I am glad to report that Roxana Saberi, Iranian-American journalist that was imprisoned by Iran for alleged spying, was released by Iran. While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US was “heartened” by this move, we cannot start rewarding countries that can arrest people arbitrarily for releasing prisoners they should have never detained. This is a tactic commonly employed by Cuba, where they crackdown on activists and journalists, the US issues a statement of disapproval, and then Castro would release a fraction of the political prisoners in a show of “good faith.” The reality is that there is no “good faith” coming from repressive governments that can throw people in jail for trumped up charges simply because they want to silence them.

I wonder if, in another age, Saberi’s efforts and the international outcry would have gone unnoticed. Saberi went on a two week hunger strike that was covered by free press organizations, human rights organizations, the mainstream media, and bloggers, like yours truly. Even the president took notice of her case and spoke out about it. Our interconnectedness made it possible for the news of her unjust imprisonment to circle the globe many times and put Iran’s repressive character on display. Imagine what this could do in North Korea, Cuba, Syria, and other countries where the government denies human rights. We might get regime change without a single shot fired… all that we need is to directly fund the activists that are fighting for freedom in those countries and abstain from doing business with the oppressive regimes. Too bad Washington wants to do the opposite: make friends, give aid, and do business with the bad guys. What a shame.

-AG