Cyrus The Great And Ahmadinejad The Small

Comparisons are often invidious. Still, consider the following. About twenty-two hundred years ago, Cyrus The Great freed the Jews of Persia. He happily sent them packing back to the land of Israel to rebuild their Temple. Some twenty-two centuries years later, Ahmadinejad, the current Iranian President, would like to expunge the Jewish nation which still flourishes on the same land to which Jews were astutely allowed to return by Iran’s greatest historical personage. Indeed, times and leaders have changed, most notably in Iran, once known and widely admired as Persia.

Consider, if you will, that Cyrus was the first person in history to be known as “The Great.” That appellation was no mere historical happenstance. Cyrus built an expansive empire, the size and achievements of which had been previously unknown to that ancient world. The great Cyrus understood the need to respect diversity. He preserved disparate ethnic identities. He welcomed pluralism and encouraged free expression of belief. He accommodated differing cultures and lifestyles throughout his empire. Notably, Cyrus proclaimed and disseminated history’s first charter of human rights. In fact, because of his unusual psycho-social largesse and diplomatic perspicacity, Cyrus was widely known –even among his Jewish subjects- as “The Annointed Of The Lord.”

More importantly, Cyrus reflects the apogee in the development of Persian pride. He elevated the Persian character to a level of nobility. It is undisputed that Cyrus still exemplifies everything positive and admirable to which Persians and their Iranian descendants could aspire. Indeed, Iranians properly regard Cyrus as the Father of the Iranian Nation. So, what has happened in the interim?

Within two centuries of Cyrus’ death, Alexander The Great overran the then fading Persian empire. That event signaled the beginning of a tragedy that has afflicted Persians for the better part of some 2,270 years. During that seeming eternity, Persia was repeatedly subjected to foreign domination and/or occupation. The Persians were ruled by the Greeks, the Parthians, the Moslem Arabs, the Mongols, and then -for 700 years- by the Ottoman Turks. That virtually continuous foreign rule was a catastrophe for Iranian self-esteem. It was a massive insult to and humiliation of the Persian national ego.

But there was light at the end of the long historical tunnel. World War II ended the Ottoman empire’s stranglehold on the Mideast. That event signaled the fitful reemergence of Persia under a new name and under new leadership. Persian pride was tentatively reawakened under Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlevi. In due course, Iran was on route to becoming the dominant regional power, especially in the Arabian Gulf.

And then, in 1979, the Shah was overthrown in a coup led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei. Almost immediately thereafter, Iran was forced to fight a disastrous and debilitating eight year war with Iraq which both sides lost. In that war’s aftermath, Iran was once again reduced to a less-than-formidable force, even in its own regional backyard.

In 1989, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became the new Supreme Leader of Iran’s Islamic Republic. He has cleverly dominated and quietly presided over Iranian affairs to this very day. Indeed, it was under Khamenei’s leadership during the nineties that Iran entered upon a covert nuclear project arguably designed to rejuvenate Iran’s self-image and to rehabilitate its national ego. That effort –finally exposed to the West after eighteen years of protracted mendacity and profuse denial- continues apace.

Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He became Iran’s populist, but periodically unpopular and bellicose, President in 2005. He presides over Iran with the imprimatur and in the shadow of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Unlike his boss, Ahmadinejad does not have the unilateral power to declare war, to set foreign policy, to control the media, and even to dictate what sermon should be preached and by whom in each mosque at noon each Friday!

So, when Ahmadinejad rants (denying the Holocaust, defaming Israel and/or vilifying America) it is not simply to espouse his distorted and perverted views, it is also because Khamenei sanctions those damnable disquisitions. That Ahmadinejad chooses to fulminate in gutter diplomacy and to fume in the sewers of incivility only demonstrates the depths to which Iranian leadership has descended from the lofty heights once enjoyed by Persians during the days of Cyrus.

That said, Cyrus The Great assuredly represents the pinnacle of Persian achievements and Iranian aspirations. Conversely, Ahmadinejad’s perverse and small-minded bellicosity only manifests the darkest recesses of some prominent Iranians’ psyche. Regrettably, Ahmadinejad’s personal comportment also reflects the perigee in Persian pride.

Premises considered, one is reminded of a pithy G.B. Shaw aphorism. He mused: “Greatness is only one of the sensations of littleness.” Undoubtedly, part of Cyrus’ greatness was his uncommon comprehension of existential and historical realities. This complemented a remarkable insight into his place and Persia’s role in the grand scheme of things. Not so Ahmadinejad!

So, if and when Ahmadinejad enters Persian heaven, he may chance to meet Cyrus. That is when Cyrus The Great may deem it proper to simply excoriate the current Iranian President as Ahmadinejad The Small.