My Perspective: Words Matter On Iran

The Iran Election has put the U.S. and the rest of the World in a position where they want to support the Iranian people without actually meddling in the whole hoopla of who won the country’s Presidential election. So with the protests on the streets in Iran and a lot of hot rhetoric here at home, 2004 Presidential Democratic candidate John Kerry decided to send a message about how careful we, the American people need to be in the messages we're sending back around the world. In fact Kerry penned an OpEd entitled With Iran, Think Before You Speak for this morning’s New York Times. Senator Kerry wrote the piece especially to flag the dangers of some of what we're hearing from the neocons who dug us a very deep hole in the first place in American foreign policy. Kerry appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews and the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to talk about this some more but it simply another divisive way to play politics in the face of a very serious issue that could affect not just Iranians but the rest of the world.

Thus Senator John Kerry is right about one thing and that is all Americans need to be careful with their words especially the news media whose coverage of the Iranian election aftermath has been biased and one sided on so many levels. However the grass-roots protests that have engulfed Iran since its presidential election last week have grabbed America's attention and captured headlines but Kerry only attacks neoconservatives by saying that “unfortunately, so has the clamor from neoconservatives urging President Obama to denounce the voting as a sham and insert ourselves directly in Iran's unrest.”

While this might be true to some degree, the reality is that Kerry is missing the fact that the news media are the very ones who are pushing for the Obama administration to take a stronger stance on the Iranian election similar to France’s President who said the elections were rigged. Nonetheless Sen. Kerry wanted to use his op-ed to make attacks on Republicans and conservatives rather than to pen a piece that tells all Americans especially those in the news media to be careful about how they cover the Iranian election aftermath. Kerry instead chooses to say, “No less a figure than Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has denounced President Obama's response as "tepid." He has also claimed that "if we are steadfast eventually the Iranian people will prevail."” The reality is that McCain is correct to a degree that initially Obama’s response was tepid but as the days have come along, Obama has stronger in saying that there is no difference between either candidate in Iran but the Iranian people has America’s full support and the world will continue to watch to see that the Iranian people get their votes counted accurately.

Nonetheless, Kerry condemns McCain’s rhetoric and says it is bad American foreign policy. Kerry said, “Mr. McCain's rhetoric, of course, would be cathartic for any American policy maker weary of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hostile message of division. We are all inspired by Iran's peaceful demonstrations, the likes of which have not been seen there in three decades. Our sympathies are with those Iranians who seek a more respectful, cooperative relationship with the world. Watching heartbreaking video images of Basij paramilitaries terrorizing protesters, we feel the temptation to respond emotionally.” But Kerry doesn’t tell the entire truth or didn’t see the videos that showed many Iranian protests demonstrating violently over the weekend and on Monday where they set fire to many vehicles and other places.
However Kerry is right when he says that we as Americans as well as the rest of the world are proud that Iranians standing up for their right to vote because that is something all people in not just America but any democracy should have no matter what. Still Kerry didn’t accurately speak to the fact that the American media has only shown coverage of protests in Iran that have taken place in Iran’s largest city, Tehran and that there have been no reports of any other protests taking place in any other parts of the country. Therefore it makes me even wonder why is the American media as well as the world media continuously portraying Iran’s elections as a shame or fraud without any real proof whatsoever.

Senator Kerry seems to not care about that but feels that, “There's just one problem. If we actually want to empower the Iranian people, we have to understand how our words can be manipulated and used against us to strengthen the clerical establishment, distract Iranians from a failing economy and rally a fiercely independent populace against outside interference. Iran's hard-liners are already working hard to pin the election dispute, and the protests, as the result of American meddling. On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry chastised American officials for "interventionist" statements. Government complaints of slanted coverage by the foreign press are rising in pitch.” Now Kerry’s comments are correct and that is why Kerry’s message shouldn’t directed toward neo-cons but toward all Americans especially those in the press to cover the story better than how they are covering it. The foreign press needs to try to use the social networking sites to get information from other parts of Iran not just the main city (Tehran) in Iran.

Kerry went on to say, “We can't escape the reality that for reformers in Tehran to have any hope for success, Iran's election must be about Iran -- not America. And if the street protests of the last days have taught us anything, it is that this is an Iranian moment, not an American one.” But Kerry misses the main point that if it is to be about Iran than why isn’t anyone else covering any protests outside of Tehran. These are the questions that neither Senator Kerry nor anyone on the right is speaking up for nor has anyone in Iran or the foreign press hasn’t demanded more of. The fact that Senator Kerry wants us to understand that it’s not about America but Iran, we need only listen to the demonstrators. Their signs, slogans and Twitter postings say nothing about getting help from Washington -- instead they are adapting the language of their own revolution. When Iranians shout "Allah u Akbar" from rooftops, they are repackaging the signature gesture of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.”

