Iran's Presidential Elections

[mykalberta]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...ism/index.html

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran stepped up allegations Monday against the West of "meddling" in its disputed presidential election even as its election authority reportedly acknowledged that the number of ballots cast in dozens of cities exceeded the number of eligible voters in those areas.

I wonder why after overwhelming evidence of corruption would no country say anything stronger than "we support the protesters right to protest"

Has the world gone that far down the toilet that no leader of a Democratic nation will say anything while this farsical event takes place.

Canada, USA, Germany, England, France, etc etc etc should all be ashamed.

I think someone should buy the www.supremeleader.com address so we can create pie throwing java applets and the like.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I had the evil laugh while I listened to Iran's leadership bitching about U.S. interference last night. since the start of the war in Iraq, Iran has been supporting and training and sheltering a lot of the trouble makers in Iraq which have lead to the countless deaths of U.S. service men.

So if the American's were funding, arming and helping out these protesters in Iran. F#ck'em turnaround is fair play and it looks good on em.

Thats terrible.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...ism/index.html


I wonder why after overwhelming evidence of corruption would no country say anything stronger than "we support the protesters right to protest"

Has the world gone that far down the toilet that no leader of a Democratic nation will say anything while this farsical event takes place.

Canada, USA, Germany, England, France, etc etc etc should all be ashamed.

I think someone should buy the www.supremeleader.com address so we can create pie throwing java applets and the like.

What was your position when Hussein on 99.7% of the vote? Should we intervene?

[burn_this_city]

That story of Neda being shot and dying at the protest is heartbreaking. I cant imagine why anyone would murder a young girl in cold blood like that.

[mykalberta]

No, direct intervention is not the answer - a country needs to figure things out for themselves IMO. However BS political statements show the worlds new true colors. When citizens in those countries decide to do something, the least we can and should do as citizens of the world is to lend our vocal support. And our leaders should be echoing our calls in the public forum.

Students are protesting in the street while the police and the Iranian Islamic Gestapo (Baji Malitia) chase them down on motorbikes. I at least expect Harper to come out and support the protesters in thier desire for an un corrupted Democracy.

Can no one see the similarities between these two ######bags.





And in case the images from last week have faded, here is the Iranian Islamic Gestapo cavalry charging against its own civilian population. (picture from the Boston Globe)

[Blaster86]

Smells like civil war.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

it's not that simple FOL. Iran and most of the islamic world has made the americans out to be Satan. How if Obama tries to interfere, they will say that the protesters are working on behalf of satan and would then have an excuse to punish them because they're unholy.

It's a sticky situation because all the western nations are unable to do much of anything.

I wouldnt expect any less from spineless politicians from EU, Canada, Australia etc. but Obama's word carries so much credit world wide right now he should speak out clearly and directly.

Obama has a chance to show these people that the most powerful nation on Earth supports their battle. Even knowing they are being left on their own, words of support from the US president can mean a lot to these people. Instead they hear this deafening silence from western politicians.

[Thunderball]

Its incredibly tricky for the US to get involved in this one. They speak out for democracy, the supreme asshat turns around and declares the "Great Dark Satan" has pulled the wool over the eyes of the Iranians, and that they are betraying their faith.

I think in this case, its the responsibility of the EU to really get aggressive. Maybe Canada, Australia, Japan and NZ can join in, but its pretty tough for the US to get too involved.

[Gozer]

Maybe the US should come out and support the violent oppression of Iranians?

[mykalberta]

That is why its perfect for Canada to say soemthing. Europe is to gutless because of the immigration problem, Canada is perfectly placed to be the wests vocal leader in this case. We dont need their BS or their oil so it wont hurt us in the least. At least then the people over there getting run over on bikes would see that we are at least watching what is going on. It would also be perfectly placed politically. Layton or MI arent going to stick there neck out for this. Harper can and he can ride its coat-tails to further prolonging a summer election into next spring.

As for the backlash - what is Iran going to start saying - Death to Canada. HAHHAHAHAHAH.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

what is Iran going to start saying - Death to Canada. HAHHAHAHAHAH.

Well, Machmood I'madinnerjacket has publicly and repeatedly pledged to wipe at least two nations off the map, I suspect he's willing to add another.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Gozer

Well, Machmood I'madinnerjacket has publicly and repeatedly pledged to wipe at least two nations off the map, I suspect he's willing to add another.

He couldnt wipe ups off the map if he owned an eraser and the map was drawn in pencil.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

That is why its perfect for Canada to say soemthing. Europe is to gutless because of the immigration problem, Canada is perfectly placed to be the wests vocal leader in this case. We dont need their BS or their oil so it wont hurt us in the least. At least then the people over there getting run over on bikes would see that we are at least watching what is going on. It would also be perfectly placed politically. Layton or MI arent going to stick there neck out for this. Harper can and he can ride its coat-tails to further prolonging a summer election into next spring.

