Ideology is still today

Now Lebanon
New Opinion
04 January '10

Last year, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that ideology was “so yesterday.” She should tell that today to the brave demonstrators on the streets of Tehran who have shown us otherwise, and to the thousands of Lebanese who still dream of a fully-fledged state, even as they see their country slip back into political retardation.

The Middle East, and much of the rest of the world for that matter, may be on the receiving end of US President Barrack Obama’s ruthless policy of engagement, but the good news is that at a grass-roots level, the will to express dissatisfaction is still alive and kicking. In Iran, the leadership is finding it harder and harder to suppress news of the demonstrations making its way to the West via Twitter and other networking systems. US policy may be more carrot than stick (a policy that might make it less inclined to fan the flames of insurrection if it succeeds in fulfilling the nuclear agenda) but the world will find it hard to ignore the impact of a revolution played out on cell phones and laptops across the globe.

So if real politic is the order of the day, then it is even more important to support those who fight against regimes that are not afraid to persecute, and even spirit away, those who stand up to their draconian policies. The Iranian regime, which, let us not forget, is the spiritual and financial sponsor of Hezbollah, is particularly unforgiving to those who utter dissent. Since the anti-government demonstrations started in mid 2009, dozens have been killed, while others have simply disappeared. Meanwhile, news is emerging of a system, initiated in 2006, whereby those accused of being involved in, or even sympathetic to, dissent are denied professional opportunities and even banned from education. It is a system of which the Nazis, not to mention some former communist bloc security services, would be proud.

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