Posts Tagged ‘Iran’
The Obama Administration has used its Presidential sharpie to drawa big oval around the ‘October 1′ on the White House calendar.
That’s the day U.S. plans to sit down (with 4 other nations) and talk with longtime arch enemy Iran.
“Death to America” Iran? “Axis of Evil” Iran”?
That’s the one. …read more.
In recent years the United States and Iran have not been on speaking terms. (a bit like USDemocrazy writers and editors) Now, it appears, the two countries may be on sparring terms.
On Tuesday President Obama voiced his displeasure with Iran’s government handling of recent street protests (for back ground on the protests, check out these earlier US Democrazy posts from this Monday and last Wednesday and last Monday)
Videos and pictures from the protests have escaped onto the internet and they aren’t pretty. Iranian Police and pro-government militias are shown attacking and brutalizing protesters.
One now famous internet video features a young iranian women dying from wounds incurred in the melee.
The proclaimed winner of the Iranian Presidential elections Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been venting on the protesters and President Obama. Mr. Ahmadinejad was so miffed that he went as far as to compare President Obama to President Bush.(Ouch)
Coming to Obama’s defence were Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Both are Republicans who earlier had pushed for stronger language towards Iran from Obama. The President delivered their wishes on Tuesday (to their applause)
Some in Congress are trying to take even stronger action against Iran by government cutting loans for companies doing business in Iran.
This hard talk from the USA does have dangerous consequences.
Adam Blickstein, of the Huffington Post, fears this legislation
undermines President Obama’s methodical approach to the situation in Iran and goes far in actually confirming the propaganda coming from Ahmadinejad and the oppressive regime that the U.S. was actively interfering in Iranian affairs and undermining the Iranian people.
Over at Politico Flynt Leverett, Hillary Mann Leverett and Seyed Mohammad Marandi warn why the US should not invade Iran (don’t freak out, this idea has not been mentioned by President Obama) and Jermey Lott mentions why an invasion might just happen.
Enough about the United States… what does the rest of the world think?
At least of the G8 nations (Canada, USA, Russia, Japan, Germany, England, France and Italy) have reached a “consensus” [note sarcasm]. The nations are united in their outrage at Iran’s actions except for Russia who aloofly declared the elections “an exercise in democracy” (Russian style democracy, no doubt).
Is there any hope for Iran?
One rumor flying around is that a group of important Ayatollahs may try to force a runoff between Ahmadinejad and the election runner up Mir Hussein Moussavi.
So what should the US do or is the situation going to just resolve itself? Post your opinions up; (otherwise we might be tempted do it for you).
OK, so, Iran is pretty much taking over the news, and we at USDemocrazy are pretty much captivated.
That said, we’re bringing you more on Iran because, frankly folks, the situation just keeps getting more interesting.
If you somehow missed what’s going on (we get it, you were on vacation in Siberia), let us fill you in.
Vote fraud, religious leaders in conflict, civil unrest, protest violence… Iran has it all. What’s more, these historic times are being witnessed in the most revolutionary way. This Iranian revolution, with all its exciting, electrifying, and terrifying action, is being live-blogged, vlogged, photographed, Facebooked, and, yes, Twittered.
Both Facebook and Google have responded to the crisis in there own way. After complaints, both introduced Persian (the language of Iran) as a translating option on their sites. This revolution forced both web giants to step up their international and multilingual game, and fast.
The Atlantic put together a list of important “tweets” on Iran, for those who can’t spend all day by their Twitter. (Though maybe that is recommended, lest we all miss something!) These include eye-witness accounts and other interesting tidbits, including:
one protester: ‘it’s really sad, ppl getting killed, we don’t have proper leadership’
Police reports they arrested 475 people yesterday
Hearing reports that Basij stormed Tehran University dorms at 2 am last night, students had barricaded themselves in. UNCONF
Twitter, and the rest of the Internet, has been crucial in this election due to the aforementioned protests, arrests (of protestors and journalists alike), and banning of foreign journalists from witnessing some of the action on the ground. With regular people being able to tweet and tell what has been going down, and what the next step for the country is.
President Obama stated that Iran is under intense scrutiny from the rest of the world, and that the violence needs to stop.
