Remember Iran

Sometime last fall, I had a conversation with a friend who was concerned that then-candidate Obama was talking too much about the potential threat to America from Pakistan, and not enough about Iran. Pakistan, after all, was a U.S. ally in the "war on terror," whereas Iran was a spoke in the "axis of evil," and they might have nukes. To which I said, well Pakistan *definitely* has nukes, and the whole place is extremely unstable. At least Iran is technically a democracy, with a relatively moderate president in recent memory, and the current anti-West populist president is up for re-election in June.

Well, that election was a week ago, and you can read about the protests over alleged voting fraud in many other places that are more up-to-date than this blog (and you absolutely should do so). But I wanted to draw attention to Christiane Amanpour's report on today's protests in Tehran, which are notable because they come after Iran's supreme religious leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, publicly expressed support for the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and said the election results were valid.

So, for hundreds of thousands of Iranians to continue to rally and march is what Amanpour called crossing a bright red line - openly challenging the authority of the Ayatollahs. This isn't like in America, where we protest to build momentum for the next election. These people know that, if they lose, they'll face not just continued oppression, but exile or death. (Amanpour's own family fled Iran after the 1979 revolution.)

What's interesting to me is that these same protestors who are risking their lives for their country's freedom are the same people that President Bush called "evil," that John McCain wanted to bomb to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann." Before last Friday's elections, those of us who argued for moderation toward Iran were called weak on defense, or appeasers. Too many in our media were concerned with soundbites, rather than with educating Americans on the complexities of Iran's situation, and on foreign relations in general.

Americans get a bad wrap for having short memories. Well, I don't have a short memory. The next time some politician or TV pundit asks you to gloss over the nuances and jump on board with demonizing an entire country with millions of people, remember Iran. Remember all of Iran. Remember the U.S. and British exploitation of the country's resources, remember the Iranian anger that led to the hostage crisis, remember the people who voted in both presidents Khatami and Ahmadinejad. But most of all, remember the people you've seen putting their lives on the line this week.

Some more reading: About four years ago, I saw Iran-born journalist Afshin Molavi speak at the college where I worked at the time, and read his book about contemporary Iran. Salon.com has an interview with him. (Along with a faculty member, I got to take him to dinner - a real delight.) Also, Ahmadinejad has a blog (www.ahmadinejad.ir), which, regretably, is overloaded at the moment.

And can I get a little love for Christiane Amanpour? In an industry where any yahoo with a can of Aquanet can get on the air, Amanpour is consistently insightful and informed. She was part of our speaker series last year, along with her husband, former State Department official James Rubin, and I swear I could've listened to the two of them talk all night. She's a true gift.