It makes me sad to say this, but I have to say that you are right...

I had a go at Mr. Ganji myself a while ago, but he has improved since. Iran is such a closed country that it often takes a while for those who come outside to be able to get attuned to the thinking, particularly on issues such as democracy or human rights. I am still hopeful.

Very interesting and thought provoking arguments. Thank you Mr. Ferdowsi for sharing them with us.

Great post. I totally agree. Arthemis, I'm afraid we'll be fooling ourselves this way. He is not a 2 year old child to be so influenced by his guardians. For god's sake, he is supposed to be a journalist ! No he knows what he's doing and it ain't noble.

Mr. Ferdowsi, your arguments only work here if you: 1. assume "the world's superpower" is actually motivated by "the cause of freedom in Iran" and genuinely concerned for "the Iranians' struggle for their freedoms". If you live in these great United States of America, you should know how self-serving our foreign policy has always been. So if that is recognized (and it should be), then why don't Iranians have a right to turn their back on ill-motivated "help and support?"... and I put those words in quotations cause it's arguable what help and support that really is! I agree the outside support of Iranians' fight for freedom should be welcomed, but not blindly. Never blindly. All I'm saying is know what your "supporters" are ultimately seeking and if it smells funny, you may want to say no thanks. 2. assume that revolution brought about by foreign forces would be... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

Dear Shabnam, arthemis, Omid and AIS, thanks! Dear houran, 1. Which part of the argument? The argument that relates to the foreign policy of the free world does not start with the assumption that they *are* motivated by the cause of the freedom in Iran, but that they *should be*, even if they are not themselves, by Iranian liberals; and that this is the only way we can avoid a bloody war before it becomes unavoidable by the conduct of the regime in Tehran. I cannot understand how the help and support for a free Iran can be ill-motivated. What do we have to lose? 2. The examples are numerous! Virtually in all cases a country made the transition from a tyrannical system to freedom you can see the trace of the support given by foreign forces in exactly the same way advocated in this article. Take a look... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

Cyrus, Bush administration support is dangerous for Middle East democrats these days Who would those people be? It's hard to support pro-democracy movements that don't exist. Lebanon is run by criminals and cronies, posing as democrats, when Lebanon is in fact a proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And that is as good as democracy gets in the middle-east. Honestly. I've been reading ME blogs from all over, inluding blogs by arabs who teach political science at major western universities, blogs by arab journalists working for western news organizations. There are no pro-democracy arabs. There MAY be pro-democracy Iranians in some numbbers, but that's not entirely clear to me, and I've been reading a lot of Iranian blogs. Take what support you can get, and be happy to have it. Or, don't. Entirely up to you. I wish you luck witha peaceful change of government in Iran, because... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

houran Regardless of the motivation of our foriegn policy, which should be self serving, the fact is that a free Iran is in our best interest. So we are genuinly concerned about Iranian freedom and it would be stupid for pro Demacracy forces to turn their back on $75 million.

Ganji can never be for a democratic Iran, since he believes that the current regime can be reformed. Well, the current regime structure velayat e fagigh trumps peoples votes. How can one support democracy and be for Velayat e Fagih? Wasn't the Velayat e Fagigh who was responsible for chain murders?