Victory begets victory, argues Michael Ledeen in today's National Review, so electoral success in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Ukraine is reason to push harder for democratic windfall in the Near East and beyond. Ledeen's right. As we should know, Iranians are ready for liberty and wise to whom they can trust to help them achieve it. They know well of our way of life and they want it for themselves. We need only provide them the support they require. From the Persian Journal:
The BBC world service website recently released the results of their 2004 presidential poll. Of the sixteen linguistic ethnical groups surveyed, Persians were overwhelmingly the most supportive of President Bush. In fact, over fifty two percent of Iranians preferred Republican George W. Bush to challenger John Kerry who'd received a minuscule forty two percent of the vote. Thus, surprisingly, unlike in the United States where the presidential race was relegated to a couple of percentage points, in Iran — President Bush won by a landslide....Millions of Iranian homes receive illegal satellite television beamed in by Iranian-American expatriates in California. With a mix of pop music, political discussion and international news these stations have had a profound impact on the cultural, and political situation inside of Iran. ...Due to the availability of satellite television, millions of Iranians were able to hear President Bush's State of the Union speech. The Persians were once again encouraged by the President's vision when he said "To the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America Stands with you." thereby reiterating his support to the Iranian freedom fighters inside of the Islamic Republic. Several political analysts have confirmed that this was in direct reference to the pro-democracy movement in Iran.
Take the time to read both Ledeen and Persian Journal author Slater Bakhtavar. There is an answer to Near East terrorism and age-old strife brought to the world by despots, and those who hold it aren't in the embassy but the city, town and village.