To Omid Memarian – Yes, We Can
Omid Memarian is a blogger in Iran, who is writing extensively about the presidential election campaign in English and Farsi. He confirms some facts that I know from my own Iranian friends, but many do not.
He first confirms that Iranians love the US. It’s true, they do. Like many Americans, many Iranians believe that the current hostilities between our countries is the result of flawed leaders, not flawed people.
I’ve grown up with two myths about the United States: Ayatollah Khomeini’s depiction of the U.S. as “Great Satan” on one hand, and the idea of the American dream on the other. Many Iranians prefer to choose the second option. So I write about the myths of America and the real America. The Islamic government spends lots of money to create a dark, evil picture of the U.S. —the same picture that the Bush administration creates of Iran.
This is the evil of what the Bush administration is doing and what has been magnified by Hillary Clinton’s promise to “obliterate” Iran in the debate disaster.
But look at what he has to say about how Iranians regard Barack Obama:
Many Iranians are obsessed with Barack Obama. If he goes to Iran, I’m sure he could fill Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000. To a large extent this is because of the nature of Obama’s message about change and hope. Iranian people truly want to change their situation, get rid of decades of marginalization and restore their reputation in the world. They feel connected to his message of change. They are tired of living under the threat of economic sanctions and military attacks. Obama’s remark about initiating a dialogue with Iran translated for many Iranians into hopes of normalizing the relationship between the countries and Iran rejoining the international community. For many Iranian women struggling for women’s rights, Hillary is incredibly inspiring.
This echoes what I hear from others in other countries. We have a real need of our own to rejoin the international community and abandon the cynical, greedy and reckless dealings of the Bush administration with foreign governments.
Keep in mind, Iran has not attacked our country. Iranians are part of an ancient and respected culture. The Iranians I know are hard-working and successful. If there is a lesson to be learned from Memarian’s blog, it is for us not to confuse the Iranian government with the Iranian people. (It would have been good for us to do that with Iraq and Afghanistan, too, but unfortunately Cowboy George was too stupid to understand that.)
Memarian is right. Hillary Clinton should apologize for what she said. Their complaint with the UN nails it. Her remarks were provocative, unwarranted and irresponsible. I would add the descriptors impulsive and inflammatory to that list of adjectives.
Iran shouldn’t be viewed through the lens of their corrupt leaders, any more than this country should. The difference is that we have an opportunity to clear out the corruption and rebuild our reputation. Iran is still struggling, and threatening them does not seem to be a reasonable way to conduct ourselves.
H/T: Andrew Sullivan
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