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Iranâs Mullahs Losing Their Will to Control the Population
... if it [Iran] were an efficient police state, it might survive. But itâs not. It cracks down episodically, tossing dissidents in prison and occasionally even murdering them (like a Canadian-Iranian journalist last year). But Iran doesnât control information â partly because satellite television is ubiquitous, if illegal â and people mostly get away with scathing criticism as long as they do not organize against the government.The embarrassing point for us is that while Iran is no democracy, it has a much freer society than many of our allies in the Middle East. In contrast with Saudi Arabia, for example, Iran has (rigged) elections, and two of its vice presidents are women. The Iranian press is not as free as it was a few years ago, but it is now bolstered by blogs (Web logs) and satellite TV, which offer real scrutiny of government officials. I was astonished that everywhere I went in Iran, people would immediately tell me their names and agree to be photographed â and then say something like, "There is no freedom here." All this means, I think, that the Iranian regime is destined for the ash heap of history. An unpopular regime can survive if it is repressive enough, but Iranâs hard-liners donât imprison their critics consistently enough to instill terror. Pet dogs, for example, are strongly discouraged in Iran as dirty and contrary to Islam, and traffic police regularly arrest dogs and their owners. But the number of pet dogs is multiplying, and Tehran now has dozens of veterinary clinics. ... In the end, I find Iran a hopeful place. Ordinary people are proving themselves irrepressible, and they will triumph someday and forge a glistening example of a Muslim country that is a pro-American democracy in the Middle East. I treasure a memory from the airport: after I was detained, a security goon X-rayed my bags for the second time and puzzled over my computer equipment. He snarled at me, "American reporters â bad!" The X-ray operator, who perhaps didnât know quite what was going on, beamed at me and piped up, "Americans â very good!" Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-05-17 |
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