To better understand the Iran situation (no BS version)

One of the better discussions I've heard about Iran from Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on "Fresh Air":

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105802915

Certainly some of the recent events in Iran have been disappointing and even abominable to our sensibilities in this country, but we should remember a few things. Like Cuba, the US traditional establishment of the last 30 years has had a fetish for hating anything Iranian. Cuba was the Mob's cash cow that they let get away to the Reds, and Iran was the oil cow they lost to the Muslims. Ironically, Iran is probably the nation-state most culturally compatible with Western values and democracy in the region, yet due to internal decisions and external pressures, they have embraced (or been forced down a path of) revolutionary Islamic philosophy instead. Well maybe not the young people - who comprise over half of the population - but the gray beards clinging to power at least. It was obviously not a foregone conclusion that Iran would become a theocracy, nuclear wanna-be, and financier of terror groups, but probably more of the blame lies with Western imperialists than radical clerics.

Was there blatant fraud in this election and tyrannical government violence against protesters post-election? Surely. Their regime is populated by a bunch of thugs and barbarians, right? They subjugate women and repress civil rights. I have no love for their government (that seems to either be comprised of hard-line fossils like Khamenei or corrupt egomaniacs like Rafsanjani), but let's have a little perspective. The candidate who nets the most votes may not necessarily win an election in this country. In 2000, it is pretty clear that there were significant voting irregularities in Florida. Maybe not enough to change the result, but it was more or less swept under the rug by 5 old men in robes. Protests ensued in many US cities, and in some cases the participants were beaten down and jailed (I am not sure if there were any deaths). Hanging chads, glitches in the electronic voting machines, ineligible voters voting, and vice versa. It even happens here, in the "greatest democracy" of history. And let's not forget the influence of money in our elections. Remember the big protests over the WTO meeting in Seattle, or Bush's Republican Convention in NYC? Government thugs beat up citizens and deprived them of their rights, in our backyard. Probably people died. I wonder if other nations like Iran were condemning us then?

So let's show some humility before chastising Iran for some of the same faults we commit, albeit to a less extreme degree. But even that is debatable, since fraud and tyranny in the US has far more global impact than the same in Iran. And for the hard-liners who criticize Obama for being too "timid" on the issue: what do you expect him to do? Bomb, bomb, bomb... bomb, bomb Iran? We already have harsh sanctions on them. We have no strings to pull over there - they're not Palau. And if we "take a side", back Mousavi, and demand a re-vote, we would play right into the tyrants' hands. All of a sudden their accusations of US tampering and foreign coup seem more plausible, and they can justify a more serious crackdown. Blood will be gushing in the streets - GUSHING.

If we do support the protesters and reformers, then maybe it's best that we keep our big mouths shut and let them decide their own destiny, at least for now. Although most Iranians don't hate America, they're not exactly eager to embrace us either. They know we lust after their resources, will always side with Israel, wish to deprive them of their NPT-approved development of civilian nuclear power, and have over 150,000 troops in their front and back yards. The spectre of Bush is still present, and even Obama said that all options are still on the table (in regards to preventing their nuclear ambitions). In the past, we helped overthrow an elected leader (Mossadeq) who dared to want to nationalize their oil (ahem, I mean Shell and BP's oil), we bankrolled the dictator Shah who abused many Iranians, we mostly took Saddam's side in the brutal Iran-Iraq War where over a million died, and we shot down an Iranian passenger plane (and never apologized for it). So we're not exactly in the best position to send a message.