Page 42 - Shahrvand BC No.1246
P. 42
Arkansas Democrat was concerned that President English Section 42
Johnson, another Democrat, was leading the country
into a poorly understood calamity, and it was Congress’s A $60 Sentence For An 42
"responsibility" to do something—in this case, to hold Infamous Iranian Official
televised hearings that would educate the people to the
deadly realities of a guerrilla war in Southeast Asia. Then, Suzanne Maloney
he had to rely basically on the three major networks to
carry his hearings, if not 'live' then on their evening July 3, 2013 1392 ریت15 جمعه- 1246 شماره/ سال متسیب
newscasts; and they did, more or less. The impact was
tremendous. In one month, popular support for the war On Tuesday, Iran’s most 2009 protests. In one of his characteristic affronts In touch with Iranian diversity
fell from 63% to 49%. notorious human rights against basic decency, Ahmadinejad even dispatched
The war, of course, did continue, unfortunately. National abuser – a designation that is Mortazavi to Geneva as part of Iran’s delegation to the Vol. 20 / No. 1246 - Friday, July 5, 2013
life was severely disrupted, and m ore than 58,000 an unfortunately competitive inaugural session of the United Nations Human Rights
Americans died. field in the Islamic Republic Council in 2006.
This lesson from history mirrors two current realities: – was sentenced in a case
more than ever, Congress has effectively abdicated its that shocked even a political As with so many of cases involving the Islamic
responsibility to help manage the nation’s foreign policy, establishment that routinely Republic’s mistreatment of its own citizens, the
vesting e xtraordinary powers in the presidency to start, uses violence and depravity Kahrizak case and Mortazavi’s fate underscore the
run and stop wars; and the danger of a war w ith Iran to crush its opponents. Saeed appalling pathology of power in Iran’s revolutionary
looms on the not too distant horizon. Those are the facts Mortazavi, who made his system. Dissent is met with disappearance; shadowy
facing any analyst. name as the judge who sought networks of regime enforcers mete out punishments
Minimally, we believe, Congress ought to get back into to silence the reformist press during its heyday and beyond the reach of the meager protections of Iranian
the business of representing the public on matters of reportedly supervised the deadly interrogation of an law; whistleblowers (such as the doctor who treated the
war and peace, and launch a serious conversation with Iranian-Canadian photographer, was charged last year victims and helped dispel the government’s cover story)
the nation about U S relations with Iran, starting with in connection with the torture, sexual abuse, and murder wind up mysterious deceased; and the system protects
the post World War II history of the two countries and of those arrested amidst the upheaval of the contested its own. The Kahrizak brutality might have gone
then running up to today’s nuclear crisis between them. 2009 election. Mortazavi finally found himself on the unacknowledged were it not for the death of the son
At this time, Congress can rely on more than the three receiving end of Iran’s legal system on Tuesday, and— of an influential government scientist. And Mortazavi
TV networks to carry important hearings; it can also rely like the accused and the system of justice in Iran more might well have escaped prosecution entirely were it
on a hugely expanded technological universe, including broadly— the sentence was a disgrace. not for the fact that he had become associated with
the wondrous magic of the Internet, cable television Ahmadinejad during the president’s final, discredited
and satellite radio. The result would be a vastly more Mortazavi, along with two other judiciary officials, days; his arrest and trial were not an attempt to provide
educated public— and m ore. faced charges of falsifying reports and unlawful arrest justice to the victims, but rather to disadvantage a
If, after these hearings, which could last several months, for his role in detaining hundreds of young men who factional adversary.
the Obama administration faced the unmistakable had been swept up in the government’s brutal effort to
prospect of conflict with Iran, Congress would then be in subdue street protests over the dubious reelection of What is perhaps most outrageous about Kahrizak
a much better p osition to debate a resolution authorizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In addition, Mortazavi was and Mortazavi’s escape from punishment is that the
the president to take appropriate action, including m ilitary specifically charged with participating in the murder of whole sordid saga echoes similar crimes committed
action, to meet the challenge—and to debate it far more three men after sending them to the Kahrizak Detention by the Islamic Republic in the past, and foreshadows
intelligently than if there h ad been no Congressionally- Center, located just south of Tehran. The charges came what the regime, even with a moderate reclaiming the
sponsored national seminar on U.S.-Iranian relations. nearly three years after a parliamentary inquiry— led presidency, is still capable of perpetrating against its
According to this political and diplomatic scenario, by a conservatives— found that Mortazavi was directly critics.
there would be no need for a declaration o f war, which involved with and primarily responsible for the horrific
Congress has not authorized in any case since December treatment that detainees at Kahrizak were subjected to, There is another terrible irony in this week’s verdict; the
1941, even though there have been many wars involving including rape and beatings. abuses that took place at Kahrizak were publicized by
US troops. Mehdi Karroubi, one of the 2009 presidential candidates
As Fulbright said, Congress must share in the In this week’s verdict, Mortazavi was acquitted on the who helped lead the protest movement that emerged in
responsibility for running American foreign policy. It murder charges, and fined 200,000 rials (approximately its aftermath. Today, the 75-year-old Karroubi remains
was never intended to be a presidential monopoly. $60) and banned from public office for five years for under house arrest, isolated in a government safe house
having instructed police officers to prepare false reports where he is denied proper medical care and fresh air.
[Correction: An earlier version of this post referenced on the cause and location of the deaths. The slap on Meanwhile, Mortazavi goes free, promising to appeal
an argument made in Duss and K orb'sPolitico oped the wrist dashed the hopes that had been raised by his $60 fine.
regarding Washington's ability to empower Iranian rumors of a much stiffer sentence (the twitterverse has
supporters of compromise on the nuclear issue. In their been anticipating a 15-year prison sentence, including Suzanne Maloney
article, Duss and Korb asserted that "there’s little the five years in solitary confinement). And the outcome Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle
U.S. can do to empower its favored interlocutors," while offers a sobering reminder that even at a time of East Policy
contending that "there’s a lot the U.S. can do to e mpower guarded optimism for many Iranians as a result of the
those most opposed to conciliation and compromise." A recent presidential election, the moral and institutional Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the
statement that misconstrued this point has been deleted deficiencies of the Islamic Republic remain deeply Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S.
from this post, and Iran @ Saban regrets the error.] rooted. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled
private companies on Middle East issues. Maloney recently
Marvin Kalb Mortazavi’s infamy long predates the Kahrizak case. published a book titled Iran’s Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy During his tenure as a judge, he played a central role State in the Muslim World.
in shuttering dozens of reformist newspapers and
Marvin Kalb focuses on the impact of media on public policy penalizing writers, editors and bloggers, earning the
and politics. He is also an expert in national security, with a nickname “the Butcher of the Press.” He undertook
focus on U.S. relations with Russia, Europe and the Middle some of the earliest steps to sever Iran’s access to the
East. His most recent book is The Road to War: Presidential internet and social media. He has been accused of direct
Commitments Honored and Betrayed, available May 10, 2013 involvement in the 2003 torture and death of Zahra
from Brookings Institution Press. Kazemi, a Canadian photographer of Iranian origin,
who was arrested while covering demonstrations
Michael E. O’Hanlon near another notorious Iranian prison, Evin. Elevated
Director of Research, Foreign Policy to the position of prosecutor general that same year,
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for 21st Century Security Mortazavi assumed a prominent position in a hardening
and Intelligence regime’s campaign of terror against its own citizens,
ultimately guiding the show trials that followed the
Michael O’Hanlon specializes in national security and defense
policy and is senior author of the Iraq and Afghanistan Index,
projects. Before joining Brookings, O’Hanlon worked as a
national security analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.
His current research agenda includes military strategy and
technology, Northeast Asia, U.S. Central Command, and
defense budgets, among other defense/security issues.
