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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Islamic  Republic</title>
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		<title>If Ayatollah Khamenei Dies, What Next?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/if-ayatollah-khamenei-dies-what-next/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=if-ayatollah-khamenei-dies-what-next</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2014 04:40:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Ayatollah Khameini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Preparing for the post-Khamenei era. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="color: #1a1a1a;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10653322_941581589191709_3639992395284817096_n.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-243067" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10653322_941581589191709_3639992395284817096_n.jpg" alt="10653322_941581589191709_3639992395284817096_n" width="298" height="270" /></a>The news regarding the health of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has become unprecedented in the last few months. Several other indications suggest that Khamenei&#8217;s health is not only deteriorating but it is cause for a security concern. For example,  following Khamenei’s recent surgery on his prostate, high level officials such as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Hassan Rouhani, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made an unprecedented visit to the ailing leader.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">This issue raises the question of what will happen if Iran’s current Supreme Leader, who has the final say in the Islamic Republic’s domestic and foreign policy affairs, dies. Who would be the successor? Will the Islamic Republic refashion its foreign policy towards the West, particularly the United States and Israel?</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">First of all, we have to understand Iran’s political structure and power relations in order to develop possible projections. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Velayateh Faqhih, is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, which has 86 members. According to Iran’s revised constitution, “In the event of the death, resignation, or dismissal of the leader, the (Assembly of Experts) shall take steps within the shortest possible time for the appointment of the new leader. Until the appointment of the new leader, a council consisting of the president, head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council, upon the decision of the nation’s Expediency Council, shall temporarily take over all the duties of the Leader.”</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">Although Iranian people elect the members of the Assembly of Experts, it is crucial to point out that the Guardian Council, another crucial political power, vets the candidates beforehand. Only the previously selected members can run for the Assembly of Experts. In other words, the election is just a façade and purely ceremonial. In addition, the turnout for the elections for the members of the Assembly of Experts has always been very low. This is due to the fact that many Iranian people question the legitimacy of these candidates or do not believe that their votes can bring fundamental change.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">The members of the Guardian Council, on the other hand, are either directly selected by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (six members), or by the Judiciary and Majlis, Iran’s parliament (the other six members).</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">The other key player in making decisions in selecting the next Supreme Leader is the Expediency Council, which oversees disputes over legislation between the Guardian Council and the Islamic Republic’s parliament. It is worth noting that the members of the Expediency Council are also selected by the Supreme Leader. In other words, the aforementioned political bodies have never questioned the decisions, the power, or the political and divine authority of the Supreme Leader.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;"><strong>The Most Crucial Player in Post-Khamenei Era</strong></p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">Without a doubt, when it come to choosing the next Supreme Leader and making a decision on the nation’s post-Khamenei era, the most powerful political organization is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). First of all, the IRGC not only militarily and politically controls the domestic and foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic, but it also owns main economic sectors of the country. Under the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps gained more power to suppress domestic oppositions and intervene in domestic affairs of other countries in the Middle East. In addition, the senior cadre of IRGC has control over Iran’s nuclear program.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">As a result, having control over the economy, military, politics, and nuclear program, the IRGC will wield the most influence in choosing the next Supreme Leader. Although the Assembly of Experts might ceremonially elect another Ayatollah, the future Supreme Leader will have been chosen by the high officials of IRGC in advance. This suggests that it is likely that the IRGC leaders already have an option or list of names in their agenda.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">Nevertheless, the key question is what kind of cleric or political figure will the IRGC be looking for as the next Supreme Leader. Although some scholars have put out some names of influential Ayatollahs and clerics as potential and prospective Supreme Leaders for the Islamic Republic, it is less likely that the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps will desire to choose a powerful Supreme Leader who would fully control their activities. In other words, a charismatic, powerful and influential Ayatollah and political figure will be considered a threat to the rule of the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The best option for the IRGC is a weak figure whom they can control.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">Even when Khamenei was selected, he was considered a weak candidate in comparison to more powerful figures such as Ayatollah Montazeri or Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at that time. At the time, Khamenei was not even a Mujtahed, a senior jurist who can issue fatwas. As time passed, Khamenei consolidated his power by marginalizing powerful opposition clerics and giving more power to the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">In addition, the IRGC will attempt to choose an individual who serves the IRGC’s objectives: obtaining nuclear capabilities, having a monopoly over economic and political affairs, having power in foreign policy and having the capability to intervene in other countries&#8217; affairs without hurdles from any political figures including the Supreme Leader.</p>
<p style="color: #1a1a1a;">In other words, the senior cadre of the IRGC will attempt to further consolidate its political and economic power by selecting a weak candidate. It follows that one should not expect any fundamental changes in the Islamic Republic’s domestic or foreign policies even if Supreme Leader Khamenei dies. In fact, the power of the elite of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps will increase, and their pursuit for regional hegemonic ambitions will intensify.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Obama Secretly Giving In to Iran&#8217;s Nuke Demands</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/obama-secretly-giving-in-to-irans-nuke-demands/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=obama-secretly-giving-in-to-irans-nuke-demands</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nuclear Weapons]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[The president's unprecedented concessions to the Islamic Republic. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Iran-nuclear-weapons-program-IAEA-report.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-242397" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Iran-nuclear-weapons-program-IAEA-report-408x350.jpg" alt="Iran-nuclear-weapons-program-IAEA-report" width="321" height="275" /></a>For several reasons, President Obama appears to be desperate to seal a final nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, even if the comprehensive nuclear pact would leave the Iranian leaders with the nuclear infrastructure and required centrifuges to build an atomic bomb. Based on the latest developments, it is clear the Obama administration has steadily become much more lenient and compromising, giving unprecedented concessions to the Islamic Republic, some of which have been kept <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-white-house-iran-20140920-story.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">clandestine</span></a>.</p>
<p>As the nuclear talks continue between Iranian leaders and representatives from the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the nuclear negotiations have turned primarily into a show between the United States and the Islamic Republic. Increasingly, Iranian and American politicians from both sides have been holding bilateral talks in order to strike a nuclear deal by the extended deadline of November 24.</p>
<p>The US and Iran appear to be the two major players in the nuclear talks, as the White House began reshaping the nuclear negotiations which fall right into the interests of Iranian politicians.</p>
<p>First of all, the main demand of the United States and other world powers was that the Islamic Republic had to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure for the United Nations Security Council to remove the four rounds of economic and political sanctions on Iran. Dismantlement of the major nuclear facilities would give the international community a considerable amount of relief from Iran’s potential to develop an atomic bomb anytime soon.</p>
<p>In the past months, the nuclear talks became stagnant due to the fact that Iranian leaders, particularly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the senior cadre of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, suggested that they will not give an inch or dismantle their nuclear infrastructure.</p>
<p>How did President Obama respond to Iranian leaders’ zero sum political game and uncompromising standpoint? Intriguingly, President Obama made a decision to secretly lower the international community&#8217;s demands to satisfy the Iranian nuclear team’s demands. It is key to point out that the decision he made highlights a significant shift in nuclear negotiations. The White House proposed that the Islamic Republic disconnect rather than dismantle its centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium and obtain a nuclear bomb. This is a critical shift in the American position towards Iran’s nuclear defiance.</p>
<p>President Obama’s proposal to the Islamic Republic would in fact leave Iranian leaders with all their nuclear infrastructure they have so far developed. Iranian leaders would also be capable of secretly continuing to enrich uranium through bypassing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s rules. In addition, since the nuclear infrastructure and centrifuges would remain almost intact, the Islamic Republic would be capable of resuming its nuclear activities anytime they desire in the future; this can occur potentially after economic sanctions were removed and Iran’s objective achieved.</p>
<p>President Obama’s offer to the Iranian leaders was kept secret from the public and US Congress as well. The proposal was disclosed by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who held private conversations with U.S. experts in New York.</p>
<p>After President Obama’s proposal was revealed, Congress understandably raised a series of concerns. Senator Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) initiated a letter, which included thirty other Senators, to Secretary of State John Kerry, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-white-house-iran-20140920-story.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">pointing out</span></a> that the Obama administration “may now be offering troubling nuclear concessions to Iran in the hopes of rapidly concluding negotiations for a &#8216;deal.&#8217;”</p>
<p>President Obama will be in office for a few more years, but if the final nuclear deal is signed based on President Obama’s proposal, it will pose an unprecedented danger and an irresolvable global issue with regard to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear threat as well as Tehran’s ideological and hegemonic ambitions.</p>
<p>Numerous reasons may be behind President Obama’s leniency, priority changes and determination to strike a final nuclear deal with Iran. First of all, Obama cannot run for reelection. As a result, a flimsy nuclear deal &#8212; which would leave the Islamic Republic with a path to develop a nuclear bomb &#8212; would not affect his political career. Secondly, President Obama can add another achievement to his political career and history for being the first US President to seal a final nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran.</p>
<p>Third, President Obama’s leadership has always been weak when it comes to dealing with Iran’s Supreme Leader and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian leaders have masterfully taken advantage of his leaderless personality. The Islamic Republic is even attempting to get more concessions from the White House by linking its fight against the Islamic State with the nuclear negations as a trade off. Apparently, all odds are in favor of the Iranian leaders so far as they are cognizant of that fact that they are facing a lenient and weak US President and as they are increasingly and steadily increasing their leverage over the US.</p>
<p>President Obama’s proposal and leniency would grant Ayatollah Khamenei what he desires: removal of economic sanctions as well as maintaining the right the enrich uranium; build an atomic bomb.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Westwood Neighborhood Council vs. the Islamic Republic of Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/jamie-glazov/westwood-neighborhood-council-vs-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=westwood-neighborhood-council-vs-the-islamic-republic-of-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:40:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jamie Glazov]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Roozbeh Farahanipour]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Business Director Roozbeh Farahanipour scores a victory against the Mullahs in Los Angeles.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/roozbeh.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-241779" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/roozbeh.jpg" alt="roozbeh" width="225" height="225" /></a>FrontPage Interview’s guest today is Roozbeh Farahanipour, a former Iranian journalist, democracy activist and political prisoner in Iran. He is the head of the Marze Por Gohar resistance movement (MPG), an Iranian opposition movement seeking the establishment of a secular republic in Iran. He was a student leader in the 1999 uprising, just one year after creating MPG. He was recently elected for the third term to his seat as Business Director of the Westwood Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>While the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is trying to dupe the West, particularly the U.S., into lifting sanctions without making any real compromises, Farahanipour has been leading the Westwood Neighborhood Council in taking a powerful step ahead to enforce existing sanctions law under its territorial jurisdiction.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Roozbeh Farahanipour, welcome to Frontpage Interview.</p>
<p>Tell us a little bit about the Westwood Neighborhood Council’s September 10<sup>th</sup> ruling on Iran Sanctions.</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour:</strong>The Council passed a motion to ensure enforcement of Federal, State and Local laws on divestment and sanctions in regards to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a motion to crack down on illegal business, and an important step in keeping the neighborhood safe from IRI intelligence and terror activities under the guise of a business environment. There was a second motion which banned the Islamic Republic’s symbol as well as other regime signage and all illegal IRI advertisements.</p>
<p>And it is important to stress, Jamie, that we didn’t propose new sanctions; we are simply asking that <em>existing</em> Federal, State and Local sanctions laws be enforced.  It’s already the law, and we don’t want illegal activity in our neighborhood.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Did any other organizations support your motion?</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour: </strong>Yes, the WestwoodCommunity Council came out in support, as well as various community leaders. Most importantly, California State Senator Joel Anderson flew in from Sacramento to speak in support of the motions. He authored California’s AB221, the law that divested California taxpayer money from being invested in companies engaged with the Islamic Republic of Iran. He understands how the enforcement of the above mentioned laws enhance our security.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Why is a motion like this so important in Westwood? And what would you say sets Westwood apart from the rest of Los Angeles?</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour: </strong>The Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, often nicknamed ‘Tehrangeles,’ a portion of which is officially regarded as “Persian Square” is a powerhouse of anti-Regime, and pro-Democracy activity.  Home to a massive Iranian expatriate community, Westwood was once the safe-haven of Iranian refugees fleeing the Islamic Republic.  In recent years, many Iranian immigrants, like myself, are still in fact refugees seeking political asylum.  Sadly, however, drizzled in-between those seeking safety and a better life, are businesspeople and other individuals closely-tied to the ruling regime back in Tehran, sent here with an agenda, a goal and a mission.</p>
<p>That’s precisely why this motion is so important.  Westwood is one of the last-remaining anti-Regime fronts in the Diaspora.  The Ayatollahs saw this, recognized this, and feared this; that’s why they sent their cronies here in order to change that status quo.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Give us some examples of the illegal activity being conducted in Westwood.</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rooz1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-241780" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rooz1-255x350.jpg" alt="rooz" width="203" height="279" /></a><strong>Farahanipour:</strong> There are numerous businesses who openly advertise &#8212; exclusively in Persian of course &#8212; that they administer official Consular and Legal services for nonexistent Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Not only is that illegal under sanctions law, but it raises questions of money-laundering and regime personnel freely roaming Los Angeles, carrying out whatever the Ayatollahs demand.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there is quite a bit of activity regarding sanctioned businesses, including the import of banned items for sale, and businesses being openly conducted with specifically sanctioned Iranian businesses, including Iran Air, the Islamic Republic’s official airline.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>What would you say to those who would argue that selling tickets for Iran Air is no big deal? With the US (P5+1) and Islamic republic being in negotiations, they would allege that there is an easing up of sanctions on Iran Air and other similar Iranian businesses anyway.</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour:</strong> Iran Air is sanctioned not only by the State Department, but also by the Treasury Department for its well documented involvement in transferring weapons and ammunition to terror groups around the world. It’s an absolute myth that Iran Air is strictly a passenger/civilian airline, as it is yet another instrument for the Iran Regime’s international terror machine. It is owned by the Regime, and is utilized at the will of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. With that in mind, their ability to have sales in Los Angeles is unlawful, suspicious and concerning. Don’t forget, Iran Air doesn’t have any flights to or from the US.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Very concerning and disturbing. Is this only happening in Westwood or elsewhere in Los Angeles, and even in the U.S.?</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour:</strong> This isn’t only happening in Westwood; it is certainly happening throughout Los Angeles and Orange County south of here, and no doubt in other parts of the US and Canada within major Iranian communities. It is a big problem.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>How would you summarize your overall concern with this issue?</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour:</strong> This is first and foremost about safety and security, and upholding the rule of law in our neighborhood. We do not want Westwood becoming a breeding ground for illegal, unlawful activity.  We aren’t asking for anything more than existing laws to be enforced and upheld, and I haven’t met anyone who disagrees with that yet, unless they personally are engaged in these illegal businesses.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>The Westwood Neighborhood Council’s motion is quite a strong message to the Regime and its supporters.  Do you have another message to add?</p>
<p><strong>Farahanipour:</strong> Yes, I’d like to tell them that their front businesses, their money laundering, and their intimidation aren’t welcome here.  Their trickery, their propaganda and their attempts to sell politics under the guise of ‘culture’ will not survive here either. Westwood is the frontier for a new day in Iran. A democratic, secular and liberal Iran—nothing like the deeply oppressive, regressive and destructive regime strangling my homeland, today.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Roozbeh Farahanipour, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview and thank you for defending this nation from those who seek it harm.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank"><strong>Click here</strong></a><strong>.   </strong></p>
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		<title>Why Rouhani Loves NY</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/caroline-glick/why-rouhani-loves-ny/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-rouhani-loves-ny</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Sep 2014 04:49:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Caroline Glick]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Protest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rouhani]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=241339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The embattled regime looks to the West to save it. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2013-09-28T114417Z_1_CBRE98R0WLW00_RTROPTP_4_UN-ASSEMBLY-IRAN-ROUHANI.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-241340" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2013-09-28T114417Z_1_CBRE98R0WLW00_RTROPTP_4_UN-ASSEMBLY-IRAN-ROUHANI-434x350.jpg" alt="Iran's President Hassan Rouhani takes questions from journalists during a news conference in New York" width="319" height="257" /></a></span></p>
