Published: June 23, 2009 09:59 pm      

Moral outrage alone won’t stop oppression

The pen is mightier than the sword, or so the old saying goes.

Watching the world’s reaction to the ongoing drama in Iran in the aftermath of that country’s elections, though, one gets the idea the world’s taking that old saying a little bit too literally. It seems that the only reaction we’ve seen from the international community is that of sternly worded denunciations of the actions of the Iranian regime. From the headlines:

“Obama ‘outraged’ by government crackdown in Iran”

“Sweden calls on Iran to respect right to protest”

“Ban Ki-Moon calls on Tehran to halt violence”

Yes, indeed, everyone knows the mullahs will get right on that now, won’t they?

If you get the idea I don’t find such a reaction particularly encouraging or useful, you’d be right. I am reminded of another part of the world that is embroiled in a rather one-sided conflict which seems to be the subject of yet more hand-wringing denunciations on the part of the international community. And I am also reminded of a bumper sticker referring to that conflict, emblazoned with the following slogan:

“Save Darfur. Send Rifles.”

Perhaps that’s a pithy slogan, but at its core is a universal, undeniable truth — if the truly oppressed peoples of the world were able to fight their oppressors on a more even playing field, perhaps they might not be quite so oppressed.

That might not be the most politically correct thing to point out, but we’re not doing ourselves any favors by refusing to acknowledge it. Moral outrage and passive resistance will only go so far with some people, as we see right now in Iran. Does anyone really think the world’s moral opprobrium all by itself is going to have any effect whatsoever on the actions of the Iranian government towards its people? Another quote comes to mind as well, from writer George Orwell:

“Despotic governments can stand ‘moral force’ till the cows come home; what they fear is physical force.”

And another, from science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein:

“Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.”

I don’t claim to know what the exact solution is to the ongoing situation in Iran, but I do firmly believe that the world’s condemnation alone isn’t it. What we’re seeing in Iran, quite simply, is the kind of thing that generally happens when people without guns stand up to people with guns.

No doubt there are those who would say the Iranians would be hopelessly outgunned if they had only small arms, but what they forget is the way the arms are used makes as much of a difference as the arms themselves. You might have seen or read about the video of the killing of Iranian protestor Neda Agha-Soltan; what you might not know is that she was believed to have been slain by a sniper from the rooftop of a home in the immediate vicinity. It isn’t that big of a stretch to carry out a shot like that with a weapon as mundane as your father’s or grandfather’s old bolt-action deer rifle, possibly even using nothing more than the rifle’s iron sights. One can only imagine how things would go were such a tactic used more widely by the Iranian dissenters. And we haven’t even gotten into the discussion of what would happen if every Iranian dissenter were outfitted with a semiautomatic rifle such as the ubiquitous AK-47 and a decent supply of ammunition for it, or a supply of heavier arms such as shoulder-launched missiles or rocket-propelled grenades.

It should be noted, though, that fighting with even less advanced tools would have at least some effect; as Alabama gun rights blogger Mike Vanderboegh said regarding another matter, “How long do you think they would last when team after team of them are shot down like dogs in the street, garroted in their sleep, poisoned in their mess halls, or found with their throats slit in guardposts, restrooms and bordellos?”

God only knows if the Iranians will have to go that far, or even if they possess the will to go that far. At any rate, the Iranian people’s courage is to be commended indeed, but the only way any kind of revolution worthy of the name is going to happen there is for someone with arms to come to their assistance. The theocratic regime in place now will not be deterred any other way. And the sooner the world realizes that and acts accordingly, the better off the Iranians will be.



Erik Onstott is a reporter and page designer for the Orange Leader. He may be reached at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2616 or eonstott@orangeleader.com