Democracy is one of the most used and abused words in the world. To understand deeper, start with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and go down the rabbit hole. But in a nutshell, the question is not whether a government calls itself democratic, communist, capitalist, socialist, or authoritarian. The question is whether the government remains accountable to its people and whether foreign powers are allowed to interfere with that relationship.

A common misuse of the word democracy is to demand that every country align with US foreign policy. When they do not, the CIA is often deployed to topple the government. But there is also a softer influencing arm operating under the umbrella of human rights organisations. The common ones are NED and IRI. The uncommon ones are…

In December 1977, a memo from National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski to President Carter explicitly proposed creating a quasi governmental Human Rights Foundation. It would funnel money to international human rights organisations, support dissidents abroad, and serve as an echo chamber for US foreign policy while appearing independent. Today thousands of these orgs are out there doing the soft influence of CIA covert ops.

Cuba is blamed for communism, not the sixty years of sanctions that have helped drive the suffering of its people. Its real offense is pursuing policies that do not kowtow to Washington. Many democracy-focused human rights groups celebrate sanctions while funding activists on the side, creating the impression that the United States is the source of relief, not the source of pressure.

Assad’s Syria was widely condemned as a brutal regime, but what was overlooked was the 20,000 airstrikes conducted by the US led coalition over 10 years that prevented any real rebuild and led to heavy civilian casualties. Many human rights orgs documented abuses by the Assad government and paid no attention to the consequences of their own governments’ airstrikes. Even Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have continual debates over whether funding structures and geopolitical interests influence which issues receive the most attention. The current government in Syria is welcomed by the US and NATO even though its leader once headed an Al Qaeda affiliated group. But he is aligned with them now so all is well. 

Iran’s bank run in January was manufactured by US pressure campaigns that led to massive protests on the streets. Read about Iran’s history and you will see protest is fairly common there. But in January, Trump also admitted to providing guns that led to the killing of dozens of protesters. The Mossad footprint inside Iran is heavy. Separately, the IRI has been stirring trouble inside Iran for years. GPS is controlled by the US military, which makes pinpointing a person for a drone strike terrifyingly easy.

But none of that means the financial challenges in Iran are unreal. They are as real as it gets. The only way to overcome them is to remove sanctions, not topple the government.

Is wearing a headscarf blasphemy? I am not from Iran but my childhood best friend is Muslim and I grew up as a pastor’s daughter. I was a bridesmaid in a mosque and put on a scarf as respect. It did not defy my faith. Even nuns and the Amish community wear headscarves.

But saying the headscarf is not blasphemy does not mean women’s rights in Iran are fake. They are real. To understand why Khomeini swung hard the other way, you have to understand how the Pahlavi regime swung hard in the opposite direction first. The first Pahlavi forced women to remove their headscarves brutally on the streets to please the west. Many women committed suicide out of shame. Khomeini responded by making the headscarf mandatory. Khamenei, at least in the last five years of his life, spoke often about letting women be. He allowed them high roles in the workforce that Khomeini did not. Iranian women are among the most educated in the world. Too bad US and Israel killed him. 

If Iran had a more open relationship with the world, the alignment between its government and its people would be more visible. The only way that can happen is through the removal of sanctions, not through human rights and spy agencies trying to topple their government.

China’s Uyghur is constantly accused of human rights abuses by Western governments and human rights orgs. What they do not mention is that China is one of the largest and fastest growing halal food exporters in the world. Islam is a legalized religion in China along with Christianity and a few others. My brother recently visited Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, a beautiful church still standing and operating after a century of communist rule. The charge that China oppresses religion does not fit the evidence.

What China does not allow is any religion influencing government operations. State and religion should be separated everywhere. If that is oppression, then France with its ban on religious symbols in public schools is also an oppressor. But France never gets that label from the same human rights groups.

The list goes on… Russia and recently the Sahel countries that are trying to remove modern colonisation all come under heavy propaganda bombardment. It always starts with the same phrase from human rights groups, “the government is abusing the people.” Even my country has had heavy IRI operations everywhere for the last 20 years. The influence runs too deep. 

Does that mean all human rights groups are bad? Absolutely not.

Many people like you and me who care about human rights just want to help in any way we can. My 67 year old mother runs an NGO to help single mothers. I know many people/groups who have received funding that has helped them build up their communities. And I know many more who work in these orgs globally and genuinely want to help people.

But there are bad actors. Those who would put imperialism over people, and worse, mask it with Bitcoin. 

If you are part of any freedom movement, I hope you remember that the people matter most. And if anyone tries to persuade you otherwise, be careful. They can be dangerous and cause you harm. Sometimes it’s best to just walk away and continually help people in any way you know how, in any way you can.