<p><em>Originally published by the <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Column-One-Why-Rouhani-loves-NY-375776">Jerusalem Post</a>. </em></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York next week will be a welcome relief for the Iranian leader. Finally, he’ll be somewhere where he’s appreciated, even loved.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Ahead of his trip to America, the US media continued its practice of presenting Rouhani as a moderate, and a natural ally for the US.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">NBC News’ Anne Curry interviewed Rouhani in Tehran, focusing her attention on his dim view of Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Rouhani told Curry, “From the viewpoint of the Islamic tenets and culture, killing an innocent people equals the killing of the whole humanity. And therefore, the killing and beheading of innocent people in fact is a matter of shame for them and it’s the matter of concern and sorrow for all the human and all the mankind.”</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">The US media and political establishment’s willingness to take Rouhani at his word when he says that he’s a moderate is one of the reasons that Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz was in such a desolate mood on Wednesday.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">During a briefing with the foreign media, Steinitz described the state of negotiations between the US and its negotiating partners – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – and Iran regarding its illicit nuclear weapons program.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">The briefing followed the latest round of the biennial Israeli-US strategic dialogue. Steinitz led the Israeli delegation to the talks, which focused on Iran, the week before nuclear talks were scheduled to be renewed.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">One of Steinitz’s chief concerns was the US’s insistence that Rouhani is a moderate.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In his words, “The only thing that has changed [since Rouhani replaced president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] is the tone. The only difference is that the world was unwilling to hear from Ahmadinejad and [his nuclear negotiator Saeed] Jalili, what it is willing to listen to from Rouhani and [Iranian Foreign Minister Javad] Zarif.”</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Unlike the Americans, the Iranian people are through with the fiction that Rouhani is a moderate, which is why he no doubt will be happier in New York than in Tehran.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Rouhani’s trip to New York coincides with his one-year anniversary in office. Since he took power, a thousand Iranians have been executed by the regime.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Forty-five people were executed in just the past two weeks.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">According to Iranian scholar Majid Rafizadeh, the public’s tolerance for regime violence has reached a breaking point.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In an article in the Frontpage Magazine online journal, Rafizadeh described how 3,000 people descended on regime executioners as they were poised to kill a youth in Mahmoudabad in northern Iran. The protest forced them to call off the show.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">They murdered the young man the next day, when no one was looking.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">As Iran scholar Dr. Michael Ledeen has explained, the rise in regime brutality is directly proportional to the threat it perceives from the public.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">And the regime has good reason to be worried.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Anti-regime protests and strikes occur countrywide, every day.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">For instance, from September 9-14, MEK, an Iranian opposition group, documented public protests against security forces and attacks on regime agents in Tehran, Zanzan, Bane, Qom, Karaj and Bandar Abbas.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">These actions ran the gamut from a strike by a thousand gas workers in the Aslaviyah gas fields who protested searches of their dormitory rooms by regime agents, to two separate assaults on military vehicles in Zanzan, to youth responding violently in cities throughout the country when regime agents tried to enforce Islamic dress codes on women and girls.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Under the same Rouhani who waxed so poetically against beheadings when speaking to an overeager NBC reporter, not only have state executions have massively intensified. Public floggings, public hand amputations and other public demonstrations of regime brutality have also expanded to levels unseen in recent years.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Rouhani promised to protect women’s rights. Yet since he took office, women’s rights have been severely curtailed.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Last month, the Revolutionary Guards barred women from working as waitresses. In July, Tehran’s mayor barred women from sharing workspace with men. These moves and others like them, aimed at enforcing gender apartheid in all public places in the country, force millions of women into poverty. The official unemployment level for women is already hovering around 20 percent.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Then there are Iran’s other social ills, for instance drug addiction.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Iran has the highest level of drug addiction in the world. According to Babak Dinparast, a senior Iranian drug enforcement official, some 3.5 million Iranians, or 4.4% of the population, are drug users.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In April, Dinparast made the stunning claim that 53% of drug users are government employees.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">According to the Iranian parliament’s research institute, the average productive hours of Iranian workers is 22 minutes a day.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In Transparency International’s ranking of administrative and economic corruption, Iran ranks 144th out of 177 countries.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In other words, Iran is coming apart at the seams. The people cannot stand the regime. The regime, incompetent and unwilling to tackle any of Iran’s problems, responds to the public’s outrage with massive, brutal repression.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">If left to its own devices, in all likelihood, the Iranian regime would have been toppled five years ago when it falsified the results of the 2009 presidential elections, and so fomented the Green Revolution But the people of Iran didn’t bet on the regime’s ace in the hole: the Obama administration.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">The same Obama administration that supported the overthrow of US allies in the war on Islamic jihad – Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi – stood by the Iranian regime as it massacred its people in the streets of Iranian cities for daring to demand their freedom.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">If the 2009 Green Revolution was the gravest threat the regime had faced since the 1979 revolution brought it to power, today the regime is also imperiled.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">On Monday, Iran’s dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was released from the hospital after undergoing prostate surgery. Several strategic analyses published since then claim that his days are numbered and that as a consequence, the regime faces a period of profound uncertainty and instability.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">The Iranian people are watching all of this, and waiting.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">As was the case in 2009, the disaffected Iranians, who hate their regime and want good relations with the US and the West, remain the greatest threat to the regime.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Beyond its borders, Iran is also under stress. With its Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah forces committed to Syria in defense of Bashar Assad, Iran finds its position in Iraq threatened by the rising power of Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Yet, as happened in 2009, in the midst of this gathering storm, the Obama administration is rushing to the mullahs’ rescue, begging Iran to support US efforts to fight Islamic State, indeed claiming that securing Iran’s support and cooperation is a necessary precondition for the mission’s success.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">To say that this US policy is madness is an understatement.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">As Michael Weiss documented in Foreign Policy in June, Iran and its puppet, the Syrian regime, played central roles in facilitating the development and empowerment of Islamic State both in Syria and Iraq. A defector from the Syrian Military Intelligence Directorate reported in January that the regime helped form Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">First, it sprang Sunni jihadist leaders from Sednaya prison in 2011. Then, it facilitated in the creation of the armed brigades that became Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">The idea was that through Islamic State, it could tarnish the reputation of all of its opponents by claiming they were all jihadists.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">US military officers with deep knowledge of Iran’s role in Iraq told Weiss that Islamic State’s leadership entered Iraq from Iran.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">A key al-Qaida financier, Olimzhon Adkhamovich Sadikov, was charged in February by the US Treasury Department with “provid[ing] logistical support and funding to al-Qaida’s Iran-based network.”</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">US Army Col. Rick Welch, who served as the military liaison to both the Sunni tribes and the Shi’ite militia in Iraq during the 2007-2008 US military surge, told Weiss that the assessment of Iraqi Sunnis and Shi’ites alike was that “Iran was funding any group that would keep Iraq in chaos.”</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Iran sought chaos in order to prevent the establishment of a stable Iraqi government allied with the US while incrementally establishing Iranian control over the country.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Iran’s actions in Iraq and Syria, in other words, have for the past decade been focused on expanding Iranian power at the expense of the US and the Iraqi and Syrian people.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">This behavior of course is in line with Iran’s global strategy. From its support for Hamas to its control over Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, from developing a strategic alliance with Venezuela to expanding its presence throughout South and Central America, through its closely cultivated relationship with Russia, Iran’s every move involves expanding its power and influence at America’s expense.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">And yet, despite this, the Obama administration has made strengthening the Iranian regime and appeasing it the centerpiece of its Middle East policy.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">President Barack Obama told Jeffrey Goldberg in March that Iran is a rational actor that the US can do business with.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">He said, “If you look at Iranian behavior, they are strategic, and they’re not impulsive. They have a worldview, and they see their interests, and they respond to costs and benefits.”</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">As Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry now perceive things, Iran opposes Islamic State, and therefore it will play a supportive role in the US campaign against Islamic State. Moreover, by participating in the campaign, Iran will demonstrate its good faith and so make it possible for the US to cut a deal with the mullahs that will legitimize their illicit uranium enrichment – because really, how big a threat can a country that opposes Islamic State be? As for Iran, it sees its interest as having the US destroy Islamic State, and if possible, having the US pay Iran for the privilege of fighting Iran’s war – against the foe Iran did so much to create.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">And this brings us back to Steinitz’s gloomy assessment of the talks with Iran. Steinitz warned against the growing prospect of the US caving in to Iran’s nuclear demands as a payoff for Iranian support against Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In his words, “Some people might think, ‘Let’s clean the table, let’s close the [nuclear] file,” in order to get Iran on board against Islamic State.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Unfortunately for Steinitz, and for the rest of the world, including the US, the Obama administration seems bent on proving him right.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">Today the Iranian regime is weaker than it has been since it violently repressed the Green Revolution.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">And that is why Rouhani is happy to be coming to New York.</span><br style="color: #000000;" /><br style="color: #000000;" /><span style="color: #000000;">He knows that now, as then, the Obama administration will save the regime. This, even as the mullahs advance their goal of becoming the hegemons of the Middle East at the US’s expense, and completing their nuclear weapons program, which will secure the regime for decades to come, and threaten America directly.</span></p>
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		<title>Rouhani&#8217;s One-Year Anniversary</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/rouhanis-one-year-anniversary/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=rouhanis-one-year-anniversary</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/rouhanis-one-year-anniversary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2014 04:20:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anniversary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Moderate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[one year]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rouhani]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[A good year for the rogue Islamic Republic. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Rouhani.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-238675" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Rouhani-433x350.jpg" alt="Rouhani" width="288" height="233" /></a>At this time last year, Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian regime insider, assumed the office of presidency in the Islamic Republic. Rouhani was approved to run by the constitutionally-mandated and appointed 12 members of the Islamist and hardline Guardian Council, and after he gave empty promises of bringing &#8220;<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/06/13/shoulder_to_shoulder_canada_foreign_minister_iran_rouhani_human_rights"><span style="color: #0433ff;">dignity</span></a>” to the nation,  freeing political prisoners, promoting civil rights, normalcy, reintegrating Iran in the world economically and politically.</p>
<p>Other crucial reasons behind his election included his <a href="http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/hassan-rouhani-reformer-or-loyalist/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">loyalty</span></a> to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Islamist revolutionary principles, his background profile as a government insider and chief nuclear negotiator, the blessings of Supreme Leaders for him, and the low standards that the hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set.</p>
<p>The purpose of having Rouhani as the president was evident from the beginning: for the first time, Ayatollah Khamenei and the senior cadre of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards Corps deeply felt that their hold on power was being threatened. This was due to international economic and political sanctions, Iran’s nuclear defiance, along with disenfranchisement and discontent of Iranian youth (for reasons such as unemployment, human rights violations, suppression of freedom of press, expression, assembly, high inflation).</p>
<p>How has Rouhani served his regime? Under the first year of his presidency, Rouhani and his nuclear technocrat team were unprecedentedly and unexpectedly successful at reaching the regime’s objectives. He was capable of achieving the ideological, economic, and geopolitical goals of the Islamist agenda of the ruling clerics.</p>
<p>It is crucial to point out that, in the first year, Rouhani&#8217;s goal was to merge the Islamic Republic’s ideological and Islamist principles with its economic, strategic and geopolitical interests. Rouhani wanted to ensure the survival of the Islamist regime.</p>
<p>The game that Rouhani and his team played with the West and particularly the United States was anchored in utilizing softer tones while exploiting the fragile and weak position of the Obama administration.</p>
<p>First, by striking the nuclear interim deal with the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, plus Germany), Rouhani and his technocrat nuclear team were successful in obtaining sanctions relief&#8211; <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-20/iran-hails-long-day-as-it-starts-curbing-nuclear-work.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">worth</span></a> between $6 and $7 billion – and suspending certain sanctions on some Iranian industries including the automotive sector, gold and precious metals trade, and petrochemical exports.</p>
<p>On the other hand, currently, the Islamic Republic’s economy has been stabilized according to the <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930120000786"><span style="color: #0433ff;">International Monetary Fund</span></a>, and oil exports have increased by approximately <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/07/31/uk-asia-iran-crude-idUKKBN0G00C320140731"><span style="color: #0433ff;">25 percent</span></a>, specifically to Asian countries, in the first six months of the year 2014.</p>
<p>While Rouhani has spent a considerable amount of his political capital on the international arena, nuclear talks, attempting to empower the Islamic Republic in the world affairs and economy, and removing economic sanctions, Iran’s fundamental foreign policies in the region, internationally and domestically remain ideological and intact.</p>
<p>For example, President Hassan Rouhani <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/irans-new-president-hassan-rouhani-vows-to-support-syrian-regime-as-president-assad-vows-to-crush-rebels-with-iron-fist-8745857.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">voiced</span></a> his support for the Syrian government, as Iran’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/irans-new-president-hassan-rouhani-vows-to-support-syrian-regime-as-president-assad-vows-to-crush-rebels-with-iron-fist-8745857.html"><span style="color: #0433ff;">support</span></a> for the Syrian government financially, militarily, politically and advisory continues. Even after the use of chemical weapons against the civilians in Syria, Rouhani’s administration has not shifted its support and policies towards President Bashar Al Assad.</p>
<p>In addition, under Rouhani’s administration, the Islamic Republic continues to support non state actors such as Hezbollah and Hamas. In addition, the Islamic Republic’s <a href="http://forward.com/articles/184240/iranian-president-hassan-rouhani-criticizes-israel/"><span style="color: #0433ff;">foreign policies</span></a> towards Israel remain intact as well.</p>
<p>On the other hand, billions of dollars gained by the ruling cleric, are tightly distributed among the top officials. Millions of ordinary Iranian people still encounter hardship economically. In addition, the unemployment rate remains to be in <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/08/06/ineffective-economic-stewardship/hk2b?reloadFlag=1"><span style="color: #0433ff;">double digit</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;">s</span> for millions of Iranian people.</p>
<p>When it comes to human rights and freedoms (assembly, press and speech),  Rouhani has supported the status quo of repression. According to the Human Rights Watch, there has been <a href="http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/iran?page=3"><span style="color: #0433ff;">“no sign of improvement”</span></a> and the Islamic Republic continues to violate human rights under Rouhani.</p>
<p>On March 11, Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights conditions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, released his <a href="http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/iran?page=3"><span style="color: #0433ff;">second annual report</span></a> to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), pointing out that there exists an “apparent increase in the degree of seriousness of human rights violations” and he expressed his concern at the “rate of executions in the country, especially for crimes that do not meet serious crimes standards.”</p>
<p>In addition, in October, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released his annual report expressing concerns with regards to the continuing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic under Rouhani. Human Rights Watch <a href="http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/iran?page=3"><span style="color: #0433ff;">points out</span></a> that “The government continued to block access to Shaheed and to experts with other UN rights bodies.”</p>
<p>It is an illusion to believe that any political figure in the Islamic Republic, who rises to power, will shift the Islamist, radical, and ideological perspective of this regime. Loyalty to the Islamist principles, antagonism towards Israel, and supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, or other Islamists groups, are the underlying and basic rules that each Iranian politician believes in and has to pursue, in order to survive and rise the political ladder in Iran. The higher an Iranian politician is in his political life and position, the more loyal he is to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the more he voices his antagonism towards the state of Israel publicly or covertly, and the more he views the United States as a Great Satan. This underlying rule is the political formula for survival and promotion under the Islamist and ideological regime of the Islamic Republic.</p>
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		<title>Lessons from Leaving Islamic Tyranny</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/lessons-from-leaving-islamic-tyranny/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=lessons-from-leaving-islamic-tyranny</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Mar 2014 04:02:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=222083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What coming to America taught me about Islam's influence on national identity. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tragiran-1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-222084" alt="tragiran (1)" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tragiran-1.jpg" width="310" height="240" /></a></span>A few months ago, I took the oath and became a US citizen. Originally from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria, I grew up, lived, and worked for most of my life in these countries. I grew up under the theocratic regime of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the autocratic and repressive regime of Assad.</p>
<p>Although being an Iranian-Syrian is not a common combination in the region—since Arabs and Persians (or Sunni and Shia) have traditional rivalries and sometimes hold racist view against each other— I had the opportunity to grow up in both versions of Islamic religious societies: the Shia and the Sunni, as well as Persian and Arab (though some Syrians might call themselves Phoenicians).</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This also allowed me to understand the on-the-ground socio-political and socio-religious platforms of these predominantly Islamic societies.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A few years ago, I came to the United States on a scholarship to teach at a university and later was planning to take my experience and acquired knowledge back to my countries. Nevertheless, the war erupted in Syria and my path changed. However, the issue that I would like to shed light on is that since I have become a citizen, I have witnessed an issue that has increasingly perplexed me. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I have observed that many Muslims, who were born or grew up in the United States while enjoying freedom of speech, expression, assembly and whom this country has given shelter and a home, frequently judge the United States based on the Quran, Allah, Muhammad, and their Islamic ideals, not based on the Constitution or democratic principles and human rights. There are several researchers investigating this phenomenon. I have noticed that many Muslims criticize this country not based on real developmental or economic policies, but based on Islamic principles.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">They criticize the United States for not being Islamic enough, for what people wear, for how people date, for how people listen to music, for how people drink, for how people dance, etc.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I must confess that this attitude has been extremely puzzling and frustrating to me. In the beginning, I thought that one approach to these kinds of people and proponents of Sharia and Islamic laws in the United States was to address the issue intellectually. I thought that the productive approach was to draw on the modern economic, political, social values, and human rights that are in contradiction with what Muhammad said, what the Quran said more than 1400 years ago and what Imams and Sheikhs say now. However, since their evidence is not based on logic or science, and is rather based on what Allah, Muhammad, and the Quran say, it is extremely difficult to have any intellectual debate with proponents of Islamic principles in the United States or other Western countries.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Since their evidence and logic is been based on the Quran— written more than 1400 years ago— Allah’s words, Muhammad’s sayings (since he is regarded as the ultimate model and paragon for how one should live), there is little one can say in response. I usually respond simply by asking why they do not live in an Islamic state or their country of origin. Why do they not return to their Islamic country? There are plenty of Islamic and predominantly Muslim societies around the world to choose from.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It seems that the answer is that if you do not like (or even hate) how the United States is structured and how the society functions, then you can return to your Islamic country of origin. No one is forcing you to stay here. If one is so angry and frustrated with the un-Islamic character of the United States, with how Americans live, drink, dance, listen to music, have parties, work and how the social values contradict Islamic principles, then they can return to their Islamic country, where Islamic social values are respected, ingrained and indoctrinated into every cell of the society and political structure.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">There are many other Islamic countries and dominantly Muslim societies where the courts operate based on Sharia and Islamic laws, where the majority of the people are Muslims, where every aspect of Islam is practiced based on the Quran, Muhammad’s sayings, and Allah’s ideal society, where one is punished for violating Islamic laws.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I am not arguing against any kind of constructive criticism in societies. In fact, I do believe that an informed citizen should be consciously and intellectually aware of the political development in the country, in this case the United States, and should be capable of constructively criticizing the path the government is taking in case he or she believes that the policies are detrimental to the good of the society, and to offer solutions.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Indeed, it should not only be encouraged to participate in socio-political and socio-economic debate, but I believe that it is also the obligation and responsibility of each person to take part in the political and social process to hold their representatives accountable. I find it totally unconstructive and offensive to judge and criticize the society on the grounds of not complying with Islamic principles, what the Quran says, what Muhammad said more than 1400 years ago, and what Allah believes should be a perfect society.</span></p>
