Is the plight of Mojtaba and Arash really that important?

I am not sure who decided that the blogging community should take up the cause of Mojtaba and Arash, but I do know no one asked me. See the BBC article if you want the full story. It somewhat surprises me that we should care about two repressed individuals while America is berated globally for caring about hundreds of thousands of repressed people in Afghanistan and Iraq. Caring about repressed people is important to me. The difference is I understand that if we wait for diplomacy to work on every case for too long that we all to often end up creating another Hitler for the world to deal with. I do not advocate shooting first and talking later but neither do I advocate starting to talk if I am not prepared to go all the way in resolving the issue. How far are the individuals who started this willing to go in the cause of these two people.

Iran exports around 2.6 million bbl/d, with major customers including Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Europe. Here are the countries that are supporting the oppression of these two individuals in Iran. Ironically China is another repressive country mentioned in the BBC article. Will bloggers in these countries stop purchasing oil products from Iran? As much as people might think that words have power the reality is the power of words pales in comparison to the power of money. Will the French companies that make profits from selling food to Iran do anything about this? That is the power of money, the power to eliminate oppression or the power to keep oppressors in place.

If bloggers really want to make a difference then find out what companies in your country do business with Iran and stop doing business with those companies. Write them and let them know you will no longer purchase their products and that you will be using your blog to get others to do the same.

GE felt this sort of heat and is taking the right steps

Honestly I want people everywhere to have the freedom to speak out and peacefully work toward change and I certainly would like to see truly oppressed individuals freed. Having a nice banner and a few words on my blog is a nice start but I doubt it is really enough.