Thursday, June 25, 2009

Proposed help for Iranian citizens

This seems well intentioned and a useful way of supporting the freedom movement in Iran. I wonder what the unintended consequences might be if passed and signed into law. Certainly it won't improve diplomatic relations with Iran's current government, but what would?
To be useful in the current crisis, the money & authority to spend it would have been needed months ago, so this is aimed at tomorrow's Iran, whatever it may be.

The Weekly Standard:
"Lieberman, McCain, and Graham held a presser announcing new Iran legislation they intend to introduce. It will increase funding for Radio Farda and Voice of America, both of which have been critical at keeping Iranians informed of what's happening in their own country and reporting those events to the outside world as well. They also talk of funding a new Farsi-language website with live news coverage, and 'funding to foster the spread of technologies that would make it harder for the Iranian regime to crackdown' on the transmission of information over cellphones.

Lieberman sums it up: “We’ve seen that the Iranian regime has tried to deploy new technologies to restrict its people from getting access to information, prevent its people from exercising their freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, particularly online. The Iranian government has jammed satellites and radio broadcasts, disrupted cell phone service, monitored Internet use, and blocked particular Web sites. It’s now trying to slam shut the door that a vibrant election had begun to open. The legislation we intend to introduce is inspired by a clear and simple purpose. We want the Iranian people to be able to stay one step ahead of the Iranian regime, getting access to information and safely exercising freedom of speech and freedom of assembly online.”
. . .
A great McCain line: “During the Cold War, we provided the Polish people and dissidents with printing presses. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are the modern-day printing presses. They are the way. They are the way to spread information and keep the hope of freedom alive amongst the Iranian people.”"

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