<p><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</b></p>
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		<title>Iranian Prisoner Cries, Begs to See His Mother</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/majid-rafizadeh/iranian-prisoner-cries-begs-to-see-his-mother/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=iranian-prisoner-cries-begs-to-see-his-mother</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Mar 2014 04:03:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[example]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[execution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hanging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220992</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How the Islamic Republic terrorizes and controls its people. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hassan_rouhani.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-220995" alt="hassan_rouhani" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hassan_rouhani.jpg" width="246" height="184" /></a>A shocking and disturbing amateur </span><a style="line-height: 1.5em;" href="http://neobservatory.org/human-rights/iran-execution-prisoner-denied-final-request-beaten-before-hanging/">video</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> documenting a recent public execution from the Islamic Republic of Iran has recently emerged and gone viral since its release.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In this video, a young man is going to be publicly hanged in the city of Karaj, near the capital city of Tehran, on February 25</span><sup style="line-height: 1.5em;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.  The hanging is held in front of a large crowd that has gathered to watch the execution. Until now, there have been no reports identifying the name of the person who is about to be executed or the precise charges brought against him by the Islamic judiciary court of Iran.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Before being executed, it appears in the video that the young man is pleading with and begging the regime executioners, guards, and henchmen to allow him to receive a final embrace from his mother who is also in the crowd. His mother’s voice can be heard, yelling to her son and raising her voice in a sign of protest against the regime and this act.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As usual, the Iranian regime’s henchmen and the Islamic guard, who are preparing for the commencement of the public execution, deny the man his final request. After the denial, the prisoner becomes defiant, visibly agitated, and publicly attempts to resist the start of the execution process. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The prisoner repeatedly kicks over a ladder that was going to be used for his execution, and struggles against the guards. At some point he lashes out, breaks his handcuffs, wrestles away from his guards, and tries to escape from  the Islamic guard around him.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_220994" style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/unnamed2.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-220994 " alt="unnamed2" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/unnamed2-450x277.png" width="450" height="277" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The prisoner breaks free and attempts to escape.</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">What is intriguing in this scenario, though, is that the same crowd that has gathered to watch the execution starts cheering the resistance of the young man and his attempt to escape. The regime guards protecting the scene began yelling at the crowd to be quiet and to move back.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Soon after, in this powerful scene, the man is savagely beaten into submission by swarms of Iranian and Islamic guards, his body was lifted onto a podium, hoisted onto the ladder, and the execution noose was forcefully wrapped around his neck. Even after the noose is placed around his neck, and even after the beatings, the young man’s spirit appears to remain resistant and defiant. An Iranian man in the crowd can be seen at the end of this public execution pointing out, “Regardless of his crime he should have been allowed to see his Mother.”  Some people in the crowd are heard saying to the regime henchmen to forgive him.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_220993" style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/unnamed.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-220993 " alt="unnamed" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/unnamed-450x277.png" width="450" height="277" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The condemned man struggles as the regime henchmen forcefully put the noose around his neck.</p></div>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/human-rights/c738aeb067cb" target="_blank">Hamid Yazdan Panah makes anintriguing argument</a> by referring to Michelle Foucault who stated,  “The public execution is to be understood not only as a judicial but also as a political ritual. It belongs, even in minor cases, to the ceremonies by which power is manifested.”</p>
<p>Iran is ranked number one, surpassing China and North Korea, in leading the world in executions per capita.  Hundreds of people, including women, human rights activists, and political activists, have been executed since January 2014. Recently, the United Nations <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/21/us-iran-executions-idUSBREA1K1CN20140221" target="_blank">human rights</a> spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani referred to the rise of executions in the Islamic Republic by saying, “the surge in the use of the death penalty … has dampened hopes for human rights reforms under President Hassan Rouhani.”</p>
<p>But the major question revolves around why the Islamic Republic of Iran and its judiciary system insist on conducting public executions in the modern era? The logic, ritual and rationale of public execution is also well illustrated by Foucault in his work <i>Discipline and Punishment, </i><i>an analysis of 18<sup>th</sup> century. According to the argument </i> <a href="https://medium.com/human-rights/c738aeb067cb" target="_blank">Mr. Yazdan Panah</a>  makes, Michelle Foucault points out:</p>
<blockquote><p><b style="line-height: 1.5em;"></b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It is a ceremonial by which a momentarily injured sovereignty is reconstituted. It restores that sovereignty by manifesting it at its most spectacular. The public execution, however hasty and everyday, belongs to a whole series of great rituals in which power is eclipsed and restored… Its aim is not so much to re-establish a balance as to bring into play, as its extreme point, the dissymmetry between the subject who has dared to violate the law and the all-powerful sovereign who displays his strength.</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And if you are questioning why the Iranian people gathered around the scaffold to watch the execution, it is not because people enjoy watching other human being be executed. As Foucault states, “If the crowd gathered round the scaffold, it was not simply to witness the sufferings of the condemned man or to excite the anger of the executioner: it was also to hear an individual who had nothing more to lose curse the judges, the laws, the government and religion.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The fact of the matter is that the Islamic regime of Iran utilizes its judiciary system and its Islamic/Sharia laws to repress its population by imposing horror and fear on the society and punishing defiance and resistance through acts such as public execution. In addition, the so-called moderate Rouhani has ratcheted up the rate and number of executions in Iran. As Shamdasani pointed out, “It appears at least in the past seven weeks that in fact executions have been scaled up.”</span></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Ayatollahs Celebrate 35 Years of Terror</title>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2014 05:30:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[35th]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anniversary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[islamism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Revolution]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=218066</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is the Islamic Republic on the verge of defeat or stronger than ever? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Convicted-men-publicly-hanged.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-218068" alt="Convicted-men-publicly-hanged" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Convicted-men-publicly-hanged-450x269.jpg" width="270" height="161" /></a>I was born after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, at the beginning of the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war and lived most of my life in the post-revolutionary era under the Ayatollah and Shiite Islamic Sharia law. I remember many people that underestimated the power of the Islamist movement, of Ayatollah and Imam Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers. Yet, here we are at the 35</span><sup style="line-height: 1.5em;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a much stronger, centralized regime that has been successful at promoting its ideology across the region, creating proxies such as Hezbollah, funding other Islamist movements, and thwarting America’s (and its allies’) security interests, as well as the U.S.&#8217;s foreign policy, geopolitical, geostrategic and geo-economic objectives in the region.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Ayatollah, Mullahs, and Iranian leaders are celebrating the 35</span><sup style="line-height: 1.5em;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> anniversary of the establishment of Islamic Republic of Iran by Ayatollah and Imam Ruhollah Khomeini and his extremist followers.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It is also worth noting that due to the Carter administration’s foreign policies, the United States stood by and watched one of our (and Israel’s) staunchest allies in the Middle East be controlled by Shiite Islamic Ayatollahs and clerics; Iran was turned into one of the U.S.&#8217;s most robust and determined geopolitical, geostrategic, and geo-economic enemies.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This considerably shifted the balance of power in the Middle East, as the Islamic Republic built a firmer alliance with Russia and China, to counter American and Israeli foreign policy objectives in the region.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ceremonies began in Iran on Saturday, marking the 35th anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which deposed pro-US Muhammad Reza Shah and brought in the Islamic Republic.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The beginning of the 10 days of celebration, called the 10-Day Dawn (Fajr) festivities across Iran, marks the day when the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, arrived back home from exile on February 1, 1979, after having spent more than 14 years away, mostly in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, with some time in Turkey and France.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">These 10 days will culminate in one of largest nationwide rallies on February 11</span><sup style="line-height: 1.5em;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, to celebrate the anniversary of the triumph of the Islamic Revolution.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After overthrowing the secular and pro-Western state, the Ayatollahs instituted a new social order based primarily on Islamist thoughts, Shari’a law, and Shiite ideals like the introduction of Jurisprudent Leadership (Vilayat-e Faqih) and giving divine power to the Supreme Leader (Vali)—whose legitimacy lies in his piety and his supposedly unmatched knowledge of Islam.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Article 57 was added to the constitution to emphasize this shift</span><b style="line-height: 1.5em;">: “</b><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The powers of government in the Islamic Republic are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive powers, functioning under the supervision of the absolute religious leader and the Leadership of the Ummah, in accordance with the forthcoming articles of this Constitution…”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This gave the Supreme leader the absolute power to veto, enact, or suspend any law that was deemed to be un-Islamic based on his interpretations. All articles of the constitutions became subject to approval of Islamic laws. This created an artificial façade of democracy. For example, while the constitution gives rights to writers, journalists, and bloggers to write freely, everything should still comply with Islamic and Shiite laws.  </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">To be precise, the arrest, torture and execution of writers were legitimized by the ruling leaders and clerics because of the enforcement of Article 24 which states, “Publications and the press have freedom of expression, except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public. The details of this exception will be specified by law.”</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In other words, every article in the constitution became subject to Article 4: “All civil, penal financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria.  This principle applies absolutely and generally to all articles of the Constitution as well as to all other laws and regulations, and the wise persons of the Guardian Council are judges in this matter.” This law gave the ruling Ayatollah and Iranian leaders the sovereign power and institutional mechanisms to implement and ensure compliance with Islam, as defined by the ruling clerics.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Is the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran getting weaker?</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The answer is mixed. Regarding regional and international realms, the Islamic Republic has definitely become a much more centralized state compared to its 1979 condition. The nation is also on the verge of becoming a nuclear power and nuclear-armed state.  The Islamic Republic has also grown to be more self-sufficient in some industries, particularly in military capabilities, including multiple ballistic and cruise missile systems— such as Shahab-3, the Shahab-3D— investment in nuclear technologies, missile-equipped drones with a range of 2,000 kilometers like the Fotros drone (copying the US drone captured by Iranian forces), automobiles such as Sepehr, and air-to-air missiles such as Fatter (a copy of U.S. AIM-9 Sidewinder). This partial self-sufficiency has mostly concentrated on military programs since the 1980s, as also seen in the frequent announcements by Iranian leaders on various technological breakthroughs including the building of jet fighters, submarines, tanks, and torpedoes.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">When it comes to domestic policies, the Iranian government has definitely become more masterful in cracking down, suppressing, and implementing the discriminatory laws against religious minorities, segregating the society based on gender, executing dissidents, imposing dress code, stifling the potential of both society and economic opportunity.  But this has also created a large section of the society (primarily the youth population under 30 years of age who comprise approximately more than 50% of the Iranian population) to become disaffected and disenchanted with the Islamic regime. Finally, if there is going to be any real threat to the Ayatollahs and Iranian leaders, it will most likely be from this young section of the population, rather than any action from external forces.</span></p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Emboldening Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/emboldening-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=emboldening-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Nov 2013 05:45:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Arnold Ahlert]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[deal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Islamic Republic's actions in the wake of the nuke deal show the Mullahs smell blood in the water.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ayatollah-Ali-Kham_2128806b.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-211852" alt="Ayatollah-Ali-Kham_2128806b" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ayatollah-Ali-Kham_2128806b-424x350.jpg" width="297" height="245" /></a>In the last few days, an Obama administration desperate to turn Americans&#8217; attention away from the ObamaCare disaster has been <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/obama-touts-iran-accord-star-filled-hollywood-fund/">touting</a> its &#8220;historic&#8221; deal with Iran. Toward that end they released a <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/23/21591576-read-the-white-house-fact-sheet-on-iran-nuclear-deal?lite">document</a> Saturday entitled, &#8220;Fact Sheet:  First Step Understandings Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran&#8217;s Nuclear Program,&#8221; outlining the details. Those &#8220;facts&#8221; have been rejected&#8211;by the Iranians themselves.</p>
<p>“What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920905001087">explained</a> Tuesday.</p>
<p>Iran released its own version of the agreement, with Afkham contending that it was based on language chosen with regard to the considerations of all parties to the talks. She further insisted that the reason negotiations took so long between Iran and the G5+1 &#8220;pertained to the accuracy which was needed for choosing the words for the text of the agreement,&#8221; and &#8220;that the Iranian delegation was much (sic) rigid and laid much emphasis on the need for this accuracy.&#8221;</p>
<p>The key sticking point? The White House fact sheet claims &#8220;Iran has committed to halt progress on its enrichment capacity&#8221; with bullet points laying out the details. On the other hand, the Iranian fact sheet indicates that their nation can &#8220;fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the NPT in conformity with its obligations therein.”</p>
<p>Both fact sheets do contain almost identical statements revealing one over-arching fact. The Iranian version: “This comprehensive solution would constitute an integrated whole where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” The American version: “With respect to this comprehensive resolution:  nothing is agreed to with respect to a comprehensive solution until everything is agreed to.”</p>
<p>In other words, despite all the triumphal posturing by this administration and their media cheerleaders, <i>no actual deal exists.</i></p>
<p>Thus, despite Secretary of State John Kerry&#8217;s <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/27/confusion-over-nuclear-deal-as-iran-protests-white-house-statement/">assertion</a> on CBS&#8217;s &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; that the Iranian interpretation of the agreement was &#8220;not accurate,” and President Obama telling his supporters at a Beverly Hills fundraiser that easing economic sanctions on Iran is better than going to war, absolutely <i>nothing</i> has been finalized&#8211;including the start time of the six-month timetable during which a longer-term accord is supposed to be worked out.</p>
<p>The State Department acknowledged that reality Tuesday, when spokeswoman Jen Psaki <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-enjoying-pre-implementation-window/">admitted</a> that the six-month interim program had yet to begin. Moreover, she had no idea when it would begin. “The next step here is a continuation of technical discussions at a working level so that we can essentially tee up the implementation of the agreement,” she told reporters.</p>
<p>Even more embarrassing, Psaki conceded there was no mechanism in place that would stop Iran from continuing its current pursuits. “In terms of what the Iranians are or aren’t doing, obviously our hope would be, given we are respecting the spirit of the agreement in pressing for sanctions not to be put in place and beginning the process of figuring out how to deliver on our end of the bargain, that the same would be coming from their end in the spirit of the agreement,” she said.</p>
<p>If Iranians are “respecting the spirit” of the agreement, they have a peculiar way of showing it. On Monday, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, insisted the status quo would remain just that, including further construction on the Arak heavy-water reactor. Western powers fear Arak is a source of plutonium used as the core of a nuclear weapon. &#8220;Work at the Arak reactor will continue,” Salehi said. &#8220;Enrichment to 5 percent will continue. Research and development will continue. All our exploration and extraction activities will continue. There are no activities that won’t continue.&#8221;</p>
<p>Tuesday didn&#8217;t bring any better news. Abbas Araqchi, Iran&#8217;s top nuclear negotiator, <a href="http://www.azernews.az/region/61947.html">doubled down</a>, insisting that &#8220;Iran&#8217;s uranium enrichment right cannot be granted or limited by another countries,&#8221; (sic) and claiming that Kerry&#8217;s assertion to the contrary constituted a &#8220;misunderstanding.&#8221; Also, Iranian administration spokesman Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht was quoted as saying some $8 billion of Iran&#8217;s frozen assets were released by the United States.</p>
<p>Not to be outdone, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the lieutenant commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920905001745">revealed</a> that Tehran had developed &#8220;indigenous&#8221; ballistic missile technology. “Many countries may have access to cruise missiles technology, but when it comes to ballistic missiles, I am confident that only the US and the Soviet Union could master this technology, and now we can announce that we own this technology as well,” he told Iran&#8217;s Fars News Agency. Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, head of the IRGC Public Relations Department, also took an opportunity to <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920905001709">bash</a> the United States and Israel, insisting that America&#8217;s power has become &#8220;seriously shaky in the world, specially in the Middle-East,” and that Iran has brought the criminal regime of Israel to its knees.</p>
<p>Obama administration critics were plentiful. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal “an historic mistake.” Former UN ambassador John Bolton <a href="http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/abject-surrender-united-states_768140.html?page=1">characterized</a> it as &#8220;abject surrender by the United States,&#8221; one that grants the Iranian regime &#8220;time to continue all aspects of its nuclear-weapons program the agreement does not cover,&#8221; undeserved &#8220;legitimacy,&#8221; and the ability to break &#8220;the psychological momentum and effect of the international economic sanctions.&#8221; <i>Washington Post </i>columnist Charles Krauthammer <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/11/25/krauthammer_on_iran_nuclear_accord_its_the_worst_deal_since_munich.html">labeled</a> it the &#8220;worst deal since Munich,&#8221; further noting that allowing Iran to enrich uranium &#8220;undermines the entire idea of nonproliferation and it grants Iran a right it’s been lusting for for a decade. That&#8217;s why there was so much jubilation in Tehran over this.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Tehran was jubilant, there was bipartisan consternation in Congress. Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/politics/iran-deal-opponents-5-things/">characterized</a> the deal as disproportional. &#8220;Iran simply freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions,&#8221; he said. Lindsey Graham (R-NC) noted it let Iran completely off the hook. &#8220;The sanctions actually worked but this interim deal gives the Iranian&#8217;s $7 billion in cash and leaves in place one of the most sophisticated enrichment programs around,&#8221; he contended. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menedez (D-NJ) contended he was willing to give the administration some breathing room, but that additional sanctions will be available &#8220;should the talks falter or Iran fail to implement or breach the interim agreement,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Yet it was former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman who cut to the chase. &#8220;Iran is an enemy, there is American blood on Iranian hands&#8221; he explained, further noting that the Iranians &#8220;have a terrible record of not keeping agreements and frankly of lying.&#8221;</p>
<p>President Obama remains undeterred. &#8220;We cannot close the door on diplomacy,&#8221; he said Monday. &#8220;We cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict.&#8221;</p>
<p>We can however, commit ourselves to and endless cycle of meaningless diplomacy, unless one considers an <a href="http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheet/Timeline-of-Nuclear-Diplomacy-With-Iran">entire decade</a><i> </i>of fruitless efforts that have yet to produce a <i>single</i> meaningful breakthrough, progress. In another stunning development, a White House official explained Wednesday that while the United States does not recognize Iran&#8217;s right to enrich uranium, President Obama believes the world&#8217;s foremost exporter of Islamic terrorism &#8220;should have access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.&#8221; &#8220;However, the history of the Iranian nuclear program has raised serious and legitimate concerns in the international community as to whether Iran&#8217;s enrichment program&#8211;which it pursued in secret&#8211;is truly for peaceful purposes,&#8221; the official added.</p>
<p>As of now, nothing in this non-deal deal does anything to stop Iran from pursuing its quest for nuclear weaponry. Even more remarkably, sanctions, as in the only thing that <i>was</i> putting actual pressure on Iran short of military action have <i>already</i> been <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/08/exclusive-obama-s-secret-iran-d-tente.html">eased</a>&#8211;beginning five months ago. Daily Beast columnist Eli Lake <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/08/exclusive-obama-s-secret-iran-d-tente.html">reveals</a> that the Treasury Department &#8220;all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.&#8221;</p>
<p>Thus, the president has once again bypassed Congress in pursuit of his &#8220;noble&#8221; agenda. It is an agenda based on little more than hubris, in that Obama believes he possesses a level of charm and intelligence that will win the Iranians over, in spite of a decade of evidence to the contrary&#8211;and in spite of the reality that absolutely nothing, other than a promise to make a deal leading to a deal ostensibly leading to peace in our time, has been achieved. &#8220;Trusting Iran to deliver on its promises is nearly as risky as trusting Obama to deliver on his,&#8221; <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/11/27/dems-following-obama-over-the-cliff/">writes</a> the <i>NY Post&#8217;s </i>Michael Goodwin. Empty promises by both sides equals more time for Iran to pursue its nuclear agenda. If that&#8217;s not an outright victory for them, one is hard-pressed to imagine what is.</p>
<p><b>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref%3dnb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n:133140011%2ck:david+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank" target="_blank"><b>Click here</b></a><b>. </b></p>
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		<title>Iran’s Secret &#8216;Interfaith&#8217; Outreach in America</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/irans-secret-interfaith-outreach-in-america/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=irans-secret-interfaith-outreach-in-america</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/irans-secret-interfaith-outreach-in-america/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jul 2013 04:14:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Mauro]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alavi Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[influence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=195905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The disturbing extent of the Mullahs' money and influence in the U.S.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/alavi.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-195907" alt="alavi" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/alavi.jpg" width="240" height="160" /></a>The <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org"><i>Clarion Project</i></a> recently exposed how an Iranian regime front based in New York donated to <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/iranian-regime-front-funded-30-universities-us-canada">over 30 colleges</a> and <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/iranian-govt-front-group-funded-over-60-islamic-sites-us">over 60 Islamic centers and organizations</a> in North America. Like Sunni Islamists, the Shiite Iranian regime also finds interfaith engagement to be a worthwhile investment.</p>
<p>The data was found by combing the website and published financial reports of the Alavi Foundation, an alleged Iranian regime front. The Foundation’s offices were searched after evidence <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1114/p02s10-usgn.html">surfaced</a> that it was sending money to a bank that is sanctioned by the U.S. because of its role in Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. government investigator <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-columbia-and-rutgers-funded-by-iran-controlled-group-1.3599">said</a> “the government of Iran really controlled everything about the foundation.”</p>
<p>One of the Alavi Foundation’s primary functions is to influence public opinion. U.S. officials <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-11-12/news/36841886_1_alavi-foundation-tenants-or-occupants-iranian-bank">said</a> that it “promotes Tehran’s views on world affairs” and a prominent Iranian in California bluntly <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1114/p02s10-usgn.html/(page)/2">accuses</a> it of being part of the regime’s “propaganda machine.” This should put the foundation’s donations in new light, especially when the money went to major power players like the William J. Clinton Foundation, which received $30,000 in 2005.</p>
<p>The Alavi Foundation is not a small operation. Its <a href="http://www.alavifoundation.org/financials.html#start">2010 financial report</a> states that the market value of all its assets was almost $125 million. To this day, the Alavi Foundation is accepting applications for grants from its <a href="http://www.alavifoundation.org/programs/interfaith.html#start">&#8220;interfaith dialogue and religious pluralism&#8221;</a> initiative. The page states that the organization has funded interfaith conferences at the Temple of Understanding in New York, Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia and Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.</p>
<p>The Alavi Foundation’s financial reports and website disclose that it donated heavily to the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., making contributions of $45,000 in 2007; $60,000 in 2006; and $75,000 in 2005 and 2004.</p>
<p>The Roman Catholic Sacred Heart University in Connecticut received $5,000 in 2008; $39,000 in 2007; $60,000 in 2006; $10,000 in 2005 and $3,000 in 2004.</p>
<p>Hartford Seminary, a theological college, was awarded $35,000 in September 2012; $47,000 in August 2011 and $17,500 in 2008. The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity, also has a <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/mb-front-succeeds-partnering-us-universities">close relationship</a> with Hartford Seminary and donated over $1 million to endow a chair in Islamic Chaplaincy.</p>
<p>Eastern Mennonite University received $20,000 from the Alavi Foundation in 2010. The IIIT has also partnered with this Christian school. In August 2011, the director of the University’s Center for Interfaith Engagement <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/mb-front-succeeds-partnering-us-universities">attended</a> an IIIT fundraiser.</p>
<p>The Iranian regime front also donated $5,000 to the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia in 2009. Last month, we exposed how <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/a-radical-imams-infiltration-of-philadelphia/">two colleagues of radical imam Siraj Wahhaj</a> have had official positions in the Center. Wahhaj has restrained his rhetoric a bit since 9/11 out of necessity. In 2011, he advised Muslims not to discuss Sharia Law because <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/popular-muslim-iman-working-towards-sharia-america">&#8220;we aren&#8217;t there yet.&#8221;</a></p>
<p>The Interfaith Freedom Foundation in California and the Temple of Understanding in New York were each given $3,000 in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The Islamic Education Center of Maryland, <a href="http://www.alavifoundation.org/programs/islamicorganizations.html#start">owned</a> by Alavi, held an <a href="http://www.alavifoundation.org/news/nws009.html">interfaith event</a> with Christians and Jews in April.</p>
<p>One Muslim organization that received a large amount of Alavi financing is the Universal Muslim Association of America. The Foundation’s website discloses donations of $100,000 in 2005; $3,000 in 2006; $6,000 in 2007; $5,000 in 2008; $4,000 in 2009; $10,000 in 2010 and $10,000 in 2012.</p>
<p>The Universal Muslim Association of America is a <a href="http://shouldertoshouldercampaign.org/members/">member</a> of the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign, an interfaith coalition allied with the Islamic Society of North America. U.S. Muslim Brotherhood documents <a href="http://www.clarionproject.org/Muslim_Brotherhood_Explanatory_Memorandum">identify</a> ISNA as one of its fronts.</p>
<p>To be fair, it is not proven that each recipient knew of the Alavi Foundation’s background and that each one helped advance Iran’s viewpoint. For example, the Red Cross, the American Museum of Natural History and many charities have received large gifts.</p>
<p>However, the regime does not have money to spare and in each case, the Foundation decided that the contribution’s benefit justified its cost. The Foundation was originally established under the Shah in the 1970s, so this article only touches the surface of this influence operation.</p>
<p>A more direct interfaith partner of the Iranian regime is the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that <a href="https://afsc.org/category/topic/we-divest">supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction campaign against Israel.</a> It was part of a Christian coalition that <a href="https://afsc.org/friends/church-leaders-congress-condition-military-aid-israel-human-rights-compliance">wrote a letter to Congress</a> criticizing U.S. military aid to Israel. Fifteen Christian groups endorsed the letter, including American Baptist Churches USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church Council of Bishops.</p>
<p>In 2006, American Friends Service Committee leader Mary Ellen McNish and about 45 other religious activists <a href="http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=2195">met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in New York.</a> Then in February 2007, she and a dozen other American religious leaders <a href="http://www.ncccusa.org/news/070214iran.html">spent eight days</a> in Iran and again met with Ahmadinejad. <a href="http://ncronline.org/news/pacifist-churches-under-fire-ahmadinejad-dinner">Meetings with Ahmadinejad</a> were again held in New York in 2007 and 2008. The latter event was <a href="http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&amp;x_outlet=118&amp;x_article=1545">co-sponsored by the Mennonite Central Committee</a> and also involved the World Council of Churches and Religions for Peace.</p>
<p>The American Friends Service Committee also <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2011/dgreenfield/with-american-friends-like-this-who-needs-enemies/">filed an Amicus brief</a> on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation, a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity shut down for financing Hamas. The organization also <a href="https://afsc.org/story/chicago-muslim-man-gets-his-life-back-government">joined</a> the lawsuit of Muhammad Salah as a co-plantiff. Salah was designated a “specially designated terrorist” by the Treasury Department for his Hamas ties <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-07/news/chi-bridgeview-man-taken-off-terrorist-list-20121107_1_bridgeview-man-terrorist-list-support-hamas-extremists">until November 2012.</a></p>
<p>Every dollar and every moment spent by the Iranian regime courting foreigners deserves scrutiny. Any resource used in interfaith engagement is a resource that could have been used to advance the regime’s agenda another way. The Iranian regime wouldn’t be making these investments if it was dissatisfied with the results.</p>
<p><em>This article was sponsored by the <a href="http://www.theird.org">Institute on Religion and Democracy.</a></em></p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>The Truth About Iran&#8217;s New &#8216;Centrist&#8217; President</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/majid-rafizadeh/the-truth-about-irans-new-centrist-president/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-truth-about-irans-new-centrist-president</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/majid-rafizadeh/the-truth-about-irans-new-centrist-president/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jun 2013 04:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Majid Rafizadeh]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hassan Rouhani]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[khomeini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=194441</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Exposing a Khomeini true believer. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hassan-Rouhani-press-conf-008.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-194443 alignleft" alt="Hassan Rouhani press conference" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hassan-Rouhani-press-conf-008.jpg" width="211" height="166" /></a>Western liberal media have recently contributed in creating the narrative that the newly-elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is the political figure destined to resolve Iran’s heightened political, economic, strategic, and diplomatic tensions with the Western world. Specifically, media suggest that Rouhani may solve Tehran’s nuclear defiance in the face of the international community, its stance towards Tel Aviv, its support for Assad’s brutal and authoritarian regime, as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s unconditional military, financial, intelligence, and advisory support to regional and international non-state actors classified as terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.</p>
<p>To support this argument, Western liberal media repeatedly make the following three points: first of all, they refer to Hassan Rouhani’s presidential campaign slogan, which is to pursue “constructive interaction” with the rest of the world, including the United States, Israel and European Union. Secondly, they refer to Rouhani’s nickname within Iran: “the Diplomatic Sheikh.” Thirdly, an overwhelming majority of liberal media assert that Rouhani is not an Islamist hardliner or traditionalist, but rather, a centrist. As a result, allegedly, a bright and promising era will commence for Tehran-Western relationships with Rouhani’s presidency.</p>
<p>It is crucial to address some of the significant inaccuracies that comprise the liberal narrative surrounding Iran’s newly-elected president. Hassan Rouhani is not a renegade reformer; rather, Rouhani is deeply woven in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s political fabric. If Hassan Rouhani’s background – including his personal life, Persian-written books and career – are closely examined, it becomes evident that he is one of the founding fathers of the Islamist regime. In his early ages as a teen, Rouhani took religious courses on Islamist and Sharia law and actively participated in anti-West, anti-U.S., anti-Israel, anti-“imperialism,” and anti-Shah campaigns as well as various religious extremists’ Shiite sermons. He caught the attention of Ayatollah Rooh Allah Khomeini – the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran – when he became an outspoken protester against the West, capitalism, democracy and the Shah. While gaining popularity among the Islamic Shiite fundamentalists, Rouhani then became the mouthpiece of Ayatollah Khomeini.</p>
<p>Rouhani received a significant welcome by Iran’s Islamist establishment and clerics. He was then particularly quick to climb the theocratic political ladder, first serving in Iran’s new parliament and then monitoring the state media where he was responsible for censoring any kind of information that was perceived as detrimental to the ruling of the clerics and Ayatollahs. Afterwards, he built a strong friendship with Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is currently sought by the Argentinian government for ordering the 1994 AMIA bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Rouhani was then appointed as Rafsanjani’s top national security adviser during his 1989-97 presidential tenure. Additionally, Rouhani has also served as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.</p>
<p>Moreover, before becoming president, Rouhani was promoted during his political career to become the representative and mouthpiece of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – the current most powerful hardliner in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since 1989, Rouhani served as the Supreme Leader’s representative in the Supreme National Security Council. He has also been member of other fundamentalist and Islamist institutions in Iran, including the Assembly of Experts since 1999,the Expediency Council since 1991, and head of the Center for Strategic Research since 1992.</p>
<p>Additionally, and most significantly, the fact that Rouhani was qualified by Iran’s authoritarian Guardian Council – which barred 98% of the candidates from running for the 2013 presidency –sends a formidable indication that he is ideologically aligned with the Islamist fundamentalists. Moreover, when Rouhani was the top nuclear negotiator and advisor to the Supreme Leader, he and Iranian leaders continued to defy the international community, arm Assad’s regime, spin the centrifuges, enrich their nuclear program and provide financial, military, advisory and intelligence support to terrorist groups. It is thus unrealistic to argue that Rouhani will alter his fundamental Islamist ideologies and become an advocate for human rights, democracy, and secularism overnight.</p>
<p>Finally, in his most recent speeches after his election as the 11<sup>th</sup> president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Rouhani has already clearly stated the Islamic Republic of Iran’s inalienable right to continue enriching its nuclear program, spin its centrifuges and obtain nuclear capabilities. He also has yet to even slightly condemn Assad’s violent suppression on citizens, which has thus far caused more than 93,000 deaths. Any political figure or cleric who is allowed to become the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran comes from the Islamist establishment.</p>
<p><strong>Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=david+horowitz&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&amp;qid=1316459840&amp;rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&amp;sort=daterank">Click here</a>.</strong></p>
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		<title>Is Chatter about Attack on Iran Dangerous for Israel?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-puder/is-chatter-about-attack-on-iran-dangerous-for-israel/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=is-chatter-about-attack-on-iran-dangerous-for-israel</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:03:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joseph Puder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic  Republic]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Leon Panetta]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=122174</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Could the Islamic Republic use threats as an excuse to strike first? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/229253-iran.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-122257" title="229253-iran" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/229253-iran.gif" alt="" width="375" height="252" /></a></p>
<p>The chatter about a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has become loud and dangerous.  At one point the Netanyahu government found the extensive discussion related to an imminent Israeli attack on Iran useful, as it expedited Western action against Iran in the form of tougher sanctions.  However, all this talk may now put Israel in a dangerous position wherein Iran may use it as a pretext to strike first.</p>
<p>A February 2 report in the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-israel-preparing-to-attack-iran/2012/02/02/gIQANjfTkQ_story.html">Washington Post</a> that stated “U.S. Secretary of Defense is concerned Israel will launch an attack before Iran enters so-called ‘immunity zone’ when military strike won’t bust Iran’s nuclear facilities.”  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is reported as saying that he believes that Israel will attack Iran in April, May or June.  The Washington Post’s David Ignatius wrote that Panetta thinks that Israel will attack because after the ‘immunity zone’ expires the nuclear facilities will be heavily fortified and a military strike will no longer succeed.</p>
<p>On Sunday, February 5, 2012 President Obama was interviewed on NBC-TV during the Super Bowl pre-game show. In the interview, Obama contradicted his Defense Secretary, saying he “does not think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran over the disputed nuclear program.” The president added, “I don’t think Israel has made a decision on what they need to do, we are going to make sure that we work in <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72479.html">lockstep</a>, as we proceed to try to solve this &#8211; hopefully, diplomatically.”</p>
<p>In an Earlier NBC program top figures in the U.S. and Israeli defense establishments were interviewed and confirmed that Israel has long-range Jericho missiles whose warheads can penetrate Iran’s nuclear facilities.  According to these experts, while the warheads will be conventional and not nuclear, their accuracy can be depended upon. They further suggested that Israel would employ F-15i fighter planes along with the Jericho missiles that have a range of 2400 kilometers. In addition, they speculated, Israel would use its drones, and flight paths that would conserve fuel consumption.  The experts believe that Israel will not employ cruise missiles from its submarines since Israel does not have enough of them in its arsenal.</p>
<p>According to this same report, Israel would target only those facilities which are critical to Iran’s nuclear bomb weaponization strategy.  American military experts believe that such an attack would delay Iran’s nuclear development by at least two to four years.  Israeli experts however estimate that the attack will set back the Iranian plans three to five years, and that if Iran persists in its plans to acquire a bomb, Israel would then attack again in four years.</p>
<p>U.S. Intelligence assessments prepared in the summer of 2011 concluded that any Israeli attack on hardened nuclear sites in Iran would go far beyond airstrikes from F-15 and F-16 fighter planes and likely include <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/israel-secret-iran-attack-plan-232800176.html">electronic warfare</a> against Iran’s electric grid, internet cables, cell phone network, and emergency frequencies for firemen and police officers.</p>
<p>Israel, according to these intelligence sources, has developed a weapon capable of mimicking a maintenance cell phone signal that commands a cell network to “sleep;” thus stopping transmissions.  The Israelis, they suggest, have jammers capable of creating interference within Iran’s emergency frequencies for first responders.</p>
<p>Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking at the Herzliya Conference on February 3, 2012, stated that “if <a href="http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?ID=256298">sanctions</a> don’t achieve the desired goal of stopping Iran’s military nuclear program, there will be a need to consider taking action.”  Barak views Iran as nearing the stage “which may render any physical strike as impractical,” and he said, “A nuclear Iran will be more complicated to deal with, more dangerous and more costly in blood then if it were stopped today.  In other words, he who says in English ‘later’ may find that later is too late.”</p>
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		<title>The Mullahs’ History of Assassination</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/john-thompson-and-sara-akrami/the-mullahs%e2%80%99-history-of-assassination/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-mullahs%25e2%2580%2599-history-of-assassination</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:40:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Thompson and Sara Akrami]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Thirty-three years of terror.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Mullahs.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-120990" title="Mullahs" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Mullahs.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="180" /></a></p>
<p>The deaths of the Iranian defence scientists have allowed the regime in Tehran to weep copious tears and sputter outrage about the inequity of assassination as a political tool.  One might think the more natural reaction there might be envy.  Assassination has been one of the outreach tools of the ayatollahs and their regime in Iran since the early days of the Revolution. When the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, it had two strategies to eliminate its opponents.  At home, it killed its internal opponents – killing 7,900 of them in its first five years alone using techniques many totalitarian regimes have employed, such as, mass executions, tortures, disappearances, and “accidents”. Abroad, it used its embassies and cultural offices to host killers and sent them out after prominent critics.  Many of these critics living overseas were Iranian intellectuals and activists who had escaped from Iran after the establishment of the regime.  In addition to employing terror against its own citizens and émigrés, the Iranian government has also claimed victims from other nationalities.  The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the world’s most significant sponsors of terrorism.  During its 33 years of existence, it has continually instigated violence elsewhere and pursued indirect war through the use of terrorism throughout the Middle East, Africa, and both North and South America.</p>
<p>Although the Islamic Republic of Iran officials claim that terrorism is strange to them, an immense weight of evidence shows that orchestrated terrorism outside Iran is a major factor in practice of the regime.  The first victims of the Iranian government terrorism were Shahriar Shafigh, the Shah of Iran’s nephew who was assassinated in 1979 in Paris and Ali Akbar Tabatabai, the former press attaché of the Iranian embassy in the United States under the Shah of Iran who was assassinated in 1980 in Washington.  The assassination of Ali Akbar Tabatabai was committed by David Belfield or Dawud Salahuddin, an African-American who converted to Islam and after the assassination fled to Iran.  In 2001, Dawud Salahuddin acted as the major character of the movie Kandahar, directed by one of the Iranian regime’s filmmakers Mohsen Makhmalbaf.  After the first assassinations, many other Iranian dissidents were killed in different parts of the world.</p>
