Today on the front page of both the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal there was a picture of the young Iranian lady, “Neda,” who seems to have been shot in the streets, her last moments recorded on a phone camera and posted on the internet. It’s very moving and one feels sympathy for the plight of the protesters and this young woman who was apparently cut down in her prime. But, I can’t help wondering: How many young people came to a similarly tragic and violent end, dying in their own blood on their hometown streets–or halfway around the world in the case of our troops–at the hands of people who are bankrolled and supplied by Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism? All over the world, but particularly in the middle east, people young and old have been cut down by the violence Iran exports. I don’t wish ill on anyone, certainly not the advocates of “reform” in Iran. But, maybe there’s a double standard here? How many beautiful young people, how many of our own soldiers, have been cut to pieces by the violence Iran sponsors and exports? It’s definitely time for a change over there, but I’m not jumping on the bandwagon for this romantic cause, for Iranian “voting rights,” unless it means they put an end to squashing everyone else’s rights, too. How enthralling the Iran street demonstrations seem! But, if the boil that is Iran is not going to be lanced, but merely takes another shape, I have no interest in their “voting rights.” Too many innocent victims suffer from the puss that spews from that nation. But, if they are ready to stop killing young people just like Neda around the world, I’m ready to go “green,” too.
Today on the front page of both the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal there was a picture of the young Iranian lady, “Neda,” who seems to have been shot in the streets, her last moments recorded on a phone camera and posted on the internet. It’s very moving and one feels sympathy for the plight of the protesters and this young woman who was apparently cut down in her prime. But, I can’t help wondering: How many young people came to a similarly tragic and violent end, dying in their own blood on their hometown streets–or halfway around the world in the case of our troops–at the hands of people who are bankrolled and supplied by Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism? All over the world, but particularly in the middle east, people young and old have been cut down by the violence Iran exports. I don’t wish ill on anyone, certainly not the advocates of “reform” in Iran. But, maybe there’s a double standard here? How many beautiful young people, how many of our own soldiers, have been cut to pieces by the violence Iran sponsors and exports? It’s definitely time for a change over there, but I’m not jumping on the bandwagon for this romantic cause, for Iranian “voting rights,” unless it means they put an end to squashing everyone else’s rights, too. How enthralling the Iran street demonstrations seem! But, if the boil that is Iran is not going to be lanced, but merely takes another shape, I have no interest in their “voting rights.” Too many innocent victims suffer from the puss that spews from that nation. But, if they are ready to stop killing young people just like Neda around the world, I’m ready to go “green,” too.