Khamenei Must Go (and Take Ahmadinejad too, Please)
Presidents Bush and Obama both had several clear opportunities to support the Iranian people against the regime, most recently during the mass uprisings after the infamous electoral fraud in 2009 that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office. Each time, we walked away, either because we had been gulled into believing we could reach a modus vivendi with Khamenei, or because we feared terrible consequences if we called for an end to the theocratic regime and supported democratic revolution.
The kind of covert action reportedly under White House consideration will not defuse the Iranian time bomb. Only regime change can accomplish that. No matter how many Iranian terror masters and their Arab and Afghan proxies we may kill or capture, the Iranians will continue their war against us; “death to America” is their motto and their mission.
We know how to bring down totalitarian regimes like Khamenei’s and Assad’s. We should do to them what we did to Gorbachev: build a strike fund for Syrian and Iranian workers, demand the release of political prisoners (by name), broadcast the real news about their countries to the people, get communications technology and—if they need it—funding to the dissidents. It doesn’t require bombs or bullets, just the will to bring down the tyrants and a combination of common sense and wit.
The president finally brought himself to say “Qaddafi must go” and “Assad must go.” It is now time to say “Khamenei must go” and act accordingly.
And it’s time for some of the would-be presidents to do the same. Any American revolutionaries among that crowd?
“the Iranian people are the silver bullet aimed at the dark heart of the Islamic Republic, and we should support them, openly, vigorously, and non-violently whenever possible.” Amen to that….
According to several recent reports, the Obama Administration is now considering more forceful action against Iran in Iraq
Right. Those 3,000 troops Odumbo plans to leave in Iraq will positively overwhelm the Persians.
While we’re at it, Obama must go, too.
good one!
Obama leads from the rear. He registers a “ONE” on the courage meter, and that singular blip is for taking out Bin Laden. Oh, wait HE didn’t actually take out Bin Laden, it was a group of hard azz American Seals (probably republican and conservative) who put the bullet in that moron’s brain. I believe Obama was watching it on TV, still wearing a pair of golf shoes. So when you ask Obama to lead from anywhere other than the rear, as in calling out the leader of Iran, it will never happen. He is paralyzed by an inability to act; motivated only by a deep seated concern for his place in history. He won’t make a decision that might one day point to him being “wrong” about anything. In doing so, he is wrong about everything, and certainly late for making any meaningful, forward-thinking decisions. 900 days into this disaster of a presidency he starts talking about jobs, with everybody looking at him like “where the hell have YOU been?” I’ve NEVER seen one person, so inept, or in fact so accomplished at doing the wrong thing nearly 100% of the time, or a person so transparent with the desire to cover his own incompetency. I don’t blame him entirely. He has surrounded himself with advisors with liberal sewers for brains. But let us take heart. Obama may in fact prove be the best thing ever to happen to this country, permitting he and his anarchist cronies don’t destroy us before the 2012 election. At least we the people, (minus those who care nothing for this country but its demise) will be absolutely sure what we together as Americans will never again tolerate in a president, or in an Attorney General. But that guy is another commentary altogether.
it does seem that he’s totally lost his bearings sometimes…
“He won’t make a decision that might one day point to him being “wrong” about anything.”
Too late, Dumbo, the world already knows it.
What amazes me is how, time and again, new American administrations have thought they would be the one to cut the grand bargain with Iran. With Carter, it was at least somewhat understandable; the situation was new, strength was against his instincts, and he had that idiot Brzezinski for an adviser.
But every administration since, great or awful, has trod the same hopeless path — and each new one has even more history to learn from. I just don’t get it.
i wrote a whole book about it, Spook. “Accomplice to Evil.” Soon to be out of print, sigh…
Heh. I have a copy, Michael — great book. I hope someday to get it signed by the author.
Well I keep inviting you to dinner, you’re my #2 favorite spook and my favorite live spook. I’m no good at martinis, tho…we do have some pretty good Italian wine…
Well, it seems that they continue thinking they will cut grand bargains even with their counter terrorism strategy according to the latest
Global Counterterrorism Forum report by the State Department where they have such countries as Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates as founding members.