<p>Among the dead are, Dr. Shahpour Bakhtiar (the last Prime Minister of the Shah of Iran), Dr. Abdol Rahman Ghassemlou (the Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran), General Gholam Ali Oveisi (Tehran military governor), Fereydoun Farrokhzad (the famous Iranian showman, singer, and poet), and many other.  One of the more notorious attacks by the agents of the Iranian government against its dissidents occurred in Mykonos restaurant in Berlin, Germany in 1992 that caused the murder of Sadegh Sharafkandi (the Secretary General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran) and his representatives and translator, Fattah Abdoli, Homayoun Ardalan, and Nouri Dehkordi.  In April 10, 1997, the Berlin court announced that this assassination was plotted by Ali Khamenei (Iran Supreme Leader), Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Iran former President), and Ali Fallahian (Iran former Minister of Intelligence).  Two of the terrorists were Kazem Darabi, an Iranian who lived in Berlin and Abbas Rhayel, a Lebanese terrorist and a member of the Hezballah organization.  Other Iranian and Lebanese terrorists were able to escape to Iran and Lebanon.</p>
<p>One of the most significant examples of the terrorist activities of the Iranian government against non-Iranians was the truck bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994.  The Iranian government directed this terrorist activity through the terrorist group Hezballah.  This was one of the deadliest bombings to have ever occurred in Argentina, killing 85 people and injuring 300.  A major motive behind this atrocity seems to have been the suspension of a nuclear technology transfer agreement between Iran and Argentina.  According to Argentine judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, the terrorists who were involved in this act were six Iranians (including Ahmad Reza Asghari, the third Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran Embassy in Buenos Aires, who used to work for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard before being posted to Argentina) and one Lebanese man.  Evidence suggests that the terrorist attack was planned in 1993, when Ahmad Reza Asghari attended a meeting with the former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his deputies.</p>
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		<title>The Revolution Within</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/joseph-puder/the-revolution-within/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-revolution-within</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:06:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joseph Puder]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[How the Iranian Freedom Institute and the Green Youth can topple the Iranian regime  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/gallery-iranelection5.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-62060" title="gallery-iranelection5" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/gallery-iranelection5-300x192.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="192" /></a></p>
<p>Amir Abbas Fakhravar, 35, is a “graduate” of the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.  His friendly and youthful exterior hides a painful period of torture and isolation for five years &#8211; including 8 months in solitary confinement. When you ask Amir about his state of mind following his harrowing experience, he shrugs his shoulders saying “they broke my wrist, my knee, and few bones, but never broke my spirit.”</p>
<p>Fakhravar arrived in the U.S. four years ago and found no coherent voices speaking for the Iranian opposition movement.  “I thought that the Iranian opposition had an organization here, but nothing existed in 2006.” And when he gathered some of the opposition figures, he quickly learned that they had little information about the real situation in Iran.  Even more dismaying, according to Fakhravar, was the ignorance of U.S. policy makers regarding Iran.</p>
<p>With mentoring from Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration (1981-1987), and currently a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and critical help from Philadelphia’s Craig Snider, who has dedicated himself to fight for freedom and democracy for the Iranian people, Fakhravar established the Iranian Freedom Institute (IFI).</p>
<p>The Iranian Freedom Institute &#8211; a Washington DC based think tank, has set its goal to inform and educate American policy-makers, and the public in general, on the real state-of-affairs inside Iran.  Utilizing the latest technology, the IFI hopes to influence U.S. policy towards Iran, and simultaneously, educate the freedom-loving people of Iran who are living under a brutal dictatorship.</p>
<p>Affiliated with the IFI is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) – created by Fakhravar and Arzhang Davoodi, a teacher, writer and the co- founder of Confederation of Iranian Students (who also spent six years in Islamic Republic jails and still has nine more years to serve).  Earlier in 1994 while he was in medical school (he subsequently graduated from law school), Fakhravar helped in establishing the Independent Student movement in Tehran.  Fakhravar and Davoodi proceeded to form the nucleus of an independent worldwide student organization.  In 2002 they organized a student conference and three-years later, they launched <a href="http://www.cistudents.com/">CIS</a>, which today has a membership of 6200 students.</p>
<p>The Confederation of Iranian Students should not be confused with the Islamic Republic’s student organization cautions Fakhravar, which was created by the mullah regime, paid for by them, and run by them, according to Fakhravar.</p>
<p>One of the CIS’s goals is to bring down the Islamic Republic dictatorship according to Fakhravar.  “We have a three step plan,” he says.  1. Show the Iranian people and the world that the ruling Iranian regime is not democratic but rather a brutal dictatorship.  “We have already succeeded on that part of the plan,” Fakhravar added.</p>
<p>The second goal is to “cut the lifeline of the mullahs in power” by pushing for a worldwide embargo on Iranian oil.  The $83 billion Iran earns from its oil sales is the only revenue that enables the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay for the nuclear program and provide the Revolutionary guards (RG) – the regime’s praetorian guards- with high incomes, which in turn insures their loyalty to the regime.</p>
<p>According to Fakhravar “if the regime fails to pay the RG salaries – which are three times the average, the RG, who have long lost their revolutionary fervor and have gotten used to the ‘good life,’ are more than likely to abandon the regime.”</p>
<p>Oil revenue is also used by the Islamic Republic to fund Hezbollah and Hamas operations against Israel, to subvert the Sunni-Arab Gulf regimes and, to build cells in Latin America. “Our aim is to request that the governments of the U.S. and Canada impose sanctions on North American and European companies who buy oil from the Iranian regime,” Fakhravar stated.  He added, “We also plan to present such proposals to the G-8 and the G-20 to place sanctions on their respective companies.”</p>
<p>The third part of the plan, as Fakhravar sees it, is to build a free, democratic, and secular Iran.  “We need in addition to our existing website to set up Internet, satellite TV, and radio stations in order to educate the Iranian people inside of Iran, and the opposition parties outside of Iran. “</p>
<p>According to Fakhravar, the Iranian opposition groups “are confused and they don’t know what they want.”  He quickly added, “We wrote a manifesto or call it a constitution for a new Iran.”  Fakhravar recruited lawyers from the Green movement as well as a number of judges to draft a new constitution for Iran.</p>
<p>The Green Movement in Iran brought 4.5 million demonstrators into the streets of Tehran last June and Fakhravar is confident that the people of Iran, especially the younger generation, want a change. He reminds those he speaks with that, “The Iranian people have been repressed for over 30 years, and they want freedom.”  Many of the young people in Iran are turned off by Islam as a result of the corruption and abuses by the Islamic regime.  In Iranian schools, Shiite-Islam is presented as superior to all other religions and they are taught that killing Jews, who are presented as sub-humans, is permitted.  Fakhravar has no doubt that the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad regime would test a nuclear bomb on Israel.</p>
<p>Iran is, however, a nation of young people.  70% of Iranians are under the age of 35 and these young people respect Israel and love America.   In recent demonstrations the young protesters used posters with a modification of the regime’s slogans – instead of “Down with Israel,” they crossed out the word Israel and replaced it with Russia.</p>
<p>During last year’s demonstrations in Tehran following the sham elections which gave Ahmadinejad a second term as President of Iran, the Green Youth shouted “Obama, are you with them (the regime) or with us.”  Obama’s decision to continue to negotiate with the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad Islamic regime gave this evil regime legitimacy, according to Fakhravar.</p>
<p>Asked about where he sees Iran in five years, Fakhravar replied, “We will have a free, democratic and secular Iran.  It will be a friend of Israel and an ally of the U.S. ”</p>
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		<title>Hanging Israel Out to Dry</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/larry-elder/hanging-israel-out-to-dry/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hanging-israel-out-to-dry</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Larry Elder]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Obama turns his back on the only safe-haven of freedom in the Middle East.  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/1269443148obama_netanyahu_wash_nyt.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-62062" title="1269443148obama_netanyahu_wash_nyt" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/1269443148obama_netanyahu_wash_nyt-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p>
<p>Vice President Joe Biden, wrong on virtually every major foreign policy issue since his election to the Senate in 1972, nailed this one: He warned that actors on the international stage would test the new, inexperienced President.</p>
<p>He knew that President Barack Obama&#8217;s enemies would perceive his strength-through-peace (versus peace-through-strength) approach as weakness. They do and are acting accordingly.</p>
<p>Candidate Obama vowed to hold high-level talks with Iran and North Korea without &#8220;preconditions.&#8221; Obama promised a &#8220;reset&#8221; of all things President George W. Bush, with no more talk of &#8220;victory&#8221; in Iraq and Afghanistan. He reneged on the promised missile shield defense in Poland and the Czech Republic. He waits for countries like China and Russia, both of which have business interests in Iran, to agree to &#8220;tough, crippling&#8221; sanctions.</p>
<p>The President dropped the term &#8220;war on terror&#8221; and refuses to call Islamofascists &#8220;Islamofascists.&#8221; He apologetically says America is vital in maintaining world peace &#8220;whether we like it or not.&#8221; He sent a videotaped message to Iran telling of our willingness to re-engage the country — if only it would unclench its fist. It unclenched more time for Iran to pursue a nuclear bomb. The administration was painfully slow to acknowledge that the Times Square truck bomb attempt involved foreign Islamic terrorists.</p>
<p>The administration chastised Israel for settlement construction in an area of east Jerusalem that President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush and even Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat assumed would be part of Israel in any peace agreement. During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s state visit, Obama treated him worse than a White House dinner gate-crasher.</p>
<p>How&#8217;s the hope and change working out?</p>
<p>North Korea, in an act of war, sank a South Korean ship. Iran may now have sufficient materiel and technical knowledge to build a nuclear bomb. The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah — under the nose of United Nations &#8220;peacekeepers&#8221; — continues to stock southern Lebanon with weapons that threaten Israel.</p>
<p>Now comes the anti-Israel &#8220;humanitarian&#8221; flotilla.</p>
<p>After Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, the terror group Hamas seized power. Israel and Egypt began a naval blockade of ships in and out of Gaza. Though Israel had uprooted every Israeli settler from Gaza, Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel, a bombardment that continues today.</p>
<p>Israel already sends humanitarian aid into Gaza and allows others to do so.</p>
<p>Israel even agreed to allow the supposed humanitarian flotilla cargo to enter, provided Israeli security could check it for weapons. And never mind that some of the flotilla&#8217;s &#8220;humanitarian activists&#8221; appear to have ties to terror organizations.</p>
<p>The flotilla&#8217;s attempt to run the blockade resulted in nine deaths when the Israeli military boarded ships to inspect the cargo. As Israel&#8217;s enemies hoped, Israel stands accused of a &#8220;disproportionate&#8221; response.</p>
<p>But why the flotilla now?</p>
<p>The most significant intervening event is the election of President Obama. Now Israel&#8217;s most important ally considers Israeli intransigence the principal obstacle to peace with the Palestinians in particular and in the Middle East in general. The activists got the message: Israel is on the defensive.</p>
<p>Israel, with good reason, feels alone.</p>
<p>Obama, like Bush in his second term, seems willing to accept a nuclear-armed Iran — even as Iran threatens Israel with annihilation. Obama apparently considers a nuclear-armed Iran inevitable, even if it ignites a regional nuclear arms race — since Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan fear Iran more than they do Israel.</p>
<p>Give Obama credit for continuing many of Bush&#8217;s policies. Gitmo remains open, the administration finally understanding that the prison exists for a reason. He continued rendition, the terror surveillance program and the increased use of drone predators in Pakistan. He used the same &#8220;state secrets&#8221; argument to fight courtroom disclosure of sources and methods. He increased troop strength in Afghanistan and continues the Bush &#8220;clear and hold&#8221; strategy for that country and Iraq.</p>
<p>But Jimmy Carter governed as a strength-through-peace president. He pressured the Shah of Iran to release &#8220;political prisoners.&#8221; The shah was toppled, only to be followed by the repressive and threatening Islamic Republic of Iran. Carter urged Americans to abandon their &#8220;inordinate fear of communism.&#8221; Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev considered Carter weak and rewarded him by invading Afghanistan. This triggered a chain reaction from which the world continues to suffer. The Arabs and Muslims who fought to expel the Soviet Union then turned on the United States and the West in a grand plan for an Islamic world.</p>
<p>Israel&#8217;s response to the flotilla was an act of self-defense. The Western world&#8217;s reaction has been shameful. Western countries once again fail to distinguish the arsonist from the firefighter.</p>
<p>In 1962, the United States imposed a naval blockade — a &#8220;quarantine&#8221; — on Cuba. What would we have done to a &#8220;humanitarian&#8221; flotilla determined to help Fidel Castro place Soviet missiles 90 miles from Florida?</p>
<p><em>Larry Elder is a syndicated radio talk show host and best-selling author. His latest book, &#8220;What&#8217;s Race Got to Do with It?&#8221; is available now. To find out more about Larry Elder, visit his Web page at www.WeveGotACountryToSav</em><em>e.com.</em></p>
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		<title>Fighting for a Free Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/jamie-glazov/fighting-for-a-free-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=fighting-for-a-free-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jamie Glazov]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=61895</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An American daughter of Iranian immigrants speaks of her dream and battle to liberate her homeland. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/lisa.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61897" title="lisa" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/lisa.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="444" /></a></p>
<p>Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Lisa Daftari, a journalist specializing in Iranian affairs.  She is a guest contributor on Fox News and has been published in Frontpage Magazine, Washington Post, CBS.com, NBC, Voice of America, and PBS.  She communicates with individuals living in Iran and tells their stories.  In 2006, she was invited to show her documentary on bringing regime change to Iran to a subcommittee of Congress.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> Lisa Daftari, welcome to Frontpage Interview.</p>
<p>Tell us about your work in regards to Iran and what inspires you to engage in it.</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>As a journalist, I am drawn to human stories, particularly ones that demonstrate the effects that society and politics have on ordinary peoples’ lives. In the case of Iran, these stories are quite numerous and revealing. Whether it is a story about a young girl who was arrested for her voicing her political views or a father of two who is forced to work four jobs just to put food on the table, I think these stories are the best ways to understand the struggles of the Iran people right now.  It is a well-known fact that the Islamic Republic is a radical, fundamentalist and unjust government, but through talking to the Iranian people and understanding their lives can we better grasp how this regime plays a role in daily routine of the people.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>What has drawn you to Iran?</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>Obviously my background, as an Iranian-American, has played a significant role in fostering my passion and interest in the area. Every time I had a research assignment or paper in school, I would find some way to do my project on Iran.  Growing up, I was incredibly cognizant of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, or the <em>Enghelab</em>, the word for revolution in Farsi. I knew that it had changed the fate of my family significantly and that is how we found ourselves living in this country.  My family, like many other Iranian families, shared these conversations and anecdotes at the dinner table. My siblings and I felt a deep nostalgia for a time period we did not live through and yearned to understand and experience that time for ourselves. Later when I became a journalist, I wanted to tell human stories in the backdrop of larger social, political and cultural issues. Clearly, starting with my own people felt most natural, particularly when the Iranian people experienced their most crucial historic moment only 30 years ago.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Tell us a bit about the<strong> </strong>radical, fundamentalist and unjust government that rules over Iranians.</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>The Iranian people see their government as an imported entity; a group of fundamentalists whose beliefs in radical Islam are stronger than their nationalistic ties to the country.  This clashes strongly against a large population of Iranians who consider themselves extremely patriotic. We also have to remember that Iran is made up of a rich cross section of various religions, cultures and dialects. Obviously there is no government that can represent them all, yet they share and celebrate the Iranian culture and old heritage they have in common.</p>
<p>Above all, this regime, cloaked in religious fundamentalism, angers the people with its hypocritical actions. They deny the people so many of their basic rights, yet we have extensive evidence of their own indulgent lifestyles. We know of their lavish vacations around the world, their lucrative real estate portfolios, their international bank accounts storing millions of dollars, and their access to some of the world’s best universities for their children.  The people of Iran are savvy and resent the double standards.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> You have researched the Iranian American community and its evolvement over the last 30 years. Can you enlighten us a bit on your findings and observations?</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>The Iranian American community has developed an extremely unique dual identity. Over the last thirty years, many of these Iranians had lost hope in ever going back to their homeland, and likewise in ever seeing this government change. The result has been an Iranian American community that has emerged quite successfully. They are represented in all types of occupations and areas of business.  They have excelled in politics, music, film, fashion, real estate and technology.  They have raised their American born children to share an unwavering allegiance to the United States. In June however, it was remarkable to see how invested even American born Iranians were in the fate of their inherited homeland.  In large cities across the U.S., Iranians and Iranian Americans gathered by the thousands to stand in solidarity with the protestors in Iran.  They felt a real glimmer of hope with this political impetus that really moved the community.  They had been waiting for such a moment for a long time.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> We know of course that Iranians are still bravely protesting and being tortured every day. The fascists who rule the country are cracked down on the protests and continue to crack down viciously and sadistically. Your thoughts? What’s coming up?</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>Many describe the Iranian people at the time of the protests as a pot that boiled over. The impetus, or better yet, the excuse, was frustration over a fraudulent election, but the reality was that the Iranian people, both in Iran and abroad, had been waiting three decades for such a moment. With every breach of justice, with every hanging, with every whip that slashed down on an innocent woman’s arm, for every stone that was violently hurled at a young Iranian’s head, the grievances had amassed.</p>
<p>Since last June, Iranians came out in protest during holidays and other commemorative days, particularly those momentous to the regime. They came out on these days to show that their grievances are directly against the regime.  By protesting on Islamic holidays and on days special to the Islamic Republic, they made a stand against the government and what it stands for. The people of Iran are incredibly nationalistic. They are patriotic and their Iranian heritage runs deeper and stronger than anything else.</p>
<p>We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of those protests, and Iranians are organizing for smaller demonstrations.  We are seeing an evolving Iranian force, partly as a result of the threats that the regime has made against those who come out and partly because the Iranians realize that to be shot at, beaten and rounded up and taken to prison is not going to be the avenue to freedom. The main issue for the protestors is and has been a lack of leadership and strategy.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> Why is it, in your perspective, important to talk about Iran in the context of its people and their experiences and disenchantment?</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>In the case of Iran, it is imperative to get to know the people, their struggles, their experiences and what they really want going forward. The Iranian people are multi-faceted. Iran is such a vast country that has varying religions, dialects and sub-cultures that create a rich cross-section of Iranian culture. In the past, many would erroneously group together the Iranian people together with their regime, but since the elections, I think it has become quite clear that that is not the case.  The people of Iran have a 30-year-old story to tell. Everyone in Iran is and has been dramatically affected by the political landscape in the country; just as the lives of Iranian Americans and Iranians living anywhere else in the world have been remarkably shaped by the political on-goings of the last three decades.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> What are the chances that the Iranian people can overthrow the despots who have them imprisoned? How can we best help the Iranian people to do so?</p>
<p><strong>Daftari: </strong>If we were to look at the Iranian dilemma as a social one in addition to a political one, it has become obvious that the people of Iran have and will continue to further out-grow their government. Although this regime has only been around for 30 years, as a result of the Ayatollah Khomeini-backed baby boom following the Iran Iraq War, almost 70% of Iran’s population was born under this regime. That is a very significant statistic. It means that an overwhelming majority of the country is young, modern, and under the age of 30. Even though living under the confines of a theocracy is the only life they know, many of these young people are overtly disenchanted with their government.  Overthrowing, or maybe better stated, shaking this government is inevitable. Their grievances are specific and prevent them from living a normal life on a daily basis.  They just want to live normal lives and be free to blog, to sign onto Yahoo or Google, to walk down the street with their boyfriends and girlfriends, to go to college despite not having any connections to the clergy, etc.</p>
<p>There is a lot of pressure on the youth of Iran, and that is what is propelling them to go out to the streets in demonstration. They want better, and they know it is out there. The Iranian people are smart, savvy, intellectual people who refuse to be represented by fundamentalist, tyrannical leaders who are holding them back. Whether it is through demonstrations or any other way they can voice their frustrations, they will continue to do so until change is brought about.  There’s a lot of hopelessness, and that’s what this struggle is about. <strong> </strong></p>
