EU DELUSIONS (via Barry Meislin) :

Iran's dialogue of deceit (Michael Rubin, July 22, 2002, Jerusalem Post)

Many European officials like to work under the illusion that the Islamic Republic is moderating, but the truth is actually quite the opposite.

Proponents of critical dialogue with Iran base their optimism upon the lofty rhetoric of officials such as Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, often labeled a reformer by the Western press. Much of what Khatami says does sound good. Addressing the Italian parliament in March 1999, he declared, "Tolerance and exchange of views are the fruits of cultural richness, creativity, high-mindedness and harmony. One must recognize this opportunity."

Unfortunately, like Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Khatami reserves his conciliatory tone for gullible foreign diplomats, parliamentarians, and academics. He speaks with a far different voice in Farsi to his domestic audience. In a televised address on October 24, 2000, for example, he declared, "In the Koran, God commanded to kill the wicked and those who do not see the rights of the oppressed... If we abide by human laws, we should mobilize the whole Islamic World for a sharp confrontation with the Zionist regime... If we abide by the Koran, all of us should mobilize to kill." [...]

On April 15, France, Belgium and four other EU members endorsed a UN Human Rights Commission resolution condoning "all available means, including armed struggle" to establish a Palestinian state. With billions of dollars of trade at stake, European foreign ministers and commentators seek to excuse Iranian-funded anti-Israel terror as a "liberation struggle," despite the deliberate targeting of civilians. Such self-delusion is made easier because Khatami projects a gentle image of Iran with lofty rhetoric of a "Dialogue of Civilizations."

Sometimes, though, action speaks louder than words. There has been no decline in Iranian terrorism; under Khatami, it has surged, although often outside the spotlight of the West. Teheran has interpreted Europe's engagement as a license to conduct business as usual. If Europe's rapprochement
with Iran continues, not only will Israel remain a victim of an unrepentant Iran, but also Jordanians, Turks, Kurds, and Iranians living abroad will have a very real reason to live in fear.

Europeans like to think of themselves as mature and sophisticated elder partners in the North Atlantic Alliance, riding herd on the impetuous and unenlightened Americans. But it may be time to start asking whether the Europeans--who refuse to even face up to their own domestic problems--any longer understand, if they ever did, the geopolitical problems in the world or whether, like our own State Department, they are so wedded to the status quo that they always choose stability, no matter how awful the situation. These are after all the same folks who have been caught off guard by every revolution in Western history and who thought the USSR was eternal. Similarly, they now think that radical Islam and Communist China are going to endure, that billions of people will choose oppression over freedom.
Posted by Orrin Judd at July 25, 2002 1:33 PM