On Iran

I have been resisting the urge to tell world leaders how to act, as they are the leaders, not me. I have also been resisting the urge to talk about Iran's actions as I may be fueling the fire. That, of course, assumes that anyone will read this. But this morning's article in the Post has pushed me past the point where I can keep it in. Even if I am am the only one ever to read these words, by putting them out there I feel a little better. There is nothing else I can do.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been jabbing at Obama and the west about our 'interference' in their affairs. The thing is that we haven't been interfering. We've been commenting and denouncing violence. Ahmadinejad has engaged in far more critical verbage than that which Obama used. Not only is Ahmadinejad a hypocrite, but he appears to be directly engaged in a diversion. He is pointing his finger at the west when the problem is internal.

He and the Ayatolah have been accusing the west of spreading lies and inciting the protests in Iran. This sort of conspiracy theory is the sort of stuff that makes us throw labels like crackpot at bloggers. All this while they are actively locking up and pushing out foreign press and releasing their own views through state media. If everything they are doing is truely legitimate and follows the law, they what do they have to fear? If everything is above the board, open the records to the public and the international media alike. Show the world definitively that President Ahmedinejad really won the election, and the world, and likely Iranian citizens, will respect the outcome.

By hiding the evidence the regime is discrediting themselves. Iranians and the world at large is suspicious of what occured. The Iranian people have notified the world through their protests and free nations everywhere want transparency for the people of Iran.

While Obama is not a hard line 'decider' like Bush was, he is still the Commander in Cheif of the US Military, and agression toward the US is likely to be dealt with harshly. Obama, thankfully, is much more diplomatic, and I am sure that he, like myself and many others, see through Ahmedinejad's empty rhetoric that just seeeks to veil internal woe and keep his own people in the dark. The people voted and they deserve to know the outcome and feel assured that it is accurate. That is all the US and the west want. That is what the citizens of Iran want. Ahmedinejad needs to grow up and look back at himself and his government and his people and do the right thing. It is Iran that is under the microscope, not the US or Obama.

I urge you to read the article that I linked to above, and any others you may find. Make your own decisions. Let the Iranian people do the same.