As if he said it yesterday in Tehran, instead of sixty years ago in Omnipotent Government:
"The elite should be supreme by virtue of persuasion, not by the assistance of firing squads."
Words made more poignant by some of the footage coming from Tehran’s streets [hat tip Andrew Sullivan]:
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From Stratfor’s “Western Misconceptions Meet Iranian Reality” dated June 15.
*Americans and Europeans have been misreading Iran for 30 years.
*Even after the Shah fell, the myth has survived that a mass movement of people exists demanding liberalization — a movement that if encouraged by the West eventually would form a majority and rule the country.
*Iran — a country that is poor, pious and content on the whole with the revolution forged 30 years ago.
*Some still charge that Ahmadinejad cheated. That is certainly a possibility, but it is difficult to see how he could have stolen the election by such a large margin.
*Mousavi still insists he was robbed, and we must remain open to the possibility that he was, although it is hard to see the mechanics of this.
*Fraud or not, Ahmadinejad won and he won significantly. That he won is not the mystery; the mystery is why others thought he wouldn’t win.
*Ahmadinejad’s victory is a triumph of both democracy and repression.
*It is not clear what the Iranians are prepared to negotiate on, nor is it clear what the Americans are prepared to give the Iranians to induce them to negotiate.
*Iran wants greater influence in Iraq and its role as a regional leader acknowledged, something the United States doesn’t want to give them.
*The United States wants an end to the Iranian nuclear program, which Iran doesn’t want to give.
*For the moment, the election appears to have frozen the status quo in place.
*Neither the United States nor Iran seem prepared to move significantly, and there are no third parties that want to get involved in the issue beyond the occasional European diplomatic mission or Russian threat to sell something to Iran.
*This game is locked in place, and goes on.
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