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| President Nixon meets with China's Communist Party Leader, Mao Tse-Tung, 02/29/1972 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
That one move alone makes Hillary Clinton a great Secretary of State, methinks. It was a big, bold move. It was heartwarming to me.
Showing posts with label Human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human rights. Show all posts
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Hillary Went To Burma, Like Nixon Went To China
That one move alone makes Hillary Clinton a great Secretary of State, methinks. It was a big, bold move. It was heartwarming to me.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Shah Is For Secular Democracy, Not Monarchy
Image via WikipediaNational Post: Bringing Democracy To Iran: At 50, Mr. Pahlavi dismisses talk of restoring the monarchy in Iran and says his life is now dedicated to creating a non-violent, democratic revolution there.The Shah of Iran could not make it clearer. He is for a secular democracy in Iran. He is not for restoring monarchy in Iran. We similarly have to reach out to Iranian groups that might have picked up weapons against the current regime in Tehran in the past. If the Shah can ditch monarchy, these groups can ditch violence.
We have to build a broad coalition of Iranian groups for the cause of democracy in Iran.
In The News
BBC: Iranian Court Bans Two Leading Opposition Parties: Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahideen Organisation .... Both supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi ..... In recent weeks, Iranian security forces have stepped up attacks on opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mr Mousavi, with attacks on their homes and offices..... Scores remain in prison.
New York Observer: Malcolm Gladwell Compares Twitter Activism To Civil Rights: he's wrong to imply that a network of weak ties can't accomplish serious change. One could argue, for example, that social media played a crucial role in electing our first black president, a historic moment in our nation's struggle for equality.
Foreign Policy: Obama's Freedom Agenda: The freedom section of President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly .... the most extensive, fulsome, and compelling defense of human rights and democracy of his presidency, and it strategically placed political freedom in the context of economic freedom and development. ...... s a number of nations that are in tyranny's crucible, and whose citizens may find the possibility of freedom within their grasp. Sometimes this grasp can be aided by presidential attention or even a few strategic gestures that tip the scales...... and perhaps even recapture some of the charismatic appeal that has since his inauguration been strangely absent.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
States Will Interact With Each Other
Image via WikipediaStates exist. There is a state in almost every country. There are one or two countries that feel stateless. Even in those countries there are semblances of the entity, the state. A state is a political entity. States interact with each other. The US state has a close relationship with the Saudi state. A lot of people in the Arab street take that to mean the US is a hypocritical power that talks about democracy but shakes hands with an autocratic state like Saudi Arabia.
I preach governance literacy to the netroots/grassroots that put Barack Obama into power in 2008. They were more excited before Obama got into power than they have been since he has been in power. It is almost as if they miss being in opposition. That comes from a lack of governance literacy.
If America had a declared policy that should Saudi Arabia become a democracy like Turkey, it would impose economic sanctions upon that new democracy, then I would agree that America is an evil power that not so secretly is for autocracy. But America has no such policy.
America was not opposed to the people of Iran coming out into the streets. America is not opposed to the people of Saudi Arabia coming out into the streets. America is not opposed to the people of Egypt and Syria coming out into the streets.
America can not be, is not opposed to democracy movements. America as a country was born with a mission. That mission is a total spread of democracy. But the American state has to deal with states as they exist, not as it wished they were. I am 100% sure President Obama and Secretary Clinton fantasize about Egypt being a democracy, and Saudi Arabia and Syria being democracies, but it is their job to deal with Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Syria as they exist today. They get paid by the American people to deal with those states as they exist today. A soldier gets paid to fight. A president gets paid to run a country.
The vast, mysterious apathy of the Saudi masses is the reason there is no democracy in Saudi Arabia. The US is not to be blamed.
As for the global arms trade, I have my thoughts and feelings about that, and drug trafficking and human trafficking. I have my thoughts and feelings about a world free of nuclear weapons. President Obama also wants a world free of nuclear weapons. He said that in a speech early as president. But then there is the goal and there is the road map to that goal. I do think his road map takes too long. But I am glad for the shared goal.
One big reason I feel strongly about democracy in Iran is because I hope Iran will set an example, and people will flood the streets also in Cairo, in Riyadh down the line. I am hoping for a domino effect.
What excites me is that I think the global netroots/grassroots is sufficient unto itself to bring about fundamental political change in these countries.
But I am pragmatic about getting help from any and all actors. There can be no room for violence. Other than that I am for raising a lot of money. I want money from private individuals, from NGOs, from states, if possible. Heck, I will take money from the CIA, as necessary. As long as the basic goals and methods are not compromised, I do envision a resource rich movement for Iran.
Actually that has been one of my consternations. The US executed a trillion dollar military plan to bring democracy to Iraq. Why will it not think of a billion dollar grassroots/netroots non violent plan to bring democracy to Iran? I'd help shape that. I have done this before for Nepal. I can do this again for Iran.
Eisenhower talked of a "military industrial complex" as did Gorbachev. There are powerful people who stand to make a lot of money when weapons are sold to the Saudi state. That geopolitical detail does not take away from the democracy movement in Iran. The grassroots work for democracy must go on.