<p>The question that is frequently asked of the Iranian people is: What can the rest of the world do to support them in this struggle? I think the answer has always been to unconditionally support them. It would mean to educate oneself about what is going on in the region, to ask for Iran stories when the subject suddenly escapes the media, to ask questions of elected government officials, and as taxpayers, to interrogate the United Nations on not taking a serious stance on Iran and its nuclear agenda.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> Lisa Daftari, thank you for joining us.</p>
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		<title>Symposium: The World&#8217;s Most Wanted: A “Moderate Islam”</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/jamie-glazov/symposium-the-worlds-most-wanted-a-%e2%80%9cmoderate-islam-%e2%80%9d/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=symposium-the-worlds-most-wanted-a-%25e2%2580%259cmoderate-islam-%25e2%2580%259d</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 27 May 2010 04:40:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jamie Glazov]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Four top experts on Islamic theology battle it out on whether a democratic and liberal Islam exists -- or can exist.  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/muslim1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61239" title="muslim" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/muslim1.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="221" /></a></p>
<p>In this special edition of Frontpage Symposium, we have invited four distinguished guests to discuss the question: Is there a moderate Islam? Our guests today are:</p>
<p><strong>Timothy Furnish</strong>, a former U.S. Army Arabic interrogator, he is a consultant and author with a Ph.D. in Islamic History. He is currently working on a book on modern Muslim plans to resurrect the caliphate. His website, dedicated to Islamic eschatology, is <a href="http://www.mahdiwatch.org/" target="_blank">www.mahdiwatch.org</a></p>
<p><strong>Tawfik Hamid</strong>, an Islamic thinker and reformer who is the author of <em>Inside Jihad: Understanding and Confronting Radical Islam. </em>A one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt, he was a member of <em>Jemaah Islamiya,</em> a terrorist Islamic organization, with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who later became the second in command of al-Qaeda. He is currently a senior fellow and chairman of the study of Islamic radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.<em> </em></p>
<p><strong>M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.</strong> is the President and Founder of the <a href="http://www.aifdemocracy.org/" target="_blank">American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD).</a> A devout Muslim, he served 11 years as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. He is a nationally recognized expert in the contest of ideas against political Islam, American Islamist organizations, and the Muslim Brotherhood. He regularly briefs members of the House and Senate congressional anti-terror caucuses and has served as a guest lecturer on Islam to deploying officers at the Joint Forces Staff College.  Dr. Jasser was presented with the 2007 Director’s Community Leadership Award by the Phoenix office of the FBI and was recognized as a “Defender of the Home Front” by the Center for Security Policy. He recently narrated the documentary <em><a href="http://www.thethirdjihad.com/" target="_blank">The Third Jihad</a></em>, produced by PublicScope Films. His chapter, <em>Americanism vs. Islamism</em> is featured in the recently released book, <a href="http://www.aifdemocracy.org/news.php?id=5587" target="_blank">The Other Muslims</a> (Palgrave-Macmillan) edited by Zeyno Baran.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p><strong>Robert Spencer</strong>, a scholar of Islamic history, theology, and law and the director of Jihad Watch. He is the author of ten books, eleven monographs, and hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism, including the New York Times Bestsellers <em>The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)</em> and <em>The Truth About Muhammad</em>. His latest book, <em>The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran</em>, is available now from Regnery Publishing, and he is coauthor (with Pamela Geller) of the forthcoming book <em>The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America</em> (Simon and Schuster).</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> Timothy Furnish, Tawfik Hamid, Dr.  M. Zuhdi Jasser and Robert Spencer, welcome to Frontpage Symposium.</p>
<p>Dr. Furnish, let me begin with you. Robert Spencer recently entered <a href="http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/03/16/does-moderate-islam-exist-a-reply-to-john-guardiano/">a debate at NewsReal Blog</a> where he argued that there is no moderate Islam. What is your perspective on his argument?</p>
<p><strong>Furnish:</strong> I find myself in the curious (and somewhat uncomfortable) position of disagreeing with my friend Robert Spencer, for whom I have the utmost respect and with whom I almost always totally agree. However, on this issue of whether moderate Islam exists, I think Robert may be missing something.</p>
<p>He is exactly right that Sunni Islam&#8211;whence comes directly Salafism, Wahhabism and jihadism&#8211;promotes violence against non-Muslims in order to make Islam paramount over the entire planet.  I have no quarrel with that stance. But I would argue that this is largely because within this majority branch of Islam the only acceptable exegetical paradigm regarding the Qur&#8217;an is a literalist one: and of course when passages such as &#8220;behead the unbeliever&#8221; [Suras 47:3 and 8:12] are read literally the good Muslim had better reach for his sword&#8211;or be rightly accused of infidelity to Allah&#8217;s Word.</p>
<p>However, perhaps because Robert is so well-versed in the theology of Islam, as opposed to the historical record of how that religious theory has been acted out on the stage of history, he seems to overlook the key fact on the ground that certain minorities within Islam have developed a non-literalist, even allegorical, approach to reading the Qur&#8217;an. Foremost among these moderates are the Isma`ilis, the Sevener Shi`is, whose global head is the philanthropical Aga Khan.  Isma&#8217;ilis may number only in the tens of millions (out of the total Muslim community of some 1.3 billion, second only to Christianity&#8217;s 2+ billion), but they do exist and they define, for example, jihad not as killing or conquering unbelievers, but as economic development and charity work.</p>
<p>In general, all branches of Shi`ism (which makes up perhaps 15% of the world&#8217;s Muslims), including the Twelvers of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, allow the practice of ijtihad, &#8220;independent theological-legal judgment&#8221;&#8211;which is decidedly not the case for Sunnism. And while this has allowed for the ayatollahs to come up with negative novelties such as vilayet-i faqih (Khomeini&#8217;s &#8220;rule of the jurisconsult&#8221;), it also leaves the door open to non-literal exegesis of the anachronistic passages of the Qur&#8217;an.</p>
<p>Even within Sunnism, many of the Sufi (Islamic mystic) orders are more akin to the Shi`i than the woodenly literalist Sunnis in their exegesis. (Yet I would not go as far as Stephen Schwartz, who in his book <em>The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony</em> thinks Sufis are basically &#8220;Quakers with beards&#8221; and sees them as the antidote to jihadists.  This rosy view overlooks the historical facts of the many jihads led by Sufi shaykhs and fought by Sufi adherents over the centuries.)</p>
<p>Today, many Sufis are non-literalists and focus on the batini, &#8220;inner&#8221; or &#8220;esoteric&#8221; meaning of the Qur&#8217;anic verses rather than on the zahiri, &#8220;outward&#8221; or &#8220;exoteric&#8221;&#8211;i.e., literal&#8211;meaning as Bin Ladin and his ilk do.  Another sect of Islam that is rather moderate in its approach to the Qur&#8217;an is the Barelwi (or Barelvi) one in India and the U.K.</p>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/03/muslim-leaders-edict-decries-terrorism/">the recent 600-page &#8220;anti-terrorism&#8221; fatwa</a> that received much media adoration was written by Muhammad Tahir al-Qadri, a Barelwi.  As I observe in the &#8220;Washington Times&#8221; article, al-Qadri&#8217;s adherence to what is essentially a sect of Islam makes it very problematic that his fatwa will have any major effect on the jihadists in the short term&#8211;but, over time, if enough sectarian Muslims keep condemning the purely literalist approach to Islam&#8217;s holy book, perhaps Islam might enter into its own much needed Enlightenment, or at least Reformation.  But it&#8217;s clear from these examples that moderate Islam, not just moderate Muslims, truly does exist&#8211;even if often in a minority, often persecuted, status.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Spencer:</strong> In all this my friend Timothy Furnish, whose work I admire, is entirely correct. That is why I am always careful to say that there is no &#8220;mainstream&#8221; sect of Islam, or one that is generally recognized as orthodox by Muslim sects in general, that does not teach the necessity to make war against and subjugate unbelievers. But I am not sure that the existence of Muslims who are generally considered heretics and persecuted for their heresy, which often consists precisely of their rejection or reconstitution of the jihad doctrine, constitutes the existence of a &#8220;moderate Islam&#8221; upon which Westerners should place any hope. The likelihood that these groups are going to stop being persecuted minorities and eventually attain mainstream status without abjuring exactly the elements of their beliefs that make them appealing to Westerners is slim at best.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Dr. Jasser?<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Jasser: </strong>Jamie. Thank you for including me. Let me start by addressing the premise of your initial question to Dr. Furnish regarding his opinion on Robert Spencer’s assertion that, “there is no moderate Islam.”</p>
<p>In my experience, there is a significant distinction globally between “Islam” as a personal spiritual faith (a personal <em>submission</em> to God, if you will), and the “House of Islam” which more broadly includes the entire human corpus of Islamic scholarship, knowledge (ilm) and jurisprudence (shar’iah) as espoused by leading global Islamic jurists and thought leaders (a <em>‘submission’</em> to the House of Islam if you will). As a devout Muslim I believe in the former in my personal relationship with God, but as an anti-Islamist I reject any “submission” to the latter which is human. Certainly, academe is central to understanding and effectively reforming Islamic thought against salafism. But my identification with the Islamic faith as a Muslim in no way obligates me or any Muslim to drink the Kool-aid of the Islamists even if they do control most Muslim institutions globally.</p>
<p>For those trying to pigeon-hole my Islamic philosophy, I am a devout Muslim raised in my youth in a conservative, orthodox, Sunni Muslim family in a small town in Wisconsin. I am neither an ideological mutation nor was I born in a vacuum. My parents escaped the despotic fascist regime of Syria in the mid-1960’s seeking the liberty and freedom of America. My grandparents were also conservative Muslims who raised their children to have a strong moral character and ethical upbringing free of corruption and grounded in Islam but not political Islam. Those values as a force for good, under God, were transmitted down our familial generations. While the specifics of our faith arose out of the Sunni tradition, the overarching ideas included some diverse Islamic  influences ranging from Sufi to orthodox to Quranist to name a few. Significant diversity existed within our family as it did among many other intellectuals from Syria. But there was also agreement on core moral principles and liberty. These modernists, moderates, and liberals have been lost in the intellectual wasteland of the battle between the likes of the secular thugs of the Assads of the world and the radical Islamists of the Ikhwan.</p>
<p>To pigeon-hole many Muslims into one theological construct is misleading given the lack of any Islamic mandate for a “Church” which communicates or excommunicates Sunni members. Many of the sects Tim describes have this type of regimented circumscribed Islam with fealty to their leaders that gives the sect’s thought leaders better control on the central message. However, most Sunnis I know (non-Islamists) do not have such a fealty to any specific imam or school and are profoundly decentralized.</p>
<p>Now certainly the Wahhabis and Salafists of the world practice takfir (defining who is and who is not Muslim) in an effort to control “membership” and ideology in the faith community. However, we, as anti-Islamists reject takfir and will not give up the domain of Islam to Islamists.</p>
<p>The reasons for the pre-Enlightenment fossilization of thought in Muslim majority countries are many. They include a need for deep generational reform of theology (Islamist foundations of Islam), education (illiteracy and lack of western influence),  economics (the lack of free markets), politics (the absence of democratic principles of real liberty with control by monarchs, theocrats, and autocrats), and culture (an endemic suffocating tribalism).</p>
<p>Many devout Muslims, like most youth, establish our moral compass of life under God within our superego long before we had the knowledge or the skill to investigate scriptural Qur’anic or Hadith exegesis. Thus, the moral lens through which we interpret our scripture is long established before we could ever fall prey to the fascist radical Islamic interpretations. But many are not immune to the supremacism of Islamism. There is a dire need for moderates to reinterpret the Qur’an and Hadith and dismiss ideas or sira not commensurate with modernity. (See <a href="http://www.fsmarchives.org/article.php?id=1269096" target="_blank">Part I</a>, <a href="http://www.fsmarchives.org/article.php?id=1324805" target="_blank">Part II</a>, <a href="http://www.fsmarchives.org/article.php?id=1330087" target="_blank">Part III</a> and <a href="http://www.fsmarchives.org/article.php?id=1336543" target="_blank">Part IV</a>)</p>
<p>I use the same non-political, anti-Islamist construct of Islam I learned from my parents to teach my own children about our faith while preserving conservative values not in conflict with American law or loyalty. That ultimately was why we formed our <a href="http://www.aifdemocracy.org/" target="_blank">American Islamic Forum for Democracy</a> in 2003 dedicated to defeating the root cause of terrorism- political Islam.</p>
<p>Tim and Robert and others may view this as heresy or marginal thought in Islam. I would disagree, but also admit that it is not predominant among the thought leaders of Sunni Islam. So the crux of the question is who and what defines Islam – all Muslims or only the subset of Muslims who are clerics? I do believe that it is a majority if not a significant plurality of Muslims that reject political Islam. We do obviously have a lot of work to prove this assertion. Our ideas are harder to find than those of the Islamists—so yes, ‘Houston, we do have a problem.&#8217;</p>
<p>But, our anti-Islamist reform can only happen against political Islam from a bottom up (lay to cleric) approach rather than the top down (cleric to lay) approach which Tim and Robert appear to be seeking. History shows that other reformation movements in Europe occurred that way when combined with a political liberty movement. Again, attempting to pigeon-hole the Muhammad Al-Qadri’s of the world as a &#8216;sect&#8217; does not help their movements and rather makes their fate sealed as marginal within the ‘House of Islam’.</p>
<p>The majority of the ulemaa (scholars) of the “House of Islam” are controlled by Islamists who use an authoritative shar’iah which is incompatible with the ideas of liberty and the separation of mosque and state. This is especially true for the hubs of central influence in Sunni thought in Saudi   Arabia and at Al-Azhar in Egypt. Anti-Islamist Muslims do know and understand our faith. But we are in dire need of developing new platforms to get <a href="http://www.aifdemocracy.org/news.php?id=5587" target="_blank">our voices</a> heard.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2009/04/pious_muslims_are_needed_to_de_1.html" target="_blank">intellectual civil war</a> within the House of Islam will be the only way to figure out which Islam and whose Islam will ultimately prevail. To dismiss all of “Islam” as immoderate leaves without a platform your greatest allies for freedom&#8211; devotional anti-Islamist Muslims who worship God. We are the only ones I believe, with a tangible viable solution that will achieve the defeat of supremacist, radical Islamism. We are the only ones with a viable treatment to the ideological disease.</p>
<p><strong>Hamid: </strong>Thanks Jamie for organizing this symposium.</p>
<p>If we defined Islam in terms of what is being taught and promoted in mainstream Islamic books such the Tafseers and Fiqh, then Robert Spencer is absolutely correct is saying that moderate Islam does not exist. The problem is that this form of Islamic teaching is not counterbalanced by a theologically based peaceful interpretation of the religion. Until today, all main schools of jurisprudence in Islam accept violence in some way or another.</p>
<p>Dr. Jasser is correct is stating that many of these interpretations and jurisprudence books or Sharia are manmade. However, the reality is that this manmade version of the understanding of Islam is currently the most dominant one in the Muslim world. I agree with Dr. Jasser that there is a need for a reformation but I disagree with him that the reformation needs to occur from the bottom-up. Based on my experience within Islam, waiting for this “bottom-up” approach is likely to fail, as any small group of Muslims that starts the think differently will be considered by the majority and by leading authorities in the Muslim world as non-Muslims.</p>
<p>This is simply because denying some traditional ways of teachings is considered denying “Maaloom Mina AldeenBildarora’ (a fundamental belief in the faith) which make a Muslim an apostate (non-Muslim) for denying it. The change in my view needs to occur “Up-Bottom,” not the other way around. This can occur by exerting more pressure and criticism for the violent teachings that exist in mainstream theological Islam. Dr. Jasser’s view to have Islam without these authorities is very revolutionary and difficult or impractical to achieve.</p>
<p>I agree with Dr. Furnish that there are some elements of reform that already exist in the Muslim world; however, these elements of reform do not have a complete theological interpretation or jurisprudence that can stand against the current and dominant Salafi teaching within Islam.</p>
<p>My main point is that, what people generally mean as Islam (Tafseer, Hadith, Sira, Jurisprudence, Sharia) is certainly not peaceful. However, peaceful understanding of the religion is possible. Moderate Muslims such as Jasser and others do exist because they do not practice the traditional dominant theology and alternatively they have developed their own personal interpretations for the religion. <em>Until these personal interpretations become the mainstream type of teaching within Islam, I have to agree with Robert Spencer that moderate Islam does not exist.</em><strong> </strong>I will only change his phrase to be “moderate Islam does not <em>currently</em> exist.”</p>
<p><strong>Furnish: </strong>Robert Spencer makes a good point that many Muslim sectarians are considered “heretics” but he paints with an overbroad brush.  Not all Islamic sects are persecuted minorities: the Ibadis run Oman and constitute 70% of its population; the Alawis, while a minority, still run Syria; the Isma’ili minorities are certainly not persecuted in India, Tanzania or Britiain (although they are in Saudi Arabia—but who isn’t, besides Wahhabis?); and Sufis, while often at loggerheads with Wahhabis and Salafis, are popular and powerful in places like Senegal, Sudan and Indonesia.   And while the Islamic sects <em>in toto</em> are certainly a minority, somewhere around  7-8%  of the world’s Muslim population, that still amounts to perhaps 100 million people—twice that many if the Twelver Shi`is are included.  Luther certainly started with far fewer Christians, and yet he sparked a Reformation.</p>
<p>While I admire Dr. Jasser’s personal revival of Mu`tazilism (a rationalist Islamic ideology that was snuffed out in the 10<sup>th</sup> century AD), I fear his views are idiosyncratic within Sunni Islam—and my own research indicates that the closet analogs to what he preaches are found in those very sects whose degree of regimentation and cult-like devotion he somewhat overstates.  But even in those cases where a sect is at least partially predicated on charismatic leadership (the Isma’ilis; the Turkish Gülen movement; etc.), I would say that as long as the leader is telling his followers that jihad does NOT mean holy war—then that’s infinitely preferable to the “current and dominant Salafi teaching,” as Dr. Hamid so aptly puts it.</p>
<p>I agree with Dr. Hamid, regretfully, that Dr. Jasser’s hope for a grass-roots Islamic reformation from within Sunnism is very unlikely—another reason I favor putting our hope for such in sects. Dr. Jasser seems to forget that the Enlightenment could only take place after the Protestant Reformation had broken the monopoly of the Catholic hierarchy in Europe—and that the reformation of Christendom was in fact led by clerics (Luther, Calvin, Tyndale), NOT by layman. What Islam really needs right now are such reform-minded clerics, and these are found for the most part today among Islam’s sects, not its Sunni majority.</p>
<p><strong>Spencer: </strong>There is a certain dancing-on-the-precipice feel to this entire symposium. Dr. Jasser rejects the contention that his views amount to “heresy or marginal thought in Islam,” but acknowledges that they are “not predominant among the thought leaders of Sunni Islam.” You can say that again – I would doubt that he would be able to name even one among the “thought leaders of Sunni Islam” who would accept that there is, as Dr. Jasser puts it, any “significant distinction globally between ‘Islam’ as a personal spiritual faith (a personal <em>submission</em> to God, if you will), and the ‘House of Islam’ which more broadly includes the entire human corpus of Islamic scholarship, knowledge (ilm) and jurisprudence (shar’iah) as espoused by leading global Islamic jurists and thought leaders (a <em>‘submission’</em> to the House of Islam if you will).” Indeed, he would be hard-pressed to find even one among those “thought leaders of Sunni Islam” who would not classify this as a heresy.</p>
<p>Dr. Hamid, in contrast to Dr. Jasser himself, notes correctly that interpretations of Islam such as Dr. Jasser’s are personal, idiosyncratic, and non-traditional – a fact that is all too often glossed over by his enthusiastic and well-heeled non-Muslim backers, who would prefer to pretend that he represents the dominant mainstream. Dr. Hamid is also quite correct that “<em>Until these personal interpretations become the mainstream type of teaching within Islam, I have to agree with Robert Spencer that moderate Islam does not exist.</em>” He remains optimistic, however, maintaining that “peaceful understanding of the religion is possible” and changing my phrase “moderate Islam does not exist” to “moderate Islam does not <em>currently</em> exist.”</p>
<p>I don’t claim to know the future, and history is full of events that would have been dismissed as impossible by people of previous centuries. I have never ruled out the possibility that some form of Islam could one day arise that teaches that Muslims must live together with non-Muslims as equals on an indefinite basis in a state that does not establish a religion. I have simply tried to be realistic about the prospects of such an entity.</p>
<p>As Dr. Hamid notes, denying certain Islamic teachings makes one an apostate in the eyes of nearly every mainstream Islamic authority around the world today, and apostasy can bring a sentence of death. It was only after the prospect of such a death sentence was removed in Reformation Europe that Luther, Calvin, Tyndale and the rest were able to gain large followings and influence. But the theological foundations for such a death sentence are much stronger in Islam than they ever were in Christianity. Will, then, it one day become possible for genuine and sincere Islamic reformers to try to win over Muslims to their point of view without fear of violent reprisal? Perhaps it is already happening in the West – witness Dr. Jasser’s health and prosperity, although I daresay his influence is far larger among non-Muslims seeking reassurance than it is among his coreligionists. In any case, the murder of Rashad Khalifa in Tucson, Arizona in the early 1990s stands as a cautionary notice that the execution of those deemed heretics and apostates can and does happen even here.</p>
<p>Dr. Furnish, meanwhile, makes the leap from the numerical dominance of various Islamic sects in various areas to the idea that they will become the vanguard of a Luther-like Reformation. His demographic data is undeniable; however, the idea that these groups will become the leaders of a movement to create a truly peaceful theological and legal construction of Islam is belied by his willingness to include the Twelver Shias among them. Twelver Shi’ism is, of course, the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran – and yet the mullahs of Tehran are hardly paragons of Islamic moderation. His inclusion of the Turkish Gulen movement is also troubling: Fethullah Gulen may not wish to lead a violent jihad, but does he want to impose Sharia upon Turkey? That is undeniable. And Sharia, with its draconian punishments and institutionalized denial of rights to women and non-Muslims, is hardly “moderate.”</p>
<p>In any case, while I hope that truly reform-minded clerics do gain wide influence, I am afraid that the more influence they gain, and the more genuine reform they advocate, the more likely it will become that they will be labeled heretics and persecuted. I would be glad to be proven wrong in this. But I don’t think I will be.</p>
