Addressing Madness

As each day passes, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's radical expressions are becoming a massive trove of critical danger to the international community. Despite his obvious desire not only to eradicate Israel but furthermore to install a universal Islamic republic across the Middle East, the leaders of many superpowers and democracies appear to be taking a one handed approach to pacifying the president, rather than forcefully taking action against him.

True, the use of force goes hand in hand with distrust and violent actions, yet those are not excuses  to use in  withholding  due action against the extremist executive. Our failures with Iran go back to the days of Jimmy Carter, when the Democrat's government failed to prevent an upheaval in the country which helped create the rise of the Ayatollahs and their twisted rhetoric for jihadist dominance over the republic. Before Carter's hesitance, America had enjoyed strong diplomatic ties with the Shah, Iran's pro-western monarch who decried Muslim extremism.

Under the new spiritual leader rule of the Ayatollahs and now the joint leadership of President Ahmadinejad, Iran's government has turned into a bastion for regulation of free speech and enterprise. No longer is their desire  to only speak out--they have embraced a position in the world, together with their grasp of nuclear weapons, that threatens Middle East stability like few other power blocs have accomplished before.

In keeping with basic sensibilities, I am hesitant to endorse military action against the Muslim state, yet we must begin to accept that Iran is not a small player in the race for spiritual authority in the world anymore. With the backing of a more industrialized nation such as Turkey, it could easily transform into a more formidable--and unwavering, force. All Iran which Iran truly requires however is an opportunity to strike, something which countless examples of gerrymandering by world leaders in the present day are creating.

President Obama must cease his coy strategy with the Iranian government and instead breach the walls of extremist dialog to make way for a more moderate state. Doing so would be as simple as offering support and sympathy to the Green Path of Hope, a movement which has managed to shift the fundamentals of political power in Iran and force at least some action from its leaders.

This issue cannot be treated as an off the table topic for the Whitehouse. Freedom is at stake because of fear which is rooted deeply in the hearts of political leaders. But its foundations are wholly unjustified, as a decisive move would be more than accepted by even the United Nations, which has noted the threat posed by the conservative president in Iran today. It need not be a bloodbath, but it must be an agenda item; else we shall reap the consequences of inaction.

Ayla Samadi

National Alliance Vice President for Domestic Affairs