Iranian democracy activists tell Canadian Time Magazine that the recent imprisonment and harassment of Haleh Esfandiari is only emblematic of a larger crackdown. The new wave of repression, they say, has been facilitated by the Bush administration's talent for ignoring people who know that they're talking about:
"…warnings were delivered to U.S. officials by others, including Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council. "We had talks with the State Department and with lawmakers," Parsi told TIME. "We pointed out the dangers. Our advice was not taken into consideration. Things have turned out worse than we expected." Parsi says that, in the past, individual democracy activists have been arrested without a pretext, but that the Bush Administration's program gave the regime an opportunity to go after as many as 10,000 non-government organizations and their memberships. "There is tremendous self-censorship going on," Parsi says. "They know that the money has made them targets."
D'you ever get the image of the Bush administration as Frankenstein's monster, tossing the little girl in the lake with the best of intentions then watching with a dumbfounded look on his face as she drowns? Stupid Frankenstein–what did you think the mullahs would do upon hearing the American Satan was going to funnel tons of loot into projects aimed at their demise?
Might Herr Doktor send Fritz out for some replacement cortex?
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