Iranian political chaos won't go away soon

If people needed yet another reason why we should be grateful to be Americans, Iran's recent presidential election provided it.

The June 12 election was disputed almost from the moment it ended. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected by a landside, but cries of corruption quickly spread the nation.

Protesters hit the streets, and there was a whiff of anarchy in the air. This was incredible especially when a person considers the type of society there. It is nothing like what we experience here in America.

The conservative Islamic leadership that has been in place since the revolution in 1979 rarely allows any type of dissent. Constitutional rights that we take for granted are only a dream for many of the people there.

Because of this, the protesters deserve a lot of respect for putting their necks on the line. In that society, it is not uncommon for people to disappear after criticizing the government.

However, the election was a farce in one respect. The real powerbroker in Iran is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who many refer to as the country's supreme leader. Since he is a supporter of Ahmadinejad, do not expect the midget president to leave the Iranian political stage any time soon.

Still, it is hard not to be fascinated by the protests that have gone on there. If the current government could be overthrown and be replaced by one that is friendlier to the United States, it could ease many of the Middle East's problems.

Of course, it has been a long time since Iran has had a government friendly to the United States. We supported the Shah of Iran and his leadership for decades. In doing this, we conveniently overlooked the Shah's human rights' abuses.

Then, when the Islamic revolution took place there, many of the people blamed us for the problems they suffered under the Shah. Eventually, the U.S. embassy was attacked and hostages were held for more than a year.

This was one of the factors that wrecked President Jimmy Carter's administration. Since then, the United States and Iran have been bitter adversaries.

How bitter has it gotten? When Iran and Iraq engaged in a war throughout most of the 1980s, we indirectly supported Iraq in the conflict. In one of the best examples of the cliché 'politics makes for strange bedfellows,' we were giving support to Saddam Hussein as he led his country in the disastrous conflict.

The war basically ended in a draw as hundreds of thousands were killed.

As for current day Iran, anything is possible. I know that is difficult to believe, but when I was growing up, I never believed the Soviet Union would fall apart and the Berlin Wall would come down.

Though it often seems like it takes forever for large-scale change to take place, it often happens quickly when the acts of a few resonate throughout a nation.

Have we seen that happen with the current protests in Iran? Only time will tell.

Twenty years ago, student protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing appeared to be the springboard to widespread social change in China, but it never happened. One man famously stood in front of a tank there, and if he is still alive, we likely will never hear from him again. The government there is as oppressive as it has ever been.

However, if another revolution took place in Iran and it favored the United States, the irony would be that the citizens there would have accomplished what he have tried to do in Iraq for years.

And that would be remarkable.