[Source: http://www.brookings.edu]
Johnson, another Democrat, was leading the country
into a poorly understood calamity, and it was Congress’s A $60 Sentence For An 42
"responsibility" to do something—in this case, to hold Infamous Iranian Official
televised hearings that would educate the people to the
deadly realities of a guerrilla war in Southeast Asia. Then, Suzanne Maloney
he had to rely basically on the three major networks to
carry his hearings, if not 'live' then on their evening July 3, 2013 1392 ریت15 جمعه- 1246 شماره/ سال متسیب
newscasts; and they did, more or less. The impact was
tremendous. In one month, popular support for the war On Tuesday, Iran’s most 2009 protests. In one of his characteristic affronts In touch with Iranian diversity
fell from 63% to 49%. notorious human rights against basic decency, Ahmadinejad even dispatched
The war, of course, did continue, unfortunately. National abuser – a designation that is Mortazavi to Geneva as part of Iran’s delegation to the Vol. 20 / No. 1246 - Friday, July 5, 2013
life was severely disrupted, and m ore than 58,000 an unfortunately competitive inaugural session of the United Nations Human Rights
Americans died. field in the Islamic Republic Council in 2006.
This lesson from history mirrors two current realities: – was sentenced in a case
more than ever, Congress has effectively abdicated its that shocked even a political As with so many of cases involving the Islamic
responsibility to help manage the nation’s foreign policy, establishment that routinely Republic’s mistreatment of its own citizens, the
vesting e xtraordinary powers in the presidency to start, uses violence and depravity Kahrizak case and Mortazavi’s fate underscore the
run and stop wars; and the danger of a war w ith Iran to crush its opponents. Saeed appalling pathology of power in Iran’s revolutionary
looms on the not too distant horizon. Those are the facts Mortazavi, who made his system. Dissent is met with disappearance; shadowy
facing any analyst. name as the judge who sought networks of regime enforcers mete out punishments
Minimally, we believe, Congress ought to get back into to silence the reformist press during its heyday and beyond the reach of the meager protections of Iranian
the business of representing the public on matters of reportedly supervised the deadly interrogation of an law; whistleblowers (such as the doctor who treated the
war and peace, and launch a serious conversation with Iranian-Canadian photographer, was charged last year victims and helped dispel the government’s cover story)
the nation about U S relations with Iran, starting with in connection with the torture, sexual abuse, and murder wind up mysterious deceased; and the system protects
the post World War II history of the two countries and of those arrested amidst the upheaval of the contested its own. The Kahrizak brutality might have gone
then running up to today’s nuclear crisis between them. 2009 election. Mortazavi finally found himself on the unacknowledged were it not for the death of the son
At this time, Congress can rely on more than the three receiving end of Iran’s legal system on Tuesday, and— of an influential government scientist. And Mortazavi
TV networks to carry important hearings; it can also rely like the accused and the system of justice in Iran more might well have escaped prosecution entirely were it
on a hugely expanded technological universe, including broadly— the sentence was a disgrace. not for the fact that he had become associated with
the wondrous magic of the Internet, cable television Ahmadinejad during the president’s final, discredited
and satellite radio. The result would be a vastly more Mortazavi, along with two other judiciary officials, days; his arrest and trial were not an attempt to provide
educated public— and m ore. faced charges of falsifying reports and unlawful arrest justice to the victims, but rather to disadvantage a
If, after these hearings, which could last several months, for his role in detaining hundreds of young men who factional adversary.