In The News
New Turkey Huffington Post (blog) While European societies are mired in recession, paralyzed by self-doubt and divided by rising social conflicts, Turkey is hurtling toward the future. ..... This year Turkey's economy is projected to grow by more than 11 percent, second only to China. ..... Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb of Finland saluted Turkey as "a truly global player" and "one of the top five countries in the world today."
Jewish Minority Influential In Iran NPR the country's estimated 25,000 Jews. .... They feel very Iranian. They've been there longer than anyone else, really, going back 2,800 years. .... there are minorities in Iran and the fact that it is not a monolithic society. ..... Iran is 97 percent Shia-Muslim .... there is a Jewish member of parliament. There's a Zoroastrian member of parliament. There's a Christian member - two Christian members of parliament..... Jews are free, yes. ... They're allowed to drink, for example, in a country where alcohol is banned. ....... They can have a member of parliament, but they can't become a minister, for example. You have to be a Muslim. That's part of the constitution. ....... when it comes to expressing any kind of sympathy for Israel or the idea of a Jewish homeland, no, they are not free to do that. ...... It is a perfectly democratic system, so long as everyone does what they're told. .... if you're a Muslim who decides to convert - well, that's punishable by death. ..... the whole idea behind the challenge to Ahmadinejad and the challenge to the system subsequent to the election was that the experiment has gone wrong.
$60 billion arms deal between United States and Saudi Arabia Party for Socialism and Liberation . Under secret negotiation since 2007 .... the largest arms deal in U.S, history. .... up to 84 Boeing F-15 fighters and upgrade 70 others .... 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks, and 36 Little Birds. ..... the U.S. military-industrial complex has increased its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals ... No elections have ever been held in Saudi Arabia, and the country has a horrendous human rights record.
Did Iran really do so well out of the Iraq war? The Guardian The Americans ... spent over a trillion dollars, lost more than 4,000 people, tarnished their reputation in the region and failed to control Iraq's oil wealth...... Iran can arm and fund militias till kingdom come, but at the end of the day, in Iraq, it is ballot papers, not bullets, that decide who stays in power and who gets the boot. .... When Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest-ranking Shia scholar, fell ill during the summer of 2004, he tactically avoided travelling to Iran for treatment. ...... The Iraqi army continues to go from strength to strength, the Iraqi intelligence is ever more capable of gathering information and Iraq will soon catch up with the region in oil exports
Only Democracy For Iran calls the International Criminal Court to action. Iran Press Watch
What the Hiker Release Says About Iran's Internal Power Struggle TIME a level of chaos and political infighting inside the regime ..... what was most notable about Shourd's release was the rebuke it involved for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the hands of his own judiciary..... Iran's judiciary — controlled by rival conservatives who are loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei but antagonistic to Ahmadinejad ...... insisted on the bail payment of $500,000 .... . The infighting in Tehran is really vicious right now, and more publicly visible than it's ever been..... a degree of chaos in the regime rather than easily defined factional battles ...... There have even been signs of open conflict between the President and the Supreme Leader ...... a system that puts final executive authority in the hands of an unelected clergy ..... "Ahmadinejad is asserting the autonomous powers of the presidency in a way we haven't seen before, even pushing back against the Supreme Leader. And some see that as heresy."
India develops a new axis with Iran and Russia Daily News & Analysis
Why Ayad Allawi is Iraq's greatest political survivor Telegraph.co.uk a land where a politician's status can often be measured by often someone has tried to kill them ..... Despite general improvements since the US-led troop surge in 2007, he feels the country is still teetering on the edge of the abyss. ..... London, where he spent decades as an opposition leader after defecting from Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party during the 1970s. ..... still maintains strong links with the British govermen and spent part of last week meeting the new Foreign Secretary William Hague ...... Sectarianism, he claims, is still rife in Iraq, within both the security forces and the political establishment. ....... His party has a strong following among Iraq's Sunni minority, although he himself is from a wealthy Shia family ..... His grandfather helped to negotiate Iraq's independence from Britain ...... the fears voiced recently by the Iraqi military chief of staff, General Babakir Zebari, that its armed forces will not be fully ready until 2020 .... the West should begin talking to the Taliban and Mullah Omar in Afghanistan, just as Britain and America ended up talking to Shia and Sunni insurgents in Iraq
Freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria Independent A country cannot be built on past grudges. We have to forgive – I don't know about forget – and we have to live together, all Syrians who believe in democracy and human rights, to have a new era. The Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union collapsed. Syria will change." ..... he wants Syria to break its relations with Iran ..... Damascus is the West's gate to Iran, Bashar is the middle-man between Washington and Tehran. ..... We are campaigning internationally for a new Syria.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Iran: Am I Running Late? Maybe Not
Iran Democracy
Image by break.things via Flickr
In Iran you see ambers right now. Are they dying ambers? Or are they ambers with which you can light the fire all over again?
