An Iranian’s perspective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you think the US government should get involved in regime change in another country? It’s going to be one of those “if you break it, you buy it” situations again, like with Iraq.

What people don’t understand about Iran is that there is no succession plan for Khamenei. There are no tribal or ethnic or religious factions waiting in the wings. The Iranian people are largely united in their hatred of the regime and their desire for freedom and democracy. None of these things were true of Iraq or Afghanistan. I believe that if the US or Israel clears the way, the Iranian people will take care of regime change all on their own. They are an incredibly brave and resilient people.

You should go back to Iran and start a resistance. Not our country, not our problem

My point is that it is your problem, as an American. A nuclear armed Iran does not benefit you. Iran is an unpredictable rogue state that sowed chaos and exported terror for decades, and that’s without nukes. Americans should not let a preference for isolationism, distaste for Israel, etc. blind them to this reality.

So is the plan to destroy Iran every 50 years, or what makes you think that the next regime in Iran would be any safer than this one?

You are the one who is out of touch with reality, not PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

They are working on that. Wouldn’t surprise me if either the US or Mossad is behind this cyber attack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you think the US government should get involved in regime change in another country? It’s going to be one of those “if you break it, you buy it” situations again, like with Iraq.

What people don’t understand about Iran is that there is no succession plan for Khamenei. There are no tribal or ethnic or religious factions waiting in the wings. The Iranian people are largely united in their hatred of the regime and their desire for freedom and democracy. None of these things were true of Iraq or Afghanistan. I believe that if the US or Israel clears the way, the Iranian people will take care of regime change all on their own. They are an incredibly brave and resilient people.

You should go back to Iran and start a resistance. Not our country, not our problem

My point is that it is your problem, as an American. A nuclear armed Iran does not benefit you. Iran is an unpredictable rogue state that sowed chaos and exported terror for decades, and that’s without nukes. Americans should not let a preference for isolationism, distaste for Israel, etc. blind them to this reality.

It is the entire world's problem. Why should America always be the one to step in? And the rest of Europe saves their money to educate their citizens and give them cushy lives while we slave away trying and failing to keep the world safe.

[Anonymous]

This is like the WMDs talk about Iraq. I’m just having a hard time falling for the “they’ll welcome us as liberators” idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you think the US government should get involved in regime change in another country? It’s going to be one of those “if you break it, you buy it” situations again, like with Iraq.

What people don’t understand about Iran is that there is no succession plan for Khamenei. There are no tribal or ethnic or religious factions waiting in the wings. The Iranian people are largely united in their hatred of the regime and their desire for freedom and democracy. None of these things were true of Iraq or Afghanistan. I believe that if the US or Israel clears the way, the Iranian people will take care of regime change all on their own. They are an incredibly brave and resilient people.

You should go back to Iran and start a resistance. Not our country, not our problem

My point is that it is your problem, as an American. A nuclear armed Iran does not benefit you. Iran is an unpredictable rogue state that sowed chaos and exported terror for decades, and that’s without nukes. Americans should not let a preference for isolationism, distaste for Israel, etc. blind them to this reality.

Actually maybe a nuclear armed Iran would be a good thing. Then the genocidal war mongering nation of Israel would back off and Iran wouldn't have face the fate of Iraq, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan etc that were the list of targets from Netanyahu’s 1996 plan. Throw in Gaza, and the list of casualties from the wars planned by Israel exceeds 2 million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

They are working on that. Wouldn’t surprise me if either the US or Mossad is behind this cyber attack.

Good. They should keep at it until they Iranians rise and take their country. Its not our fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Iranian. My parents, their parents, and their parents’ parents were born and raised in Iran. If you wish to test my Farsi, feel free - I will respond. I also consider myself to be politically progressive, to the extent that seems relevant to anyone reading.

A nuclear armed Iran would place the entire world in peril and enable the current regime to retain its stranglehold on power indefinitely. No one wants an Iran with nukes - not Israel, not the US, not Europe, not the surrounding Arab countries, not even the Iranian people. But only Israel has been willing to do anything about it (in an extremely targeted and largely bloodless way thus far, I might add). And instead of praise, it has received nothing but moral opprobrium. I can only attribute this to a myopic form of anti-Zionism that has become popular in left-wing circles recently and seems to subsume all else, including patriotism and self-interest.

To back off now would be to relinquish a historic opportunity (not likely to repeat itself) to hobble this regime permanently. Nothing else has worked in nearly five decades, and many things have been tried - popular protest movements, sanctions, negotiations. Of course I am terrified for the people of Iran. Whatever happens, the road ahead will be a scary and difficult one for them. But IMO, intervention is far preferable to the alternative.

