Comments on: Power to the (Iranian) people http://njjewishnews.com/justASC/2008/05/30/power-to-the-iranian-people/ A multilog with NJJN Editor-in-Chief Andrew Silow-Carroll Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:32:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: 4infidels http://njjewishnews.com/justASC/2008/05/30/power-to-the-iranian-people/comment-page-1/#comment-1326 4infidels Fri, 30 May 2008 23:48:57 +0000 http://njjewishnews.com/justASC/2008/05/30/power-to-the-iranian-people/#comment-1326 How does anyone know what percentage of people in a totalitarian state would vote for a change in government that would lead to democracy? Weren't we told all sorts of wonderful things about the urban, secular, educated people in Iraq prior to the invasion in 2003? And once liberated from Saddam's rule, they choose more Islam (which is decidedly anti-democratic) as well as tribal, religious and ethnic loyalty, often acted out in brutally violent fashion. When the Russian people had the yoke of communism lifted from around their necks, they quickly backed a former-KGB strongman who put a limit on their freedoms. I wouldn't doubt that the Iranian people are sick of the Mullahs running the country. Some certainly want to be free from the restrictions placed upon them by Islam. But I fear that once the Mullahs are gone, the masses will stick with what know, believe in and have been taught is the superior way: Islam. So regime change in Iran doesn't necessarily make life more safe for infidels. Only a strong leader in the mold of Kemal Attaturk who is committed to suppressing the role of Islam, as was done in Turkey, has any chance of making a transition to democracy possible. And even in Turkey, without Attaturk's ruthlessness and persistence keeping the public sphere secular, the country is heading in a direction that is bad for women, religious minorities and anyone committed to political and intellectual freedom. It is also bad for us infidels. How does anyone know what percentage of people in a totalitarian state would vote for a change in government that would lead to democracy? Weren’t we told all sorts of wonderful things about the urban, secular, educated people in Iraq prior to the invasion in 2003? And once liberated from Saddam’s rule, they choose more Islam (which is decidedly anti-democratic) as well as tribal, religious and ethnic loyalty, often acted out in brutally violent fashion. When the Russian people had the yoke of communism lifted from around their necks, they quickly backed a former-KGB strongman who put a limit on their freedoms.

I wouldn’t doubt that the Iranian people are sick of the Mullahs running the country. Some certainly want to be free from the restrictions placed upon them by Islam. But I fear that once the Mullahs are gone, the masses will stick with what know, believe in and have been taught is the superior way: Islam. So regime change in Iran doesn’t necessarily make life more safe for infidels. Only a strong leader in the mold of Kemal Attaturk who is committed to suppressing the role of Islam, as was done in Turkey, has any chance of making a transition to democracy possible. And even in Turkey, without Attaturk’s ruthlessness and persistence keeping the public sphere secular, the country is heading in a direction that is bad for women, religious minorities and anyone committed to political and intellectual freedom. It is also bad for us infidels.

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