You guys watching the street protests over the (probably rigged) election? It's pretty damn amazing- I wish we in the United States had done as much during the 2000 clusterfuck.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yeah, but it won't be long before the beatdown comes, if it has happened already. And in the end, isn't really the head ayatollah who calls all the shots?
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Yes, but there's talk that the Council of Experts (at least that was the name I read) has the power to remove even the Supreme Leader, and they were having an emergency meeting a day or two ago for reasons undisclosed.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Besides, before 1979, it was the shah who called all the shots, and you don't see him around anymore.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It's the Guardian Council that calls the shots- a seperate group of "experts" advises the Supreme Honcho and the Council.
I guess.
It's pretty wacky, really- it looks like the election process is a parallel and not very influential system that elects a vetted leader, who in turn, mainly sets economic policies and social services...and is the visible head of state, while the Supreme Leader does not give interviews or answer to the people.
People are pissed- and rightly so- but i dont see how this can lead to real systematic changes...not unless the government does something really stupid and attempts to put down the protests through violence. Then the shit be on.
A salon writer points out that it's difficult to imagine everything going back to pre-election calm without some resolution/concession to the opposition and the suprisingly vocal protestors.
The Iran government is already (and not suprisingly) saying that the United States is responsible for the unrest. Obama is doing the right thing by keeping the US response minimal and respecting anotyher country's right to fuck up an election.
[ June 18, 2009, 10:06 PM: Message edited by: Jason Abbadon ]
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Frequent protests outside my building up and down the street by Iranian-Canadians in Toronto. Peaceful and orderly. Seems like they have a lot of support, and not just from fellow Iranians. Other Canadians seem to be amongst the crowd and beeping their cars in support.
It's a far cry from the Tamil protests last month where those guys got zero sympathy from any Canadian due to the way the protests were carried out.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
What did the Tamils do? Tell me India's PM was not visiting. Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
I remember watching (on TV) the student protests in Tianamen Square 20 years ago. Me and my friends were thrilled to see the stirrings of Chinese democracy. It ended badly, though. I hope that the Iranian government aren't as ruthless as the Chinese were.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Well, the Chinese are communists last time I checked and Iran is a theocracy again last time I checked. In China when they execute someone they bill the family the cost of the bullet, in Iran they don't allow women to ride motorcycles. No biker chicks is pretty ruthless to me...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Well, to be fair, Chinese bullets are exceptionally well made. Guarenteed or your money back.
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
I hear, though, that the Chinese are switching over to lethal injection. They also claim to be cracking down on the illegal sale of organs from executed criminals. Coincidence????
By the way, Iran is one of the few countries where selling off a kidney is legal!
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I can just see a military blockade running after protestors with syringes of posion.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I'm just glad that they consider Britain to me more evil than the yanks. For a while there it looked as though we'd been relegated to "evil by association" or "aiding and abetting evil".
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Hey now, you guys were the original Evil Empire.
Iran remembers the good old days. Y'know, it's been too long since our respective countries extinguished some hapless country's ethnic/cultural identity... You sure you guys dont want northern Iraq? Lotsa Kurds: almost no press.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Always good to see Britain brought down a peg.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Always good to see Britain brought down a peg.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Hey now, you guys were the original Evil Empire.
Iran remembers the good old days. Y'know, it's been too long since our respective countries extinguished some hapless country's ethnic/cultural identity... You sure you guys dont want northern Iraq? Lotsa Kurds: almost no press.
Hmm...I think it'd be more in our interests to have another go at India, those telesales calls are starting to get irritating. Or we could try and get Hawai back...again. That could be interesting.
On the subject of Evil Empires, I think even we, the sneeky, deceptive, country stealing, oppressors of slave owners and fraudulent expenses claimers that we are, must tip our hats to the old Persian Empire. Whatever happened to those guys I wonder? Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: What did the Tamils do? Tell me India's PM was not visiting.
The Tamils were far more disruptive than the Iranians are. Their protests resulted in road closures and vandalism in many areas of the city, whereas the Iranian protests are much more orderly. It doesn't help that the Tamils kept waving the flag of a known Terrorist group.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: On the subject of Evil Empires, I think even we, the sneeky, deceptive, country stealing, oppressors of slave owners and fraudulent expenses claimers that we are, must tip our hats to the old Persian Empire. Whatever happened to those guys I wonder?
Well, Alexander came along, then died, leaving his idiot extended family to clusterfuck the region with both governmental disarray, severing of trade routes and the introduction of Greek theology.
