Koorosh Afshar e-mailed me this morning about his latest essay in National Review. The Iranians, he writes, are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore:
Throughout the day on February 20, I went to different parts of Tehran to observe for myself what was going on at the polling stations. To my great pleasure, there were only few people at any of them. Although the regime had done its best to urge everyone to participate in the elections, brave Iranians were far more determined to tell the world and the regime, again, that they are tired, and are on the verge of achieving their much longed-for change.Iranians abstained from the elections not because of the prohibition against Khatamist candidates, but because we — almost all of us this time — have finally realized that our goal can only be achieved "over" the Islamic republic, not "through" it. The vision of tomorrow's secular Iran will prevail, and soon. With or without the rest of the world's help, we are determined to paralyze and eventually oust the militants of the Islamic regime.
This weekend showed that our efforts have nearly, after all this time, borne the fruit we have striven for all these years: freedom.
"Victory is ours, dear Michael!" he wrote. "We will win."
If Iranians wrest control of their country from the mullahs, the democratic world wins. Revolutionaries like Koorosh believe they can win independence alone. He more than anyone would understand the gravity of the situation, true, but the free world should prepare itself to provide every measure of support to Iran's liberation. They need us as much as we need them.