Many people expressing opposition to Israel’s actions or the idea of any kind of US intervention are doing so from a place of genuine concern for the Iranian people/US troops. Their perception is colored by US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will tell you that this is an entirely different scenario. The Iranian regime is extremely weak and unpopular. Its military power structure has already been largely decimated by Israel, and Khamenei is 86 years old. The people of Iran are increasingly young, educated, secular, and eager for political openness and contact with the rest of the world. This regime has been holding them hostage for 47 years, and if it obtains nukes, will do the same to the rest of the region and the world.

I’ve seen many posts claiming that Israel is dragging the US into a war to protect its own interests. No doubt, Israel will benefit greatly if Iran is de-fanged. But so will the rest of the world, including the United States and the Iranian people. Whatever one’s feelings are towards Israel/Netanyahu, I think it’s important to set those aside and look at objective reality. The choice here is not between intervention and the status quo. The choice is between intervention and a nuclear armed Iran. To the extent Israel prevents the latter, it will have done us ALL a great service.

This is a very intelligent, sober analysis of the situation, and sadly it's being skewered by people so myopic in their hatred of Israel, Jews, and Iranian women that they would prefer the Iranian regime to continue torturing it's own citizens. American progressives have lost the thread; Iran needs regime change now and Israel should push ahead and finish the job. Aside from fundamentalist Shia still drunk on anti-Israel KoolAid in Lebanon, Yemen, and Qatar, the rest of the Middle East Sunni regimes will likely welcome a neutralized Iran. And to all the young Americans expressing righteous indignation about potential military involvement, you need to talk to people who lived thorugh the 1979 hostage crisis, the 1983 bombing in Lebanon, dozens of hostage situations, and all the other nonsense that Iran has sponsored since the 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

You misunderstand me. The regime is significantly weakened NOW after the events of the last few days, but if the roots are left intact (i.e., the nuclear threat is not eliminated), it will be very, very difficult for the Iranian people to ever amass enough power to oust the it.

Your comparing the Iranian regime to Donald Trump shows me you have no idea what you’re talking about. Regime change is a matter of life or death for the Iranian people. Donald Trump flirts with authoritarianism, to be sure, but if you stand in the middle of Times Square and shout that he’s a criminal, you are not going to be whisked off to a secret prison and tortured. Your family will not be kidnapped or murdered. Whatever our flaws here in the US, and there are many, we still have freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, etc.

You cannot fathom what the Iranian people face day to day. And if you could, you would understand why the uncertainty of war might seem preferable to the certainty of life under this regime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

You misunderstand me. The regime is significantly weakened NOW after the events of the last few days, but if the roots are left intact (i.e., the nuclear threat is not eliminated), it will be very, very difficult for the Iranian people to ever amass enough power to oust the it.

Your comparing the Iranian regime to Donald Trump shows me you have no idea what you’re talking about. Regime change is a matter of life or death for the Iranian people. Donald Trump flirts with authoritarianism, to be sure, but if you stand in the middle of Times Square and shout that he’s a criminal, you are not going to be whisked off to a secret prison and tortured. Your family will not be kidnapped or murdered. Whatever our flaws here in the US, and there are many, we still have freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, etc.

You cannot fathom what the Iranian people face day to day. And if you could, you would understand why the uncertainty of war might seem preferable to the certainty of life under this regime.

I never mentioned Donald Trump so not sure where you get that from.

Regime change is a matter of life and death, I agree. But if those directly under the regime are not willing to die, why should Americans?

Again you say it has been weakened with the recent events. So now is the time for Iranians to take control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

They are working on that. Wouldn’t surprise me if either the US or Mossad is behind this cyber attack.

Good. They should keep at it until they Iranians rise and take their country. Its not our fight.

People would rather stick with the devil they know. People are forgetting the current Iranian regime was brought to Iran courtesy of the US coup against the democratically elected secular president of Iran. Along with the Brits, we screwed up their country, brought in radicals, and now 45-50 years later, we want to take down the same radicals we brought in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am Iranian. My parents, their parents, and their parents’ parents were born and raised in Iran. If you wish to test my Farsi, feel free - I will respond. I also consider myself to be politically progressive, to the extent that seems relevant to anyone reading.

A nuclear armed Iran would place the entire world in peril and enable the current regime to retain its stranglehold on power indefinitely. No one wants an Iran with nukes - not Israel, not the US, not Europe, not the surrounding Arab countries, not even the Iranian people. But only Israel has been willing to do anything about it (in an extremely targeted and largely bloodless way thus far, I might add). And instead of praise, it has received nothing but moral opprobrium. I can only attribute this to a myopic form of anti-Zionism that has become popular in left-wing circles recently and seems to subsume all else, including patriotism and self-interest.

