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CounterPunch
January
22, 2003
Dissenting Voices
in Iran
Why is Bush
So Silent?
By REZA LADJEVARDIAN
Last week, Iranian women across a number of cities
in their country burned their veils and head scarves. They demanded
equality under the law and greater social liberties. Their brave
cry for a more civil society followed Iranian students' earlier
demonstrations for democracy. Sadly, the Bush administration's
response on both counts was silence.
As a Muslim Iranian-American who fled
the intolerance of Iran's Islamic fundamentalists in 1979 and
who was fortunate enough to migrate to America, I feel frustrated.
Why doesn't America, the greatest champion of freedom, publicly
support the Iranian people in their quest for democracy?
As a Muslim Iranian, I sympathize with
the Iranian people. No people have suffered as much or as long
at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. As an American, I am
perplexed as to why the Bush administration is squandering an
excellent opportunity to discredit the ideological root of Islamic
terrorism: Islamic fundamentalism.
Although there are some secular terrorists
in the Islamic world, the vast majority of terrorists adhere
to Islamic fundamentalism. Their objective is the establishment
of Islamic fundamentalist dictatorships.
It is imperative that this country's
war on terrorism should also have an ideological dimension. The
Iranian women and students can be America's most effective weapons
and allies in revealing the fallacy of Islamic fundamentalism.
Islamic fundamentalism has nothing to
do with Islam, just as burnings at the stake during the Middle
Ages had nothing to do with true Christianity. Even today, isolated
and bigoted groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nation
continue to distort and warp Christianity as part of their hate-filled
and intolerant ideology.
Western Europe has learned from past
mistakes committed in the name of religion and, for the most
part, has evolved into a peaceful and tolerant society. So can
the Muslim world.
The Iranian people are an excellent example
of this learning and healing process. Having blamed America for
supporting the shah, in 1979 the Iranian people were quite anti-American.
After Sept. 11, 2001, however, they were the only people in the
Middle East to hold candlelight vigils.
The Iranian people now realize their
future rests not in blaming America, but in establishing democracy
and free markets. More than two decades of Islamic fundamentalism
have produced nothing for the Iranian people but misery and tragedy.
Their hope of an Islamic utopia has become a reality of broken
promises wrapped in oppression, unemployment, inflation and lack
of opportunity.
President Bush ought to encourage and
actively assist the Iranians in their path toward democracy.
The most effective way to do this is to publicize the Iranian
people's grievances and their yearning for freedom. Such an initiative
could pay huge dividends for America.
For starters, it would showcase the utter
failure of Islamic fundamentalism as a political and economic
ideology to the larger Islamic world. By watching interviews
with Iranian students, Arab, Pakistani and Turkish students would
not be deceived as easily by the false promises of Islamic fundamentalism,
with its intolerant ideology that encourages terrorism.
The airing of such an ad campaign, if
you will, would be critical, especially considering the ineffectiveness
of the pro-America advertisements currently being run by the
State Department throughout the Islamic world.
Spotlighting the Iranian people's struggles
would provide an opportunity for Americans to see that there
is no inherent conflict between Muslims and Christians or Jews.
There is no clash of civilizations.
Muslims cherish the same ideals as Americans:
liberty, tolerance, justice, equality, meritocracy and opportunity.
Highlighting the risks that the Iranian people are undertaking
to establish a society based on these ideals would refute any
claims that Muslims do not share America's values.
As a Muslim Iranian, I know the Iranian
people are yearning for these ideals. As an American, I believe
helping the Iranian people triumph in their endeavor would ensure
America's security more so than any precision-guided missile
ever could.
Reza Ladjevardian is a Houston writer. He can be reached at: rezalad@yahoo.com
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