Readers have been asking me for my take on the situation now unfolding in Iran. How have my experiences filming a public television show there last year shaped my impressions of current events?
I plan to explain my thinking about this issue in an op-ed piece for the Seattle Times,which is scheduled to run in next Sunday’s edition (June 28). Since we don’t know how this situation will end, of course it’s far too early to talk about cause and effect. But, as someone who has traveled to Iran recently, this is my hunch:
When I visited Iran a year ago, I sensed that they would eventually win their freedom — but it had to be on their own terms. Crucially, what’s going on today in Iran is an organic process, not something brought about by foreign meddling. In my mind, this gives it a legitimate chance of success, and our stance so far of simply staying out of their way is the best thing we can do.
However, even if we have no direct involvement with the Iranian protests, I like to think that we have contributed to the cause of Iranian freedom in some way. When I was in Iran and our own presidential election was heating up, it occurred to me that the Bush (and, seemingly, McCain) policy of tough-talking rhetoric might actually empower Iran’s leaders to more effectively preach their message of fear and hate. But under an Obama Administration, our government’s attitude (if not our policy) about how to engage the Muslim world has changed. President Obama’s stated philosophy of respect and listening makes it harder to demonize the US, and the “Death to America” chants don’t quite have the gravity they once did. I have to wonder if our president’s more respectful stance toward the Muslim world might have had some effect on events there today (and particularly on Ahmadinejad’s ability to harness his people’s anger against us).
I do find it fascinating that rather than our government radicalizing the Iranian masses, it’s the Iranian government itself that is radicalizing its masses. And by drawing a line in the sand, as their supreme leader did last week, they may have underestimated their young population’s passion for freedom.
(PS: I’d like to assure those of you who wondered why I removed my longer entry on this subject from the blog — and suspected I couldn’t handle the hot topic — that I don’t consider this very hot. I just wanted to use much of that material in my op-ed piece in a big-city newspaper rather than here. Sorry. I’ll bring it back when I can.)
Thank you Steve for your comment. I agree with you about President Obama’s approach to the situation. I think the best thing coming out of all the coverage this situation is getting in the media is that the people around the world are seeing the other Iranians and not only the ones sitting in the mosques and chanting death to America. I also want to thank you for the very nice video of your trip to Iran. I enjoyed watching it. There was a good balance of history and culture.
Rick………..Thank you for the update……I was wondering what happened and your Editor’s note yesterday only added to the mystery……..you have become very political now as well as travel…..I saw you on Travis Smiley and you said something like…… Taught travel for 30 years…realized lately you have evolved…..”1st 10 yrs …budget tips, travel info, hotels…, 2nd 10 yrs art history stuff, last 10 years more political to show we can broaden our horizons when travelling….and learn from those we meet…..” VERY INTERESTING………..also liked comment we will learn we do not have to fear those people we don’t understand but learn new views or how they view things (my paraphrase)…..GREAT STUFF… keep it up Rick (but teach the travel stuff too…..best hotel, budget tips, fun sights….)
Does anyone here REALLY think that Rick’s view on Iran will be ANY different than Obama’s? Am I the ONLY one who remembers an earlier blog from Rick where he bragged about “high-fiving” friends in a local parking deck upon the announcement of Obama’s victory on election night? Folks, consider the following quotes: President Reagan: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” President Obama: “The United States will not meddle in Iran.” Sigh…is it 2012 yet?
The Iranian people are clearly demonstrating their desire for democracy. Why else get so upset about losing your right to vote to election fraud? Of course, the whole system’s rigged anyway, because only the Supreme Leader gets to decide who gets to run for office. Very Sovietesque. But, the Soviets never rose up about losing their meaningless right to vote. There is something very different going on in Iran than in the old Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. had a failed economic policy. This is not Iran’s problem with all its oil revenue. The Iranians are demonstrating a true desire for freedom, unlike the Soviets. It will be hard for the Iranian dictators to quell this homespun desire for Liberty, just like the British could not stop the American Revolution. But, direct involvement by the U.S. in this uprising would not play to our advantage, as the Iranians do not want to trade one master for another.
Rick, this traveler keeps your blog always bookmarked. Blog travel tips or personal politics creatively cranks-up my brain. Others obviously find here, the same stimulation. Thanks for respecting your readers views too, by letting all opinion, fitting posting guidelines, find a forum. Iran’s people actively seek a similar opportunity. May they too prevail in freedom to speak. Larry from springfield looks forward to your op-ed feature.
Good entry, Rick. Ahmadinejad’s re-election farce reminded me of what happened in Florida in 2000. I find it funny that people call your comparison between the Republicans and the Iranian theocracy as tasteless. W in 2000 = Ahmadinejad in 2009. Happy to have Obama. It’s refreshing to have a President who does not say “You’re either with us or you’re against us”.