As for the backlash - what is Iran going to start saying - Death to Canada. HAHHAHAHAHAH.

At the same time - nobody cares what Canada says. The reason the US is not getting involved because an overtly American voice is the kiss of death in the middle east region because the regimes there have been pinning their own civil unrest on "American agents, etc." for years. If Obama ever said anything more than the retraint he is managing right now, Ahmedinejad would simply say: "there, look, it is the Americans who are causing this" instead of allowing the people (especially the more conservative circles) to face the reality that it is them, themelves who are working for their own democratic freedoms.

And dude, it's really not funny. Death to Canada? You can tell from what's going on down on the ground that it puts a humanizing face on Iran. All the media used to show us was people burning American flags, shouting death to Denmark, etc. but you never saw that it was only a portion of the extremist population doing it, that had the loudest voice at the time. All the people saying "Bomb Iran" have to look and see the sea of millions of people in Iran who are not extremists, who are fighting for their own democracy and liberty, who do not share the views of those hardline Basiji who are in fact, murdering and attacking with thug tactics - their very own people right now. If you are paying attention, a lot of young people and students have already died bloody deaths on the street and many more are in prison because of the events of the last few days. There are millions of people protesting this vote-rigging. These are people just like you and me. The media only ever shows the extremists burning flags and shouting terrorist slogans - when you see what is going on Iran right now you can see why that was all you would ever see - because the millions of decent folk were often too afraid to speak up. Now they feel they are not so alone anymore, and they are fighting back against oppression.

I've been reading this blog daily. You get real news and comments from the street and from the tweet...don't trust CNN or any of that garbage.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I wonder why after overwhelming evidence of corruption would no country say anything stronger than "we support the protesters right to protest"

Has the world gone that far down the toilet that no leader of a Democratic nation will say anything while this farsical event takes place.

Canada, USA, Germany, England, France, etc etc etc should all be ashamed.

What's special about Iran? Zimbabwe? Why have they sat back when Mugabwe was letting his countrymen die through stravation and cholera?

Anyways ... because they used to do it themselves although "corruption" then was known as "gerrymandering"?

[Thunderball]

Canada alone wouldn't do anything. Canada is a second or third tier power, and seen globally as America's poodle. However, if our voice was added to the EU, it would change our image a little in this case, especially if the voice of the US is absent.

[octothorp]

I think it depends on how you read the end-game in the current struggle. If you think that the current protests can continue to evolve a grow to essentially overthrow the government, then obviously the best action is to speak out, to encourage the masses. If, however, you believe that the current protests will not result in a change in government, then there's a real advantage to keeping a low profile publicly, while working behind closed doors to build international consensus for stiffer economic sanctions against Iran. Of course, the sanctions will officially still be about Iran's nuclear program, but the current human rights abuses have probably pushed a few on-the-fence nations to the point where they'll back further sanctions. I'm leaning toward this strategy right now; I also think it would be useful for the protesters to go underground and organize and allow time for Rafsanjani and other powerful moderate clerics to get the political support they need. It's a risk, though; there's also the chance that taking their foot off the gas will cause a loss in momentum that the protesters won't be able to get back, and allow the army to further crack down on organizers.

[FiftyBelow]

FYI, there is a protest scheduled for Stephen Ave tomorrow between 1st and 3rd. Personally I think Harry Hays would be a more effective location.

[HOZ]

In his Friday prayer sermon, Khamenei warned that "Iran is not Georgia," a reference to the "Rose Revolution" of 2004 when mass protests of a rigged election in that nation ended in the bloodless ousting of President Eduard Shevardnadze.

Iran is now Blacked out

[sureLoss]

Intresting development, the Guardian Council now admits there were regularities in the election but claim they were too small to over turn the landslide victory.

The legitimacy of the vote remains at the core of the dispute. On Monday, the Guardian Council sought to help validate the outcome when it announced there had been discrepancies in 50 cities, which it said involved up to three million votes, not enough to overturn the landslide election margin that the government had announced for Mr. Ahmadinejad. But the recognition of a broad discrepancy between the number of recorded votes and registered voters in some districts only fueled suspicions that the election — and the Guardian Council’s arbitration of it — was unfair.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/wo...n.html?_r=1&hp

[twotoner]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

Its incredibly tricky for the US to get involved in this one.

PLEASE PEOPLE WAKE UP! This was bought at a price of $400 million by the US Taxpayers in late 2007.

"The claim is made that Ahmadinejad stole the election, because the outcome was declared too soon after the polls closed for all the votes to have been counted. However, Mousavi declared his victory several hours before the polls closed. This is classic CIA destabilization designed to discredit a contrary outcome. It forces an early declaration of the vote. The longer the time interval between the preemptive declaration of victory and the release of the vote tally, the longer Mousavi has to create the impression that the authorities are using the time to fix the vote. It is amazing that people don’t see through this trick.

Read the whole article, above was just a teaser...
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/062009Roberts.shtml