[GCFL-discuss] Fw: Words Matter on Iran

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

I'm not forwarding this to anyone likely to be a charter member of the
John Kerry fan club. I never saw much sense in preaching to the choir.
And frankly, this is the first sensible analysis I've heard from John
Kerry in more than ten years, perhaps thirty. But he is, in my seldom
humble opinion, right on target this time.

I still remember with pride helping to design a leaflet in 1971,
publicizing the appearance of a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the
War. We quickly realized that we were going to draw the same old crowd of
committed activisits, unless... Unless our leaflet advertised "Electronic
Warfare, the Battlefield of the Future." We got a room full of American
Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars guys. They gave the veteran a
respectful hearing too. It didn't change their minds, but it was a
fruitful discussion.

Siarlys

----- Forwarded Message -----


 

 Hello Charlie,

With the protests on the streets in Iran and a lot of hot rhetoric here
at home, I wanted to send a message about how careful we need to be in
the messages we're sending back around the world - so I penned this OpEd 
for this morning's New York Times - especially to flag the dangers of
some of what we're hearing from the neocons who dug us a very deep hole
in the first place in American foreign policy. Later today I'll be on
Hardball with Chris Matthews and the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to
talk about this some more if you'd like to tune in. -- JK

LINK 

With Iran, Think Before You Speak 
By John Kerry
June 18, 2009
 
The grass-roots protests that have engulfed Iran since its presidential
election last week have grabbed America's attention and captured
headlines -- unfortunately, so has the clamor from neoconservatives
urging President Obama to denounce the voting as a sham and insert
ourselves directly in Iran's unrest. 
 
No less a figure than Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential
nominee in 2008, has denounced President Obama's response as "tepid." He
has also claimed that "if we are steadfast eventually the Iranian people
will prevail." 
 
Mr. McCain's rhetoric, of course, would be cathartic for any American
policy maker weary of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hostile message of division.
We are all inspired by Iran's peaceful demonstrations, the likes of which
have not been seen there in three decades. Our sympathies are with those
Iranians who seek a more respectful, cooperative relationship with the
world. Watching heartbreaking video images of Basij paramilitaries
terrorizing protesters, we feel the temptation to respond emotionally.
 
There's just one problem. If we actually want to empower the Iranian
people, we have to understand how our words can be manipulated and used
against us to strengthen the clerical establishment, distract Iranians
from a failing economy and rally a fiercely independent populace against
outside interference. Iran's hard-liners are already working hard to pin
the election dispute, and the protests, as the result of American
meddling. On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry chastised American
officials for "interventionist" statements. Government complaints of
slanted coverage by the foreign press are rising in pitch.
 
We can't escape the reality that for reformers in Tehran to have any hope
for success, Iran's election must be about Iran -- not America. And if
the street protests of the last days have taught us anything, it is that
this is an Iranian moment, not an American one. 
 
To understand this, we need only listen to the demonstrators. Their
signs, slogans and Twitter postings say nothing about getting help from
Washington -- instead they are adapting the language of their own
revolution. When Iranians shout "Allahu Akbar" from rooftops, they are
repackaging the signature gesture of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 
 
Mir Hussein Moussavi, the leading reformist presidential candidate, has
advocated a more conciliatory approach to America. But his political
legitimacy comes from his revolutionary credentials for helping overthrow
an American-backed shah -- a history that today helps protect protesters
against accusations of being an American "fifth column."
 
Iran's internal change is happening on two levels: on the streets, but
also within the clerical establishment. Ultimately, no matter who wins
the election, our fundamental security challenge will be the same --
preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. That will take patient
effort, and premature engagement in Iran's domestic politics may well
make negotiations more difficult. 
 
What comes next in Iran is unclear. What is clear is that the tough talk
that Senator McCain advocates got us nowhere for the last eight years.
Our saber-rattling only empowered hard-liners and put reformers on the
defensive. An Iranian president who advocated a "dialogue among
civilizations" and societal reforms was replaced by one who denied the
Holocaust and routinely called for the destruction of Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran's influence in the Middle East expanded and it made
considerable progress on its nuclear program. 
 
The last thing we should do is give Mr. Ahmadinejad an opportunity to
evoke the 1953 American-sponsored coup, which ousted Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh and returned Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to power.
Doing so would only allow him to cast himself as a modern-day Mossadegh,
standing up for principle against a Western puppet.
 
Words are important. President Obama has made that clear in devising a
new approach to Iran and the wider Muslim world. In offering negotiation
and conciliation, he has put the region's extremists on the defensive.
 
We have seen the results of this new vision already. His outreach may
have helped to make a difference in the election last week in Lebanon,
where a pro-Western coalition surprised many by winning a resounding
victory. 
 
We're seeing signs that it's having an impact in Iran as well. Returning
to harsh criticism now would only erase this progress, empower
hard-liners in Iran who want to see negotiations fail and undercut those
who have risen up in support of a better relationship. 


 


Paid for by John Kerry for Senate
This email was sent to: jsiarlys at juno.com
To unsubscribe: http://www.johnkerry.com/unsubscribe
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gcfl.net/pipermail/gcfl-discuss/attachments/20090618/2436649b/attachment.htm>