We Have A Dream
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
12 November,
2008
Countercurrents.org
President-elect Obama: On November 4, 2008, you fulfilled the dream of a nation. A dream that continued to be nurtured and protected ever since that August day in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King marched on Washington DC and said “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
A decade earlier, another man’s struggles for his nation’s dream were abruptly brought to an end. In August 1953, Iranians had their dream shattered when a CIA-backed coup removed the democratically elected Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq. But souls awake, they continued to hope and nurse their dream….independence. A dream rooted in a belief that all men are born equal even though veiled by different cultures.
President-elect Obama: Dr. Mossadeq and Dr. King, legends who reshaped history have said much which must be heeded. Dr. Mossadeq said: “If I remain silent, I have sinned” and Dr. King believed that “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”. Sir, this is not the time to keep your silence from the people who enabled you to make history. Speak out now and tell the American people that Iranians dream of sovereignty and naught more. They dream of breaking scientific barriers within the framework of the law, and yet find that it is the illegal maneuvering of the law that is attempting to break them and crush their hope.
President-elect Obama: Your election came as a ‘beacon light of hope’ to millions of Iranians; a chance for peace and reconciliation. There was certainty that you would never become that which you oppose: the injustice, the status quo. Yet already, the beacon light of hope has been dimmed. Mr. Obama, killing hope is not the American way - it is an insult to the legacy of the woman who waited 106 years to vote for you; to the man who marched so that you could be elected president. Today, as Iran fights to maintain its independence, it embraces hardship but resists bondage. It pursues its dream. President-elect Obama, turning your back on the dreams of those who seek freedom, dignity, and pursuit of happiness, is putting yourself back in shackles.
President-elect Obama: You were elected, not selected. You have the mandate of the people to do what is right. As a constitutional law scholar you must surely empathize with George Washington’s celebrated Farewell Address to the American people in which he urged Americans to avoid taking sides in foreign disputes. The first of many presidents to do so, he urged Americans to be in impartial in commercial relations with the world but "have with them as little political connection as possible." President John Adams was a non-interventionist also. Thomas Jefferson called for "peace, commerce, and honest friendships with all nations, entangling alliances with none". Sir, in the spirit of these great presidents, I ask you to call for peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none. Sir, let the White House that you occupy be free of foreign influence and hostilities.
President-elect Obama: Freedom comes from the conscience. I pray that you live free.
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich has a Master of Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg for Communication. She is an independent researcher with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and the influence of lobby groups.
