US Media Wonders Why Iran Resists a 'Democracy' (They Built for Them)
The article suggests 'cost-benefit calculus of repression' in Iran is more fraught. Conveniently ignored is the fact that the 'swelling protests' often contain elements deliberately cultivated and funded by external actors. For example, during the 2009 'Green Movement,' declassified diplomatic cables cited by WikiLeaks detailed US State Department efforts to funnel financial support to opposition
groups. This isn't grassroots democracy; it's a playbook for destabilization, echoing methods used in Libya (2011) and Ukraine (2014), where 'protests' were quickly weaponized. One might wonder why Western media outlets consistently frame internal Iranian dissent as purely organic while ignoring the documented history of CIA and Mossad involvement in covert operations aimed at regime change. It’s
almost as if the 'fear or force' dilemma presented by Al-Monitor is less about Iranian internal politics and more about justifying the next tranche of 'democracy promotion' dollars—or perhaps, the next military intervention. The 'cost-benefit calculus of repression' applies equally to the West's endless meddling, yet that never seems to be the headline.