I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran

Last update - 21:41 18/06/2009

I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran

By Bradley Burston

I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran

I am in awe of the courage of the people of Iran. They are giving the world hope. They are teaching a shocking lesson about truth. They embody freedom. And, perhaps hardest to grasp, for those of us who live in the Middle East, they are putting their very lives on the line not for the sake of some ferociously sectarian End of Days, but for the most profoundly radical notion of all - a better life.

Every person who has taken to the streets to demand what their government promised them, free and fair elections, did so knowing that police or secret police could arrest them, act to cripple their careers, or outright gun them down.

When the national soccer team, the sporting love of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's life, took the field in Seoul, and when Iranian state television showed the team captain and most of the squad wearing wrist and arm bands in the green of the reformists, the players knew that there was much more at stake - at risk - for them personally, than whether they would defeat South Korea and advance to a place in the World Cup. The game ended in a 1-1 tie. Iran's fervent hopes of appearing in the quadrennial tournament were all but dashed. But the team had already clinched a victory of momentous proportion. They are quiet lions. They are, in every sense of the word, champions.

I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran. But I'm pulling for them now, hard as I can.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093996.html

I do have a problem rooting for their government.

to be college roommates in 1977 with a girl from Tehran. I probably learned more about the world from her than I did in any class that year. It simply opened my eyes that people are just people no matter where they are in the world. Her culture was so different from mine but her hopes and dreams the same. In a world of fear and nuclear options and crazy dictators and torture loving American vice-presidents (former that is), it's hard to remember the people who just want to live their lives just like everybody else. I know there are crazy mean people who would like to terrorize others but they are very small in number compared to most of the human race.

I too am happy to see the Iranian people stand up to the regime. I can't believe John McCain was so either stupid or so politically motivated to criticize President Obama for not doing something about what is happening in Iran. That is exactly what the Ayatollah would love to see, then they could blame this uprising on the U.S. McCain and Saxby Chambliss are either morons or disingenuous.