Given the recent past activities that some of them have had supporting terrorist entities the following is crazy
Just remains to know who the experts are.
Call me cynical, but “recent reports” just happen to coincide with the collapse of Jewish support that cost the Dems Weiner’s district. Now, Obama has to scramble to look like he is a friend to Israel. What better way than to start something with Iran?
Also, my cynicism must run real deep when it comes to Obama, because I figured they were saving an Iranian “situation” for just before the 2012 election.
It is only the politics of this administration that is transparent. Everything else is a murky mess that we will be trying to undo or fix for the rest of our lives.
It’s just so strange that they don’t remove Ahmadinejad when he flies over here to give speeches. Very, very strange.
As I know the authorities of the Islamic Republic know of and fear Dr. Ledeen and surely they have their minions read anything he ever writes, including this blog, I will address myself to those in Iran who are at this moment reading these articles for their masters.
I am an aging Iranian who, with a broken heart, left his country in 1979 so that his soon to arrive children would not have to be raised in a medieval society ruled by turbans and Sharia. I don’t know if that makes me a coward for not staying back to fight the just fight or a good man for saving his family. But you, the readers of these columns in Iran, whether you are avidly supporting the current regime or just doing your job as instructed have a chance to be heroes to all Iranians.
It is important that you remember who we are. Alexander conquered us and installed the Selucids. But they were never able to Hellenize us. The Arabs conquered us but we never became Arabs. The Mongols conquered us, the Turkic Qajars conquered us. But in all cases we eventually made them Iranians. We forced our culture onto them.
We have been conquered again by the forces of evil and darkness. I don’t care if you hate the Pahlavis. But even if you do, you cannot in your heart of hearts deny that our occupiers are evil. Just look around and see what they do to our women and our youth. The current leaders are sociopaths who do what all sociopaths do; try to attract negative attention since they cannot be attractive in a positive way. And their friends are also sociopaths, Chavez, Assad, Castro, Hammas and so many more. Do you, my brethren, want to be associated with them? We have no business in Palestine or Lebanon. Let them sort out their own problems. We have no business building military bases in Venezuela. We have no business calling the only true democracy in the region, Israel, our enemy. Think logically as I know you are quite capable of doing so. Let your enemies be those who want to destroy democracies.
Your only mission should be to help your fellow Iranians in tearing apart the chains of tyranny. You are all probably junior level functionaries in the government. But there is a lot you can do. You come across information in your official capacities on a daily basis. Pass them along to your compatriots who are fighting the good fight. You can slow down the government by forcing yourself to only do mediocre work. You can sabotage even in a small scale. Iranians are great at being creative. So get creative.
When you rest your head on your pillow every night see to it that you do so with pride knowing that you have contributed in a small way to defeat our conquerors. Just remember that tyrannies will eventually fall and someday you will have to answer questions. You can make a difference with the love that I know most of you have for our Iranian identity.
Sirs,
By the same token the whole gang of Israel’s zionist leaders must go to.
mr othman, what does “by the same token” mean? do you think Israel is at war with the United States and is killing Americans?
Michael, the matter is not about enmity between Israel and the U.S.A…This sort of people is unconcerned with whether, if Americans are massacring under the slaughter machine or not. Certainly this sort of zealots would be very pleased when Americans and Israelis will be massacred one after the other. You are talking to Muslim fanatic who doubtless deeply believes in a culture of violence and murder and the love of death.
Zionism is DEAD, mission accomplished in 1948. Now is only JEWS and ISRAEL-so just quit your pretentention, your pretending, hiding behind semantic games and just say it- you want JEWS annihilated, or back in exile or weak under submission to others and you wish to see Israel destroyed-
No need to play games anymore- your heros, your fellow jewhaters are all OUT now, no more closets for you little pricks, Springtime for Hitler and Muslim B
Mr. Ben Othman, unfortunately we are sharing the same surname, which I extremely ashamed of it. And FORTUNATELY we do NOT share the same thinking or thought. Our surname is remind me in the rubbish of humanity “Islamists”, those who their eyes filled with unlimited hatred and detestation towards the Great nation (Jews). Mr. Ben Othman, Jews or i.e Zionists did NOT CAME from Mars or from other Planet!? As you know their history is over 4000 years long. They belong to the first human civilization began in the Middle East in the Fertile Crescent “the area from Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers” where the First Hebrew Patriarchs lived in that area.