To back off now would be to relinquish a historic opportunity (not likely to repeat itself) to hobble this regime permanently. Nothing else has worked in nearly five decades, and many things have been tried - popular protest movements, sanctions, negotiations. Of course I am terrified for the people of Iran. Whatever happens, the road ahead will be a scary and difficult one for them. But IMO, intervention is far preferable to the alternative.

Many people expressing opposition to Israel’s actions or the idea of any kind of US intervention are doing so from a place of genuine concern for the Iranian people/US troops. Their perception is colored by US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will tell you that this is an entirely different scenario. The Iranian regime is extremely weak and unpopular. Its military power structure has already been largely decimated by Israel, and Khamenei is 86 years old. The people of Iran are increasingly young, educated, secular, and eager for political openness and contact with the rest of the world. This regime has been holding them hostage for 47 years, and if it obtains nukes, will do the same to the rest of the region and the world.

I’ve seen many posts claiming that Israel is dragging the US into a war to protect its own interests. No doubt, Israel will benefit greatly if Iran is de-fanged. But so will the rest of the world, including the United States and the Iranian people. Whatever one’s feelings are towards Israel/Netanyahu, I think it’s important to set those aside and look at objective reality. The choice here is not between intervention and the status quo. The choice is between intervention and a nuclear armed Iran. To the extent Israel prevents the latter, it will have done us ALL a great service.

This is a very intelligent, sober analysis of the situation, and sadly it's being skewered by people so myopic in their hatred of Israel, Jews, and Iranian women that they would prefer the Iranian regime to continue torturing it's own citizens. American progressives have lost the thread; Iran needs regime change now and Israel should push ahead and finish the job. Aside from fundamentalist Shia still drunk on anti-Israel KoolAid in Lebanon, Yemen, and Qatar, the rest of the Middle East Sunni regimes will likely welcome a neutralized Iran. And to all the young Americans expressing righteous indignation about potential military involvement, you need to talk to people who lived thorugh the 1979 hostage crisis, the 1983 bombing in Lebanon, dozens of hostage situations, and all the other nonsense that Iran has sponsored since the 1970s.

Yeah. We've heard all about these possibilities and probabilities before with Iraq and Afghanistan. All the years, resources and life wasted on the hope that the population will be strong enough to bring about real change when we exit. How did that work out?

Perhaps this time, the population should go first and show us that they are ready to die for change before we commit the lives of our sons and daughters to back them up. Let them take the lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

You misunderstand me. The regime is significantly weakened NOW after the events of the last few days, but if the roots are left intact (i.e., the nuclear threat is not eliminated), it will be very, very difficult for the Iranian people to ever amass enough power to oust the it.

Your comparing the Iranian regime to Donald Trump shows me you have no idea what you’re talking about. Regime change is a matter of life or death for the Iranian people. Donald Trump flirts with authoritarianism, to be sure, but if you stand in the middle of Times Square and shout that he’s a criminal, you are not going to be whisked off to a secret prison and tortured. Your family will not be kidnapped or murdered. Whatever our flaws here in the US, and there are many, we still have freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, etc.

You cannot fathom what the Iranian people face day to day. And if you could, you would understand why the uncertainty of war might seem preferable to the certainty of life under this regime.

Iran is a wealthy nation. They have a higher standard of living than most places. Sure, they have democracy tinged in theocracy but so does Israel.

Free speech, whistleblowing, and truth telling in Israel comes with a price

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you speak for the Iranian people? There are 90 million of them. By generalizing your perspective to everyone, you really showed your hand.

As an American, I may dislike Donald Trump but that doesn’t mean I want the White House and Pentagon to get firebombed by a foreign nation as part of a regime change war.

Politics and patriotism are two separate orders of business. A real person wouldn’t want their home country entangled in a war.

Go back to the drawing board and try again

+1.

Easy for OP to say when they are sitting comfortably in the U.S.

If the regime is as weak as OP says, then Iranians should topple it themselves.

They are working on that. Wouldn’t surprise me if either the US or Mossad is behind this cyber attack.

Good. They should keep at it until they Iranians rise and take their country. Its not our fight.

People would rather stick with the devil they know. People are forgetting the current Iranian regime was brought to Iran courtesy of the US coup against the democratically elected secular president of Iran. Along with the Brits, we screwed up their country, brought in radicals, and now 45-50 years later, we want to take down the same radicals we brought in

And 50 years after we take down these radicals, they will be talking about the next set of radicals we put in. We will be back here talking about taking that set down. Its a cycle that never ends.

[Anonymous]

America and Israel should be more concerned without our eroding freedoms and path to autocracy (Netanyahu, Trump). We cannot stand on the soapbox of freedom
And democracy from tyranny when we are on that path as well