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I am a newbie poster but a long-time lurker and lover of Free Republic. My husband is a Iranian born American citizen and we completely support the President's "war on terror". But, until the Mullah's are brought down we will be fighting this was for decades.

My husband took me and our four sons to Iran a year and a half ago. The Persian people are so desparately unhappy but, they are terrified. Very few Americans have been to the heart of the founding member of the"axis of evil". The people we met were extremely pro-American One old man in a small village took my husband's hand and implored him "tell Mr. Bush- we don't mean it." The average Iranian leads a double life. They are on the whole Fun-loving, sensuous and rebellious people. Behind closed doors they party as rowdy as any people on earth.

While I was there I noticed a phenonenom that you would never believe. Many young people are converting to Christianity. At an up-scale shopping mall in Tehran, I noticed alot of teenagers wearing a cross. I asked my brother-in-law if it was some sort of fashion statement and he said no, that alot of people were converting as a repudiation of the regime. Later, I met a woman who furtively showed me her cross and asked me to say the Lord's Prayer in English. She told me that all the major cities had large underground Christian movements. Andthis in a country where converting is a capital offense.

We have a satellite service which shows Iranian exile TV stations mostly produced in California. These stations are beamed into Iran as well. One night shortly after the Iraq war had begun, they received a fax from Iran. The writer said that a few days before the war Saddam sent a bunch of coffins to Iran. It was supposed to be the remains of Iranian war dead long held by Iraq. When they opened the "coffins" they found canisters with the skull and crossbones symbol. They were ordered to seal back the boxes and the coffins were sent to another military base. Its totally believable that old Saddam threw that hot potato to his good friends- the Iranians.

Even if you are mad at the President for one thing or another, Please support him. He is a good man and the world's best hope. Unless we understand that the miserable tyrannies of the Middle East, are the real manufacturers of WMD- brainwashed, hate-filled young men with no hope,freedom or future- terrorists will continue to be cranked out to do battle with us. Vote for George W. Bush for the sakes of your kids and grandkids!!!!!!!!!

I reread my post and I want to make clear that I am not advocating a war with Iran(even though many Iranians would welcome it). The successful conversion of Iraq into a democracy would have a huge effect. We must support the real pro-democracy movement in Iran- not President Khatami who is a fool and a coward.We must never cut a deal with the mullahs. The Iranian people would never forgive us. They despise the French who have cozied up to the regime. If we ever do normalize relationship with Iran( after the mullahs fall) the Iranians wouldn't buy another thing from Europe again. They would be some of the greatest consumers of American goods ever.

Kudos to you for posting your touching account of the situation in Iran. I have no doubt that there is a vast reservoir of goodwill towards the U.S. among the younger generation of Iranians.

The collapse of communism is the most cogent example of how a radical change in Iran can be accomplished: once the despots who hide behind their religious garb are shown to be cowards, the average citizen will feel the urge to stop and shout "No more!" And then the end will swiftly come.

Although regrettable, it's likely that innocents will be killed in such an uprising; but as I say, if the people find that sacrifice to be worth it, then the battle for freedom will be on.

As far as U.S. involvement, don't count on it. There's no stomach among the sheeple here for an expanded war, and frankly we don't have the manpower to mount an invasion of Iran.

Thanks again for your comments.

Cheers.