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Special Report
Silence Isn’t Golden
Amir Fakhravar has spent decades fighting for democracy in Iran, and years in the regime’s brutal prisons. He thinks President Obama should speak up for freedom.
Since a wave of protests broke out in Iran last weekend following its presidential election, the American media has promoted the Obama administration’s view that it could do more to help demonstrators by staying on the sidelines than actively offering rhetorical support.
The theory is that if President Obama publicly encourages those taking to the streets in Iran, it will only backfire by allowing the Islamic regime to paint protesters as tools of America. As Obama himself put it, “sometimes the United States can be a handy political football…”
But Amir Fakhravar says this approach is dead wrong. And he speaks with authority. Jailed and tortured in Iran for advocating democracy and speaking out against the Iranian government, Fakhravar in 2006 fled for the U.S., where he currently lives in exile while maintaining close ties to the reform movement in Iran.
Contrary to most reports in the American press, he said the demonstrators he is in contact with in Iran are desperate for Obama to make a forceful statement reassuring them that he stands with those who are striving for freedom.
“Right now, the people in Iran are disappointed,” he said in a telephone interview with TAS. He recounted a recent conversation with a female actively involved in the current protests in Iran who asked him, “Is it possible for us to send a letter to Barack Obama and tell him, ‘Don’t be quiet’?”
Fakhravar serves as secretary general of the Confederation of Iranian Students, a network of young Iranians inside and outside the country, which began under a different name in 1994. At the time, he was a medical student in Orumiya, but he was expelled from the school and sent to jail for several months in 1996 after being convicted of speaking against the Supreme Leader.
He also spent several years in prison in the earlier part of this decade, during which time he said he drew inspiration from President Bush’s words in support of Iranian dissidents.
“We had a lot of hope at the time,” he recalls. “We felt the leaders of the free world wanted to help us, and were looking at us. That was very helpful when you are in jail for fighting for freedom and democracy.”
The Obama administration’s decision to engage the Islamic regime, Fakhravar said, has been worrisome to his friends in Iran. After Obama released a message in March for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in which he addressed the “leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” a friend called him from Iran, crying that the American president would want to talk to the dictatorship.
“’What does that mean?’” he remembers his friend saying. “’We’re going to be alone. They’re going to kill us.’”
He said he’s hearing similar things from Iranians he has been speaking with throughout the week, who are stunned by Obama’s muted response in the wake of the election.
“What’s wrong?” Iranians ask him. “What’s going on with the U.S. government? Why aren’t they going to help us?”
What’s especially troubling, he said, is that Obama’s reaction has added fuel to a rumor traveling around Iran that Obama is in secret talks with the Iranian government. “They think he is trying to help the Mullahs stay in power,” he said.
To combat this view, Fakhravar suggested Obama speak up.
“Right now, (Obama) could say, ‘America stands for freedom and democracy, and as a United States president, I want to stand behind all of the freedom fighters in the world that are fighting peacefully to have democracy and freedom,’” Fakhravar said. “That’s the American Dream. I don’t know why he didn’t say that. He said, ‘this is none of our business.’”
About the Author
Philip Klein is The American Spectator’s Washington correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Philipaklein
Letter to the Editor View all comments (71) | Leave a comment
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Melvin| 6.19.09 @ 7:23AM
I guess the planets have aligned for Iran and the United States again. In 1979 President Carter's horrid foreign policy allowed the mad mullahs to gain power and destroy a loyal ally with the Sha.
2009 history repeats itself with a President with a page straight out of the Jimmy Carter foreign policy handbook for buffoons.
In 1979 and now in 2009 the Democrats have let the freedom seeking people of Iran down.
There was a day and it wasn't really that long ago that Democrats stood shoulder to shoulder with those who thirst for freedom, now the Democrats lie in bed with dictatorial tyrants.
Red Phillips | 6.19.09 @ 10:25AM
Could we please get some balance here? How about a good non-interventionist article on Iran by Doug Bandow?
Joe| 6.19.09 @ 10:27AM
It is sorry that this is no longer the party of FDR and Kennedy (not Ted), and Truman. There is no longer any reason to vote Democrat.
Joe| 6.19.09 @ 10:38AM
Red, give me a break. We need to here about non-interventionist. If you want that nonsence go to CNBC, CBS, CNN, etc. And by the way, what about the help the facsist muslims around the world gave kerry and obama in the last 2 American elections. Unfortunity it work for obama and they are having a great time now.
Son Of Sam | 6.19.09 @ 11:03AM
"we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty."
