Within you, without us

Just a brief update to link to this article by an Iranian journalist formerly imprisoned as a dissident. I like it because it makes a point that I have come to realize more and more as the war in Iraq has spiraled out of control: successful democratic reform must come from within, not from without. The democratic governments that remain successful today began by gradually developed dissent among the national populace that boiled over into revolution. In the United States, we have something of an (admittedly understandable) arrogance in believing that we can bring about change in countries controlled by autocracy, coupled with the desire to do so. (Of course, as a paragraph in the article points out, our desire to have governments be pro-American often trumps our desire to have their people be free.) But ultimately, what we probably need to do is just be patient.

If that sounds isolationist, it isn't intended to. Once the revolution has begun, we can of course involve ourselves in a diminished capacity. After all, would our Revolution have succeeded without the French? And also, raging against human rights violations all the while wouldn't be such a bad idea either.

Song lyric of the day (what else would it be?):
"We were talking about the space between us all
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth
Then it’s far too late"
- the Beatles, Within You Without You