<p><strong>Jasser: </strong>While I reserve disagreement on a number of the historical analogies and pigeon-holing made here about Muslims and Islam, let me address in the space I have how I believe Muslims can move forward. Let me emphasize- <em>forward.</em> One of the differences often between historians (agents of the past) and innovators (agents of change) is that innovators use the tools and lessons of history to think out of the box and create and promote a new and often unpopular paradigm. Often new paradigms that spend years floundering can all of a sudden propel into dominance. Some of the lessons of history are essential, but innovators <em>refuse</em> to pattern themselves after any previous human mindset. Today’s Islam needs innovators.</p>
<p>Groundbreaking innovation starts with a meme which leads to a <em>tipping point</em> that creates a new platform for those that share revolutionary ideas. My own lifetime has been filled with  experiences with thousands of pietistic Muslims from almost every sect of Islam who reject political Islam. But obviously key elements necessary for a palpable Muslim liberty movement to counter Islamism are missing.</p>
<p>To look toward any one sect and pigeon-hole any single moderate Muslim’s modernism as a product of only that particular sect belies the diversity needed for a successful global movement against political Islam. Each sect will always have its own internecine biases about the other sect. That is not the obstacle. Looking <em>forward</em> we must find some overriding memes necessary to defeat pervasive Islamist collectivism. Sectarianism is always trumped by Islamism. So, looking forward, a meme of liberty can rise above political Islam and sectarianism for Muslims.</p>
<p>My bulwark against political Islam has always been m belief in our inalienable rights, freedom of speech, the Establishment clause, classical liberalism, and especially the separation of mosque and state. Once devotional Muslim youth believe in this, many will take these foundational ideas and mature into theologians who transform Islam away from political Islam.</p>
<p>Hamid misunderstands me. I agree, Islam will always certainly need to be grounded in its own sound theological scholarship, but that is a late stage not the first phase in modernization and reform.</p>
<p>Religious teachings of today are molded by the environment. It took Christendom 1789 years until a government led by Christians had a document which was protected by an Establishment Clause and the separation of Church and State. And even that brilliantly codified Constitution and Bill of Rights took centuries, a Civil War, and a civil rights movement to effectuate its core principles in a way that truly respected the human rights of all its citizens as the founding fathers intended.</p>
<p>At this time, modernization of Islamic theology can become viral. But sadly so can the scourge of pan-Islamism. A top-down change would surely fail, as it has, because there is little popular respect for innovation, individualism, or liberty among most of the products of oppressive Muslim run institutions around the world.</p>
<p>In fact, Tim’s reference to the ruling Alawite minority in Syria as somehow exemplifying the hope for the rights of Muslim minorities is very concerning. It disregards the toxic environment which has put political Islam into overdrive. The Assad regimes have been some of the most despotic barbaric regimes of the last century. The only example Hafez and his son Bashar Assad provide is how to systematically and generationally destroy a nation and its people. No modern anything can come from that environment let alone an enlightened Islam. Thugs like Assad, Saddam, Qaddafi, Mubarak and others use religion as a tool for oppression. They fuel political Islam when it suits them while murdering Islamists when they threaten them. The moderates are lost in the middle between the secular fascists and theocratic fascists. This battle has created an untenable foundation of corruption, tribalism, ignorance, and fear.</p>
<p>Look at the Green revolution of Iran or the Cedars Revolution of Lebanon- all millions strong.  It is easier to find a desire for reformist anti-Islamist movements in many Muslim majority nations like Egypt, Lebanon, and Iran where the population knows what happens when the Islamists get control. Yet their environment is missing the empowering sustenance of western liberty.</p>
<p>The solution forward must come from America’s safer laboratory. Many American Muslims understand how a nation can be free and pious without theological coercion from government. The seeds of change forward can be found in some scholars who are looking to the west for innovation within Islam. Just look at some of the recent work on secularism by Abdullahi Al-Na’im, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Against-Islamic-Extremism-Writings-al-%60Ashmawy/dp/0813025435" target="_blank">Muhammad al-Ashmawy</a>, Alija Izetbegovic, or also many of the Sufi imams mentioned already like Al-Qadri’s recent work. This is not a blanket endorsement of any one of them. But much of their writings do point <em>forward</em> not backward.</p>
<p>In this wired viral planet, no longer is an ideology like political Islam hermetically sealed in its own history and aquarium. While Robert, Tim, and Hamid look into the aquarium of “an Islam” for the Muslims they study, they ignore a broad swath of westernized Muslims who read their Qur’an, pray, fast, give charity, and supplicate devotionally to God in a purpose-driven patriotic life dedicated to liberty and Americanism who hold another Islam.</p>
<p>The obstacles to the predominance of modern Islam over political Islam are many&#8211; frequent death threats, blind corruptive tribalism, societal and financial power of Islamists, and Muslim illiteracy. This is not to mention the facilitation by western media and government of Islamists due to political correctness.</p>
<p>Change cannot be imposed upon a rotten foundation. Lasting modernization will be generational and must be built on the ground first with Muslim institutions based in a liberal education, free markets, and universal human rights.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Hamid: </strong>I agree with Dr. Furnish that Luther started with far fewer Christians, and yet he sparked a Reformation. The dynamics, however, of reformation are different between Islam and Christianity. The concept of killing apostates is not an integral part of the Gospel of Jesus. On the contrary, Redda Law that allow killing apostates is a fundamental part of the Hadith of prophet Mohamed. For reformation to happen in Islam, Muslims need first to abandon some of the Sahih (accurate) hadith. The dilemma is that while Muslims can stop Redda Law as it is not part of the Quran, denying a Sahih hadith makes a person an apostate according to the traditional teachings in Islam. The Muslims need to stop this catch 22 situation to allow for reformation to occur.</p>
<p>Separating the Mosque from the state in Islam as Dr. Jasser suggests is certainly considered a form of heresy according to the standard Islamic theology as refusing to implement some Islamic laws and replacing them with secular laws is considered “Kufr” (act that makes a person an Infidel) according to traditional understanding of this Quranic verse (Al-Ma&#8217;idah [5:44]). Reinterpretation of this verse is needed first to allow for Jasser’s view to work. This is certainly possible since the verse was talking about the Jews who refused to apply the Torah.</p>
<p>I agree with Robert Spencer that the current situation in the Muslim world and the historical and theological depth of the problem in Islamic teaching should not make any person very “optimistic”. However, the use of the Internet and the speed of communications that we witness today gives me some hope that a change in the Muslim world can happen.</p>
<p>I can see the view of Dr. Jasser that the theological stage should not be the first phase in modernization and reform, but I have a completely different view about this issue. Any trial for modernity in Islam will always face resistance because of the current theology. For example, you cannot teach equality of women while the teaching in Islam teaches that women are half of a man as a witness or that men can beat their women. Removing the obstacle first is fundamental for making the change or in other words changing the theology is pivotal to facilitate the process of modernity itself.</p>
<p>I also disagree with Jasser’s view that “A top-down change would surely fail”. Generally speaking, Muslims feel much more comfortable to accept a change in religious theology when it is approved by the leading Islamic authorities such as Al-Azhar University. Accordingly, “A top-down change” is, in my view, imperative for a reformation in Islam to occur. Some elements of reformation can still happen at the grass root level but their impact and effect will be minimal compared to the top-down change.</p>
<p><strong>FP: </strong>Ok, last round and final thoughts gentlemen.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Furnish: </strong>Again, I agree with Mr. Spencer regarding the inherent violent strain of mainstream, historical Sunni Islam (which, I must stress, stems from a literal reading of the violent passages of the Qur’an) regarding not just apostates but non-Muslims in general;  however, to equate “mainstream” with existence <em>per se</em> is ahistorical.   And of course sometimes, even today, Islam’s apostates and heretics are executed—the plight of Ahmadis in Pakistan and Indonesia is a case in point. But such persecution has not even come close to wiping out that group, and they stand as a living rebuke to those who would employ Qur’anic teachings to do so.</p>
<p>Mr. Spencer finds ironic (if not contradictory) my adducing of the Twelver Shi`is as reform-minded, based on the neo-fundamentalism fervor regnant in Tehran since 1979.  However, <em>vilayet-i faqih</em>, the “rule of the [Shi`i] jurisprudent” devised by Khomeini, is by no means universally accepted even within Twelver Shi`ism; in fact, the modern world’s two most prominent Shi`i ayatollahs—Iran’s recently-deceased Montazeri, and Iraq’s al-Sistani—both are on record as opposing the Khomeinist system and regime.  The salient point is that Shi`ism, unlike Sunnism, allows for <em>ijtihad</em>—and thus contains at least the seeds of new approaches to the Qur’an and Hadith.  And Robert and I simply disagree about Gülen and his movement—I think his neo-Sufism is truly moderate, not a <em>shari`ah</em> Trojan Horse.</p>
<p>I will reiterate my respect and support for Dr. Jasser in his efforts to drag the Islamic world kicking and screaming into the 21<sup>st</sup>—or at least the 16<sup>th</sup>—century.  But I simply disagree that “sectarianism is always trumped by Islamism.”  That may largely be true for parts of the Arab world, but it’s certainly not the case in Africa, where sects and Sufi orders are often more respected and more legitimate than the Wahhabis, Salafis and jihadists. As to my adducing of the Alawis of Syria: I was not referring to the undeniably brutal, repressive al-Assad family regime that runs the country, but to the theological beliefs of the neo-Shi`i sect that truly is Alawism, the syncretistic (and borderline Christian) teachings of which are far afield from strict, <em>shari`ah-</em>based Sunnism. Just as the Khomeinist regime does not represent the totality of Twelver Shi`i thought, neither does the Alawi clique in Damascus speak for all Alawis.</p>
<p>I totally agree with my friend Zuhdi that “change cannot be imposed upon a rotten foundation.” Yet many Muslims, Sunni and sectarian, blanch at rebuilding Islam upon a Western, especially American, foundation—which is why I propose that working with, and drawing ideas from, the Shi`is (Zaydis and Isma’ilis, as well as Twelvers), the Sufis, the Barelwis, et al., might very well provide a sounder, Islamic foundation, after which the rest of the revamped Islamic domicile could be built with more Western materials.</p>
<p>Dr. Hamid is entirely correct (as was Robert) that the New Testament does not promote killing apostates, and that this made a Christian Reformation markedly easier than would be the case in Islam, wherein Hadiths considered Muhammadan sanction such killing.  And in fact, I don’t think Dr. Hamid goes far enough—not just the traditions of Islam, but the Qur’an itself, justifies and indeed mandates killing of “unbelievers, as most famously in Sura al-Tawbah [IX]:5: “when the sacred months have passed, kill the unbelievers/idolaters wherever you find them…capture, besiege, ambush them….”  But, at the risk of redundancy, the problem here is reading the text literally, as mandated in Sunnism—and as NOT adhered to by, for a prominent example, the Isma’ilis.</p>
<p>Finally, I agree with Dr. Hamid, <em>contra</em> Dr. Jassser, that a top-down reforming of Islamic teachings could possibly work better than a grass-roots one.  Yet I disagree, based on a close reading of Islamic history, that this imposed (new) paradigm should be a Westernized, desacralized, frankly idiosyncratic “Sunnism Lite”—which would not only taste bad to most Muslims outside America, it would certainly be less filling than reformist ideas with legitimate Islamic ingredients, as is certainly the case with the Isma’ilis, Barelwis, Ibadis and Haqqani Sufis.</p>
<p><strong>Spencer: </strong>I find the disagreements among the panel interesting. Dr. Jasser thinks “a top-down change would surely fail,” while Dr. Hamid believes that a “top-down change” is “imperative for a reformation in Islam.”</p>
<p>Dr. Jasser finds “concerning” Dr. Furnish’s “reference to the ruling Alawite minority in Syria as somehow exemplifying the hope for the rights of Muslim minorities.” Dr. Furnish defends his including the Twelver Shia as among the “reform-minded” in Islam, pointing to their acceptance of the concept of ijtihad, as opposed to the Sunnis who generally reject it. But the Twelver Shia, like the other sects mentioned in the course of this discussion, have been around for over a thousand years and yet with all that time to practice ijtihad they have not managed to come up with a version of Islam that is not supremacist and does not teach that unbelievers must be subjugated as inferiors under the rule of Islamic law.</p>
<p>This is not to say that nothing can happen except what has happened before. Islamic reform certainly could happen, and Dr. Hamid’s point about modern communications media making it more likely than ever before is well taken. But the disagreements among the most optimistic of the present panelists shows that Islamic reform circa 2010 remains largely an abstraction, a postulate, an intellectual construct. No one has ever actually seen it, and so everyone imagines it in a different way. Islam has been around for 1,400 years, and yet there is still no mainstream sect or school of jurisprudence that teaches the separation of mosque and state, the equality of rights of women with men, the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, or the equality of rights of unbelievers with believers.</p>
<p>Will such an Islam ultimately appear? I would never say that something could not happen; history is full of too many surprises for that. But so much of American foreign and domestic policy is based on the assumption that such an Islam not only will appear, but already exists, and is the Islam of the broad majority of Muslims. The consequences of investing so much in this erroneous assumption grow more apparent with every Nidal Hasan and Faisal Shahzad.</p>
<p>Dr. Jasser points optimistically to “a broad swath of westernized Muslims who read their Qur’an, pray, fast, give charity, and supplicate devotionally to God in a purpose-driven patriotic life dedicated to liberty and Americanism.” Great – but insofar as such Muslims actually reject the material in the Qur’an and Sunnah that forms the basis for political, supremacist, and violent Islam, they will find themselves under threat. It was again Dr. Jasser himself who summed this up: “The obstacles to the predominance of modern Islam over political Islam are many&#8211; frequent death threats, blind corruptive tribalism, societal and financial power of Islamists, and Muslim illiteracy.”</p>
<p>I wish that weren’t the case. I hope that some genuine Islamic reform ultimately succeeds. But let’s not kid ourselves as to its prospects, or about how much non-Muslims can or should actually depend upon it.</p>
<p><strong>Jasser: </strong>In the end, Robert Spencer here seems to agree with me regarding the major obstacles I listed to genuine reform. Yet, he concludes a bit dismissively, “let’s not kid ourselves as to its prospects, or about how much non-Muslims can or should actually depend on it.” I can somewhat understand the sense of frustration- since that is my daily battle against the forces of political Islam. However, without a coordinated strategy to overcoming those obstacles to genuine Islamic reform, then what are we left to do as a nation? How do we, <em>moving</em> <em>forward,</em> sustain security against the growing militant Islamist threat? Is that not the purpose of this discourse? These discussions matter little in the absence of a strategy.</p>
<p>I do certainly part with Robert on many of his ideas (not covered in this symposium) with regards to accounts of the morality of the Prophet Muhammad and many conclusions about the faith, the Qur’an, and spiritual path of Islam I and my family have chosen to embrace.  However, ultimately, my deeper more relevant quarrel, is with my own coreligionists—and some of their ubiquitous Muslim sources that provide supremacist Islamist narratives.</p>
<p>I do believe as most Americans do, that all of us agree on the <em>goal</em> which is the intellectual neutralization of the supremacist agenda of Islamists and their political Islam. Simple kinetic neutralization alone against militants will never be enough. My strategy, our strategy, at the <a href="http://www.aifdemocracy.org/" target="_blank">American Islamic Forum for Democracy</a> (AIFD) is transparent and built upon a need forward for a liberty movement by devotional Muslims within Islam against Islamism. We must have a positive outlook for the victory of liberty rather than a pessimistic one basically based in a narrative of an impending global clash between Muslims and non-Muslims.</p>
<p>Even pessimists need to have a strategy. Disagreements on history matter a lot less than a discussion on strategy and where we think our nation and counter-radicalization work should head. In fact there are strong indications that the pessimistic narrative is fodder for radical Islamists and helps Islamists attract impressionable youth who want to believe that America is at war with Islam and Muslims. Rather, I believe the ideologies we promote at AIFD to be the type that ultimately can drive Muslim youth away from Islamism toward a modern Islam rooted in American nationalism and Constitutionalism toward a victory for freedom.</p>
<p>We will also need to breakdown walls of deep denial in the west rooted in political correctness if Muslims are going to get the long overdue major nudges toward modernity and reform. But, then what? Does Tim Furnish want us to believe that some of the more modernized minority sects or those more amenable to modernization will win out in the war of ideas? How would that happen and from which sect or sects? Does Dr. Hamid want us to be confident that there will be a post-modern imam or scholar who will arise to marginalize political Islam? How will that transpire in the current environment?</p>
<p>I do hope readers leave here, however, understanding that not only does the solution need to come from devout Muslims within the “House of Islam”, but we all desperately need to develop a coherent, cooridinated, and constructive domestic and international strategy to defeat political Islam- no different than we did in the Cold War against the global spread of communism. Therefore, it stands to reason that all intellectuals in the west should do whatever they can to facilitate the authentic and moderate Muslim allies of the United States who are working tirelessly to break down those obstacles.</p>
<p>That makes a lot more sense than sitting back and watching, like a car accident, the marginalization or demise of genuine, credible, and devotional Muslim reformists. Dr. Hamid and I agree on some but do disagree as to whether the reform will begin from the top or the grass roots. I have no faith at all in those “leading” inherently corrupt institutions like Al-Azhar University in Cairo or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ever completely purging themselves of their deep rooted intellectual and economic foundations in political Islam and salafism. The only solution I see lies in building new honest Muslim institutions founded in genuine classically liberal academics, free markets, and morally sound Islamic teachings. This reform will only be authentic if it remains separated from government and integration into national legal systems (<em>shar’iah).</em> Thus, the primary protection for Muslims against Islamist supremacism is a belief and enforcement of the same ideas that created the Establishment Clause of our Constitution. This new paradigm or meme &#8211;the separation of mosque and state&#8211; will need generational change just as the Muslim Brotherhood has spread its ideas in the last century. It is time for the ideas of liberty to take the offense! And we can do this neither alone, nor with those who firmly believe that there can be no modern Islam.</p>
<p>I and my family and many other Muslims have lived and believe in an Islam and modernization of the message of the Prophet Muhammad that is not in conflict with our oath to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that the only winning strategy is to develop those ideas of liberty within an Islamic consciousness through the separation of mosque and state – our <em>Muslim Liberty Project</em>. This project is the Muslim counter-narrative, the offensive for the ideas of liberty and against the ideas of the Brotherhood Project. While I may be proven wrong, and I have absorbed significant critique of my own lifetime of understanding of Islamic history, I do not believe I have heard here any other convincing alternative winning strategies in the long term against political Islam. After the critique of my vision or anyone’s vision, how do we move forward? That’s what we are doing every day. How are you providing alternative visions that can neutralize the ideas that threaten our security?</p>
<p><strong>Hamid: </strong>It is good that Furnish mentioned the Ahmadeia example as the situation of Ahmadeia in the Muslim world illustrates the fact that one of the major problems that the Muslim world faces is that it cannot tolerate any new or different interpretations of its religious texts. This represents a major obstacle for reformation. Teaching the Muslim world the concept of tolerance to other views is vital to assist the reformation of Islam.</p>
<p>The verse that Furnish used to indicate that the Quran supports killing Apostates is not traditionally used to justify killing apostates. In most approved Tafseers and Interpretations the rule of killing apostates is based on the Hadith rather than the Quran. Recently, some Salafists tried to use this verse to justify killing apostates mainly to prove that the Quranic groups &#8211; who disagree with killing the apostates &#8211; are wrong. Traditionally, Redda Law is based only on the Sunna.</p>
<p>I may only partially agree with Furnish that in some areas in Africa, Sufi orders are often more respected and more legitimate than the Wahhabis, Salafis and jihadists. However, we have to admit that Salafies are gaining ground, e.g. in Somalia and Sharia-controlled parts of Nigeria. This is partially due to the lack of strong theological foundations for many of the Sufi practices and the tremendous support of Salafism by the wealthy Wahhabists.</p>
<p>I support the view of Mr. Spencer rather than Furnish that the Twelver Shi`is are not truly reform-minded &#8211; as their belief system still accepts the violent edicts of Sharia. However, I can say that this particular group has more potential to reform than Sunnis as they still allow Ijtihad.</p>
<p>I also agree with Mr. Spencer that the current situation of Islam is not very promising. Removing the obstacles to reformation such as lack of the separation of mosque and state, inequality of rights of women with men, religiously based suppression on the freedom of speech, lack of the equality of rights of unbelievers with believers may mean for some the end of Islam.  Despite this I still see hope that Non Literal teaching of Islam can make a real reformation within Islam.</p>
<p>The efforts of Dr. Jasser in American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) to promote a liberty movement by devotional Muslims within Islam against Islamism must be saluted. The concept is great and I will add only that giving a strong theological base to the views of this organization will be very helpful. Asking Muslims to separate between Mosque and Church and adopt secularism while traditional Islamic text teaches the opposite is a major obstacle to the progress of these secular views. Giving a theological base for secularism within Islam is needed.</p>
<p><strong>FP:</strong> Timothy Furnish, Tawfik Hamid, Dr.  M. Zuhdi Jasser and Robert Spencer, thank you for joining Frontpage Symposium.</p>
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		<title>A Bogus Deal on Iran</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/ryan-mauro/a-bogus-deal-on-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-bogus-deal-on-iran</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 05:01:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ryan Mauro]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Turkey and Brazil broker a sham nuclear deal that can only speed Iran’s quest for the bomb. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/deal.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-60739" title="deal" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/deal.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="241" /></a></p>
<p>Both Turkey and Brazil have grown much closer to Iran in recent years and have voiced their opposition to further sanctions. So it is not surprising that they have now come to the Islamic Republic’s rescue, handing it a lifeline on its nuclear program just as the Obama administration, after a year of failed diplomacy, had begun to contemplate the possibility of new sanctions.</p>
