Revolution?

Before I was born, the people of Iran were stuck with an unjust autocratic government. It was partly of our making, and a change of regimes was probably called for. I think that reasonable people were sorely disappointed by what followed. It's been a long, hard row for the good people of that nation to hoe, but there's just a ghost of a chance that the end of the bad days is in sight. As I write this, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Iranians are marching and demonstrating after what appeared to all the world to be a rigged election. It was one which kept out the reformer and kept in the despicable Ahmedinejad. A nationwide strike is in the offing, and if the movement hangs together, they will not have to hang separately( as Dr. Franklin said during our fight).

I believe in the Iranian people. I have always understood them to be more our friends than anyone in the region save Israel. Our enemy has always been much more their leaders then their people. I think we need to stand by the people. It's the right thing to do, as hard and fraught with risk as it may be. Our leaders will be hesitant, and they need to be pushed and prodded. This is a golden chance for progress, and if we don't support it actively, it will die on the vine. More than an opportunity for our personal benefit, this is a genuine free expression of the people, and it would be wrong to stand by while innocent dissenters are shot and beaten in the streets for doing no more than we consider to be our birthright.

I recall one of the things Martin Luther King said. I believe it may have been some story from biblical times. It was about a hurt or sick man on a dangerous road. Many people passed by him, seeing that he was in need, but saying, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" As King said, the proper attitude is not that one of self-interest, but that of the person who says "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" I hope we will help these people. It will be good for us, and it will mean everything to them. It's not without risk, but no thing worth having ever is. We need to take a chance. Many Muslims and Arabs have castigated us for supporting the brutal leaders they live under, and their harsh opinions of us may soften when they see that we stand for them and not for the strongmen who look after our economic interests

Godspeed, "Green Revolution".