The Torch of Liberty in Iran

All those who love liberty are inspired by the courageous Iranian people protesting in the streets for fair elections and freedom for their nation.  And those who hate tyranny, our blood boiling, must speak out and sharply condemn the brutal tyranny which is the dictatorship of the “Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In 2009, it is Iran.  In 1989, it was Tiananmen Square.  In 1981, it was the Solidarity movement in Poland.

As President Ronald Reagan said regarding Poland in December 1981: “The people of Poland are giving us an imperishable example of courage and devotion to the values of freedom in the face of relentless opposition … the torch of liberty is hot. It warms those who hold it high. It burns those who try to extinguish it.”

In the days following the phony June 12 election in Iran, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest.  Elections under the dictatorship are a sham – all the candidates are screened by the ayatollahs, and only those candidates acceptable to the dictatorship are allowed on the ballot.

The Islamic dictatorship has ultimate power and authority in Iran, and as always they made sure their favorite candidate – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – won in a landslide.  But this time, their undemocratic manipulations were too obvious and too heavy-handed, and millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest the election results.

At first, the protests centered around the belief that another candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, had won the election.  But the protests quickly evolved far beyond the Mousavi and the election results.  The dishonesty, tyranny, and brutality of the Iranian “Islamic Republic” dictatorship was exposed, and the protests evolved into a generalized movement against the theocratic, anti-liberty regime and for a free Iran.

The Iranian dictatorship is a stark example of a powerful governmental force counterposed to freedom and democracy.  Whatever the straw that broke the camel’s back – in this case, fraudulent election results – the Iranian pro-democracy movement is a strong challenge to the dictatorship, and things will never be the same. A process has begun that will eventually lead to a battle for liberty and against the ayatollahs.

The ultimate result of this battle is in the hands of the Iranian people.  Liberty for Iran will be the work of the Iranian people themselves.

The pro-terrorist, anti-liberty outlaw regime in Iran is brutal to its own people, a threat to its neighbors, an exporter of terrorism.  The Islamic dicatorship seeks to crush the pro-democracy movement in its infancy; it seeks to snuff out the initial sparks that will light the torch of liberty.

President Obama’s first response to the events in Iran was to show deference to the dictatorship and avoid clear support for the pro-democracy movement.  “Some initial reaction from the Supreme Leader indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election,” Obama said.  He wanted to avoid “meddling” in the affairs of another nation – as if the outlaw regime was a land of liberty and in good standing.  This is consistent with Obama’s previous Iran policy.  For example, one week before the Iranian elections, in his Cairo speech, Obama was apologetic about past U.S. relations with regards to the Iranian dictatorship.

Obama still wants to meet and negotiate with Ahmadinejad – without conditions.  It is obscene to imagine such a meeting, with Obama shaking Ahmadinejad’s blood-soaked hands. How pathetic that a president of the United States should be so weak in the face of monstrous evil, and so indifferent about the Iranian protestors thirsting for freedom, democracy, and liberty.

Once again, consider President Reagan, who said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Reagan did not say, “Mr. Gorbachev, it’s none of our business – we don’t want to meddle.”

In his June 23 press conference, Obama did finally voice stronger words about the situation in Iran, but it still doesn’t ring true – it does not mesh with Obama’s continued actual Iran policy of apology and unconditional negotiations.

Obama lacks a strategy to isolate the pro-terrorist, anti-liberty outlaw regime.  The President lacks a strategy to block the efforts of the ayatollahs to acquire nuclear weapons. He lacks a victory strategy in the war against radical  Islamic terrorism.  And now we see that Obama lacks a pro-liberty strategy to support the Iranian freedom movement.

The President’s June 23 press conference comments seem too little, too late, too insincere – just words.  And that’s how they are being perceived by the “supreme leader” of Iran:

“On the one hand, they [the Obama administration] write a letter to us to express their respect for the Islamic Republic and for re-establishment of ties, and on the other hand they make these remarks. Which one of these remarks are we supposed to believe?” – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (via Washington Times)

The Iranian elections show that the Iranian people are stilled denied democracy, and still ruled by a a dctatorship. This dictatorship – the so-called “Islamic Republic of Iran” – is brutal, oppressive, and in opposition to basic human rights. The dictatorship of the mullahs still oppresses women, still imprisons political opponents, still mistreats students and workers, and still contradicts the long and rich tradition of the Iranian people.

Ahmadinejad is a tool and puppet of the ayatollahs, who are the real power in Iran. The Iranian dictatorship is still on a war drive, still seeking nuclear weapons, still supporting terrorism, still aiming to destroy Israel, and still a threat to world peace and security.

Let all those who live liberty stand with the Iranian people and against the theocratic, anti-liberty, pro-terrorist dictatorship. No to the ayatollahs! – Yes to the Iranian people!

Tags: Ahmadinejad, featured, Iran, Khamenei, liberty, Mousavi, Obama, Poland, Reagan

Steve Beren

Steve Beren is a speaker, writer, blogger, and activist on the issues of international terrorism, the Iran nuclear threat, and the relationship between politics and morality. A Seattle-based conservative activist, Beren is deeply involved in the new, but growing "tea party" taxpayer movement in opposition to the Obama administration's far left economic agenda. Beren was the 2008 Republican candidate for Congress against far left Democrat incumbent Jim McDermott.

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