Iran's Presidential Elections

[CaptainCrunch]

nothing says democracy like a concussion.

[RougeUnderoos]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/200..._election.html

[Boblobla]

Wow, there were some messed up pictures in there.

[mykalberta]

Why are people in the US upset about non live coverage from CNN/FNC etc on Saturday inside a country that openly hates the US and has no problems censoring or worse free press.

If this was in France or Germany, I can see the outcry but that is like saying why didnt you break away for live coverage to North Korea.

I love the order of those pics. In one you have a cop beating guy with a club, another you have cops on motorcycles driving while beating people with clubs, and a couple pics down you see an officer bloodied and a feeling of "oh poor officer".

[Canuck-Hater]

Those are some powerful pictures.

[MaDMaN_26]

Some crazy stuff going on there... and it is getting worse...

I have to say this made me laugh...

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Yep, yep but Cheney isn't running things anymore and Obama was one of the only ones who saw through the Iraq war and won't allow himself to be manipulated.

I like Obama and all, but saying he was the only one that was able to see through Bush's motives for the Iraq war is kind of like calling everyone in the world a complete idiot. I mean, seriously? Only the blindest of the stupid didn't see through Bush's motives from day one. Perhaps Obama was one of the few who opposed loudly... but even that seems incorrect, all of bush's military activities had very public opposition... and almost all cited at some point that he was getting revenge for his dad and going after oil as the real motivation, but terrorists, 9/11 and WMD’s sound better than “He Tried to shoot my daddy so I’m taken’ his oil”.

[Azure]

Man, the Boston Globe wins it all again with a fabulous picture essay.

[blankall]

The government security forces have started firing on the crowd

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8101098.stm

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

Some crazy stuff going on there... and it is getting worse...

I have to say this made me laugh...



I like Obama and all, but saying he was the only one that was able to see through Bush's motives for the Iraq war is kind of like calling everyone in the world a complete idiot. I mean, seriously? Only the blindest of the stupid didn't see through Bush's motives from day one. Perhaps Obama was one of the few who opposed loudly... but even that seems incorrect, all of bush's military activities had very public opposition... and almost all cited at some point that he was getting revenge for his dad and going after oil as the real motivation, but terrorists, 9/11 and WMD’s sound better than “He Tried to shoot my daddy so I’m taken’ his oil”.

Okay , you saw it, I saw it and I guess many more saw it but in the US government Obama was one of the few who voted against it.

Even on this board it was an uphill battle arguing against our local Bush fans. It's real easy to say now the war in Iraq was all bull, but at the time very few spoke out.

Oh yeah, apparently your laughter impeded your reading comprehension, I said one of the only ones, not the only one.

[transplant99]

Heard today that when this process started there were 511 candidates...and each and every one of them was picked by the mullahs.

Not one of them won a preliminary or a district or anything of the sort.

This entire "election" was a sham from the start and Ahmadinejad was going to be the winner all along...no matter what the outcry from real democracies.

[jammies]

It would fantastic to see Iran come out from under the fundamentalist regime and establish a secular state, however, even if the election is overturned or rerun, there is still a substantial minority who support the hardliners and are unlikely to allow significant change without violence far beyond what is happening now.

The USA would be well advised to keep out of this entirely, as Iranians who already hated and distrusted the US for keeping the Shah in power for decades were confirmed in their distrust by the invasion of Iraq. Only the most subtle and skilful diplomacy from the US might help matters, and subtle and skilful is not exactly their forte.

This is an opportunity for the EU to step up and show that they are anything other than a talking shop sitting atop a useless bureaucracy, but I doubt anything will happen other than the usual barking and growling, especially considering the reaction the French got when they suggested a harder stance on Iranian nuclear pretensions a while back, despite this going against their own national interests (for once).

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Okay , you saw it, I saw it and I guess many more saw it but in the US government Obama was one of the few who voted against it.

Even on this board it was an uphill battle arguing against our local Bush fans. It's real easy to say now the war in Iraq was all bull, but at the time very few spoke out.

Oh yeah, apparently your laughter impeded your reading comprehension, I said one of the only ones, not the only one.

So very untrue.

Those of us who supported the move, at the time, were outnumbered exponentially.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

So very untrue.

Those of us who supported the move, at the time, were outnumbered exponentially.

Really, I felt it was just the opposite. I guess that's what comes from a heated debate.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Really, I felt it was just the opposite. I guess that's what comes from a heated debate.

Not here on CP.

I think the majority of Canadians were against it.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Azure

Not here on CP.

I think the majority of Canadians were against it.

I have to agree. Eveyone I have met was either against it or didn't care. I have yet to meet one Canadian who was for the Iraq war.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Azure

I think the majority of Canadians were against it.

Off-topic, but at the time I played World War II Online, and in that community I was one of the very very few who thought it was a bad idea, as the majority of guys were ex-service and were all gung-ho over it. Expressing your opposition pretty well made you a pariah, as the "we have to stop Saddam from using his WMD!" crowd was extremely hot about it.

Go forward a couple years and it was instructive to see how the justifications changed after it was clear there was no WMD to find; now it was all about bringing democracy to the Middle East. Which just goes to show how people will perform all kinds of internal readjustments to "prove" the opinions they have are based on reason and not emotion - not that this is limited to any particular ideological stance, but this one issue was, and is, an excellent example of it.

[HOZ]

A sobering essay on Iran from a blog.

Western Misconceptions: aka...This election has made Ahmadinejad a powerful president

Western democracies assume that publics will elect liberals who will protect their rights. In reality, it's a more complicated world. Hitler is the classic example of someone who came to power constitutionally, and then preceded to gut the constitution. Similarly, Ahmadinejad's victory is a triumph of both democracy and repression.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by blankall

I have to agree. Eveyone I have met was either against it or didn't care. I have yet to meet one Canadian who was for the Iraq war.

blankall let me introduce you to Azure and Hoz and Displaced Flames Fan and transplant99 to name just a few of the posters on this page although I don't think Dis is Canadian.

I'm pretty sure you can add Captain Crunch and mikealberrta to the list too.

[rubecube]

I think the UN needs to step forward and actually condemn this election. Sadly, being the sackless, useless piece of crap it is, the UN will do nothing. Apparently condemning atrocities and tyranny is not on the UN's priority list. God I hate the UN.

[LChoy]

That's a very interesting article HOZ