Sharing the love with Iran

OK. I ADMIT IT: I am a hardened cynic. It's possible that some of my friends didn't know this sad fact about me, but alas, it is true.

Last night I went to see and hear Roger Cohen, columnist with The New York Times, speaking at the Chicago Hilton, thanks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The rapt attention of the audience toward the speaker of the evening was more akin to the listeners being mesmerized into a state of zombie-esque obeisance.

These are some things I learned about Mr. Cohen:

1) He likes Chicago
2) He is a naturalized US citizen, originally from the UK
3) He is obsessed with Iran
4) He thinks Iran is ready for a democratic government

And here are some things he said---please, Mr. Cohen, if you are reading this, I was taking notes as fast as I could in longhand, not having learned shorthand. So if there are any mistakes, please give me diplomatic immunity.

1) Any monolithic view of Iran is wrong
2) He tried to get into psychology of Iranian youth
3) Wants Americans to look anew at Iran
4) There are many insecurities in Iran
5) A system that counts votes behind closed doors cannot be trusted
6) Iran uses Nokia for telecommunications and can shut off all cell phones if desired
7) Musavi did not stand with his people
8) Mystique of the Supreme Leader is gone
9) Iran invited 500 journalists to cover the election, then kicked them out the next day
10) Iran is less stable after the election
11) 70% of Iranians are pro-American
12) Believes in more erratic Iran in coming months
13) Believes in negotiations
14) Said "Journalism is about bearing witness"
15) Nuclear issue is about Iranian pride

and on and on and on and on . . . .

The man obviously is obsessed with Iran, as he said. I don't share his love of Iran because I don't know the country or its people, so I cannot give an honest and fair assessment. But I do possess enough of a humane spirit and human heart to know that he is genuine in his obsession. I'm sure the Iranian people are lovely, and I'm very humbled to know that 70% of them are pro-American. That is truly amazing. I would say that most countries in the Middle East and Asia are not pro-American, at least, they don't love our government. Perhaps they love the people of America . . . you know, the tourists who spend their hard-earned dollars vacationing in the Red Sea resorts of Egypt, or trekking in Jordan, or shopping in Dubai.

I have met some Iranians that are fiercely loyal to their Persian roots but totally against the present reigning regime. This is a broken record, playing over and over again in many countries. How many people have I met over the last thirty years, who have had to leave their countries because of repressive regimes? Too many. Why do they leave? Are they incapable of tolerating their own governments' laws? Are they frightened to overthrow the oppressors? Should they? I don't know. I have lived in two countries with unbelievable restrictions, mostly Muslim (Indonesia and Egypt). I say "mostly Muslim" because I see that as a fact, not opinion. Repressive? Yes. Intolerable? Well . . . if you are a Copt in Egypt, you feel oppressed. 10% of Egyptians are Coptic. That's a fact. Mr. Cohen said there are about 20,000 Jews left in Iran. That's a fact also. How do they live? Are they frightened? Are they wealthy? Do they feel oppressed? I'm sure they do. Which is better, though---standing for what you believe in and staying in your own country because you love it, starting a revolution to overthrow the oppressive government, or leaving and starting a new life elsewhere where you can have true freedom? I say if you really love your country, you will fight to stay there, even at the cost of losing your life, if you really believed that dying for a cause was the right thing to do. If you don't love your country, then I suppose leaving it would make more sense. Why put your family in such danger if you could afford to leave?

I gathered that Roger Cohen doesn't believe in aggressive action toward Iran; in other words, it would be folly to attack Iran. It would be double folly for Israel to attach Iran. Does he believe that Iran is not making nuclear warheads? Does he believe that the uranium enrichment is only for peaceful purposes? Not once last night did Mr. Cohen address the threat that Iran made to the existence of Israel. I was trying to raise my hand to ask him about this, but was thwarted several times by the more aggressive audience members.

Mr. Cohen loves Iran, and for that I commend him. But I think he is blinded by this love attitude and not being realistic about the government. He doesn't see too much evil there . . . very sad.