Groan
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Tyrants?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Why we have to pass up opportunities to have people in a position of prominence and authority make powerful political statements is beyond me:
An American who fled Iran's Islamic revolution two decades ago has fulfilled a childhood dream when she became the first woman to pay for her own journey into space.
Anousheh Ansari, a 40-year-old Iranian American telecommunications entrepreneur, was bound for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian rocket that blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Ms Ansari, whose family gathered to watch the launch, is believed to have paid in the region of $20 million (£10.65 million) to become the world's fourth paying space tourist.
[. . .]
Ms Ansari provoked a brief row when she announced she wanted to wear the Stars and Stripes on one sleeve of her space suit and, to inspire women in the country of her birth, the Iranian flag on the other.
She backed down under pressure from the US and Russian governments and promised to refrain from making political statements while in orbit.
Because, you know, we just can't have that. And with this fumbling response to the wishes of a brave pioneer, a golden opportunity has been lost to highlight the bravery and ingenuity that could be the birthright of Iranians if only they had the benefit of a political system that respected their autonomy and instincts for creativity.
(Via Taranto.)
she wanted to wear the pre-revolution flag which does not have "God is Great" repeated 11 times across it.
IRNA has no mention I can find of her flight. The idea of a self-made woman is anathema to the Islamic Republic.