Regime Change In Iran Is On Its Way

Ghazal Omid:

Regime change in Iran is on its way, from within. However, an outside attack on Iran will give the Mullahs exactly what they want. Iran has, rightfully, been identified as the main target in the US Global War on Terror. The regime has fostered the brutal insurgency in Iraq, nurtured terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and committed many other violations of international law. The recent kidnapping/release of the British Marines may make an attack seem a tantalizing quick fix.

This is a defensible position, and no one wants this government removed more than the Iranians living there now. For twenty-five years of my own life, I was taught to hate Americans, Israelis, and the rest of the Western World. At age fourteen, my challenge to the regime's watch dogs was, "I am not going to hate someone I don't even know!" This, and other simple forms of resistance, sacrificed my dream of living inside my own country. When I fled Iran, under death threats from the Sepah Pasdaran, Iranians didn't dare to speak against the regime publicly. Today, people are on the streets every day; they have abandoned fear, and are fighting tooth and nail to start their revolution.

Yes, I said revolution! In the past two months, there have been at least three major protests in Iran.

There have been many clashes between the Iranian people and the government's agents; they are fed up with a government that is banking on war with the West to guarantee its continued existence

Unfortunately, US politicians have either never read, or have forgotten, Persian history. Unlike the rest of the Arab world, our national fervor as Persians, not our religious fervor as Muslims, plays the preeminent role. We are compelled to fight the enemy of our country, even if we know the attacking nation has the best intentions.

The government of Iran knows this all too well, and exploited patriotism during the Iran-Iraq war, when millions of Iranian young men, who could now rise up and challenge the current regime, died on battlefields as their lives were just beginning.

Many more perished for speaking out against the government, inside Evin and other prisons. I know this intimately because I represent a group of nineteen political prisoners, many of whom are on death lists. This is how Iran treats its own people.

Yet, if the US attacks Iran, the Iranian government's fondest wish will be granted, and many more young men will die.

A US attack on Iran will spur the tyrants to genocide, killing any Iranian standing up to challenge the government. Unlike US tolerance of opposition in wartime, Iranian rules of war state that anyone speaking out against the government has committed treason. Punishment for such a crime in Iran is a swift and brutal death.

Knowing this, the US is preparing for a massive attack, and those who can read a map and understand military strategies can see it. Joel Pousson, independent military analyst, has identified armadas now in the Arabian Sea as well as in the Eastern Mediterranean. Perhaps they are to attack Iran, and guard against a second front should Hizbollah attack Israel and the government of Lebanon. He reports training exercises on the long-quiet ranges of Ft Carson, Colorado, American reservists receiving unexpected activation orders, and offices tasked with protecting reservists' civilian jobs suddenly receiving additional staff.
Preparations are underway, but it is unclear whether the US will make the smart strike on Hizbollah and their terror web, or head from Iraq into Iran, where the government is preparing the same sort of IED and suicide attacks the US has faced in Iraq.

Attacking Hizbollah, eliminating their terror training camps and logistical support will prevent the terrorism campaign awaiting the West if Iran is attacked. Iran can be cut off from its agents, and the West and the Siniora government in Lebanon can eliminate Hizbollah, stabilizing that young democracy.

If, however, the US attacks Iran, the Straits of Hormuz could be blocked with just a couple of ships sunk. Thousands of university students, will be forced to don suicide vests, and will deploy as the terrorists that shuttled from Damascus airport for training and final dispositions in Iran launch attacks throughout the Mid East, Europe, and possibly, inside America.

The smart move, if a military move is to be made now, is to attack Hizbollah, economically isolate the Iranian government, and fund legitimate resistance groups in Iran to remove the Mullahs without the loss of one American life.

America is a smart nation. The leaders who call the shots can make the smart decision.

Ghazal Omid is an author of Living in Hell, human rights and women's rights advocate, and an expert on Iran and Shiah Islam.

Watch her on Glen Beck

Glen Beck and Ghazal Omid talk about the women activists in Iran.