Attack on Iran Would Only Stifle Democracy, Say Iranian-American Journalis

[Judi Lynn]

Attack on Iran Would Only Stifle Democracy, Say Iranian-American Journalists
News Feature, Donal Brown,
Pacific News Service, Jan 24, 2005

Editor's Note: Iranian-American journalists warn that a U.S. attack on Iran would only give the repressive mullahs an excuse to crack down on the Iranian dissident movement.

SAN FRANCISCO--Iranian-American media are dismayed though not surprised by the news that the Bush administration is undertaking covert actions in Iran. They warn that an attack on Iran would not promote democracy there or in the Middle East.

Writing in the Jan. 20 issue of the New Yorker, leading investigative writer Seymour Hersh charged that the close circle of neoconservatives in the government have solidified their power by sidelining the CIA, launched covert intelligence-gathering within Iran through the Pentagon and developed a plan to attack and remove Tehran's nuclear capability.

The CIA had reportedly concluded, based on computer simulation and war games, that attacking Iran would not work, putting the agency out of step with the Bush administration. The administration attacked Hersh's story as inaccurate but did not deny the existence of a strike plan.

Prominent figures in the Iranian-American media found Hersh's story credible. Hossein Hedjazi, program director of KIRN-AM 670 in Los Angeles, says, "The neocons want to control the Middle East. They will not shy away from any action that gives them power and control." He says the neocons include Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith and Vice President Dick Cheney.
(snip/...)

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=78fc336bf20a4fb8709e8a0104615b62

[justinsb]

1. Petition

Gotta keep plugging it, sorry :shrug:

http://www.petitiononline.com/NWinIran/petition.html

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. true

[TahitiNut]

3. Well, that would be the Neocon objective.

They're not interested in "democracy" - they're interested in kleptocracy. They didn't care that Aristide was democratically elected. They don't care that Chavez was democratically elected. The only thing they care about is OWNING the natural resources of other nations and the power to enslave their poor in sweatshops.

[Warpy]

4. that's the central irony of Bush's lunatic crusade against

Islamic countries in the middle east: there is tremendous pressure for moderation of religious law, especially in Iran, where the majority of the population doesn't remember either the Shah or the hated SAVAK. If Bush shuts the fuck up and keeps his hands to himself, the power of the council of mullahs will be eroded, a little more every single year, until they remain more as a religious advisory council.

Iranians are fed up with the hypocritical and heavy handed religious oppression of the theocrats. They are desperate for change. The only thing that can stop them is pressure from outside, causing the stupid to rally around the bad leaders to save the country (see Bush, 9/12).

[Imagevision]

5. Thats why Rumsfeld says Israel may "handle Iran"

[Elidor]

6. A breakdown of society and civil government is what they want

It's tough to watch people respond to the administration's words. Those words have no bearing on the neocons' plans. They WANT chaos and repression in Iran. That's integral to their plan. Democracy breaking out would ruin their schemes.

[malaise]

7. Here's a great article from Tompaine

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/bushs_widening_credibility_gap.php