Submitted by adrun, Sep 14, 2007 15:08

I'd like to point out a few things:

Ms. Furchtgott-Roth implies that women in Iran are not allowed to attend university or have careers. That is patently false. Currently there are more women than men attending Iran's top universities, training for careers in Engineering, Medicine, and a wide variety of other fields including "western" things like Graphic Design.

She also claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. I have read nothing that convinces me that there is proof that this is true. Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have so far done nothing that violates the terms of this treaty. It's true that they are enriching uranium. This may seem strange in light of the amount of oil they export, but the country does not have the infrastructure to process that oil and make it useable. As a result, much of Iran's fuel is imported. Nuclear anything usually seems like a bad idea, but in a country with a suffering economy, it certainly seems like a feasible way to gain energy independence.

Having recently travelled to Iran and spoken with Iranians, I think it is safe for me to say that they know that their country and their government have problems. However, they consider those problems to be Iranian, to be solved only from the inside by Iranians. If the US would resume diplomatic relations and drop the sanctions, the Iranian people would be much more empowered to help themselves and encourage them to elect a more western-friendly president in the next elections. It would also change the appearance of the US from that of an overbearing bully who should be resisted to that of a powerful neighbor who has, in the past, caused problems, but who now seems more worth cooperating with.

Iran's culture is different from ours. The government of Iran and the government of the US don't get along. That doesn't make the people of either country fundamentally "evil". If we can see the human aspect hiding behind all of these political tensions and cultural misunderstandings, everyone (including Ms. Furchtgott-Roth) might be a little less upset and a little more reasonable about the whole thing.

Just my two cents.

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