Khomeini´s Nachkommen....

Stephan, Freitag, 10. Oktober 2003, 14:37 (vor 7888 Tagen)

Aus dem Wall Street Journal vom 10. Oktober.
Immer diese ungezogenen Kinder....

The Ayatollah Wolfowitz

Sayyid Hussein Khomeini is the grandson of
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979
Islamic revolution in Iran. Earlier this year, the
liberal 46-year-old cleric left Iran for the
Shiite spiritual centers of Karbala and Najaf,
where he has been exploiting Iraq´s newfound
freedom of speech and thought to advocate
democratic change at home. Mr. Khomeini visited
our offices last week as he wrapped up a U.S. tour
that included stops on Capitol Hill. He painted a
far different picture of Middle East developments
than President Bush´s critics in Congress and the
media.
"We consider [the U.S. invasion] as the arrival of
goodness, and I hope the American people
understand this," Mr. Khomeini emphasized from the
start. It is important for Americans to keep their
eyes on the big picture, and "to make the
[democratizing] mission possible" by not getting
discouraged by the day-to-day difficulties.
Mr. Khomeini offered no assurances that the path
ahead would be easy. "All of our neighbors are
dictatorships. . . . They do not like a democracy
in the heart of the Mideast." He said Iran and
Saudi Arabia, in particular, were working to
undermine the U.S. mission. Nor does he consider
the Europeans helpful: "Europe is now calling for
democracy, but it is helping 100% the
dictatorships in the area."
But Mr. Khomeini, who advocates separation of
mosque and state, said Americans shouldn´t worry
that Iraqis themselves want to trade dictatorship
for Islamic theocracy. As long as security and
basic services can be provided, he said, "Iraqis
want the Americans to stay."
What´s more, Mr. Khomeini says an aggressive U.S.
posture is the best chance of bringing change to
Iran, where the hopes of freedom that animated the
1979 revolution were "diverted," in part because
of the "personality of Khomeini," his grandfather.
"Iranians -- and I know this culture -- want
American military intervention in Iran," he says.
Absent that, it is important for America to
support Iranian dissidents: "The Iranian
government must be under pressure at all times."
It was in part to free the voices of Islamic
reformers that the President deposed Saddam
Hussein. If America can foster a space in the
Middle East where such things can continue to be
thought and said, that fact alone will have been
worth the fight.