The current situation in Iran crystallizes why travel matters. If Rick hadn’t gone to Iran and shared his experience with us, I’d have watched the news this week and said, “Why on earth aren’t we going in there to help those protesters?” But because I watched Rick’s show–and heard the voices of Iranians frustrated by decades of outsider meddling–I have a more nuanced appreciation for the geopolitics of the region. I understand the great wisdom in Obama simply letting things unfold, because the second the US gets involved, we taint their revolution and legitimize the regime. Whether traveling in person, or vicariously (through Rick), travel gives us the tools for understanding the world.
Here is the irony of the whole situation. European leaders are strongly criticizing Iran and it is the US who is laying low and not making many comments on this. Today, Iran expelled British diplomats for their harsh criticism. Merkel, Sarkozy, Italian Foreign Minister Frantini, and of course Gordon Brown have been outspoken about this. I am not going to say whether I think Obama is wrong or right about his approach. However, this is EXTREMELY ironic given our harsh criticism of Iraq while Europe remained quiet. And now with Iran, it is completely reversed.
I have yet to read any serious suggestions of the USA “going in there”, I have however read many questions of why our president is such a wimp when it comes to supporting freedom and democracy anywhere in the world! Not even close to a Reagan. Deepak what about the Iranian election could possibly remind you of the 2000 election in Florida? Now which of those recounts showed W losing?
Our President is not a wimp. He is a politician – not a cowboy. Did we help Iranians when we called Iran, Iraq and North Korea “axes of evil”? Are we going to take an army to Iran to save the people? How is it going to change the Iranian government if we talk tough and forceful? We have tried that in the past and things just got worse for the people of Iran. We are trying a new approach. This approach is about psychology and not force. Iranians are very proud people and Obama understands that. He is very smart and not at all a wimp.
However, even if we have no direct involvement with the Iranian protests, I like to think that we have contributed to the cause of Iranian freedom in some way. Either that, or a large portion of the population was sick of Ahmadinejad’s handling of the economy and making their country even more of a pariah then it already was.
Rick, hope you haven’t wriiten the op-ed piece yet. Obama still has a few days to change his mind again, and then you’ll need to do a re-write to fall in line and agree with his new position.
I want not one drop of American blood spilled in Iran. They can sort this out themselves. Oppressive governments only last so long and then they become a page in a history book.
I completely concur with Fred. Iran is not our problem. We have enough problems to deal with on the home front.
I also fully agree with the President’s handling of the US response to the Iranian election aftermath. We cannot repeat the mistake of interfering with a sovereign nation’s process of chosing their leaders; if the election process is flawed then the people must rise up themselves and demonstrate to the world their collective will. The US has been accused of imperialism in the past as we have unwisely intervened where we were not wanted but where we saw political gain. Strangely enough we hear those voices again in Washington rising up as they see an opportunity to turn Iran’s turmoil into an opportunity to help oust a government that has shunned the West. We cannot forget the lessons of Vietnam and Iraq. Iran’s own people are strong and able to invoke a revolution if that is indeed what they want. Right now they want support that embraces their desire for freedom, peace and the right to self-determination. Let’s not send arms and soldiers unless they ask for them? Lets just pray for the wisdom to know the difference.
The Berlin Wall was started in August 1961. Reagan took office 20 years later in January 1981 but didn’t say “tear down the wall” until June 1987, more than six years after that. Maybe we can give Obama a little more time before parroting talk radio and sighing for 2012. And if you don’t think things change over time, remember that both Reagan and Charlton Heston were Hollywood elite union leaders at some point in their careers.
Rick, it isn’t that the topic is hot; it was the way you dismissed all McCain supporters as being ignorant and the same as supporters of an evil regime. I had hoped that in removing the posting you had seen the error of you ways. I still hope you have.
Who the heck is Moussavi anyway? Is he really going to be any better for Iran or for US interests? Is it possible that the Obama administration feels that he may not be that different from Ahmadinejad in the long run so it’s better for us to lay low? I don’t know. Maybe someone here can educate us about this. When communism fell in Eastern Europe some of the countries just ended up with either ultra-nationalists or inept American puppets in their governments instead. Anyway, I don’t think we should intervene directly, but I don’t agree that Iran is generally none of our business. What happens in Iran can affect outer lying areas (e.g. Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, the Caucasus) and it can affect this problem with North Korea. Also, while we obviously want the Iranian people to live in peace and prosperity, I imagine that what happens there can affect Americans domestically in ways (economically?) that we don’t immediately realize.
Great post Rick. We all pray for the Iranians. Its like watching your children grow up. You can tutor them, but they have to make their own decisions and go about making their dreams happen.
