Saturday, June 20, 2009

Iranian Election Fallout: The moment of truth

This is inspirational. In defiance of the Iranian Ruling Council and Ayatollah Ali Khameni, people are gathering and starting to march on Tehran. Pray for the safety of the protesters and marchers that sanity wins the day and for a peaceful resolution. Totalitarianism can no longer exist. The voice of the people of Iran will be heard.

Note: This picture was from earlier in the week.

11 comments:

  1. It doesn't matter who the leader is....just ask Obama. I bet he followed that comment with...do you think they still like me?

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  2. Where was this coverage during the WTO demonstrations in Seattle???
    Please...

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  3. It has always been about the people, people! Not about aging old men stuck in their warped minds holding on to power. No one seems to realize that the masses of humans who yearn for freedom and liberty everywhere are being killed and tortured by a relatively small group of senile, stubborn and just bad men clinging to power, throughout history.
    More power to the brave citizens of Iran and elsewhere who refuse to be silenced any longer.

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  4. We are witnessing raw courage bought on by years of oppression by ruling extremists. The Protesters have been labeled by the Iranian government as "dried up weeds", pretty much the same another oppressive government (Cuba) labels their dissidents "worms".
    This may very well be the Fall of The Berlin Wall all over again. Applause for Iran's Middle Class and all Sons of Liberty!

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  5. Responding to cyberjs39, I think the President is taking the right approach. For all the grandstanding that is going on in Congress with the non-binding Resolution, what do people what the President to say. The fire is burning and the flames of frustration are spreading. It's best to let this one play itself out. I don't think the President cares if the like him or not.

    Commenting on lhr's post, keep in mind the media is owned by other, larger multinational coporations. They have a stake in working with the WTO to open up emerging markets and want to make sure that they can get their share too.

    Commenting on ib42 and Vvs1Blue, this is just amazing that the twitters and other YouTube post are getting out of Iran. I'm not so sure that Moussavi will be able to set his own agenda after this. He is far less incendiary than Ahmadinejad, but he still supports Iran's pursuit of their nuclear program (and possibly weapons). Let's hope for the best.

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  6. What is this cause? Why should the U.S. care about an Iranian Revolution? What happened to the U.S. in the late 70's? Why aren't there any demonstrations or protests when insurgents are easily crossing the border into Iraq? Musavi now says he is prepared for Martyrdom? President Obama is doing the right thing........stay out of it!!

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  8. HP1253: This cause is about the fact that the Islamic Theocracy in Iran has ordained the results of their election as being a "Divine Assessment". This is pretty much like saying that G-d ordered for Ahmadinejad to be their leader. And this is what the Vatican did in Medieval Times when they told Europe that their Monarchies were "ordained by G-d" (that's another topic). The Iranians have not accepted this and the Ayatolla has offered a limited "recount"-fundamentally that's a fatal move and can cause the collapse/reformation of their entire system.
    Why should the US care? First of all there is the need for stability in the Middle East. The basic Muslim demand is for the West to leave their lands and stop interfering with their way of life. The West (includes US) has an interest in the oil production of the area and of course cannot just stop meddling in their affairs. Of course we have used the excuse of "protecting the State of Isreal" to justify our position and further alienate the other Middle Eastern Countries. Occupying Iran has not been much of a positive public relations campaign either. Iraq was run by Muslim Sunnis who oppose Muslim Shia who run Iran. Before we knocked off Hussain in Iraq we had financed him in a 10 year long war against Iran who had kicked us out earlier for backing up their dictator-The Shah of Iran. Who was bought down by the Islamic Revolution who is now running Iran and want to influence the Shia Factions in Iraq...complicated huh?
    As far as demonstrations or protests for insurgents crossing the border into Iraq....you have to be a bit clear on that. On our account our troops (Bless and Protect Them) usually blow them up and send them all to Allah for judgement.
    "Musavi is prepared for Martyrdom"...that just means this is about to get really ugly.
    President Obama staying out of it...yes, we don't want to give the Extremists the excuse to really go out and crush the Reformers/Iranian Middle Class by giving them the excuse that we are behind the Reformers.
    Whether or not Iran will pursue a nuclear program in the future is not up to us to decide. The question is whether they will develop that into a weapons producing program. And regarding Barry Butler's comment, We are hoping that under a different type of government that would like to join the rest of the world in pursuing free commerce, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness the Iranians will be too busy attempt to make the next H-Bomb. Perhaps we can negotiate the right to use their lands for nuclear waste disposal?

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  9. Vvs1Blue- pretty good assesment of why this is important to the USA. We (the United States) has backed some really bad people in order to have the advantage against the Soviets during the Cold War. Countries and leaders in these countries that didn't share our values or outlook on the world had our support. This is what is called "compromising our principles" or as they say in the Muslim World "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

    At this point, since I have been away for most of the day, the concern now is what happens if there is an overthrow of the Iranian Government? Who will be in charge? Sometimes the devil you don't know is the one you should be the most concerned about. Violent overthrows of government have given birth to some of the most evil and twisted national leaders and have resulted in millions of lives lost in the end (Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Sadam Hussein, etc...).

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  10. Barry, your comment holds true when it's a radical government that takes over. However look at the players in this case. And I have to point out that among the concerns of the Protesters is the fact that Iran's status has been diminished in the eyes of the world. They also want to improve trade relations and a host of other things the regimes that you mentioned above lacked. Whatever the case a new government will open new doors of negotiation in order to establish their legitimacy.

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  11. Vvs1Blue, this is true but the players are former revolutionaries and have moderated, but they still support proceeding with their nuclear program. But, with this much momentum, sometimes the best intentions are hijacked by other elements. I am of the position that we have to see what develops. Women have been a very strong presence in this latest movement. This is encouraging.

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