Iran is Still Iran

Lest we forget in our exuberance over the Iranian people standing up to make their voices heard, Diana West gives a timely reminder…

I will say that my initial reaction to the euphoria I saw breaking out all over the West — especially the US? — to the obtusely labeled “green” revolution was, Why should we be so happy about Mousavi? When I learned that Mousavi was Mullah Rafsanjani’s boy, that A-jad was Mullah Khameini’s boy, my wonder deepened, as in: What’s the diff?

We must never give up on democracy, or defending it. But let’s not forget that Iran is still Iran. The videos of Iranians taking to the streets after the election are still frequently punctuated with cries of “Allahu Akbar!” And, as Ed point out over at Hot Air today, the man for whom they’ve taken to the streets isn’t exactly a friend of this country.

Did Mirhossein Mousavi play a leading role in the 1983 attack in Lebanon that killed more than 240 US Marines and caused Ronald Reagan to retreat? CQ Politics says yes, calling Mousavi the “Butcher of Beirut”. It serves as a reminder that the man whom the mullahs have suppressed was and perhaps still is of their regime.

Should we do all that we can to encourage functional democracy? Of course. But we can’t afford to forget that doing so speaks nothing to the outcome. Sometimes citizens of democratic countries make spectacularly awful choices.

And sometimes they don’t have much to choose from to start with.