Tuesday, October 06, 2009

I'm Sure There's a Logical Explanation. . .

. . . but I'm pretty hard-pressed to see it:

WASHINGTON - For the past five years, researchers in a modest office overlooking the New Haven green have carefully documented cases of assassination and torture of democracy activists in Iran. With more than $3 million in grants from the US State Department, they have pored over thousands of documents and Persian-language press reports and interviewed scores of witnesses and survivors to build dossiers on those they say are Iran’s most infamous human-rights abusers.

But just as the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center was ramping up to investigate abuses of protesters after this summer’s disputed presidential election, the group received word that - for the first time since it was formed - its federal funding request had been denied.

“If there is one time that I expected to get funding, this was it,’’ said Rene Redman, the group’s executive director, who had asked for $2.7 million in funding for the next two years. “I was surprised, because the world was watching human rights violations right there on television.’’
Anyone have a theory?

6 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

This work doesn't stimulate the economy and so it was cut. Because we all know that that's the criteria for these spending decisions, not naked partisanship.

Cousin Dan 54915 said...

Actually, its all part of the coup. You just noticed it early.

Gino said...

its the new tone, to engage with our enemies, and they will love us through their love of obama.

K-Rod said...

We are no longer a superpower that can dictate to other counties that they must abide by fundamental human rights or else they will feel the force of the US.

The Obama tone: sing kumbaya and carry a tiny stick.

P.S. they are not laughing with us...

Mr. D said...

P.S. they are not laughing with us...

Well, it's not particularly funny.

Anonymous said...

Mark,
I am with you and Rene Redman on this one. I cannot imagine what Obama/Clinton are thinking. Especially given the timing, and the simple fact that the current Iranian regime is conducting the 'trials' of people charged in this summer's unrest right now. It is shameful and disturbing. The entire point of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center was to weaken the Iran government while promoting democracy internally. What better way to do this than to document there abuses while the World is watching. There is no logical explanation.

Rich