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Jewish World Review Dec. 9, 2002 / 4 Teves, 5763
Michael Ledeen
Tom Friedman's Reformation: His Iran He
speaks ex cathedra, seriously and imperiously, as befits a newspaper purporting to be authoritative. "The
struggle in Iran is symbolized by one man, whose name you should know: Hashem Aghajari..." he wrote on
December 4, in a column entitled "An Islamic Reformation." That's the way to talk to your readers: Tell them
what they should know, and explain why.
However, Friedman's got it a bit wrong, for the same reason he's been getting Iran wrong for lo these many
months: He thinks that the historic struggle now under way inside Iran is between religious fanatics and
religious reformers, which he describes as "the war of ideas within Islam." That war certainly exists, as it has
for many centuries. And it is certainly very important - he rightly says we have a big stake in the eventual
triumph of reasonable Muslims over the fanatics. But it is not the main issue in Iran today. The Iranian turmoil
is over the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic itself, regardless of the theology of the leaders.
In case you haven't been keeping score, Hashem Aghajari is a repentant Islamic
revolutionary-turned-history-professor, one of the student activists of 1979 (and a former official who was a
full participant in some of the most-brutal repression following Khomeini's seizure of power), who now
challenges the infallibility of the ruling mullahs and calls upon Iranians to think for themselves instead of blindly
accepting whatever is preached in Friday sermons. For this bit of common sense he has been sentenced to
death, and he has been supported by the students and professors at most of the country's universities, as well
as by tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, workers, and cultural leaders.
The students rallied around Aghajari because he is the most-visible target of the regime, but the
demonstrators' demands go far beyond anything that Aghajari has said. He wants to reform Islam; they want
a total separation between mosque and state. He wants an Islamic Reformation, as Friedman says, but the
demonstrators are interested in the creation of a secular civil society. He is a reformer, but they are
revolutionaries. And that is - or rather should be, if we had policymakers with the courage of our
convictions - worthy of our support, because it lies at the heart of our own remarkable political success,
and because it lies at the heart of the war against Islamic terrorism.
We lack standing in the internal Islamic debate. Interpretations of the Koran and Mohammed's reflections
are matters for Muslims to debate among themselves. But we should have a lot to say about the separation
of mosque/church and state, which is crucial to the proper functioning of democracy, in America and
elsewhere. Both the Iranian secular revolutionaries and many leading ayatollahs agree that a similar
requirement should be institutionalized in Iran as quickly as possible. These enlightened ayatollahs - many of
whom are certainly not in favor of religious reform - recognize that the longer the conflict rages, the more
likely it is that Islam itself will be a victim of the regime's eventual downfall.
Thus, the widespread demand by the demonstrators for a national referendum on the country's political
system - a demand that all Americans should enthusiastically endorse. Aghajari is a marginal figure in this
struggle, as is another of Friedman's heroes, the so-called President Khatami. Like Khatami, Aghajari is a
hero of opportunity for the demonstrators, a vessel into which the rage of the Iranian people has been
poured, but who is certainly not a leader of the revolution.
The revolution is being led by students, workers, intellectuals, and military officers and soldiers who can no
longer bear the misery of the Iranian people, the corruption and hypocrisy of the Iranian leaders, and the
awful degradation of the country. The battle for the minds and souls of the Iranian people has already been
won by the opponents of the regime. The battle now underway - the battle that should be concerning our
own leaders and intellectuals - is for the streets and institutions of the country.
Do something serious, please. Enough talk. Help these worthy people. They are far more important than the
crowd at the U.N., the sly appeasers in Foggy Bottom, or even the star columnists at the Times.
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11/26/02: How Tyrannies Fall: Opportunity time in Iran
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