the Obama administration faced the unmistakable had been swept up in the government’s brutal effort to
prospect of conflict with Iran, Congress would then be in subdue street protests over the dubious reelection of What is perhaps most outrageous about Kahrizak
a much better p osition to debate a resolution authorizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In addition, Mortazavi was and Mortazavi’s escape from punishment is that the
the president to take appropriate action, including m ilitary specifically charged with participating in the murder of whole sordid saga echoes similar crimes committed
action, to meet the challenge—and to debate it far more three men after sending them to the Kahrizak Detention by the Islamic Republic in the past, and foreshadows
intelligently than if there h ad been no Congressionally- Center, located just south of Tehran. The charges came what the regime, even with a moderate reclaiming the
sponsored national seminar on U.S.-Iranian relations. nearly three years after a parliamentary inquiry— led presidency, is still capable of perpetrating against its
According to this political and diplomatic scenario, by a conservatives— found that Mortazavi was directly critics.
there would be no need for a declaration o f war, which involved with and primarily responsible for the horrific
Congress has not authorized in any case since December treatment that detainees at Kahrizak were subjected to, There is another terrible irony in this week’s verdict; the
1941, even though there have been many wars involving including rape and beatings. abuses that took place at Kahrizak were publicized by
US troops. Mehdi Karroubi, one of the 2009 presidential candidates
As Fulbright said, Congress must share in the In this week’s verdict, Mortazavi was acquitted on the who helped lead the protest movement that emerged in
responsibility for running American foreign policy. It murder charges, and fined 200,000 rials (approximately its aftermath. Today, the 75-year-old Karroubi remains
was never intended to be a presidential monopoly. $60) and banned from public office for five years for under house arrest, isolated in a government safe house
having instructed police officers to prepare false reports where he is denied proper medical care and fresh air.
[Correction: An earlier version of this post referenced on the cause and location of the deaths. The slap on Meanwhile, Mortazavi goes free, promising to appeal
an argument made in Duss and K orb'sPolitico oped the wrist dashed the hopes that had been raised by his $60 fine.
regarding Washington's ability to empower Iranian rumors of a much stiffer sentence (the twitterverse has
supporters of compromise on the nuclear issue. In their been anticipating a 15-year prison sentence, including Suzanne Maloney
article, Duss and Korb asserted that "there’s little the five years in solitary confinement). And the outcome Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle
U.S. can do to empower its favored interlocutors," while offers a sobering reminder that even at a time of East Policy
contending that "there’s a lot the U.S. can do to e mpower guarded optimism for many Iranians as a result of the
those most opposed to conciliation and compromise." A recent presidential election, the moral and institutional Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the
statement that misconstrued this point has been deleted deficiencies of the Islamic Republic remain deeply Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S.
from this post, and Iran @ Saban regrets the error.] rooted. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled
private companies on Middle East issues. Maloney recently
Marvin Kalb Mortazavi’s infamy long predates the Kahrizak case. published a book titled Iran’s Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy During his tenure as a judge, he played a central role State in the Muslim World.
in shuttering dozens of reformist newspapers and
Marvin Kalb focuses on the impact of media on public policy penalizing writers, editors and bloggers, earning the
and politics. He is also an expert in national security, with a nickname “the Butcher of the Press.” He undertook
focus on U.S. relations with Russia, Europe and the Middle some of the earliest steps to sever Iran’s access to the
East. His most recent book is The Road to War: Presidential internet and social media. He has been accused of direct
Commitments Honored and Betrayed, available May 10, 2013 involvement in the 2003 torture and death of Zahra
from Brookings Institution Press. Kazemi, a Canadian photographer of Iranian origin,
who was arrested while covering demonstrations
Michael E. O’Hanlon near another notorious Iranian prison, Evin. Elevated
Director of Research, Foreign Policy to the position of prosecutor general that same year,
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for 21st Century Security Mortazavi assumed a prominent position in a hardening
and Intelligence regime’s campaign of terror against its own citizens,
ultimately guiding the show trials that followed the
Michael O’Hanlon specializes in national security and defense
policy and is senior author of the Iraq and Afghanistan Index,
projects. Before joining Brookings, O’Hanlon worked as a
national security analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.
His current research agenda includes military strategy and
technology, Northeast Asia, U.S. Central Command, and
defense budgets, among other defense/security issues.
[Source: http://www.brookings.edu]
