Most in America know very little about Iran or the Iranian people; although that
changes everyday. Most people believe the Iranians are like their "Palestinian"
counterparts - that they are the kind of people that cheered when the World
Trade Center buildings went down. This is completely and totally inaccurate. It
was the Iranians who came out with candlelight to show their sympathy and support
for the Americans.
Persian culture is different from literally all other cultures in the "Middle East."
For centuries, Persian culture was
marked by reason and enlightenment. Many think it was Muslim
Arabs that gave us Algebra; it was not. It was the enlightened Persians. All good "Muslim"
art comes from the Persians. For centuries, thugs have been trying to force Islam
on to the Persian people. They have resisted and overthrown many oppressive regimes.
The battle has gone on for centuries. The current thug government has been oppressing these people
for 25 years. It is time for the Iranians to enjoy the liberty, secular government,
and human rights that they deserve.
Conservatives usually bark that I am turning into a bleeding heart liberal; that I'm willing
to use US money and lives to free the Iranian people. This is not true. Let's assume
the US had no vested interest in Iran for a moment. If this were the case, I would
still support the Iranian people, but
would not call for US government involvement. I would
still, however, do what I could personally to help these people, as I find them to
be great, enlightened people whose values are almost identical to mine.
However, the US does have an interest in this region. The Ayatollah government manufactures
terrorists. If you go through the list of terrorist acts against the United States, you
will always see one uniting theme: the Iranian government was behind it. In a nutshell,
the US and the Iranian people have a common enemy: the Ayatollah thug government of Iran.
This is why I support US involvement in Iran. In fact, anyone who thinks
we are going to win this war on terror without toppling the Ayatollahs has his
head buried very far in the sand.
And, indeed, this government likely will be toppled soon, especially with a Bush re-election. But this
doesn't mean we should sit back and do nothing. I believe it's wrong to sit
back and hope "something happens," without giving the Iranian people any kind of support.
"Something" will happen as soon as the West gets
its act together and starts supporting the people of Iran - not sitting back
and letting Europe pull the strings, as they did by awarding Shirin Ebadi
the Nobel Peace Prize.
I'm not going to tell you I know the exact solution
to toppling this government. I teeter back and forth of whether or not the Iranian people
can topple it themselves (I do not believe they can do it on their own as they have
been so beat down by this government) or whether or not the US should make some kind
of military action. However, one thing is for sure: they need our moral support.
I'm calling on students in America
to spread the word about the Iranian people. This includes forming Free Iran student groups;
various other political groups bringing in speakers such as Michael Ledeen,
letters-to-the-editor, and so on.
Below are various articles by me and others about the situation in Iran. Feel free
to email me with further comments if you would
like to start any kind of activism for this cause or email
here
to join my "For a Secular Iran" email list.
Sincerely,
Amber Pawlik