Makes me so very angry with the dumbfucks in New York City who messed with me in June 2008. They took me away from the peace process in Nepal. They took me away from Iran. When the green revolution was in full swing would have been a great time to get involved. But I was too busy trying to pick up the pieces of my life at that point. I just didn't have the bandwidth.
It was such a waste. Such a grand loss.
The street show was impressive, but it was a politically immature revolution. All the shouting in a soccer stadium is enough energy to maybe make a cup of coffee. So much of the pain could have been avoided if the political homework had been done.
But I see hope. I think this work can be done. The spirit can be revived. But the work has to start in the diaspora. Asking the people to brave the streets again has to be the final step. And that part should not last more than a few weeks. Such has to be the political preparation beforehand.
Action 1: A tweet.
Image by break.things via FlickrIran's Uprising Continues -- From Prison Cells The Huffington Post News about Iran's Uprising is scarcely found on mainstream media these days...... few stories chronicle the constant struggle for democracy and human rights in Iran. This, however, does not mean that the struggle is dead. It is a daily struggle that continues ever vigorously. ..... there are so many incidents, and so many other major stories are waiting to be covered that updates about the continuing struggle for freedom are simply ignored ..... Majid Tavakoli is perhaps the most important student leader inside Iran right now..... many family members of prisoners have claimed that in the past two months, conditions are getting even worse. ..... as soon as news of the hunger strike found space in a few online social media networks, the Iranian government quickly cut-off phone services inside Evin's Ward 350 where the solitary confinement cells are located in an effort to prevent the news from further permeating through the blogosphere. ....... Kahrizak was an infamous detention center in Tehran where scores of detainees died from hunger, thirst, disease, and torture following the Iranian Uprising last year. ..... Staff were quoted as telling the prisoners that they had 'thrown the country into chaos' and now they were 'throwing the prison into chaos, too'. ..... opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi asked the prisoners to end their strike in a statement posted on his website ...... dozens of other stories that continue to come out of Iran. Surprisingly, finding them isn't hard. The time of millions wearing green in the streets seems to have passed. The government has resorted to absolute terror in an attempt to stifle the movement, but it lives through these brave men and others. What the Iranian people need is for free people to be their voiceI could not revive it in Burma. The uprising in Burma died in a matter of weeks, and when it died I felt like it might be another decade or so before we can revive the spirit there. Tibet is harder than Burma, more complex.
In Iran you see ambers right now. Are they dying ambers? Or are they ambers with which you can light the fire all over again?
Makes me so very angry with the dumbfucks in New York City who messed with me in June 2008. They took me away from the peace process in Nepal. They took me away from Iran. When the green revolution was in full swing would have been a great time to get involved. But I was too busy trying to pick up the pieces of my life at that point. I just didn't have the bandwidth.
It was such a waste. Such a grand loss.
The street show was impressive, but it was a politically immature revolution. All the shouting in a soccer stadium is enough energy to maybe make a cup of coffee. So much of the pain could have been avoided if the political homework had been done.
But I see hope. I think this work can be done. The spirit can be revived. But the work has to start in the diaspora. Asking the people to brave the streets again has to be the final step. And that part should not last more than a few weeks. Such has to be the political preparation beforehand.
Action 1: A tweet.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Iran: The World Has Wasted A Year
Image via WikipediaA theocracy and a dictatorship is designed to be unreasonable. If you want to feel the warmth of reason from Tehran, you help the democracy movement. You help the reform movement. But the people who are pissed the mullahs might be sharpening nukes want to act cautious lest they cross those mullahs. That is insane. There is not much logic in that thinking. The world has to help the Iranian democracy movement to the hilt. Talk of moral support sickens me. Turn your Twitter avatar green. You impressed someone else, not me. Because I have been under the impression you are going to start and stop with that. That's not enough. This democracy movement should have been over and concluded by now. This is taking too long. A democracy movement is supposed to last weeks, not months and years. This is unreal. The world has not stood with the people of Iran.
There are two huge reasons for the world at large to get behind the democracy movement in Iran. One, nukes. Two, the larger so called War On Terror. You want Iran to become a democracy because a democracy makes sense. A democratic Iran the world will be able to reason with. And you want the democracy movement in Iran to succeed so that success can be replicated in every other country in that region. I can't wait for democracy movements to erupt in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, for example.
I am glad the people in Iran are still going strong. I am sad they have been so let down by the world.
Effort has to be made to shift the goal. Begging the mullahs to hold a re-election will only lead to frustration and possible failure. You give the mullahs a deadline. They step down or you shut the country completely down until they step down and make way for a caretaker government that will hold elections to a constituent assembly. And you announce all human rights violations to that point will be persecuted by the caretaker government. The beatings of protesters and the torture of those detained has to be accounted for. There has to be a price to pay.
And the world has to give logistical support. A democracy movement asks for logistics just like military misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan do.
Iran: An Opportunity
Iran: Yes, We Can
How We Have Failed Iran
Dumb White People (DWPs) And Iran
The Fraud In Iran
Iran: This Is What I Am Talking About
The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
A democracy movement is science: it can be made to work every single time.
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