Of Demons and Angels, and the Left's Brutal Contradictions

Afshin Ellian has a touching post up on Elsevier. He has the latest from Iran, and it isn't good. He also tells an anecdotal story about the Left and the apparent contradictions besetting their relationship with liberty and power.

I've found it very helpful in such cases to ask myself the question: which course of action would hurt the West most (and I mean West in the sense of "the free world"). Because that - when all justifications have been said and done - is the ultimate target.

Since Ellian's post is as lengthy as it is illustratieve, I'd narrate it rather than make a verbatim translation, allowing a few annotations in the process.

We're on the eve of the ten day period in Iran, that marks the beginning of the Islamofascist revolution. The Shah was deemed a demon, the Ayatollah Khomeini, in exile in Paris at the time, was considered an angel.

The latter flew back to Tehran, accompanied by a planeload of Western journalists. They were there to protect Khomeini, reasoning in their hubris that the Shah's military would think twice before shooting all of them down.

Western and Iranian intellectuals supported Khomeini. Those in Iran paid the price with their lifes, but the Western Left's support was completely gratuitous. Until the mass executions started the French Postmodern philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) used to refer to Islamists as "the regime of truth" (in fact, he wouldn't have recognized truth if he were to fall over it!). Then he changed his mind, but it was too late for many.

Western intellectuals had an enormous influence on the Iranian intelligentsia. Many would not have supported the regime, if it wasn't for their Western counterparts' seal of approval.Yet there are many in Europe and the US who still support political Islam.

Ellian brings up his own case and that of Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands. They find only a few intellectuals in their corner. He and Hirsi Ali are "traumatized", "Islam as such does not exist", poverty breeds angry Muslims", "a moderate Islam does exist", are only a few of their justifications. Ellian: "Political Islam isn't the problem, it's us!"

In the same way the existence of Iron Curtain was ignored. To this day the Left is ever prepared to criticize Eastern Europe, because it cheered freedom when it finally came. The democratically elected government in Baghdad will probably be detested forever.

Back on the plane from Paris to Tehran, Khomeini assured the assembled journalists he wanted freedom - indeed even for liberals and communists! And he wanted a French style Republic for the people. But he secretly carried with him the draft for an Islamic Constitution based on Sharia Law.

His heirs are now scared to death, because in the coming days lots of resistance protesters are expected to hit the streets again. They are supported by ordinary Western folk, but not by our intellectuals.

To intimidate the people the Islamofascists have executed a number of prisoners. Mohmad Reza Alizamani en Arash Rahmanipour (19) were hanged for participating in protest rallies.

Ellian concludes: "Islamists lie and cheat. They represent death. This is why death will remove them. The aggressor's fate is tragic. But every game has it's end game."

Update:

Get this great post by NASA psychiatrist Dr Sanity: "WHEN DOES DENIAL BECOME SOCIOPATHY? WE WITNESSED THE PROCESS LAST NIGHT"

For some obscure reason (not really), after watching the State of the Union address last night delivered by our President, I feel I must repost some material previously written about the relationship between denial, narcissism, and sociopathy. (...) What happens when psychological denial ceases to be unconscious and becomes a deliberate, willful, and consciously evil behavior-- in spite of all the accumulated evidence of its malignant impact on real people in the real world? At that point we can safely assume that we are no longer dealing with a purely defensive structure in the psyche; we are dealing with aggressive, unadulterated sociopathy. (...) Read it all >>>

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