[IMC-Editorial] Op-Ed on July 9 General Strike Against Iran's Theocracy

[The Ayn Rand Institute]

Dear Editor, 

Please consider this Op-Ed submission from the Ayn Rand Institute. 

DEATH TO THEOCRACY

America Must Act Now to Bring Down Iran's Regime

By Robert W. Tracinski


The Bush administration has been right in recent weeks to focus
attention on Iran--but *not* because of the threat that Iran might build
nuclear weapons. Iran is the source of a much more powerful weapon of
mass destruction that has *already* been unleashed against the West: the
ideology of Islamic theocracy, with its tactic of state-sponsored
terrorism.

And we must confront this threat now because we have an opportunity to
strike at the very heart of Iran's regime by supporting its
repudiation by its own citizens.

Iran has long been the leading ideological and material source of
terrorism. The Ayatollah Khomeini was the first to develop a
systematic theory of modern Islamic theocracy--a totalitarian fusion
of mosque and state that is nearly identical to the philosophy later
espoused by Osama bin Laden. Under the theocracy founded by Khomeini,
Iran has been a systematic exporter of the ideas and methods of
terrorism, backing international terror groups like Hamas and
Hezbollah.

Most important, Iran was the first Islamic regime to strike
systematically at the United States, from the seizing of our embassy
in Tehran in 1979--to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in
1983--to the kidnapping of Americans in Lebanon through the 1980s--to
Iran's probable involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996--to
its sheltering of al Qaeda leaders responsible for the latest
anti-American bombing in Saudi Arabia. For almost a quarter of a
century, Iran has been at war against the United States of America.

The most dangerous precedent set by this not-so-secret war is the fact
that *America has refused to fight back*. Every administration since
1979 has followed a policy of appeasement, from trading arms for
hostages to the State Department's recent "secret" negotiations with
the mullahs.

Iran's rulers use terrorism as a tactic because it allows them to wage
war against America without suffering the consequences of a real
confrontation with a powerful foe. But this only works because we have
chosen not to respond.

Now, however, we have been given an unprecedented opportunity to strike at
the heart of the mullah's power. When the Soviet Union fell, the world
discovered that no one hated Communism more than those forced to live
under it. Similarly, no one in the Middle East hates Islamic theocracy
more than the young people of Iran. For four years, Iranian students
have held mass protests in the streets. These protesters are openly
fighting for the right *principles*: the idea of a secular government
with freedom of speech and separation of mosque and state.

Despite arrests of opposition leaders, the rebellion is growing--and
it has been emboldened by America's invasion of Iraq. A reporter with
*McLean's*, a Canadian newsmagazine, recently traveled across Iran and
heard one message: "they would welcome American troops if they were
sent to remove the leadership." A young female student told him: "We
want more freedom. We want the freedom to speak our minds, and we
think America can bring this to us."

These demands for freedom are more than loose talk. The Iranian
dissidents have set July 9 as the date for a massive general strike to
protest against theocracy--an event that could initiate a showdown
with the regime. This opportunity is too important, and the threat
from Iran is too urgent, to allow for a moment's delay. It is crucial
for Congress and the administration to provide immediate material,
diplomatic, and *moral* support for the Iranian rebels.

But we dare not depend on these unarmed dissidents to overthrow the
mullahs on their own. We cannot abandon them to an Iranian equivalent
of the Tiananmen Square massacre. We must be prepared to use our
overwhelming military might to destroy Iran's theocracy.

The reasons for toppling Iran's theocracy are far stronger--and more
certain--than the reasons for invading Iraq. President Bush has
described America's military victory in Iraq as the "turning of the
tide" in the War on Terrorism. But supporting the rebellion against
the mullahs would be more than a military victory. It could decisively
turn the *ideological* tide in the Middle East. Helping to establish a
secular government on the ruins of a theocracy would provide a vivid
demonstration of the failure of Islamic fanaticism--and a model of a
free, prosperous, secular society.

This is the main battle in the War on Terrorism, and it is about to
commence. America only needs to decide whether we will choose to fight
it.

________________________________________________________________________________

Robert Tracinski is a senior editor at the Ayn Rand Institute
(www.aynrand.org/medialink) in
Irvine, Calif.  The Institute promotes Objectivism, the philosophy of
Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Send comments
to reaction at aynrand.org

Copyright © 2003 Ayn Rand® Institute.

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