The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
An op-ed by Robin Wright in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times indicated that this so-called revolution in Iran won’t be terribly revolutionary after all:
The largely silent street demonstrations by day and haunting chants echoing across rooftops by night are not — so far — a counterrevolution. That’s not even their intention. What they are doing, however, is forcing Iran’s Islamic regime to face the same ideals that have swept across five continents over the last quarter of a century — the supremacy of popular will, justice, accountability and the transparency of power.
Before we start rambling on too long about what is going in Iran, we’ll stop and direct you to the best places on the web with the most important information so you can inform yourselves. We’ve all got a feeling this is something we’re going to want to remember, so we’re learning all we can…
The Daily Beast at its best, wrangling all the great info on the crisis.
How does the opposition, Mousavi, feel amongst the turmoil?
Is this the end for the supreme leader?!
The riot police make themselves known.
Thanks to Wikicommons.
Everyone can stop holding their breath (which is good because we at US Democrazy were turning blue in the face) the Iranian presidential election results are in!
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (seen here on the left), the incumbent and international lightning rod, has been declared the winner of Friday’s elections.
According to his supporters, Mr Lightning rod shocked the world by winning a stunning 62.6% of the vote.
Shocking indeed as many were predicting a tight race.
So was the election rigged?
Here are some reasons why the election may have been “massaged”.
Here are some explanations to the contrary.
Generally, the chorus of opinion (outside of Ahmadinejad’s supporters) seems to think the election was less than fair.
Over at the Daily Beast, Suzanne Maloney is simply wondering how much the vote was tampered.
Ibrahim Yazdi, ex-foreign minister of Iran, said in an interview,
Many of us believe that the election was rigged. Not only Mousavi. We don’t have any doubt. And as far as we are concerned, it is not legitimate.
There were many, many irregularities. They did not permit the candidates to supervise the election or the counting of the ballots at the polling places. The minister of the interior announced that he would oversee the final count in his office, at the ministry, with only two aides present.
Tempers are now flaring. The supporters of the losing candidates, especially those backing the runner up Mir Hussein Moussavi, have taken to the streets.
These gatherings have turned violent as protesters and police clash.
And we thought the Bush/Gore 2000 election dispute was crazy!?!
Thanks Wikicommons.
So what should the US do about the elections in Iran (other than the US Democrazy solution of flooding the blogosphere with posts)?
Vice President Joe Biden said “there’s some real doubt” about the legitimacy of the election. So far that admonishment is the harshest statement from the White House (and unsurprisingly it came from Joe “foot in the mouth” Biden).
Currently the administration is not closing any doors, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton avoiding any condemnation of the Iranian elections.
The current White House response is finding support from some groups.
The White House can and should “show concern for human life and protesters’ safety and promote tolerance and dialogue.” But to get any further involved, even rhetorically, would “instigate the cry that the reformers are somehow driven and directed by the United States
said Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesman, strongly apposed to Ahmadinejad, for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
Others however have called for a stronger response from President Obama.
Let’s assume that Obama meant what he said when he called for a “new beginning” for the region and relations with the United States.
Isn’t now the time to consolidate and build on those gains by using that popularity to destabilize Ahmadinejad and the hardliners in Iran? He does not need to call openly for an uprising, but he should be taking the accounts of reporters and our intelligence operatives in Iran and broadcasting them to the world. He should be amplifying the voices of the Iranians who have, once again, been deprived of any say in how they will be governed, and using them to pressure the Iranian regime at a time when it is plainly very fragile.
So how should the US respond? I know all of our faithful readers have been bored over the weekend. So get juiced up for this week’s US Democrazy posts by stating your views on the Iranian Elections.
Thanks Wikicommons.
Close enough. The space shuttle visits California (I guess NASA wants to see Disneyland).
As if North Korea was not enough. Iran may be getting uranium.
Well at least there is another one across the street. Bomb damages Starbucks Cafe but there were no injuries.
New Guy on the Block! The GOP chooses a man of Steel
Ahmadinejad need-a-job! Former Iranian president throws his hat in the ring.
Beam Me Up Scotty! Scientists teleport matter!
