S. truly advocates a broader democracy in the Middle East,<<
Well, our number one priority is that Iran not start firing off Nukes. #2 is stopping Iranian sponsored terrorism. Everything else comes lower.
IMHO, you will see some rather spectacular stick before too long.
I would like to take this moment to point out that this is all Jimmy Carter's fault for not standing up to the Ayatollahs in the first place.
So that it can be commandeered by the radical government, to further their causes. Yeah, THAT'S the solution! /s>
I appreciates the authors facts. Too bad his willful ignorance of the realities of tyrannical government keeps this article from being a keeper.
No, not really.
Is Iran serious about having nukes?
What he's saying makes alot of sense and I think that most people will be surprised that Bush does NOT choose military action in Iran.
Remember the ruling party and their religious overlords only have 15% support in that number is dropping fast.
Attacking would garner support and increase resistance to US aims
Diplomacy and increasing support for pro-democracy factions within Iran looks like the best solution.
As serious as he is about the Cuban's plight.
Which means that our number-one, number-two, and all tertiary priorities are keeping the Democrats from attaining power in the United States. The Democrats have a very convenient, vital ally in the theocratic dictatorship of Iran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his fellow terrorists use their control over the price of petroleum to enhance their own bank accounts while simultaneously diminishing the political popularity of President Bush. When the Democrats gain the Presidency, they will articulate and follow a policy of preemptive surrender toward the Persian theocracy and terrorists everywhere.
Because we suffer from a media complex and major political party fully invested in our own national defeat and humiliation, Republicans must prevail at the ballot box in every single election to give any Americans a fighting chance against the terrorists. Elections unfortunately have become that critical to the freedom of ourselves and our posterity.
We've been working on this option for the last 3 years with more intensity -
But it is still very likely the military option will have to be used - But again, this WOT will be fought at the times and places of our choosing.
And what many our missing is time is on "our" side in the short run (which this nut-cake in Iran seems to understand....thus all the smoke and hype out of Tehran of late).
Oh you're correct that time is on our side. Iran, contrary to a lot of opinion, is years away from a nuke. (160 cents doesn't cut it.)
I only see a military option used in a manner akin to Israel taking out Iraq's nuclear option. I doubt a sustained miltary campaign.
I think we will all be plesantly surprised the day that the Iranian people take to the streets. So go all dictators.
Among exiles living in Beverly Hills
in that number is dropping fast
How can you POSSIBLY know that?.
Start here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146342,00.html
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/60131.htm
http://www.cfr.org/publication/10100/sadjadpour.html
http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200503110745.asp
I can find more. The government is in shambles. Kinda wierd isn't it that Bush was right. It's slowly but surely happening. The NRO article is the best, the Iranian government is rotting and only needs a little push for it to collapse.
---I think we will all be plesantly surprised the day that the Iranian people take to the streets. ---
You've got that right!
I like your idea of unfreezing assets to support opposition groups.
Thank you. Think about it, it makes sense. The money does not belong to the Islamic occupiers and it has been sitting in the bank for years. It belongs to all Iranian freedom fighters. Anyone who wants to overthrow this barbaric regime should become qualified to receive this fund. The U.S. must seriously think about delegating some of that money for the cause of liberating Iran from the hands of the Islamic terrorists.
You don't make any sense whatsoever...
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