As the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) troops continued their civil war inside Iraq, the Obama administration backed away from working with Iranian troops that are already inside Iraq. What’s going on?
Inside Syria, the country has virtually imploded with three different groups building on the ruins from the civil war: the Assad regime, the Kruds, and the jihadists that have become dominated by ISIS. These three factions hold different parts of the country with no hope of negotiations in sight. The Kurdish enclave in the north close to the Turkish border are holding their own against both Assad and ISIS. Of course, the world now knows that the brutal ISIS forces have turned their attention to defeating the Shia in Iraq and are making dramatic headway in defeating the current Maliki government.
Last week some American politicians talked of cooperation with Iran. Why did Obama back away? Take a look at the actual record of current Iranian President Hassan Rohani and see what you think. The Canadian Parliament just concluded their investigation of how Rohani has responded to human rights violations in Iran. Their conclusions are not good for Iran. Here’s their findings.
1. Prior to Rohani’s election, Iran had the highest per capita execution rate in the world. The alarming rate of executions has actually increased under Rohani. More than 650 executions have been carried out since he became president. Over 250 executions have been carried out since the beginning of 2014 alone.
2. Currently, there are 895 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience sitting in Iranian jails. The UN reporter on human rights Dr. Ahmed Shaheed describes these people as being political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and leaders in Iranian society. Virtually all jailed activists before Rohani’s election are still there.
3. Dr. Shaheed described detainees as being subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment including prolonged solitary confinement to coerce confessions. Torture includes beating, whipping, and assault in 100% of the cases. Rohani has not only been silent, but promoted the head of the prison system to the office of director general of the Justice Department in Tehran Province.
4. Persecution of the practitioners of the Baha’i faith include the incarceration of a group of seven Baha’i leaders. The Iranian regime’s systematic persecution of Baha’i has resulted in widespread hate crimes against the group with no attackers ever brought to justice.
5. Iran continues to imprison more journalists than almost any other country. During the 2009 contested elections, dozens of journalists were arrested. Often the regime intimidates and harasses their families in an effort to pressure journalists to discontinue their work.
6. Judicial independence and the rule of law is completely absent in Iran. Forty lawyers have been detained since 2009. Rohani’s appointments to justice minister and the office of legal affairs are men with long histories of human rights violations, including the 1988 massacre of 5,000 political prisoners.
This history is so gruesome it sounds like I made it up, but this is simply the report from the Canadian Parliament of their conclusions. The United States backed away from involvement with a government that is as bad as the ISIS.
Can’t criticize the Obama administration for that move!
Dr. Robert L. Wise 