Thoughts on Iran

I've been watching eagerly as the events unfold in Iran between long bouts of studying for the bar. Here are some quick hits of my reactions:

• Those who want Obama to come out strongly in favor of those who want democracy in Iran confuse me. Iranians are doing this for themselves. Institutional support from the American president is problematic for two reasons. First, overt support from the American government will make the revolution, which belongs to the Iranians, seem less valid in the Muslim world. It could begin to seem like the product of Western influence rather than the product of the Iranian public's outrage over their election. Now, I agree that on a personal level, people from all over the world should support Iranian revolutionaries if they feel called to do so. This method of support is different because it is bottom-up. Grassroots support can bolster a grassroots uprising, where an official Obama-led statement of support for grassroots uprising in Iran could turn it into a fight about imperialism between the US and Iran. Second reason I think the US government should stay out of it is because Iran is not our business. We need to break out of the idea that everyone in the world is waiting to hear what the US thinks of them. They aren't. Look how the revolution has progressed without a statement from Obama. Somehow, people are moved to fight for a legitimate government without the US suggesting it. The only true democracy, the kind that is precious and self-sustaining, is the kind that people want so badly that they will make it happen by any means necessary. Institutional support from the US is misused when it puts the stamp of approval on a movement that has not one thing to do with us.
• Women. Iranian women that are being photographed in the streets, holding up signs, are rocking my world right now. These university-age women, with scarves drooping precipitously from their heads, looking angrily into the crowds, clutching signs with long, painted fingernails, are the face of rebellion. You realize nail polish is illegal in Iran, right? And now the woman they call Neda is a symbol of the protest. This is really amazing in a country that has tried so hard to repress everyone, including women.