Tomorrow, Iran’s Islamist leadership will “celebrate” the 25th anniversary of the 1979 revolution which brought religious dictatorship to that country. The Iranian tyrants are giving a terrible gift to their people as an anniversary present: They are driving a final nail into the heart of the country’s pretend democratic process. By disqualifying 2,530 of the 8,157 candidates originally on the ballot for the February 20th parliamentary elections, the Islamists have engineered a coup de tat. All the candidates disqualified were “moderates/reformists,” and included 80 already-sitting members of the Iranian parliament (“Majlis”). The terror-masters have effectively cleansed Iranian government of anyone they disapproved of.

I have openly questioned whether the “reformists” are really reformers, as they were participating in a government considered the "most active state sponsor of terrorism." Maybe I was wrong. Sometimes you have to attack the system from within, as Boris Yeltsin did during the collapse of the Soviet (Russian) Empire. But now we’ll never know as Iran’s tyrants have now removed any and all “opposition” from government. The elections slated for February 20th were already questionable. Now there is no doubt that they will be a complete sham.

If Iran’s pretend democracy were really a democracy, why would an official government poll show that 90 percent of Iranians are so disillusioned that they do not intend to vote on February 20th? Why did Iranian students at Tehran University risk their lives two days ago by protesting the rigged elections? Why have Iranians demonstrated against their Islamist overlords so many times over the last few years? Why would left-wing groups like Human Rights Watch be so critical of the Iranian government’s treatment of its own people? Some would tell you that Iranians support their government and hate America, but an official government poll found that

• 74% of respondents over the age of 15 support dialogue with the US
• 45.8% believe Washington's policy on Iran is "to some extent correct".

Iran is no democracy, yet what do its people want? They want democracy and reconciliation with the U.S. Iran’s government represents no one but its own selfish interest of maintaining power. Despite all this evidence, some continue to apologize for and legitimize Iran’s corrupt tyranny.

At a time when the free world should be trying to expose Iran’s corrupt leadership, America’s own Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware), and Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) are making nice with the terrorist regime. And let’s not forget the UN, which treats Iran’s government as an equal with, for example, the duly elected democracy of the Netherlands.

One would think that comparing Iran and the Netherlands would show obvious, glaring differences to insightful observers. Iran’s UN delegation is selected by terrorists. Iran exports terrorism world-wide, for example, murdering 85 civilians and wounding over 200 in Argentina in 1994. The Netherlands’ UN delegation is representative of its people. The Dutch are responsible members of the world community. They are helping the U.S. rebuild Iraq, while Iran’s government is doing everything possible to sow the seeds of turmoil in Iraq. How can the UN function as a democratic body while having tyrannical members?

Moral relativism will not help Iran’s people. Wishful thinking -- i.e., Iran’s dictators will spontaneously see the light and turn democratic -- will not help the Iranian people. Exposing Iran’s regime as a brutal, terrorism-exporting dictatorship will help Iran’s people. I just have a hard time understanding why this simple proposition is not crystal-clear to many people.