Then there's that Iran/Iraq war from a few minutes back- more a million of the male population were killed in that- kinda a setback in regional ambitions.
On NPR's "The World" a caller pointed out that Mir Hossein Mousavi is certainly no gem- that he was Prime Minister during the Iran/Iraq war- an era where thousands of political dissenters disapeared into prisons and worse. But maybe he's changed his stripes. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:Other Canadians seem to be amongst the crowd and beeping their cars in support.
You have cars that go "beep"? Do they also squeak with delight if pinched? That's it, my next vacation is Canada.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:he was Prime Minister during the Iran/Iraq war- an era where thousands of political dissenters disapeared into prisons and worse. But maybe he's changed his stripes.
I read there where about 30000 dissenters summarily executed and put into mass graves as quickly as possible, with Mousavi's approval.
Also, I found that "Neda" protestor video on youtube, that's the worst thing I've seen since the Al qaeda decap video.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
For a laugh the Republicans are saying that Obama should notch up the condemnation. Yeah, like listening to those fucktards on world policy is a good idea.
But, of course, the government of Iran is desperately trying to say all the protests are being incited by the CIA, MI6, Mossad, SHIELD, and possibly Disney/Pixar.
I cant bear to watch that video of that woman bleeding to death- not now at least- waaay too much on my emotional plate to heap that on too. The stills were more than enough.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I might actually believe it about Disney, they're certainly evil enough and have probably wanted to build a "Disney World Tehran" ever since Aladdin came out.
As for Obama, I think he's done the right thing by refraining from saying too much up until this point. Less fuel for the fire. I did like how they labelled the BBC as the centre for psychological warfare. Anyone who's been watching BBC News the last few weeks should know the government have zero influence one what does and doesn't get reported.
I have a nasty feeling this isn't going to resolve itself one way or the other any time soon. Blaming public unrest on foreign influence is usually a good sign a country is on the verge of a civil war.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yep. And let's not forget, one repressive government can easily be toppled by another repressive government.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
You guys are so negative!
I'm certain that non-violent protests will sway a hardened military and an unchecked government-backed religous militia... To the cause of Freedom! Before you know it, the entrenched theocracy will concede that the elections were indeed fradulent and that Mousavi should be the duly elected President of Iran.
The clerics will apologize for their complicity and the Supreme Leader will hand his political and military powers over to the office of the President.
There will be a week of street clebrations and much international praise for the New Iran.
Then Mousavi will have all dissenters put to death or forced into political prisons....possibly he'll Invade Iraq.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Ahhh....the Blame Game.
From CNN:
quote: Meanwhile, Iranian authorities said they have arrested several foreign nationals, some with British passports, in connection with the country's post-election unrest.
Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezhei said some people with links to the West and Israel had planned a series of bombings in Iran ahead of the election, Press TV reported Wednesday. Watch a report on Iran's history with the West ยป
"England is among the countries that fan the flames with their heavy propaganda, which is against all diplomatic norms," Mohseni-Ezhei was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Fars news agency. "And the BBC Farsi has also played a major role. Also, a number of people carrying British passports have played a role in the recent disturbances."
In addition, the Iranian government is claiming that Neda, the woman who's death has been seen worldwide by now, was the victim of a "Terrorist" group looking to avenge one of their members and mistook Neda for that man's sister.
Yeah, sure....all the others beaten, shot and teargassed must have been mistaken terrorist targets as well.
It's only a matter of time before they merge their stories into British terrorists killed her.
Amazing that Obama's low-key response has kept the United States from being the obvious scapegoat here...I thought for sure som "evidence" would have been unearthed that the US was the dastardly culprit behind the unrest.
Oh well, we can always get blamed by Chavez for everything, so we dont feel completely left out of the world stage.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
So many people have accused Obama of not doing enough in this crisis.... I think they fail to see the benefits of his caution, the British are not so lucky.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Well we have a slightly longer history with the buggers, so we're easy targets. Plus we have their only comedian.
Not that I'd dismiss all their claims out of hand. I mean I wouldn't put it past MI6, the CIA or even Mossad from stirring it up a little behind the scenes, but I can't see them being solely responsible, even if they are involved. Mind you, at that level of sneaky jiggery buggery, there's no telling what they might or might not be up to, but you can be reasonably confident they won't be walking around with British passports in their back pockets.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Osama has been far too idle in this crisis.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim: Osama has been far too idle in this crisis.
^Eh? Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Maybe cause Iran is mostly a Shia Muslim country.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Sadly, the news will probably become 24/7 Michael Jackson for the next week- no matter how much blood is spilled in Iran.
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