John F. Kennedy
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall"
Ronald Reagan
Remember when both Democrat and Republican Presidents actually stood up and said the right thing? And by their words imparted power to the great cause of freedom? The very ideal that our nation is supposed to stand for?
The TelePrompter In Chief is nothing but a coward. The nutcases running Iran will blame America no matter what we do. The idea that somehow we can placate them is nothing but warmed over spineless sniveling Jimmy Carter crapola.
Funny isn't it how hate filled blockheads like Red, Mike, Siegfried etc etc. are all too willing to have other people's freedoms stomped on, as long as they get to come in here with their thumb sucking navel gazing idiocy. Maybe when they get flung in jail by the regime of traitors and tax cheats running the White House on some trumped up charge, maybe then they'll understand that the desire for freedom isn't defined by boundaries or borders, skin color or religion, race or nationality: it is a UNIVERSAL HUMAN CONSTANT. We ignore the rights of others at our own peril.
stand strong until freedom dawns
Son Of Sam
http://www.samadamssos.bravehost.com
Ned| 6.19.09 @ 11:04AM
This is what we have for a President.
He is the kid on the playground that whenever anyone wasn't following the rules he would run and tell the teacher. Then the teacher would hold his little hand and go give a good talking to the bad kids about being good. Later on he learned that if the teacher wasn't around, it was easier to to give your lunch money up to the mean kids than it was to fight them for what is yours. He swallowed all the politically correct bullshit about conflict resolution.
He is like the guy in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” who sits in the stairwell with his thumb in his ass and loaded rifle while his own people are being killed. He needed a strong father figure, but I guess his Dad had other shit to do, so like President Clinton he was raised by women. That is until folks like the Reverend Wright came along and spotted for themselves a potential jackpot if played correctly.
Anyone who thinks this President is going to come to the aid of anyone is, "up in the night."
Tim| 6.19.09 @ 11:42AM
Once again, Mr. Obama votes "present".
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Bill Pearce| 6.19.09 @ 12:39PM
So Mr Fakhravar believes The Democratic Party of Obama, Pelosi and Reid stands for the freedoms they frequently espouse.
BaaaaaaHaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaHaaaaaa
The informal motto of the Democratic Party is “ Where is Mine “. This is a Party that is not going anywhere without a pile of cash at the end of the road.
Also remember it was George Bush 41 that asked the Shiites in Iraq to rise up and overthrow Saddam and then abandoned them to be slaughtered. Expecting the Obama goverment to rescue the Iranian people from the government of Iran is a fools mission.
Red Phillips | 6.19.09 @ 1:56PM
"If you want that nonsense go to CNBC, CBS, CNN, etc."
Joe, principled non-interventionism is almost entirely a phenomenon of the right. Almost all liberals are internationalists and interventionists. So I will not get non-interventionism at CNN, CBS, etc.
If I want non-interventionism I have to go to the American Conservative, Chronicles Magazine, TakiMag, etc.
The point is I can get unadulterated neocon war-mongering at the Weekly Standard or National Review. American Spectator would do well to distinguish itself from those other neocon propaganda outlets.
Rantly McTirade| 6.19.09 @ 2:39PM
I say we catapult Amir the cowardly leech back to his native land of filth and ignorance and let him fight-and die if it should be-to make the hellhole a civilized land. The rest of you babbling globalists should follow post-haste, while actual Americans will return to worrying about-oh my God!!-their own country.
William R| 6.19.09 @ 3:23PM
Neocons for Ahmadinejad
http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/neocons_for_ahmadinejad/
Geezer| 6.19.09 @ 4:24PM
Some other contrarian thoughts...
“...on Fox News last night, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, noting that he was a McCain supporter, said that he thinks “the president has handled this well” ~ Henry Kissinger
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/18/kissinger-obama-iran/
How to Achieve Israeli-Palestinian Peace... The outlines of the settlement are obvious. ~ Hosni Mubarak
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124536741783129309.html
Parsing Iran's 'Momentous' Internal Drama ~ Karim Sadjadpour, Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
http://www.cfr.org/publication/19667/
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Jan| 6.20.09 @ 2:43PM
Could not agree with you more, Ned. Would like to point out however, that Narcissists will come to the aid of people ONLY WHEN THERE IS A BENEFIT IN IT FOR THEM. His actions (or inactions) are exactly what I expected since the leopard never changes its spots.
Patricia A. Helvenston| 6.21.09 @ 12:07AM
Only apologists for Obama can weave some brilliant strategy out of his failure to comment upon the uprising in Iran for a week while dissidents were being beaten to death, murdered, kidnapped from hospitals and murdered or taken to torture chambers. But, in contrast to what the apologists for Obama have rationalized - that he didn't want to jeapordize his relationship with the Mulla's (who but a devout Muslim would worry about this), his "measured" (passive), calm (he is a lobotomized human) is simply a reflection of the fact that he spent the past week filming and preparing for infomercials on NBC and CBS, going to barbecue parties, and filming a comedy scene with Stephen Colbert. His lack of response was not due to a considered, thoughtful response, but was rather the result of the fact that he considers it far more important to film himself on TV than it is to take advantage of the most promising dissident upheaval in Iran for over 30 years. He should be impeached for his passivity in this case which is simply a reflection of his priorities which are to film himself and to hell with Iranians who are being murdered. He has now committed dozens of impeachable offenses - lets do it - let's take him out by starting a grass roots movement for his impeachment.
rogelio el contrario| 6.21.09 @ 1:42AM
Philip Klein has written a good article and I agree with him. But there is a problem. While I am also disappointed in Obama's too mild reaction to events in Iran, I wonder if my Conservative friends have alzheimers. Where was the criticism of the "do nothing" policy by Bush with regards Iran? This sudden Conservative criticism of Iran policy under Obama, only 6 months into his presidency, after 8 years of nothingness under Bush, has no credibility.
Anthony Powell| 6.21.09 @ 8:10AM
So, Mr. Klein, why don't you go ahead and say it - you want the American military to INVADE IRAN!
This is just another 'Let's Police the World' essay from the 'Let's Police the World' American Spectator.
catladyjan| 6.21.09 @ 2:11PM
Obama is a narcissist and like all narcissists will make moves that will have a positive benefit on HIM....He does not care one whit about the Iranians.....and will not come out in support of them because he's worried how that will be affect HIM. He went out and had an ice cream cone instead to get his daily "attention & adoration" fix.
Jim| 6.21.09 @ 6:23PM
Liberal or conservative, I think we can all agree that Obama is nothing more than an ignorant,arrogant, self serving, pro-islamic, hate mongering, leftist, race card playing,self-centered moron who looks like a vulcan with a wife who looks like klingon.
Alan Brooks| 6.21.09 @ 7:23PM
no one knows what will happen to the clerics, but Ahmadinejad is not long for this world; you don't need Alvin Toffler, Newt Gingrich, or a tarot reader to tell you so.
Patriot| 6.21.09 @ 7:42PM
Rogelio, you have the Alzheimer's disease. What upheaval in Iran took place on Bush's watch? What was he supposed to do? C'mon, out with it. You're just ticked off because your beloved Obummer has proven that he is a weak loser.
Now you liberals are trying to blame things that didn't even happen on George Bush. This is Obama's screw up--admit it!
You're on crack, fool.
Richard Baker| 6.22.09 @ 12:08AM
Not likely that the Kenyan will anytime soon make a forceful decision on Iran. He's waiting for his wet finger in the air to tell him which way the wind blows. Without principle, that's all he's got going.
ds80| 6.22.09 @ 2:51PM
"He's waiting for his wet finger in the air to tell him ..."
Nah. It's just that the teleprompter hasn't scrolled that far yet.
"neocon propaganda" etc etc etc. Red apparently just wants to emasculate Conservatism.
ds80| 6.22.09 @ 2:57PM
"criticism of Iran policy ... after 8 years of nothingness under Bush, has no credibility"
Golly. What about Woodrow Wilson? Chester Arthur? James Monroe, for crying out loud!!
The "Bush's Fault" meme is so yesterday.
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S.L. Toddard| 6.23.09 @ 3:59PM
Just so we're on the same page here: What you people are pouting about is a lack of empty talk and grandstanding from the president, correct? How would empty talk and grandstanding benefit U.S. international relations, and how (on earth) *could* it benefit the protesters?
It's fairly clear that it's about nothing more than your desire for a dramatic, empty gesture to wave your flag over.
Solomon Ben Isaac| 6.23.09 @ 6:15PM
Rodney King, thought he lived in a Democracy, when the police battered hin half to death.
The people in New Orleans thought they lived in a democracy, before Katrina.
Obama may have forgotten who invaded Iran and stole their Oil in 1953, but the people of Iran will never forget.
They also remember who sold Saddam the WMD to kill 2 Million Iranians. Who is mad enough to trust the Americans in the Middle East?.
Not even Israel trust Americans, they just want the AID 250 Million per year, plus guns to kill the Palestinians.
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