Kasparov: America Should Support Iranian Protesters

June 25, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized

A man who certainly knows a thing or two about protesting for freedom is Russian chess champion Gary Kasparov.

Vladimir Putin has no greater foe in Russia than Kasparov. He’s been arrested too many times to count for leading marches in Russia against the authoritarian regime that Putin has created.

If Kasparov were not famous the world over, he would have been killed long ago. His fame is the only thing that has kept him alive under a regime that routinely murders journalists and jails people who speak out against the government.

Therefore, when Kasparov speaks out on issues like the protests in Iran he has a certain amount of credibility.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Kasparov has an excellent Op-Ed about the protests in Iran and offers an interesting perspective.

Mr. Putin has a great deal riding on the outcome in Iran. With the Russian economy teetering, he needs a steep increase in oil prices to stave off the collapse of his government. So he has been working to increase tension in the Middle East and now sees the Iranian crisis as potentially helpful — if Ahmadinejad comes out on top.

…For Mr. Putin, the unknown factor in all of this is how the West will respond to what’s happening in Iran. It could give him pause if Iran faces penalties of real significance for using lethal force against nonviolent protestors. Surprisingly, European leaders are showing unusual assertiveness in condemning the Iranian regime.

Kasparov goes on to say that president Obama is wrong to sit on the sidelines while everything plays out.

He says the president’s warning that “the world is watching” is meaningless, because the behavior of the Iranian regime over the last 30 years proves they don’t give a damn who’s watching.

Sen. Richard Lugar and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria are singled out by Kasparov as well for supporting president Obama’s timidity.

Kasparov concludes by saying there’s no reason for America to hold back if we can do something that would potentially tip the balance inside Iran.

There is no reason to withhold external pressure that can tip the balance inside Tehran. Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is not an ideal democrat. But should he and his supporters win power they will owe their authority to an abruptly empowered Iranian electorate. It is reasonable to expect that the people will hold a Mousavi government accountable for delivering the freedoms that they are now risking their lives to attain.

Millions of Iranians are fighting to join the Free World. The least we can do is let the valiant people of Iran know loud and clear that they will be welcomed with open arms.

Unlike many on the right, I actually thought president Obama’s statements at the beginning of this crisis were correct. I think his measured response in the beginning was appropriate.

However, as images and video of Iranian citizens being brutalized and killed by Iran’s Nazi brownshirts are being broadcast around the world, America has a moral responsibility to throw our support behind the protesters.

We should be condemning in the strongest possible language the treatment of protesters.

This is a chance for president Obama to go on national television and ask the Ayatollahs of Iran to let their people have freedom.