What a way to start the new year! The editors of the Weekly
Standard thought they saw a UFO, and when they tried to identify it, their
delusional eyes told them it was a flying carpet of Persian origin. And so they
gathered all the intellectual currency they had in the bank, and used it to buy
what they thought was a carpet that will fly.
However, they may soon discover that the thing was an
illusion. You'll see how this can happen when you read the editorial that came
under the title: “Iran Protests Show Tehran Has Lost the Advantage” and the
subtitle: “The U.S.
administration should seize it.” The piece was written by the editors of the
Weekly Standard, and published on December 30, 2017 on their website.
The editors began their presentation with an opus so
grandiose, it would make Aida's March of Triumph sound like a lone shepherd
playing the flute to entertain his sheep. Look at the following passage and
imagine the music: “The evidence is irrefutable: Obama got Iran wrong. So
did the foreign-policy establishment. So did the New York Times and every
center-left media outlet in America
and Europe .” Did they leave out someone?
Because Obama got it wrong, they went on to explain, the
2009 protest in Iran
did not morph into the flying carpet it was meant to be. But eight years later,
the UFO they now see hover over Teheran has the potential to turn into a real
flying carpet, they promise. This will happen, they ascertain, if the current
occupant of the White House would recite the correct magical words correctly;
something they believe he started doing already.
The reason why Obama got it wrong, they believe, is that he
was eager to conclude a nuclear deal with the leaders of Iran ; a project
that came to fruition after six years of negotiations. But the deal is a bad
thing for America
and the world, they say, citing a number of reasons why. The problem, however,
is that most of the reasons they have on the list, center on their dislike of
the regime in Tehran
rather than the provisions of the agreement. In fact, they even hint that the
whole deal is not working well for Iran … so much so, that the regime
found it necessary to flout it.
More than that, the evidence that the deal is not working
for Iran ,
is here for everyone to see, they cry out. It is that the UFO of 2009 has
reappeared over Tehran ,
they shout. And that's how they describe the event:
“Thousands now protest the regime. Mainstream media reports
have implied that the people are protesting the government's economic policies.
It's true that ordinary Iranians are angry about high unemployment; the lifting
of sanctions hasn't resulted in the predicted economic opportunity. But these
protests are about more than economics. Crowds are chanting 'We don't want an
oppressive government!' and 'Death to the dictator!' Posters of Ali Khamenei
are being defaced and toppled around the country … The protesters are angry
about more than the country's struggling economy”.
So then, what is there to do? The truth is that the editors
of the Weekly Standard have no new ideas to contribute. It's because they don't
know what can be done or what must be done. They simply laud the current
administration for refusing to follow in the footsteps of the previous
administration. They say the following in this regard: “Already the State
Department has condemned the arrest of peaceful protesters, and President Trump
has registered strong support for the protesters.” And they are content with
that.
But they believe this is already having an effect in Iran . That's
how they put it: “For the first time, the regime finds itself at a
disadvantage. Since the administration refused to recertify the nuclear deal,
the U.S.
is free to reimpose sanctions and pull out of the deal. A return to sanctions
would do harm to the country's economy and the regime's authority. That will
put Khamenei's government in an impossible position and may lead to its
dissolution and a true Persian democracy”.
And that will be the flying carpet of their dream. Believing
that America was outsmarted
at every turn by Iran , the
editors of the Weekly Standard wish for Iran to become as dysfunctional as
the American Congress. They also wish for America 's
executive to become as smart as that of Iran .
The Weekly Standard editors feel that if Iran adopts a system of democracy, the move will
start the process of Iran 's
decay, which is why they root for democracy to happen there. In fact, they
believe that the UFO they see over Tehran
at this time is the omen they have been waiting for.
But there is an alternative scenario that might explain what
they are seeing. Could it be that the Iranians, who are Shia, became convinced
it will be better for all Muslims if Iran would reconcile with the Sunni
World rather than continue to confront it on the battlefield?
Rather than approach Saudi Arabia with a request to
reconcile, thus look like they are begging for something, it may be that the
Iranians chose to let a small group of their people stage a protest. The plan
might have been for the group to demand a change in the country's direction,
and the government bowing to its own people. The expectation might have been
that when the planned changes are spelled out, the Sunni World will be pleased
to know what they are, and move to work for the reconciliation of all Muslims.