In all the darkest recesses of Iran, agents of American media and the BBC are pressing Iranians into a state of protest and civil unrest. Propaganda abounds. The government murder of a young woman in Tehran, Neda Agha-Soltan, was staged, either by Western media or agents of rival candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi to light a fire of insurrection and revolt against the rightfully-elected leader and perhaps against the Ayatollah himself. As infidels and tools of Satan, enemies of Allah in the West are pulling out all the stops to undermine Muslim culture.
Down on the farm, we call that a bunch of hoo-ha. These are the ridiculous claims of so-called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Ayatollah and their freedom-hating regime. It's one thing to invade Iraq and try to give its people a choice whether they like it or not, pushing our culture down their reluctant throats. Iranians are clearly different. What is going on in Iran these days is a nation of people hungry for freedom.
CNN reported that even mullahs and clerics were marching in opposition of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decision that the election will stand as is.
What do you do when someone holds your head under water? You fight like hell to get a breath of air. The Iranian people's heads have been held under water and this is their struggle to take a deep breath of freedom. I think they might be content if the government would just stop lying to them.
According to a whole mess of numbers presented by Kathy Gilsinan for the Columbia Journalism Review, it's hard to imagine Ahmadinejad having pulled off a landslide victory when so many voters clearly wanted change.
The article says a lot of things don't add up with vote percentages compiled among various candidates and throughout voter districts. It's too much to convey here due to space limitations. The gist is that it's all more than a little fishy.
"Mr. Moussavi has said that he favors freedoms of speech and the press and would try to change the law that bans private television stations," a New York Times article said.
If the election results were cooked up, you can bet that's the reason. Those freedoms are widely despised by despotic rulers who crave complete control of all people and all things. What might happen if privately owned television took root? What might happen if Iranians were allowed to enjoy the same freedom of speech we have? They might start to realize how stupid it is to let a theocracy of religious zealots rule your country. They might continue to rise up and take control of their situation. Who knows, they might even realize that they're only personally responsible for their own beliefs and others shouldn't be forced to adhere to them or die an infidel's death. The Jews need to learn that too.
It also said that Moussavi has no intention of suspending Iran's nuclear programs, but that he understands the need to reassure and show the world that its nuclear program is geared for energy and other non-threatening purposes. Moussavi said there's a big difference between weaponization and nuclear technology. He wants to make that distinction clear and give Iranians a chance to enjoy the social and economic benefits of a peacefully conceived nuclear program. However, if we read between the lines, we know an Islamic revolutionary government might be dangerous with such technology. I think Moussavi wants to increase freedoms in order to narrow fundamentalist influence and ease the worries of the world.
This all goes to show that people of varying cultures around the world would rather have the right to make an educated choice based on truth than to be treated like na've puppets, expected to believe anything they hear and succumb to their strings getting yanked. People around the world are a lot smarter than politicians think. Misleading rhetoric and propaganda have no place within the confines of civilized society, yet it hides around every corner. These are the battles we fight as free people. Iran is on the precipice of yet another one of these fights. I think we should all wish them luck in the search for peace, freedom and enlightenment.
Write to John at jrfrees@bsu.edu
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