The Prophet Moses was the human instrument in the creation of the nation of Israel by communicated to it the Torah, and the Patriarch Abraham and his sons attributed as Patriarchs of the Hebrew people and lived in that region. So, in all human justice that area is belong to them, including Saudi Arabia, but let’s us not go far! They such as any other nation, they only want their right in establish their secure own Homeland on the Land of the birthplace of their Patriarchs (the Land of Israel). For example, approx 57 Muslim countries are members of Organization of the Islamic Conference. Nearly 34 States of them officially identified itself as “Islamic States 100%, rate estimated 91-100% are Muslim population”, and most of them are governs on the basis of Koran and Sunna, in other words enemies of life and humanity.
Nations embrace Buddhism 100% “Union of Myanmar (Burma), the Kingdom of Thailand, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Kingdom of Bhutan”. – Greece, is the State of Greek Orthodox 100% – India is the birthplace of Hinduism. Nepal is the only official Hindu state. While Jews not more than 18 Million Jews around the world, and nevertheless they do not have their own secure homeland. because there are collective desire among the Fanatic Leaders and their followers of EXTREMIST Islamists to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
Mr. Ben Othman, we Muslims who have took over everything in the region, while Jews deprived from THEIR OWN HOMELAND, even they deprived from their right of fortunes in that region. and it’s folly to deny this facts!?
Mr Othman, the Jews have suffered a lot and a lot and are still. The Jews are the victims of the unjust reality since the Pharaohs Epoch and recently by the horrible European fascism holocaust.
The major Jewish tribes that lived in northern Arabia or Arabic’s peninsula (Saudi Arabia nowadays) were besieged and massacred by Muhammad and his followers….And recently on this Damn Land (aka Poland) the Nazis and their Collaborators of these unhappy nations tried to cleanse the face of the earth from Jews, where the victims of European fascism was more than six millions Jews…They were killed in ways that are not humane just because they were Jews alive “FOR NO REASON!!! Please a little a bit of wisdom,, it’s best to say “The Terror Masters Must Go”.
Really Mr Ledeen, how could you have such a title for your post when Putin said:
I Saw Jesus in Iran’s Leader
Tsk, tsk.
I don’t understand why you are smirking at Putin’s statement. You have to remember where Putin is coming from. He was an energetic member of the Communist Party and a KGB operative before his transformation into whatever he is these days. To that end he was created in a system that believed religion to the be opium of the masses. So, by definition, the head of any religion would be the supplier of that opium and, ergo, evil. From Putin’s perspective Yeshua is the evil opium pusher of Christianity. And,therefore, he rightly saw the face of Jesus in Khamenei as another evil pusher.
Apparently, the two hikers will not be released. Another Mullah spank to Ahmadinejad. With the serial humiliation he has taken from the Mullahs in the past few months, maybe he will claim asylum when he next visits the UN HQ.
I wonder what “grand bargain” has been made on this one behind the curtains. In the meantime the idiot media journalists from NBC, CNN, ABC are now in Iran cramming the monkey guy Ahmadinejad begging for his time for interviews. Apparently they think Ahmadinejad is a hard working man who wakes up at dawn hours of the day each day working hard for the unprivileged poor people, blah blah blah…. no surprise here from our leftists garbage media pundits. I can smell “Grand bargain” from miles away.
Where is the order coming from?
In the meantime, the colonial Brits and French are adamant in making sure that the “Islamist Groups” be included in both Libya and Egypt’s new governments. Lots of oil is at stakes for the duo vampires.
Ah of course not to forget the human tragedy of all of this dirty politics is that yesterday another 11 brave regime fighters in Iran have been executed by the terrorist regime in the city of Zahedan.
