FrontPage magazine.com :: The Case for Democracy by Jamie Glazov

Jamie Glazov has written an interview with Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner. The entire thing is great and I strongly urge you to read the whole thing. If I was to highlight every bit I think is important I would end up having to reproduce the entire article on this blog. One bit though did catch my attention specifically. Not because it is any more true or profound than the rest of the interview, but it because it is something that I can, in a small way, take part in:

The sceptics should remember that when I became a dissident in the 1970s, I knew that I could be arrested and imprisoned, but I also believed that the free world would stand with me. That is a comfort that potential dissidents in the Arab world do not have. Not only have the regimes they are confronting treated them with impunity, the free world has also remained silent. Once that changes, once the free world encourages democratic forces within the region, once it links its policies toward states in the region to the degree of freedom they provide their own citizens, nothing will stop the march of freedom.

I don't know if it will ever make a difference, but I am going to begin researching stories of political prisoners and posting them here. Obviously this blog doesn't have a huge readership, but every little candle in the darkness adds more light.