Something Has Happened In Iran - Andrew Sullivan
It strikes me that this is a much bigger deal than what has happened in Iraq. Iraqis did not dispose of their dictator and did not rise up against him. America did it. And the conflict since reveals just how contrived a “country” Iraq is, how sectarian it remains, and how fragile its current status quo is. Readers know that I expect the worst, while hoping for the best. And it remains a brutal fact that a similar number of innocents were murdered in Iraq last week as in Iran. We barely notice, of course. And as the US leaves, the civil war will continue. There is no question about that. The question is simply at what level of intensity.
But Iran is different, as we have seen. How different we will only find out in the coming weeks and months. It is easy to suspect that tyranny will prevail at the barrel of a gun. It is harder to see this as a turning point for the good right now. But I was struck by this missive from the great BBC reporter, John Simpson, upon leaving this great country at such a time. Read the whole thing. But this anecdote tells us a lot:
