Money for Iran's Freedom

George Bush stated in his 2005 State of the Union address: “And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.” And just exactly how do we do that, Mr President?

Amil Amani writes:

In Iranian polls, Bush won the 2004 election by a landslide, even though in America, Bush won by only a few hundred votes. Today, Bush is sinking in American polls, but his popularity continues to climb in Iran. Persian speaking people have found a friend who says he cares about them. But, at this point, we must ask how serious is President Bush about Iran? Is it all words, with no action?

For five years, President Bush has consistently supported the Iranian people in his state of the union addresses. But it’s been simply a big carrot on a long stick. Or, as they say in Texas, it’s all hat and no cattle. While we have supported the president’s efforts to liberate Iraq and bring democracy to the region, we know the key to peace in Iraq and the region is in the hands of the Iranian people. As long as they are powerless to overthrow the Islamic terrorist regime in Iran, Iraq will never see the light of democracy.

But consider this: the United States holds billions of dollars of Iranian assets in U.S. banks. Why not use this financial source to support the Iranian opposition groups who will actively seek regime change in Iran?

It is time for the US government to get serious about regime change in Iran. Bombing Iran will not help the cause. In fact, it will probably create either civil war, or some kind of desperate, lethal unity inside Iran.

The more effective way to achieve regime change is to spend the Iranian assets in the right way. We can create a secular, democratic Iranian nation with our own Iranian money, and obliterate the venomous theocratic regime in Iran—which the majority of Iranians consider to be alien occupiers. The clock is ticking and the majority of Iranians want to be free from the oppressors now. The Bush administration must stop the useless, wasteful bureaucracy and get down to business of regime change, immediately.

Amil Imani is an Iranian-born American Citizen and pro democracy activist living in the United States of America.
http://amilimani.com/index/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=9

I would be interested in knowing just what percentage of the Iranian people would welcome reform and what percentage of them are the nuts we see marching in the streets. After the PollyAnnish predictions we heard before the Iraq war, I think we should weigh our options very carefully.