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Source: http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20070423&s=nafisi042307
America's Best Weapon Is the Iranian People
[New Republic] Azar Nafisi - Ahmadinejad's reactionary tendencies are fundamentally a sign of the Iranian system's weakness - not its strength. If you take the long view of Iranian history and focus on the country's people rather than its rulers, a very different picture emerges: that of an Iranian order in crisis. Iran's new international isolation and pariah status is deeply unpopular at home, and the fact that the government is emptying its coffers to foment revolution abroad rather than to support the welfare of the Iranian people has turned many of Ahmadinejad's supporters against him. What is needed is for human rights groups, activists, and journalists to take up the cause of the Iranian people. A firm and united stand by the international community on Iranian human rights will send a message to the regime that it cannot bend other countries to its will, while encouraging more moderate and dissatisfied elements within the ruling elite to voice their displeasure. The writer is director of the Dialogue Project at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.