Rick, I would have agreed with you about the best stance for us being to stay uninvolved until I heard the phone call from a young woman in Tehran this morning on CNN describing the massacre this morning on protesters and begging for our help. I so strongly disagreed with Bush on our involvement in Iraq, but I worry that the good people who are standing up for their freedom are just going to get wiped out without some outside help. Like you, I hope that this is the beginning of the road to freedom, but after hearing that phone call, I’m feeling very distressed.
Hi Rick, Thanks for your post. I had been wondering about your thoughts on recent happenings in Iran, and I agree completely with your observations. Thanks for being willing to dialogue about important issues both within and outside of our borders. If you are interested in further studies of the Muslim world, I highly recommend the book, “Princess: a True Story of Life Behind the Veil” by Jean P. Sasson. I just read it in one day; couldn’t put it down! It addresses Saudi Arabian culture, something we don’t get to see or hear much of, as well as some human rights violations that (it seems to me) many western countries don’t speak out about due to the wealth and oil control of Saudi Arabia. Thanks again! Alison
Looks like another Obama policy shift is coming. Rick, better update your op-ed piece. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124575867345041295.html
Obama’s changing stances: June 15: ‘We respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran.’ ….June 19: ‘The world is watching. And we stand behind those who are seeking justice in a peaceful way.’….. June 23: ‘The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings and imprisonments….I strongly condemn these unjust actions….’
Is it possible, if not probable, that one of the reasons for these protests is that the Iranian people see their despised rivals in Iraq having legitimate elections establishing secular government and would like to see the same in their own country? Instead, they get the same fixed elections and religious rule they’ve had since the fall of the Shah. This was easier for them to accept when there were no obvious alternatives in the region. Who would want to have Saddam as their head of state? But now, there is a desirable alternative right next door in Iraq. When you look at the situation in this light, the Iranian government’s attempts to destabilize the Iraqi government start to make more sense. What if it turns out that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were right, and that the US-led establishment of secular democratic government in Iraq is leading to democratic revolution in other Middle East countries? It might be enough to make Rick’s head explode, if he could force himself to see the connection.
Rick………….looking forward to your next trip to Europe….usually you go back later in the summer……..love reading those blogs from Slovenia, Rome, etc………..keep blogging…..
Hey Joe. I doubt if your assumption is correct. You will never get me to believe that the bankrupting of America for the Iraq war was justified. The Iraq war is one of if not the biggest blunder in the history of the US.
Ryan, I think the invasion was a blunder also, but even blunders sometimes have positive effects. Your observation does not refute the possibility I noted. I’m not trying to justify the decision to invade, just noting a possible side effect.
A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin – it seems to me not profane to ask, what has the involvement of western powers achieved in the last hundred years in the middle east – I mean you would be cautious about someone who was afraid to ask it, wouldn’t you?
I’m a retired USAF AFRTS broadcaster. I was assigned to AFRTS Tehran Mar. 75-Nov. 76. I was the last voice on AFRTS Tehran before we closed down at the direction of the Shah’s government. I met my British wife in Tehran. I have several Armenian/Iranian friends. I was last in Tehran in May 1978, just before the Shah left for exhile. I believe President Obama needs to strongly criticize the Iranian Government for their supression of the freedom to protest. If we don’t speak out against this dictatorship, who else in the free world will?
Barry C: Albert Hunt of the N.Y. Times shares my sentiments exactly: “Critics, led by Senator John McCain and some neoconservatives, charge that a stronger American response would hearten the freedom-loving forces in Iran and hasten change. That simply isn’t credible, most experts say. Moreover, if the United States encourages protests and they are violently put down, what does the U.S. government then do? Use force in another Muslim land?”
Ira Joffe, Great comments. I hope you post here often. Have a Cigar!
The G-8 summit ended today with nothing accomplished. Obama, who promised new leadership was largely ignored in his requests. Russia, China and India have all refused to deal with any climate change issue if it affects their economy.
Rick, I love to read your travel blogs and your books, but I want to come to your site to read about travel. I don’t agree with your political views, but even if I did, I wouldn’t want to read about politics at this website. Please stick to travel. I find myself reading your blog and other info less and less the more you delve into the political.
I suspect that Rick Steve's view of the world hinges more on his own self interest rather than any special knowledge of of geo-politics resulting from his travels. PBS was the only network that would give him air time and market his products; he know the provocative routine and does it well enough to get responses. Without feedback of any kind, this little blog would be a dismal failure. I doubt that cares who wins elections, so long as the subsidies keep rolling in to PBS.
Travel? Who cares about travel enough to result in the number of responses he gets here? It's all about hits. He might as well bring up abortion policy in European countries or some such controversy. Whatever it takes to get a response. If you're really interested in travel, try another site.