I know you didn't, but isn't that a consequence of your reading?
No, it isn't. In no way is it a consequence of my reading that Khomeini created the rule of law, a principle first believed to be created by Hamurabi. The only consequence of my reading is that Khomeini's government replaced the cronyism of the Shah with courts that respected the rule of law (even if the laws themselves were draconian and cruel).
I mean, if he really did mean the general principle of the rule of law, he was saying that it was created by Khomeini in the 1970s.
In Iranian courts, in contrast to what came before -- the Shah's courts of monarchical cronyism. There's nothing very remarkable of that statement.
But again, he is not talking about the general principle of the rule of law. He really does speak about Islamic rule of law.
Because that's the flavor of rule of law that Khomeini instituted. but he's not praising the Islamic part of it. He's praising the rule of law part.
I don't see that he wrote it in support of the demonstrators. Rather, he is reassuring the Iranians (especially the youth) that their voices were "heard and respected", because Khamenei - the Supreme Leader - says so.
That is not what you quoted says. He said Khameini's expression that the Iranians were "heard and respected" "set the right tone". He did not say that because Khameini said it, it must be true.
Rauf is talking about a plan for easing tension between Iran and the United States and clearly part of his plan is "government that expresses the will of the people; a just government ... a peaceful and harmonious Iran that has
the unquestioned support of a majority of its population."
I don't see how you can read these words and think that Rauf is in anyway expressing support for the current regime in Iran. What he is looking for is a peaceful way that American can encourage Iran to become the above-quoted nation.
Obama should express his administration's respect for the Khomeini-style principle of the rule of law in order to reassure the Iranian public that the election has "confirmed the legitimacy of the ruler". Because the legitimacy is based on said principle.
That's
my reading anyway.
There is absolutely nothing in Rauf's article that says that Rauf believes the election confirmed the legitimacy of the current ruler of Iran. In fact he asks, rhetorically, "Now, on the streets of Teheran and undoubtedly in high political circles behind the scenes, Iranians are asking themselves, has this election confirmed the legitimacy of the ruler?"
Rauf clearly does not believe that the election confirmed Ahmadinejad's legitimacy or that Iran is a peaceful and harmonious Iran that has the
unquestioned support of a majority of its population. Quite the contrary -- Ahmadinejad does not have unquestioned support. Iranian democracy has a long way to go to get to where American democracy is today.
So your reading does not comport with what Rauf wrote, either in tone or in words.
