iran

What is happening right now in Iran may be the most important event in the world since 9/11, and perhaps it could have more long lasting effects than anything since the fall of the Berlin Wall. No other country in the world poses as large a threat to peace and stability than an Iran that is run by the mullahs. They are a few short years away from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and their current President has on numerous occasions claimed that the Holocaust was a hoax. Does anyone really think that someone like that won't use a weapon of mass destruction against Israel if he has the chance? This could be a defining moment in the history of the modern world, and it is time for the strength of the free world to stand up for democracy and show that the tyranny of the past will no longer be tolerated.

For thousands of years the large majority of humans have been dominated and controlled by a ruling elite. It is only over the past 200 years or so have the ideals of freedom, liberty, and personal autonomy spread among people around the world. And by no means have these freedoms reached the lives of many of the people around the globe. Unfortunately, billions of people still suffer from the harsh realities of totalitarian regimes where their liberty and freedom of choice are extremely limited; however, there is hope. The digital age has ushered in many new ways information can be transmitted and allowed many new forms of communication. This proliferation of information has spread to the masses the ideas of freedom, equality and liberty that have directly lead to the great advances of the past two centuries. It is no coincidence that the countries that have achieved the greatest advances and provided the highest standard of living for their citizens are also the countries that have allowed their citizens to retain the most personal liberties.

Over the past week hundreds of thousands of Iranians, mostly young students and women, have sought to end decades of intolerance, brutality and injustice and stand up for their right to collectively decide how they should be allowed to live their lives. It is imperative that people all of the world who believe in freedom support their cause. Sham elections like the one that just occurred in Iran cannot be tolerated, and people have taken to the streets to stand up against tyranny. The words of Joseph Stalin are as true today as when he said them fifty years ago: "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Below is a picture of some of the protests in Tehran, were an estimated 120,000 people came out on Monday.


It is time for President Obama to stand up for what is right, and to show the world that the United States is dedicated to protecting liberty and democracy both at home and abroad. Ronald Reagan's presidency showed what the power of an America committed to the ideals that made this country can great can accomplish. The Soviet Empire was more powerful and a greater threat than Iran, and without firing a shot we were able to topple the regime simply by promoting ideals that all free humans would consider indispensable. By supporting the pro-democracy supporters in Iran, Obama could send the message that the U.S. still stands for freedom and all that is good in the world. We can only hope that the mullahs are not allowed to simply circumvent the will of the Iranian people, unfortunately though, I think that is what is going to happen. I just hope that historians far in the future don't look back at this day as one of greatest missed chances for securing a new era of peace and prosperity around the world.