A Khomeini (Grandson) Breaks With His Lineage to Back U.S....

[cantwealljustgetalong]

AGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 5 — The grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the strident Iranian cleric who built his Islamic revolution on a platform of attacking all things American, said today that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would allow long-awaited freedoms to flourish throughout the region, and if they did not, United States intervention would be welcomed by most Iranians.

The grandson, Sayyid Hussein Khomeini, also suggested that any Iraqi Shiites calling for an Islamic theocracy here were misguided, probably financed by Iran and lacked the experience or understanding to know how badly the Iranian revolution had failed.

"Iranians insist on freedom, but they are not sure where it will come from," said Mr. Khomeini, 45, whose dark eyes together with the black turban that marks him as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad evoke his famous forebear.

"If it comes from inside, they will welcome it, but if it was necessary for it to come from abroad, especially from the United States, people will accept it," Mr. Khomeini said. "I as an Iranian would accept it."

The extraordinary remarks came during an interview with a man whose grandfather consistently labeled the United States "the Great Satan," and who exploited the 444-day takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran starting in 1979 to cement clerical rule in Iran.

The subsequent hostile relations between the two countries led Washington to support Mr. Hussein in Iraq's grisly eight-year war against Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. In recent months the Bush administration has accused the Islamic Republic of developing illegal weapons and has hinted that a change of government in Tehran would be welcome.

The young Mr. Khomeini apparently holds none of his grandfather's animosity toward the United States, correcting a reporter forming a question about the American occupation of Iraq to note that it should be called a "liberation."

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/06/international/middleeast/06KHOM.html

[indictrichardperle]

1. i read that

so where does this exile live full time? and why is he in Iraq? I guarantee this stooge is bought and paid for by Richard Perle and the neo-con cabal.

Hes just like the Shah's son and Chalabi.

[lkinsale]

2. Look

Try to keep some perspective here. We shoot ourselves in the foot by talking like we think internal dissent against the repressive theocracy in Iran could only be a neocon idea. The subjugation of women in Iran (and Saudi) are issues to be taken seriously and not just shrugged off like this.

The answers are difficult and complicated, but this kind of thoughtless comment is not very useful. Call me a freeper if you will, but try reading Reading Lolita in Tehran first.

We have deserted and betrayed the women of Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban and warlords to come back. If we can do nothing for the women of Iran, at the least we can avoid ridiculing their situation by reducing it to no more than a sideshow of our U.S. politics from the safety of the internet.

[indictrichardperle]

3. BULL

the real issue is do the Iranian people want to be liberated with napalm like the Iraqis?

Does the * junta give a rats ass about Iranian "freedom" ?

Give me a freaking break. Yea right, and Chalabi just yearned for freedom :puke: