And I know that a lot of Iranians are unhappy with the mullah regime and periodically endure being shot, beaten, and arrested to display their anger. The Iranians deserve our help (and amazingly our government is giving them help--and of course House Democrats did this instead).
Further, I know that the forms of democracy are maintained in Iran even though it is not a democracy. If democracy is not wanted or seen as legitimizing a government, why would Iran's mullahs even bother with maintaining the forms that only fool gullible or colluding Westerners?
Iran is in trouble economically because we have not just assumed that mullah rule will never end (or, horrifyingly, that it is a good thing):
The economic sanctions and successful efforts to block Iranian oil smuggling continue to cripple the economy. GDP shrank about 4.2 percent in the last year and is expected to shrink 7.2 percent in the coming year. Reserves of foreign currency, needed to pay for imports, are down to $73 billion, a third less than two years ago. The unem0loyment rate is headed for 20 percent and more Iranians are finding themselves with a lower standard of living. Meanwhile more videos appear showing the families of the ruling clerics and senior IRGC officers enjoying affluent lifestyles, often while vacationing outside Iran. Because of the recent Iranian missile attacks on American bases in Iraq the U.S. has imposed more economic sanctions, further reducing economic activity in Iran.
The government is caught between foreign pressure to halt the use of terrorism inside and outside the country and internal protests against government mismanagement and brutality inside Iran. Being forced to admit that Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian airliner on the 8th was a major embarrassment and triggered more anti-government protests.
Our pressure is forcing the problems of Iran's governance based on fear and death out into the open. Do read it all.
And remember, Iran has vulnerabilities because it is really a rump empire, as I recently noted in a data dump:
A reminder that Iran is an empire. Yeah, I've been saying that. But the Western Left only gets worked up by former Western overseas empires and not existing land empires like Iran, China, or Russia (with the EU aiming for that status).
I'm hoping this guy is right, without knowing whether he is right or whether if true it will matter in the face of more shootings, beatings, and arrests.
Siding with the tyrant just because you think you "understand" they are too powerful to dislodge is revolting.
Even if the mullah regime is too strong to dislodge now, America should not be shy about letting the world know how awful Iran's rulers are and that the people of Iran are justly seeking to change it--one way or another. Whether now or in the future.
And America shouldn't be shy about pointing out that Iran is fully on board fighting its enemies to the last dead Arab.