<p>Acting more as Iran’s advocates than neutral brokers, Turkey and Brazil worked out a deal whereby Iran would ship low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for higher grade nuclear material. But the deal does little to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, which are now approaching the 20 percent threshold that is considered the prelude to an operational nuclear weapon. A senior Israeli official has rightly <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iECRGuTIdm__SyV_1cq0Rzd3pEmQ">called</a> the deal “an Iranian trick,” as it will not end Iran’s own enrichment efforts and comes just as Secretary Clinton says the U.S., Russia and China have agreed on a draft resolution to impose sanctions.</p>
<p>The nuclear deal is just the latest sign of Turkey and Brazil’s newfound closeness with Iran. President Lula da Silva of Brazil reacted to the Ahmadinejad’s highly suspect “victory” in last year’s presidential elections by <a href="http://islamtimes.org/vdcd9f0f.yt0xx6me2y.html">saying,</a> “What right do I have, or any president, to question the election results in Iran. It would be overly arrogant for Brazil, 12,000 kilometers away, to pass judgment on Iran’s elections. Nor would I want them to judge ours.” A few months later, Ahmadinejad <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&amp;sid=aAhWVJrHnrOE">said</a> that the ties between Iran and Brazil have “no limits.”</p>
<p>This deal comes just as Secretary of State Clinton <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=aDKBSGPL4JqY&amp;pos=9">announced</a> that the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China have finally agreed on the potential sanctions to be placed on Iran. The punishments include an arms embargo, freezing the assets of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, intercepting suspected WMD-related shipments, and other restrictions on dealing with the regime. This deal threatens to reset those negotiations.</p>
<p>China is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64H0V820100518">reacting</a> positively to the deal in the hopes of using it to justify the delay of further action. Iran provides China with 11.4 percent of its crude oil imports, and their overall trade has doubled since 2005. The Iranian refusal to budge made it difficult for China to stand by the Islamic Republic’s side in the United Nations, but this latest maneuver will give them the excuse to call for more diplomacy. Avoiding sanctions is clearly the goal of the Brazilian President, who <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575250172000040654.html">boasted</a>, “Diplomacy emerged victorious today.”</p>
<p>The Brazilian President is technically right. Diplomacy was indeed victorious—but it was a victory for Iran, and not for the U.S. or anyone threatened by Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities. Whereas Russia and China were in a tricky spot due to Iran’s blatant refusal to work with the international community, the role has been reversed and now the U.S. is the one in a tricky spot.</p>
<p>“But if he accepts it, many of the urgent issues he has said will have to be resolved with Iran in coming months—mostly over suspected weapons work—will be put on hold for a year or more.”</p>
<p><em>The New York Times</em> perfectly frames America’s new position. “Mr. Obama now faces a vexing choice. If he walks away from this deal, it will look like he is rejecting an agreement similar to one he was willing to sign eight months ago,” the newspaper <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/world/middleeast/18iran.html?hp">wrote.</a></p>
<p>Giving Iran another year will allow the regime to better prepare for the day when sanctions may finally be placed upon them. One of the regime’s key vulnerabilities is that it has to import petroleum-based products, including 30 percent of its gasoline. Iran is moving fast to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&amp;sid=alWhZGuk_x2U">expand</a> ten of its current refineries and <a href="http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=167395">build</a> seven more, allowing them to produce twice as much gasoline in 2012. The Iranians have <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AO20C20091125">struck</a> a $6.5 billion deal with a Chinese company to help make this happen.</p>
<p>If Iran ships out a large part of its uranium to Turkey, it will not significantly delay its pursuit of the ability to create a nuclear arsenal. It is true that Iran will lose some of their uranium stock, which they are already <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AO20C20091125">short on.</a> However, while international pressure is alleviated, Iran can work on other aspects of the weapons program such as the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. In the meantime, Iran can work to replenish its uranium stockpile from places like Zimbabwe, Venezuela, North Korea, possibly Burma, and through <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&amp;sid=aMtzNb9WS83I">expanding</a> production from its own uranium mine near Bandar Abbas, which they are still refusing to give the IAEA access to.</p>
<p>It is also important to remember that the deal does not stop Iran from enriching the uranium it keeps to 20 percent. David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security <a href="http://www.isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/irans-gas-centrifuge-program-taking-stock/">says</a> that it would only take about six months to enrich the uranium from 20 percent to the bomb-grade level of 90 percent using 500 to 1,000 centrifuges. Iran currently has about 9,000 centrifuges, but only about 60 percent are said to be operating due to technical difficulties, probably courtesy of Western intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>This means that if this deal is enacted, Iran will still be enriching uranium to a level that will allow them to quickly create the fuel necessary for a nuclear bomb. The Iranians are openly expanding the number of their nuclear facilities, and likely have undeclared enrichment sites and stockpiles of uranium. The Syrians’ own nuclear program, which should be seen as an <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/russia-to-build-nuclear-power-plant-in-syria/#comments">extension</a> of Iran’s, and the planned <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1413223820100414">opening</a> of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in August further highlight the foolishness of relying upon this agreement to stop a nuclear-armed Iran from becoming a reality.</p>
<p>The Iranians’ best weapon in fighting the West has been the illusion that they can be dealt with diplomatically. Brazilian and Turkey have made this farce a reality. If the United Nations uses this latest deal as an excuse for inaction, the U.S. must immediately create a coalition that will place sanctions on Iran outside of the toothless organization’s framework.</p>
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		<title>The Urgency of Sanctions</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/lisa-daftari/the-urgency-of-sanctions-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-urgency-of-sanctions-2</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 04:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lisa Daftari]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Waiting for tough sanctions prolongs human suffering in Iran. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ahm.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-60724" title="ahm" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ahm.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) cannot act quick enough to thumb its nose at punitive measures, claiming they are illegitimate and will be ineffective. Tuesday was no exception. Just as the U.S. finally convinced Russia and China to pass a fourth round of sanctions, the IRI promptly and audaciously dismissed the initiative, stating that it would not be approved by the rest of the United Nations Security Council and even if passed, it would not hinder the Iranian economy.</p>
<p>Maybe the IRI didn’t expect to be cornered this soon after making its tactful move Monday, agreeing to ship some of its uranium to Turkey to be enriched and returned as fuel for Iran’s nuclear energy plants. The operative word being ‘some,’ and the obvious motive being to show a glimmer of good faith before serious energy and gasoline sanctions are imposed.</p>
<p>The new proposal reiterates the demand that Iran halt its nuclear program and further prohibits any entity from selling to or aiding Iran in its nuclear weapons ambitions. It also imposes certain travel bans and requires that all Iranian cargo ships are searched before touching Iran’s shore.</p>
<p>Although most sanction proponents were hoping for a hard hit on Iran’s gasoline and energy industry, this fourth round of sanctions, according to the U.S., is meant to further isolate the IRI and to influence other nations to implement strict measures against Iran on their own.</p>
<p>While a step in the right direction, will these particular sanctions deter the IRI from going on with their proliferation? No. Does the U.S. believe it will? No. So why is the U.S. treading so lightly? Once again, we are brought back to the drawing board on sanctions. The longer we take to impose those that will genuinely cripple the Iranian regime, the more tricks the IRI will pull out of its hat to buy time and to reposition international forces.</p>
<p>Over the course of the last year, Iranian politicians, scholars and pundits have drastically evolved their opinions, mirroring a quickly changing and ever more urgent political backdrop.  Last June, when Iranians courageously took to the streets in the aftermath of a fraudulent election, they were filled with hope that change was within their grasp. More recently, as Iranians prepare for the one year anniversary of those demonstrations, they are going forward more cautiously and entirely cognizant that it will take more than large-scale protests to change their bitter fate under this regime.</p>
<p>The central topic at the time of the first demonstrations was the disenchantment of millions of Iranians whose rights were being trampled on by a rogue and hardline regime. Now at center stage, is the IRI’s nuclear weapons ambition and how quickly it will fulfill those objectives.</p>
<p>Likewise, talk of sanctions divided scholars, politicians, Iranians and Iranian Americans who feared the repercussion on innocent civilians. Slowly, those fears were replaced by an understanding that sanctions might be the only way to stop this relentless regime.</p>
<p>As the IRI further isolated itself from the international community with outlandish rhetoric and flippant demeanor, we found that a stronger and louder majority from the left, right and center began standing in support of powerful, yet targeted sanctions.</p>
<p>And the question, as always, was how the people of Iran will be affected. Why punish the citizens? Particularly in the case of Iran, we know the answer plain and simple. The people of Iran differ greatly with their government.  Yet by pushing for sanctions, are we allowing the Iranian people to bear the reprimands of their government; the same government many of them oppose.</p>
<p>The argument against sanctions on the people of Iran hinges on the premise that they will further strain an already suffering economy in a country where unemployment has been in the double digits for years. Many of those who can feed their families have to work a handful of menial jobs to do so.  The rule of thumb for many in the case of Iran has been to refrain from taking any action that would hurt the people, economically or otherwise.</p>
<p>It is dangerous, however, to make such a categorical statement given Iran’s precarious state. It then becomes necessary to carefully examine all the other avenues that the Iranian people have taken and are willing to take, having risked both their lives and livelihoods quite often.</p>
<p>Take, for example, the 2009 demonstrations. If we calculate the number of Iranians who were out on the streets throughout this year, missing work and cutting back on productivity for days at a time and then multiply this number by the number of man hours that were lost over the course of the year, it amounts to a huge economic loss for the Iranian economy. Yet, many opponents of sanctions, both in Iran and abroad, advocated protests and large-scale organized protests. It is interesting how economic loss was never an issue then.</p>
<p>Juxtapose this number with the irreplaceable and invaluable individuals who were killed, detained, beaten and tortured over the last 30 years. When one considers how the Iranians were willing to send their children out onto the streets the day after the well-known young woman Neda was shot and killed and hundreds of their friends and neighbors were secretly, yet brutally rounded up by the Revolutionary Guard and Basiji militia men, then the argument against sanctions for the protection of the Iranian people becomes entirely moot.</p>
<p>The debate among Iran scholars and political and social activists at this point should not focus on whether sanctions are appropriate to impose, but rather how they should be implemented, and what type of restrictions would best choke this regime while having the most nominal effect on Iranians.</p>
<p>The best recipe for sanctions requires five essential ingredients. First, they should be properly implemented. This means that they are targeted and meant to pinpoint the regime and its extensions only. Next, they should be clearly defined. As we are seeing in the case of Iran, a lack of boundaries and barriers leaves room for games and evading authority. Third, sanctions should be linked to a particular behavior change or resolution of specific issues.  Very clearly, sanctions should be tied to a particular action or behavior and made very clear to the regime. Next, it should be explained well to the Iranian people. What the United States has missed time and again in the case of Iran is a transparent and honest dialogue with the Iranian people. Where sanctions could be misconstrued as action against the people of Iran, the United States and all cosignatories should make it abundantly clear to the people of Iran that the sanctions are meant against its defiant government. Lastly, the sanctions should be lifted after conditions are met, meaning it needs to be a punishment that leaves room for repentance.</p>
<p>Another important point that is scarcely mentioned in talks about sanctions is that they are not meant solely to deter the Iranian regime from fulfilling its nuclear weapons ambitions. They can and should also be used in human rights cases to deter the regime from stoning, hanging and executing innocent civilians such as the five innocent Iranians arrested during the demonstrations and executed on Mother’s Day.</p>
<p>Over the past decade, targeted and action-specific sanctions have been successful in deterring the Islamic Republic. Two instances that come to mind are the freeing of the 13 Iranian Jews from the city of Shiraz in 1999 who were being tried for espionage. The campaign to halt the use of cranes for hangings was successful in stopping public executions for over three years.</p>
<p>Even if we were to give credence to the economic argument against sanctions, there are various ways in which they can be implemented to help the Iranian people without costing them anything. There can be sanctions on diplomats and their families. There can be a restriction on the regime’s communication worldwide, which would prevent them from making sanctimonious speeches at the United Nations every few months or so. The personal accounts of government officials and their families should be frozen. Which raises an interesting question: if these individuals want so badly to hold onto Iran’s government and care for its economic state, then why don’t they invest their money into the country?</p>
<p>Government officials should also feel pressure when they travel, when they invest abroad, and when they send their children abroad. Often, we see the children of the Iranian officials studying at top ranked American universities, while the regime is busy ruining the lives of their compatriots back home. Maybe if these officials felt the same pressures other Iranians did, their own children and families could pressure them to let up their chokehold on the country.</p>
<p>So, despite the IRI’s three-decade-long crusade to steer the country elsewhere, the argument should not be whether or not to impose sanctions. The Iranian people are hurting more in the interim with a hard-line regime which turns a blind eye to its citizens’ needs while duping the international community to cover its illicit nuclear weapons agenda. The argument should only focus on how we can hit hardest at the regime’s lifeline through crippling regulations on their energy and gasoline sectors, for the sake of the Iranians and everyone else.</p>
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		<title>GE&#8217;s Big Brother</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/billy-hallowell/ges-big-brother/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ges-big-brother</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:15:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Billy Hallowell]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Why Americans should worry about the alliance between the Obama administration and the energy giant.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/obama20ge20logo1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-58173" title="obama20ge20logo" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/obama20ge20logo1.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="280" /></a>The Obama administration has come under scrutiny for its ties to several large corporations, including the auto industry giants General Motors and Chrysler, whose bailout it engineered last spring. But one corporate connection has not received similar scrutiny. Since 2008, General Electric has been cozying up to the Obama administration. The relationship is sure to result in financial gain for GE, while likely granting the company greater access and influence. The arrangements set forth are legal, but the potential impact the interconnections may have – and the blatant kickbacks that have been offered – should alarm Americans.</p>
<p>In a <em>Washington Examiner</em> op-ed, journalist Timothy Carney <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-helps-strengthen-General-Electric-Putin-ties-59644627.html">points out</a> the eyebrow-raising ties between President Barack Obama&#8217;s team and GE&#8217;s leadership. According to Carney, “GE CEO Jeff Immelt sits on Obama&#8217;s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and GE owns MSNBC, the network famously friendly to Obama.”</p>
<p>Immelts’s place on the board is concerning for a number of reasons. First and foremost, GE has been the recipient of bailout funds and stands to benefit from current and future contracts with the U.S. government. This may partly explain MSNBC’s highly favorable treatment of the Obama administration. With GE’s CEO sitting on Obama’s economic panel, it is no surprise that MSNBC rarely provides critical coverage of the administration. Furthermore, GE’s environmental business interests may explain why NBC recently <a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/17/nbcs-obamavision-green-week-and-lousy-writing/">joined Hollywood</a> in inserting environmentally-friendly messaging into network programming. Furthermore, NBC promotes two annual campaigns &#8212; “Green Week” and “Earth Week” &#8212; that focus on environmentalism.</p>
<p>Media connections are just the tip of the iceberg. GE’s increased permeation into other sectors will have a more profound impact on policy and, in turn, Americans’ lives. A December 2009 <em>Vanity Fair </em><a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/windolf-200912?currentPage=2">article</a> points to what it calls suspicious “GE-friendly developments” that were spearheaded by the Obama administration. Following Immelt’s placement on Obama’s board, GE found a loophole and became the biggest benefactor of the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, a federal bailout initiative. According to Jeff Gerth and Brady Dennis of ProPublica, GE <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-loophole-benefits-general-electric-628">appealed</a> behind the scenes to secure the company’s ability to participate. Coincidently, Immelt was quoted in a November 2009 <em>Wall Street Journal </em>article boasting about $192 million that GE plans to secure in government-sponsored projects – an interesting development considering his close relationship with President Obama and the work being conducted through the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.</p>
<p>Additionally, <em>Vanity Fair</em> <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/windolf-200912?currentPage=2">reports</a> that after months of the Obama administration claiming that the government would not allocate $1 billion for the Joint Strike Fighters program (a fighter engine in which GE is one of two main benefactors), Obama included the plan in the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. One wonders what caused Obama to change course, considering his previous opposition to GE’s engine. In fact, Defense Secretary Robert Gates threatened to recommend a veto should funding for the engine be included in the bill. Somehow, perceptions changed quite fluidly.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSB688381">Reuters</a>, back in September 2009, President Obama decided to cancel plans to install “inceptor missiles” in Poland and a “radar complex” in the Czech  Republic. Both of these security elements were intended to ward off missiles coming from rogue states. Perhaps most concerning was Russia’s <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSB688381">response</a> that immediately followed Obama’s announcement: “Shortly after the pullback on the shield program was announced, Russia&#8217;s government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives…from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley…”</p>
<p>As Megan Stack of the <em>L.A. Times </em>has <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-clinton-russia19-2010mar19,0,5456929.story">noted</a>, the U.S. needs Russian support to ensure that more viable action be taken against Iran. As a result, U.S. leaders have been pushing Moscow to take a tougher stance. On a recent trip to Russia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear U.S. opposition to a nuclear power plant that Russia is building and fueling in Iran – a plant that Clinton says the rogue nation is not entitled to until it can prove peaceful intent. Obama’s decision to change course on the missile program appeases Russia, while opening the door for GE and other U.S. businesses to more readily operate there.</p>
<p>While this may have some strategic benefits, the cost of abandoning security goals also poses its dangers. Obama’s decision to appease Russia may only embolden its government; this would be potentially dangerous to harmony and security in the region. Furthermore, given GE’s history of dealings with Iran, one has to wonder about GE’s willingness to work intensely with a nation that has such integral financial and energy sector connections with the Islamic Republic. Ultimately, the push to secure business for GE and other U.S.-based companies could imperil important security measures against rogue states like Iran.</p>
<p>If compromising media coverage, national security and economic interests were not enough, the energy sector is also at play. GE is looking to partner with the U.S. government in an effort to manage greenhouse gas credits. Tim Carney <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obamas-hidden-bailout-of-General-Electric_03_04-40686707.html">points out</a> that GE has created a new “joint venture” called Greenhouse Gas Services (GGS).  GGS invests in and seeks to manage greenhouse gas credits, and without the government stepping in to restrict greenhouse gases, GGS cannot turn a profit.  Obama has <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obamas-hidden-bailout-of-General-Electric_03_04-40686707.html">answered this call</a> by promising to create a greenhouse gas industry by 2012, providing yet another potentially lucrative opportunity for GE.</p>
<p>With new business on the horizon, Carney points out the potential ramifications of GE’s quest for greenhouse dominance. These potential downsides include: increased electricity and heating costs, increased manufactured and shipping goods costs and environmental costs as a result of Ethanol usage. Carney concludes: “When the lobbying fingerprints of GE and other well-connected firms are considered, it’s not hard to conclude that the policy that will finally emerge won’t be the one that is best for the planet and least bad for the economy, but the one that is best for General Electric.”</p>
<p>The buck does not stop there. Health care, an industry Obama has spent a substantial portion of the past 15 months pledging to reform, is also an area of interest for GE.  According to BNET’s <a href="http://industry.bnet.com/healthcare/1000623/ge-plans-broad-push-in-healthcare/">Ken Terry</a>, as the federal government began pushing for health care reform back in 2009, GE announced its own intent to invest $6 billion in a new “Healthymagination Initiative.” The overall goal, as Terry notes, is to increase GE’s standing in the health care industry. Perhaps most intriguing was Immelt’s pledge to influence consumers in their health behaviors as well as NBC and MSNBC’s commitment to begin airing more health-related stories and programming. It will become increasingly necessary to monitor and understand the role that GE will play once health care reform is more solidified. If recent history is any indication, GE will also have a major stake in the nation’s health care sector.</p>
<p>The U.S. government has always been, as Carney notes, a viable GE partner, but the changing political landscape is paving the way for the company to receive transformational benefits and control. Immelt realizes this, which is likely one reason that Obama was the top recipient of GE contributions during the 2008 presidential campaign (after all, Immelt is a Republican and a former McCain supporter who has no other reason apart from profits to partner with Obama). With such extensive reach into sectors that impact the daily lives of Americans and with international policy at stake, it is in the public’s best interest that close attention be paid to the alliance between GE and the Obama administration.</p>
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