The Foreign Service Journal, October 2005

to an Arab-Israel peace — receive prominence seri- atim. Although there is truth in each, none stand up to the regional hypocrisy test. Human-rights abusers populate the Middle East. Iranians who oppose a fair and lasting peace settlement resemble Israeli and Arab extremists. Other regimes assassinate opponents as Tehran did, give women few of the rights granted in Iran, and permit only staged elections, if that. You will never hear that comparison out of Washington, however. Instead, for our friends, the U.S. reaction to offenses ranges from an occasional rebuke through silence to generous aid. At the core of the American position is a strong antipathy toward Iran that shuts out other considerations. Certainly, the mullahs’ record on human rights is abysmal, and constitutes the major reason for wide- spread popular discontent. Yet, as Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Edbadi has written: “Respect for human rights can never be imposed by foreign military might and coercion. Foreign military intervention in Iran is the surest way to keep the goal [of getting Iran to adhere to international human rights laws] out of reach.” Continuing to bad-mouth and threaten will only drive all Iranians together, weakening opposition to the clerical regime. Talk about unintended conse- quences! Shades of Iraq! Countdown to Nukes? But back to nukes. So far, no aluminum tubes, Niger yellow cake or mobile labs have been produced. There is, however, the assumption that Iran has long intended to develop nuclear weapons and could do so easily once its civilian program was established. Perhaps the best statement of the “evidence” was given by Christopher de Bellaigue in the New York Review of Books of Feb. 24, 2005. He wrote that begin- ning in the summer of 2002, the International Atomic Energy Agency “brought the Iranian program under F O C U S O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 Get Your Finances In Line With SDFCU Online You can depend on State Department Federal Credit Union for the ultimate in security and convenience with SDFCU Online banking. This FREE service allows you to access your Credit Union accounts via the Internet anytime, from anywhere in the world. Just go to www.sdfcu.org and click the SDFCU Online logo. You can conduct the following Credit Union business: Transfer funds between accounts Check current account balances View your account history over the last 15 months View check images View and pay your credit card bill online Pay Bills and much more!* See just how easy SDFCU Online is! Visit us at www.sdfcuonline.org and check out the easy demo! If you’re interested in becoming a member of State Department Federal Credit Union, give our Member Service Center a call at 703- 706-5000 , or outside the D.C. Metro area at 800-296-8882 . You can also email us at sdfcu@sdfcu.org . SDFCU Online puts us at your service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whenever you need us the most. Sign up today! *The Bill Payer service is available at no charge for Capital Club members. Otherwise, there is a low monthly fee of $3.95 for unlimited transactions.