No way Lord Garth, he sees himself as “The One” in Iran the same as our resident O does here in the States. He would never leave Iran, in his mind they need him too much. He will continue to fight what he considers to be his good fight until someone, from one side or the other puts a bullet in his head.
As for the hikers, he has done the same thing he did before the girl was released. He knew the judiciary was going to release them and he tried to horn in and claim it was his doing. Now the mullahs will delay the release just long enough to knock him down a peg or two and then collect their ransom. Business as usually in the happy land of Iran.
“He is right to be afraid; the Iranian people are the silver bullet aimed at the dark heart of the Islamic Republic, and we should support them, openly, vigorously, and non-violently whenever possible.”
Hope that means giving rebellious factions within Iran the weapons and military training to overthrow the regime. The Libyan rebels were about to be wiped out before America and NATO launched massive air strikes to stop that from happening.
The Iranian people must know by now that the time for peaceful protests is over. They tried that in 2009 after their “elections,” and all they got for it was a lot of people murdered in the streets. Just ask Neda Agha-Soltan how far peaceful protesting got her. Just like Ghandi would not have had much success in Auschwitz, peaceful protests have no chance with the mullahs in Iran, especially now after they’ve seen what sheer terror was able to do in Syria.
We should be outright arming the Kurds and have Special Ops bases located on Kurdish territory. From there, we should be supplying rebellious factions inside Iran with the weapons, training, equipment, and money needed to overthrow the mullahs. If the Iranian people could do it with the Shah, they certainly could do it with the mullahs. And we would have the added bonus of keeping the mullahs pre-occupied with events in Iran itself, so that they wouldn’t have much time trying to overthrow the current government in Iraq. This requires a full-court press on the part of the CIA and probably the US Army. The question is, does Obama and this administration have the stomach for it? I doubt it, especially considering the cowardly way it behaved after the 2009 “elections” in Iran.
Libertyship, to arm the Iranian people would be suicide for them. The IRGC is loyal to the regime, they are better armed than the army, have the backing of the Basji, the army backing the people would be the only chance they would have. The problem there is that the leadership of the army is still loyal to the regime. To back the people it would have to pull off a mass mutiny of it’s own. Doing that they would lose most of their command and control structure. As such they also would not stand a chance against the IRGC.
The way they are protesting now, peacefully, is working, slowly, but working. The regime is fighting amongst itself. It is turning more and more of the people against itself. The people are not dumb, they know what would happen to them if they tried an armed revolt. It would be over before our great NATO could even begin to vote on whether or not to help. Right now the regime is fighting on multiple fronts, against itself, against world opinion, against it’s own people, it can’t take much more.
It’s only been 30 years since the last revolution, the memory is still there, the people don’t want an all out civil war and they know that is exactly what they would have if they armed themselves.
I do believe the best thing for us to do is give the people of Iran all the backing we possibly can. Keep pressure on the regime from the outside, call them out on everything they do. Scream about their human rights record, their treatment of the dissidents, their support of terrorists, everything. They can’t stand in the light of day.
yeah, that’s from my hymnal. one little point: i believe the Basij are technically part of the Rev Guards.
It is sad to see the whole Iranian nation on their knees in front of the charlatan Mullas and their murderous Basij army.A whole nation with a glorious
past and a wonderful culture throughout the ages is afflicted by pathological messianism .
they are fighting, mr goldfeld, haven’t you noticed? the mosques are empty, they are not true believers.
As a militant of the internationalist subversive left, Obama cannot do anything against ANY enemy of America. Those enemies are the internationalist totalitarians’ allies by definition (or in marxist speak: “objectively”.)
The daily massacre in Syria continues, and this administration is doing nothing against the Muslim Brotherhood’s small caliphate being built in north Africa.
And once the mullahs have the bomb the internationalist subversives will really rejoice. They have passed from the small terrorism of the Sixties and Seventies to professional subversion. I think they are truly proud of themselves.
