Iran has left the front pages of most news outlets now that Ahmadinejad seems to have a grip on the nation and the recent coup in our own backyard has a few heads occupied.
But this story here in the Asia Times tells an interesting if oft repeated tale: We don’t know anything about Islam. And therefore little about the Middle East, yet Europeans have been in and out of that area since the end of WWI. Iran is a chance for the West to not only learn more about Iran and Iranians, but also educate themselves about the true nature of Islam. The religion itself has been manipulated and corrupted by men. We in the West should understand this very well, but it escapes people in power that the struggle in Iran is not about democracy vs. theocracy, but Just Islam vs. Unjust Islam.
I can only recommend Reza Aslan’s book, “No god but God” for those who want to learn more about Islam and its role in Middle Eastern society and also the world.
What we are forgetting here is that, just with the PIRA in Ireland, many of the big names in Islam are actually fringe groups that hold sway over their own people through fear, intimidation and (more importantly) through our (Western) own blundering. How many people out there know that Wahabis — the extreme sect of Islam that runs Suadi Arabia and funds all sorts of activities from Uzbekistan to Bosnia — how many people know that Britain is directly responsible for the rise of Wahabism in Arabia and the rise of the Saud family? Not many.
Does that maker Iran’s claim that Britain is responsible for unrest in Tehran valid? Should facts like these and others (say the Iran-Iraq wars origins in Western chess-playing or the creation of Kuwait by British interests etc) give Europe pause before it recalls all of its diplomats?
And consider that Sarkozy would like to ban the hijab in France. To what end? To save Muslim women? The fact is, we in the West have lost our religion and right now Islam is going through a Reformation and instead of understanding what that exactly means, the West is hoping that Muslims lose their religion as well.
Not gonna happen. In fact, if God came down right now and passed judgment, i believe more Muslims would make it through the pearly gates than anyone else 
The best this President can do now is to take stock of what he does not know about Iran and Islam and see how the unrest in Iran can help fill those gaps in understanding. We cannot turn Muslims into quasi-atheist Europeans or Christmas Catholics — but we can help understand who really is playing a role in the Reformation taking place right now in Islam and observe intelligently. As soon as we interfere, Islam will unite against its common outside enemy and any chance for a mature Islam able to live in the 21st century without losing its religion will be lost in our lifetime, giving our kids yet more war to deal with.
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