Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Iranian Elections Rigged? Probably Not

"Americans and Europeans have been misreading Iran for 30 years. Even after the shah fell, the myth has survived that a mass movement of people exists demanding liberalization — a movement that if encouraged by the West eventually would form a majority and rule the country. We call this outlook “iPod liberalism,” the idea that anyone who listens to rock ‘n’ roll on an iPod, writes blogs and knows what it means to Twitter must be an enthusiastic supporter of Western liberalism. Even more significantly, this outlook fails to recognize that iPod owners represent a small minority in Iran — a country that is poor, pious and content on the whole with the revolution forged 30 years ago."
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7 comments:

  1. anandJune 23, 2009 at 9:13 AM

    TGIA, Stratfor is arguing that the elections were rigged and that the actual results were very different from advertized. However, they believe that Ahmenijad still defeated Mousavi.

    If you read the article, it argues that many Iranians supported Ahmenijad because he was against the clerical establishment. There is some truth to this. Most of the Shia clerics are against Ahmenijad; however they might be afraid of directly taking him on, since the clerics themselves are so unpopular.

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  2. MarionJune 23, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    SEEING THROUGH ALL OF THE PROPGANDA ABOUT IRAN

    http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/seeing-through-all-the-propaganda-about-iran.aspx

    ******
    Israel keeps Mossad Chief on for Iran "shadow war"

    http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE55K1IG20090621

    *****

    What Actually Happned in the Iranian Presidential Election?

    http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22888.htm

    ****

    Stolen Election in Iran? An Inside View of Vote Fraud

    http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22889.htm

    ****

    How US is Using and Abusing Iran's Protests

    http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=32899

    *****

    Iran/Persi
    The American hand in Iran

    http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56104.shtml

    ****

    Intersting link on Iran

    http://fora.tv/2009/01/26/Rick_Steves_A_Perspective_on_Iran#fullprogram

    or

    http://www.ricksteves.com/iran/iran_menu.htm

    ****

    'Color' revolution fizzles in Iran

    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KF23Ak02.html

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  3. JoeJune 23, 2009 at 1:41 PM

    Honestly, something seemed fishy about the election because the votes were tallied and the partial recount was conducted so quickly. But the Iranian people will have to work this out on their own, This is not a situation the US government should try to exploit. It will make matters worse for them and us.

    Oh, and on the subject of Iran as the epitomy of evil, The Daily Show sent Jason Jones there to show how evil the Iranian people are. It's a pretty funny clip, but it actually gives a view of Iran that you never see in most of the mainstream media:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/78423/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-jason-jones-in-iran-behind-the-veil-minarets-of-menace

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  4. anandJune 23, 2009 at 5:39 PM

    Joe, do you think the world should endorse Ahmenijad as the victor of the elections?

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  5. JoeJune 23, 2009 at 6:07 PM

    When has the world agreed on anything?

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  6. vJune 23, 2009 at 7:24 PM

    No Anand, I think you should go there with anointing oil and endorse the opposition

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  7. MarionJune 24, 2009 at 5:42 AM

    Did the world endorse former President George Bush as the victor of our elections here in the U.S. even though many Americans cried foul over the elections anand? Didn't most of the people accept Bush as a majority American people's choice even though they didn't like him?

    The world should accept the majority Iranian people's choice, which when it comes to a majority of the evidence available  was Ahmadinejad...

    Since there has not been any clear and overwhelming evidence refuting Ahmadinijad's re-election presented by the opposition, they, along with the world should accept the results...

    Another take on the elections by an Ahmadinejad supporter:

    An Exclusive Interview with a pro-Ahmadinejad Cleric in Qom, Iran

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/an-exclusive-interview-wi_b_219047.html

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