I am curious about one thing in your article. Why did you put quotation marks around the hikers? When I use quotation marks in a similar context I am usuallly trying to insinuate that the subject may be different from what it is purported to be.
i dunno, maybe a typo. i agree with you on usage.
Right now we have Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei playing the part of Mohammed in Iran. Before him we had a nasty piece of work named Khomeini – this one is dead – the second one should be as well – I know/I know – with Political Correctness and ‘Woosyism’ being what it is in Washington – we don’t want to go there!
Actually I want to go close to there and point out the value of going there when we could have – and should have.
Back in the day when the Shah of Iran was importing teachers from the USA and England in an effort to lift the standards of his nation and offer his people more than a camel shit sandwich . The Shah was also pissing off a lot of Muslims – you know the kind – the kind that blow up buses and bomb schools – the kind that think girls don’t need education – I guess a Shari-a based – Taliban mindset could describe his home land enemy.
Meanwhile living up in France – in exile – in a cute little dump outside of Paris sit’s Ayatollah Khomeini . Now this is ‘pecks bad boy’ and he is waiting while his minions stir the kettle of discontent until he can make his grand entrance – back into the ‘Iranian dark ages’ that he represents.
My point – oh yes – my point! There were plenty of Americans that worked with the Shahs people – Educators – Engineers – Contractors – Military and Intelligence Specialists.
The Shah was pulling Iran up and out of the decadent past and his methods – while harsh and sometimes extreme were working!
One of the ’better’ suggestions made was to send a hit team to Paris and eliminate the Ayatollah Khomeini and the major source of trouble for the emergence of a new modern government.
Political Correctness and Woosyism injected from the West saved the life of that Old Man and cost the world hundreds of thousands of lives – unknown amounts of money and we are still facing the wrath of a fat dude called Mohammed!
Hind sight – isn’t it wonderful!!!!!
“Political Correctness and Woosyism injected from the West saved the life of that Old Man and cost the world hundreds of thousands of lives – unknown amounts of money and we are still facing the wrath of a fat dude called Mohammed!”
You’re absolutely right about that. PC mentality of the West ever since the era of cold war, has brought us the menace that is Islamism faster than ever.
We can never forget that yes it was Michel Foucault that revered French Philosopher who called Khomeini a “Saint” and passionately expressed his enthusiasm for what was happening in Iran, the downfall of the Shah and the downfall of what he saw as a rational law abiding land. He was a leftist who championed irrationality, even violence as forms of artistry and creativity. All the naive mindsets of the leftists of the 60′s and 70′s.
Then we had Andrew Young, Carter’s ambassador to the corrupt UN who also called Khomeini a “Saint”. Not to forget Ramsey Clark the US Attorney General under Carter who visited Khomeini in that crappy hole in Paris you mentioned and offered him United States full support.
Yes these idiots are the cause of the mayhem we are having in our world today. Without their support and backing, not mentioning their constant badgering of our unique freedoms, none of these Islamo fascists would have gotten the powers they have now.
Dear Ms/Mr Phineas, yes, it’s a shame and surprisingly to see some of Colorblind American Policymakers have believed that Iranians and Syrians are ideal for conventions and sponsor of stability and safety in the region. Both evil regimes “Syrian and Iranian” are quite supporters for international terrorism, and they are totally in cahoot. Both have backed terrorist groups and are still supporting.
In case of Iran, some Humiliating Defeat Makers believed that the United States can reach to modus vivendi with the mullahs regime. But the Iranians behavior proved in otherwise the religious fanatics of rule. Mullahs do not want to deal with the Great Satan (USA). They have duped Westerners many times. They never intended to negotiate of good faith, and all negotiations just was a waste of time, where any nonviolent conflict with mullahs was useless, and any talking with Mullahs was useless. And though the Colorblind American Policymakers or as it were “Policymakers of appeasement and sanctimony” know that since Mr. President Jimmy Carter, every American president has sent emissaries to talks with Iranians, and every administration has made demarches to Tehran. To date, the net result is hundreds of dead Americans and still continues more wickedly. And yet the delusion still persists to the Humiliating Defeat Makers and to their followers of sellers of Scandals and Lies-Times “Some American journalists”.