Kerry says, “Mir Hussein Moussavi, the leading reformist presidential candidate, has advocated a more conciliatory approach to America. But his political legitimacy comes from his revolutionary credentials for helping overthrow an American-backed shah -- a history that today helps protect protesters against accusations of being an American "fifth column." Iran's internal change is happening on two levels: on the streets, but also within the clerical establishment. Ultimately, no matter who wins the election, our fundamental security challenge will be the same -- preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. That will take patient effort, and premature engagement in Iran's domestic politics may well make negotiations more difficult.” Thus Kerry makes good points but still the reality is that the world needs to be fairer in its coverage of Iran’s election aftermath and the protests. The fact that no one in the media both in American and abroad isn’t trying to see if there is outrage in other parts of Afghanistan is a clear example of just why everyone needs to be careful in the type of words as well as the coverage they use in regards to Iran’s.

That’s why Kerry shouldn’t be criticizing Senator McCain when many within Obama’s own administration have asked for Obama’s rhetoric to be stronger in terms of supporting the Iranian people. So when Kerry says, “What comes next in Iran is unclear. What is clear is that the tough talk that Senator McCain advocates got us nowhere for the last eight years. Our saber-rattling only empowered hard-liners and put reformers on the defensive. An Iranian president who advocated a "dialogue among civilizations" and societal reforms was replaced by one who denied the Holocaust and routinely called for the destruction of Israel. Meanwhile, Iran's influence in the Middle East expanded and it made considerable progress on its nuclear program.” Kerry is right, we don’t know what will happen next in Iran but the reality is that McCain’s tough talk is not out of line when McCain is simply asking for Obama to condemn the elections in Iran because there are clearly thousands of Iranians marching for their vote to be counted so it does bring into question if the elections on last week were legitimate.

Plus I didn’t see Kerry doesn’t criticize liberals like Vice President Joe Biden who came right out and said that the elections in Iran are shameful and that clearly there was election fraud while he was on a Sunday morning talk show. Kerry didn’t criticize Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who condemned the elections in Iran and even after Obama has done the same thing to a degree by saying that there is no difference between Ahmadinejad and Moussavi but Moussavi is benefitting because the Iranian people want change from the status quo just like they did 4 years ago and nearly a two decades earlier. That’s why when Kerry says, “The last thing we should do is give Mr. Ahmadinejad an opportunity to evoke the 1953 American-sponsored coup, which ousted Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and returned Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to power. Doing so would only allow him to cast himself as a modern-day Mossadegh, standing up for principle against a Western puppet.” Kerry is right on that point but the truth of the matter is that, both liberals and conservatives have been critical of the Iranian elections and many of whom have said identical and similar comments as Senator McCain. However the fact that Kerry only attacks McCain and neocons makes his op-ed piece partisan driven and not in the best interest of the Iranian people or the American foreign policy.

Kerry nonetheless says, “Words are important. President Obama has made that clear in devising a new approach to Iran and the wider Muslim world. In offering negotiation and conciliation, he has put the region's extremists on the defensive. We have seen the results of this new vision already. His outreach may have helped to make a difference in the election last week in Lebanon, where a pro-Western coalition surprised many by winning a resounding victory. We're seeing signs that it's having an impact in Iran as well.” Now no one can say that Obama’s approach is necessarily working but the truth is that a new approach helps in terms of negotiating with the Middle East as we go forward on many issues. But for Kerry to pen his op-ed to make it sound as if in 6 months, the Middle East and the wider Muslim world are better off so quickly is false. The Muslim world and the Middle East is not better off because in order to really evaluate that we have to wait at least 2 or 4 years from now to really see how much Obama’s new approach is impacting the Middle East.

So for Kerry to say that it is Obama’s rhetoric that is leading to the movement of change in Iran and that which occurred in Lebanon, is not right or fair. Obama will make some leeway in the Middle East with what he is doing so far but he has to keep it up. However I am not going to agree with Kerry and say that Obama’s rhetoric and approach is working already. Nonetheless, Kerry says, “Returning to harsh criticism now would only erase this progress, empower hard-liners in Iran who want to see negotiations fail and undercut those who have risen up in support of a better relationship.” I do agree that America can’t return to harsh criticism but we can’t be soft either. Instead, we as America need to adopt an approach where we are for the people of the world and their needs but not at the expense of ignoring the needs of the American people. So Kerry’s rhetoric on the airs today was unfair and his op-ed was partisan. But when it comes to Senator John Kerry what more do you expect. Just when you think he is making a great argument, he goes down a low road but still he makes some good points within his criticism of McCain and neo-cons.

But Kerry and other people need to understand that everyone needs to be careful of their words. Our words will matter when it comes to Iran and that is why we should support the protestors in Iran who demonstrate peacefully but we can’t necessarily condemn the Iranian elections without getting all the facts and information correct like showing if other parts of the country are outraged. Tehran is not all of Iran just like Washington, D.C. is not all of America. So for anyone to only broadcast one city within any country is unfair and bias because if anyone did the same thing in regards to showing one state in America and saying that it was all of America than it would be bias. That is why we need to be careful with our words as well as our news coverage as it relates to Iran. All of us, conservatives, liberals, moderates, Kerry, McCain, Obama, Clinton and Biden all need to be careful with our words as it relates to Iran.