New York Times' Nazila Fathi wrote an article on Saturday titled ""Iran Sentences American Journalist to 8 Years in Prison."" The story explains how American journalist Roxana Saberi has been convicted by the Iranian government of spying for the United States. What initially began as an arrest in January for buying alcohol, transformed into accusations of working without necessary press credentials and eventually led to being put on trial for spying. Indeed, Roxana's arrest and ever-changing convictions without a fair trial are sad and, from a judicial point of view, disconcerting.
This, however, is not what I found troubling about the story. The article included comments from American politicians such as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who declared that she found the situation ""deeply disappointing."" Senator Byron Dorgan from North Dakota was quoted saying that Iran's actions are a ""shocking miscarriage of justice."" ""The Iranian government,"" he contends, ""has held a secret trial, will not make public any evidence and sentenced an American citizen to eight years in prison for a crime she didn't commit.""
Remove the words ""Iranian government"" and ""American citizen"" and change eight years to indefinite life imprisonment, what do you get? American policy in Guantanamo. Perhaps if we as a nation became more disturbed by our own government's actions, and demanded change during the dark Bush administration years, we could actually be in a moral position to cast down such reprimanding comments at a foreign government. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Our government, who daily acts in our name, has set a terrifying precedent. Perhaps now we can understand why we are to study and learn from certain historical texts.
I encourage Senator Byron Dorgan, among others, to go back as far as Thucydides' ""History of the Peloponnesian War."" Here one learns how powerful hegemonic powers should not set precedents that are likely to harm them and deteriorate international norms. As Thucydides wisely warned his audiences, it is in ""acts of revenge on others [that] men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress, instead of leaving those laws in existence, remembering that there may come a time when they, too, will be in danger and will need their protection.""
—Sarah A. Rola Zarate
Senior, political science
UW-Madison