Mullahs NEVER compromised on anything, because the Mullahs’s mentality and the Muslims mentality in general are struggles in religious terms and Islamic values. Moreover Mullahs’s dirty aim to be a Nuclear Superpower in the region, and they are protected all time by their close friends, the opportunistic neutrals “Chinese and Russians”.
As for the sanctimonious Zbigniew Brzezinski! No new from this famous Pole who is horribly an Anti-Semitic, is just like millions of idiots Poles!
Jassem Othman – Syrian dissident – Poland
I hate to be a cynic (oh what the hell), but does it really matter who Obama calls out to go or not go ?
Does America’s opinion still matter much ?
The administration was very reluctant to call out Assad, a favorite of the elitist set, until push came to shove and it could no longer ignore the fact that Syria’s leader was slaughtering his own citizens willy nilly.
Earlier this year, Hillary was still referencing Assad as a “reformer”.
Obama has held on as a diehard that his personality alone would make cretins like Ahmadinejhad see the light. Said cretins have exploited such naiveté to the hilt.
It doesn’t fail. Everytime I am feeling nominally good about my day something has to come and ruin it for me:
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/meks-war-washington-5889
By the way, Dr. Ledeen, I have never had the pleasure of knowing your perspective on the subject matter.
radish are you asking about MEK delisting? i’ve talked about that. i think it’s a marginal question and i think it’s amazing, and discouraging, that so much time and energy is devoted to it. whatever you think about the issue, we’re talking about a few thousand people, while we should be devoting our energies to the tens of millions of iranians who are suffering and demonstrating and trying to free themselves of an evil regime. i doubt that MEK is a major part of that fight, which i think is the most important thing right now.
Thank you Mr. Ledeen… I loved when you said: “the Iranian people are the silver bullet aimed at the dark heart of the Islamic Republic, and we should support them, openly, vigorously, and non-violently whenever possible”.
As Reza Pahlavi (son of Shah of Iran)has been saying for the past 25+ years, supporting Iranian people and nation wide non-violent civil disobedient is the only answer to this problem which now has become the world’s problem as well.
Even supporting Mosavi is not going to solve anything, he is another version of Khatami and I am sure you are fully aware of what happened during his presidency. His solution is IRI v.II which happen to be the “Golden days of khomeini”!! go figure.
You have a saying that “World has changed since 9/11″, I will go further back and look deeper and say “World has changed since the fall of Shah of Iran”.
Again thank you for the wonderful article and pointing the true solution.
To those who imply that Obama’s exit will lead to the fall of the Khamanai-Ahmadinejad regime,
Explain please !
To those who totally ignore Pakistan’s role in sustaining the Taliban and other Jihadi groups and yet want a US victory in Afghanistan,
Explain please !
To those who want the economically broke and nationally deeply and tensely divided US (e.g., on tax reforms, medicare, medicaid, social security etc.) to play an effective role in world affairs,
Explain please !
Why do I feel like that I am Zofia Zowotowski with Nathan Landau pressing down on my neck screaming “Explanation Please!”
1) Assuming Obama is replaced by one who offers material, tangible and palpable support to the Iranian people under the umbrella of the Greens (short of military incursion) as opposed to a deafening silence while Iranians were offering up their lives in 2009 then I am fairly certain the masses will be sufficiently motivated to topple the regime.
2) Obama’s replacement will have to deal with Pakistan with an iron hand threatening their existence which is totally dependent on US aid while at the same time putting China on notice that should they try to take advantage of the vaccuum draconian tarrifs will be imposed above and beyond those necessary to battle currency manipulation. The Chinese are well aware as to who is buttering their toast.
3) Obama’s departure will hopefully, and finally, lay to rest the ghost of John Maynard Keynes and the false premise of demand side economics replacing it with the tried and tested veracity of Art Laffer’s theories. That should bring back roaring our economic engine so the power of good can once again be globally projected.
http://ipzambia.org/blogs/