Emboldening and Empowering Islamic Fundamentalists Posted By Majid Rafizadeh
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/majid-rafizadeh/emboldening-and-empowering-islamic-fundamentalists/print/
In the last few months, the Obama administration has removed some non-economic sanctions on Iran, has stopped its efforts to push for more pressure on Iran’s nuclear defiance and clandestine uranium enrichments, has described the Islamist government of Iran (which holds the top rank on the list of nations with the highest human rights abuses and the support of terrorism) as a rational actor, and has characterized the recent nuclear talks with the Islamist government and fundamentalist theocratic regime of Iran as “positive” and “constructive.”
However, beyond all these political and diplomatic benefits given to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Ayatollahs, Western countries including France and the United States indicated this week that they are considering including Iran in the next Geneva II conference on the Syrian civil war and violence. The Western nations pointed out that Iran could be included in a Geneva II conference to negotiate an end to Syria’s bloody conflict.
Besides the permission given to the Islamists in Iran to continue uranium enrichment, which can soon turn into a nuclear breakthrough capacity according to nuclear experts, the West is basically sending a signal to the Islamists in Iran that they are legitimizing the Iranian government’s support of Assad’s Alawite and police state, Hezbollah’s interference in Syria (and every other geopolitical and strategic issue in the region), and Hamas activities.
First of all, by bringing the Islamist state of Iran into the Geneva II conference and by giving a seat to these Iranian radical leaders, the international community— particularly the West— will be implicitly accepting all the military, financial, intelligence, advisory, and terrorist assistance that the Islamic leaders of Iran and its radical Revolutionary Guard Corps have been giving to the brutal Assad regime and his apparatuses.
Secondly, through all these recent strategies of appeasement from the West and the Obama administration toward the Ayatollahs and clerics in Iran, the United States and the West are keeping other nations, ordinary people, and regional countries (particularly Israel) at a complete disadvantage. They are tipping the balance of power totally towards the Islamists in Iran.
The Iranian regime’s human rights abuses, its discrimination against religious minorities, its executions of political and human rights activists, it use of stoning for punishment of adultery (akin to the Middle Ages, or to the thousands of years ago in era of Muhammad), Tehran’s financial and military support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Iranian leaders’ involvement in Syria in the slaughtering and killing of children and women, are somehow all being legitimized. Iranian Ayatollahs are gaining credibility and legitimacy.
Iran’s state media has recently told its people, or its non-states actors, that the reasons behind the West’s softening tone and actions towards Iran is that the West— particularly the United Sates and Israel— are desperate; Washington and Tel Aviv have lost their power and have failed, while other countries are leaving their alliances with the US, the West, and Israel, instead joining the Islamists in Iran.
When the Islamist state of Iran comes to the Geneva II conference it will tip the balance of power in favor of the Assad regime. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the new government of Hassan Rouhani have been very clear about their position toward the dictatorship in Syria; Ayatollahs view Bashar Al-Assad’s government as the legitimate governing force representative of its people. The Iranian clerics will do whatever they can (financially, advisory, intelligence, and militarily) to ensure that Assad will stay in power; Hamas and Hezbollah will keep provoking Israel, continuing to launch missiles into the country. The Ayatollahs’ position on Syria is in complete contrast with the rules of the Geneva Communiqué, which will be the foundation of the next Geneva II conference.
More and more concrete evidence, including documents, videos, and official statements from Iranian authorities have come out showing that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, its intelligence and militia groups, such as the Basij, are deeply involved in the killings of people in Syria, supporting Assad alongside Russia, and training the Syrian government’s forces. In addition, Iran continues to buttress the government of Assad by extending its millions of dollars of credit to the Assad government, attempting to keep the Syrian economy and government’s military expenditure going.
When Assad sees that the Islamist leaders are with him in the Geneva II conference, this will be a source of empowerment; he will interpret this as the weakness of the West and the United States. Furthermore, Assad will see no reason to step aside while his staunchest ally, Iran, is being treated as a legitimate power by the West and the United States.
Moreover, this move towards appeasement will send a signal to the Iranian leaders that the West, particularly the Obama administration, does not actually have the power the stop Tehran from enriching uranium. According to many experts and the Institute for Science and International Security (a nonproliferation monitoring group based in Washington, DC) Tehran’s current nuclear pace can theoretically create adequate bomb-grade uranium by the middle of 2014. Through all these signals of appeasement from the West and the Obama administration, Iranian Islamists and Ayatollahs are contently and joyfully assured that they can buy some more time— only less than a year— to make the “breakout capacity.”
Comments are closed.
