Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Iran's young people

In this BBC radio interview, three Iranian college graduates speak out about the current situation in Iran, voicing their concern for women's rights and the Islamic Republic's restriction of internet access to the misguiding phrase "Islamic fascism" and Iran's image abroad.



It is the Iranian people who can help us the most in this current political stand-off with Iran. One of the Iranians interviewed even talks about the sanctions being imposed on Iran and how the government could care less about what it is doing to the economy, because in the end Khamenei's government is able to prop itself up with revenue earned from the country's vast oil exports.

Since a military option would most likely energize support for the Ahmadinejad and Khamenei, the US should openly invite as many Iranian students as possible to study here in American colleges. The Iranians in this video talk about the wonders of studying abroad and how much they enjoy meeting new people from other cultures.

The only solutions we seem to be hearing about to confront Iran in the US media are A) bomb their nuclear installations and start another war B) sit down and have a nice chat with the rulers of the bloody theocracy while their uranium centrifuges continue to spin and money is channeled from Tehran to terrorist causes across the globe, or C) ratchet up the sanctions, something that in the end is only hurting the Iranian economy, which has already been ravaged by Ahmadinejad's failure to fulfill his promises to the Iranian middle class (he sidestepped that in his rant on Tuesday). In regards to the three options above, I say let's go with "none of the above" and instead reach out to all Iranians who desire peace and freedom.

Iranians and Americans going to school together and working for a better tomorrow...that sounds like the best idea to me.

4 comments:

Average American said...

Iran is really a different kind of problem for the U.S. It is one place in the world where the people love us and the government hates us. In many places it is just the opposite. I don't think our leaders(of either party)know exactly how to handle such a situation. It's the nuclear aspect that makes it so critical to do things right, otherwise we could sit back and do nothing. The people would eventually win.

C.H. said...

You are right, AA. I think the people will win if we give them the support they deserve. If we had done this in 1991 when we were in Iraq, it would have spared us the reality of having to go back to Iraq 12 years later. Let's not make the same mistakes again.

Anonymous said...

Iran's reach is growing across the world...they open their own schools in Syria, and just recently, they attempted to run a satelite TV channel in Bolivia. I agree that we should welcome as many Iranian students as we can into our college campuses.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you. Because of the visibility of politicians in the media, we tend to forget that they do not always speak for their people, that they do not represent the hearts and minds of the people on the streets. Allowing citizens from both countries to mingle and learn of and from each other is the best reminder that we all share the same day-to-day experiences and, ultimately, the desire to live peacefully with our neighbors.

I just want to add that I resent the phrase, which politicians love to say to give themselves artificial credibility, "the American people want [this or that]." I sit there and wonder which "American people" they're referring to, because I was never asked and I certainly don't want what they claim I want.