LTE 4: Democracy for Democratizing

To the Editor:
In a recent article by Mark Landler, “Iran Policy Now More in Sync With Clinton’s Views,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is struggling to calm the conflict in Iran. However, what she needs to ask Iran for us is: What does Iran need and want? In Michael Muhammad Knight’s book, Journey to the End of Islam, Knight refers to a Pakistani man who believed that the only way Pakistan would survive is if the Americans took control of it. The question to ask is if this is what the Iranians want. In 2003, we forgot to ask Iraq this question. We blamed Iraq for having nuclear weapons. We ended up being wrong. Now, we are finding ourselves in a similar situation and we need to do something different. The finger pointing will no longer work. Though there are summits, and discussions, even negotiations, they are still with people that have a political edge. Each Iraqi or group of Iraqis will have a diversity of views, which will diminish the political edge. We believe as a democracy that politicians should be the representatives of the people. If we want to democratize the world, why do we not use this same strategy? Ask the questions, ask the right people, and then make a statement.