Did The West (America) Let Democracy Die On The Vine In Iran?

Many political pundits will tell you that Pope John Paul The Second and President Ronald Reagan worked in tandem with the Polish union activist leader, Lech Walesa and brought down the Soviet Union. Common items as simple as the fax machines aided the Polish people and moral vocal support from the West emboldened them to press on for Democracy, which spread like a mustard seed and gave us the visual and symbolic failure of the Soviet Union manifested in the Berlin Wall being torn down. It was only months ago, last year, we felt giddy thinking the same would take root in Iran; we dubbed the seeds of Democratic, the “Green Movement.”

The “Green Movement,” named after those in Iran who wanted change and freedom… who backed Housavi in the elections and were denied their candidate’s victory when their votes were stolen and the incumbent Ahmadinejad was wrongly restored to power. We watched and prayed for the Green Movement… hoping that their spark would give way to a raging fire… swaying many in the Republican Guard. The blood of the martyred Neda Aghasoltan who was shot down gave the Green Movement even more resolve. I am not privy to what the West and the U.S. did in assisting these saplings of Democracy – all I know is that it seemed like Democracy died on the vines. It has become a refrain that the Iranian youths, in most cases, harbor no animus towards America.

We have heard of the Iranian authorities - beating students who attended a soccer match between both countries - for vocally cheering in supporting of the U.S.  Western Intelligence agencies also have made us privy to the fact that the Iranian people, seventy percent of whom are under 35, desire better relations with the West.

Any day now, Iran will acquire Nuclear weapons and I am hoping that the Green Movement does not fade even more into the background. Many of those same young Iranians who wished and sought better relations with the West, I am afraid may embrace national pride to the detriment of the seeds of Democracy. I am not advocating that we should have gone into Iran and forced our ideals on them, but a more spirited high-five from the West and the White House would have gone along way… and especially since we had at our disposal better technologies than President Reagan and Pope John Paul.

We also have a President in Barack Obama, who is as gifted in words as the late Ronald Reagan and the seeming impossibility for Obama to have reached the office of the Presidency would have been motivational for the members of the fledgling Green Movement. I hope that the embers of Democracy reflected in the Green Movement are still smoldering and that the vines are not dead, but only in need of water. And if we are not going to provide the “living waters” to the Iranian Green Movement in the open… then we must do so sub-rosa. After all, we have soldiers like President Reagan and Pope John Paul as shining exemplars.