JEFF JACOBY put it aptly when he wrote: “if we are going to win the war on
terror, the liberation of Iran is not an option. It is a prerequisite” (op ed, March
11). As he pointed out, the olive branch policy, which the Europeans and
bureaucrats at the State Department have pursued in dealing with the tyrants
who have ruled Iran with an iron fist for 25 years, has utterly failed to steer that
country toward a tolerant, moderate, and representative government.
Neither the arms for hostages deal in 1985, nor the blacklisting of Iran’s only
effective opposition movement, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq in 1997, quenched the
mullahs’ insatiable appetite to export fundamentalism abroad, particularly to
Iraq, and pursue Iran’s nuclear ambitions at home.
The vivid display of intolerance by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his
extremist cohorts toward their allies of the past 25 years and Tehran’s nearly two
decades of deception and denial about its nuclear weapons program should
serve as stark reminders that the West can ill afford to continue to promote
conciliation with Tehran.
Ironically, Iran is the only country where, if given the opportunity, the citizens
would vote the ruling fundamentalists out of office. The yearning for democracy
has survived the clerical rulers’ repression and brutality
Click here for .PDF format
Link to JEFF JACOBY’S ”Time for regime change in Tehran”:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/11/time_for_regime_change_in_tehran/
