Iranian Moderates Should Be Supported

Re “Don’t Throw a Lifeline to a Failing Iran,” Commentary, Nov. 11: History easily proves that shunning a nation does not encourage the fall of a regime within it. If anything, the opposite is true. Glaring examples are Iraq and Cuba. American policy has, in effect, strengthened and maintained those regimes.

Anybody who knows anything about political doctrines that have a “mystic” ideology, either religious, nationalistic or intellectual, knows they do not unravel overnight. They weaken over a long period, as the “dream” is never fulfilled and the bulk of the population (including the intellectuals) comes to know it. Communism fell not because we defeated it but because it was an inherently weak social system that could not compete with ours over the long haul. The same will be true of Iran’s Islamic state. The best thing we can do is to back the moderates who can speed the process.

If they can deliver some “goodies” to their people with our help, then gradually the population will gravitate to moderates. Gradually the hard-liners will be marginalized and finally discredited. If we shun them, the moderates fail, leaving only the hard-liners with power.

It is important for American foreign policy to subtly oppose the doctrine of a religious state with the restrictions on individual freedom that it inherently entails. With regard to Iran, time must be given to prove it doesn’t work, inherently, so it will not be tried again. If simply overthrown by force of arms it will be tried again and again.

Backing President Mohammad Khatami is smart and necessary and would show that America is learning from history.

Miles A. Copeland III

Los Angeles