How 30 Years of U.S. Mistakes Saved Ahmadinejad in Iran - HuffPo

[WillyT]

How 30 Years of U.S. Mistakes Saved Ahmadinejad in Iran
Dr. Adam Lankford
Posted: July 6, 2009 06:40 PM

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It's one of those tragic ironies that is usually reserved for the theater.

Newly "re-elected" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad owes his job, and perhaps his life, to the United States.

Yes, right about now, he should be putting the finishing touches on those thank you notes to Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. "Thanks, Great Satan--keep up the good work and don't change a thing. Yours truly, M.A."

Ultimately, Ahmadinejad remains in power because at the pivotal moment, his security forces followed orders. The Revolutionary Guard and Basij militiamen didn't hesitate: they brutally cracked down on the civilian protesters who were trying to change Iran for the better. When faced with the decision to fire into crowds or pull back their weapons and join the revolutionary movement, they chose to fight to protect the regime. And they did so because of their training: they had been systematically indoctrinated by those in power.

But the reason their indoctrination was so complete and so successful was because, for the last 30 years, the U.S. has unintentionally helped Iran shape the minds of its most violent supporters by increasing the rogue nation's isolation. In a misguided attempt to punish Iran for a range of crimes, including its state sponsorship of terrorism, the U.S. has insisted on comprehensive sanctions and deliberately worked to cut Iran off from the rest of the world. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, President George W. Bush publicly promoted this strategy: "My intent is to continue to rally the world, to send a focused signal to the Iranian government that we will continue to work to isolate you."

Unfortunately, this flawed policy has neither prompted regime change nor thwarted the nation's nuclear ambitions. And as we now see, it has had very serious unintended consequences.

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More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-adam-lankford/how-30-years-of-us-mistak_b_226637.html

:shrug: