[lit-ideas] Re: The only sensible solution
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 14:36:39 -0400
Working for the Mullahs
Iranian experts in the U.S. parrot Iran's official line
by Mohammad Parvin
National Review Online
November 19, 2002
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-parvin111902.asp
On October 7, in the small town of Sardasht, Iranian
authorities hanged Hamzeh Ghaderi. His crime: Calling for
democracy in Iran. Three days later, Iranian authorities
hanged 50-year-old Khalid Showghi and 30-year-old Jalil
Zivehi for similar offenses. Unfortunately, such executions
are becoming the rule rather than the exception, especially
in small towns away from the itinerary of foreign visitors.
While Iranian president Muhammad Khatami works to soften the
image of the Islamic regime, capital punishment has more
than doubled in the past two years. The Islamic regime
continues to imprison journalists, shutter newspapers, and
harass students. Contrary to popular belief, Khatami has not
only failed to implement a single substantive reform, but
has also refused to speak up as his colleagues whittle away
existing rights. For Khatami and self-described
inside-the-government reformists, image rather than
substance is what matters.
Unfortunately, many in the United States are willing to play
along, or even actively participate in the Islamic Regime's
public-relations campaign. Academics from some of America's
leading universities — UCLA, Georgetown, University of
Michigan — turn a blind eye to human-rights abuses in Iran
for to do otherwise might endanger their ability to acquire
limited Iranian visas. In a choice between principle and
uniform intellectual standards on one hand, and access and
dishonest scholarship on the other, most professors will
choose the latter.
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