[knighthawk]

Khatami could save the trouble: Pim Fortuyn once said: "Islam is a backwards culture".

[knighthawk]

Ping

[johniegrad]

This is a no-brainer. Persia could be a contributing member of the world within a generation. The Islamic Republic will never be more than a 3rd world backwater.

[GnuHere]

You're killing me here! Where's the satire warning?

[Migraine]

It's too simple. Read the Declaration of Independence; read Bill of Rights; read the Sermon on The Mount; then, read the Koran. Compare. Read 'em and weep.

[RAY]

With certainty, they will "find", with the help of their Cleric, that the Western world is responsible for all of their problems and their backwardness is a virtue. Then their logic will be to punish the Western world -- and who is that?

It is becoming very difficult to accept anyone or a county that subscribes to a religion that does not respect the humanity of others.

[Heyworth]

Actually, this is pretty smart of Khatami, and is likely to give him more ammunition in his battles with the Mullahs. Everyone knows what the answer is, no matter what politically-correct answer they officially come up with. Under the shah, Iran was the most advanced country in the region. With the Islamic state, all the best and brightest left the country. Education has been undermined by religious orthodoxy. Women have been relegated to second-class status. And by making a public issue of the thing everyone secretly knows, he forces the Mullahs to explain why they haven't succeeded in recapturing the glories of the 12th Century like they promised when they took over.

[ChadGore]

End the tyrany of mullah rule. NOW

[jd777]

Tear down that wall Mr Khatami.

[DeFault User]

...under the influence of Islam

..ding...ding..ding.... I think we have the answer.

Of course, we have to deny his opening premise. Why doesn't he give them an easier assignment such as proving the world is flat, that Algore won the US election or that Clinton is an honest man.

[Man of the Right]

The reason for Iran's backwardness. One word with 5 letters:

I - S - L - * - M

[lelio]

A good book on this subject is Bernard Lewis's What Went Wrong detailing Islam's fall from being the rival of Europe to now being a backward civilization.
In a nutshell: Christian nations seperated religion from governance. Its tied together at the hip in Islam, so they can't progress past exactly what their Koran says government should be. What might be okay a thousand / two thousand years ago isn't necessary okay now, but you can't get around that in most Islam states.

[Billthedrill]

Fortyn was right. Any Iranian kid with an Internet connection could answer that question in 10 seconds flat. It is simply that the people who created this weren't beaten and imprisoned for having done so.

It isn't simply a religion, it is the accession of an entire theocratic ruling class under the auspices of religion that has taken Iran into the darkness. Taking power back from this sort of usurper usually is a very bloody process, especially inasmuch as they have all the guns. Or perhaps not.

The only relatively bloodless precedent in recent history is that of Kemal Mustafa, "Ataturk," and he had control of the Turkish military as well as the backing of an established secular political reform party. If such conditions happen in Iran they might not have to experience the horrors of the French or Russian revolutions. We need to watch the Iranian military carefully - as in revolutionary France and Russia, its adherence to, or rejection of, the ruling class will be definitive.

We could get an Ataturk out of Iran, although Khatami doesn't impress me as having quite that strength of character. We could also get a Napoleon.

[Lady Heron]

"Iran, with a glorious history, has been a major bricklayer of civilizations that once reached the highest levels of scientific developments under the influence of Islam,"

Sorry, that all ended once islam took over, none happened under the influence of islam.