Iranian election, Any one keeping up ? [Archive]

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olevetonahill

6/12/2009, 02:18 PM

While I think its best if that wacko is voted out
I anit sure about any of it
Thots ?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election

John Kochtoston

6/12/2009, 02:25 PM

This guy is seeing a surprising surge on election day. His "Iran No. 1! America? Hack, Ptooey!" platform seems to be resonating well.

http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/PHO/AAHF154_8x10-No350~Iron-Sheik-Posters.jpg

stoops the eternal pimp

6/12/2009, 02:32 PM

his runningmate is pretty awesome too

http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/pictures/volkoff.jpg

stoops the eternal pimp

6/12/2009, 02:34 PM

campaign manager

http://www.michaelporterswrestleshoot.com/slick1.jpg

My Opinion Matters

6/12/2009, 02:49 PM

Unfortunately the outcome of the election doesn't really matter. The Iranian president is a puppet.

NYC Poke

6/12/2009, 02:57 PM

Unfortunately the outcome of the election doesn't really matter. The Iranian president is a puppet.

Andrew Sullivan has been posting videos of Mousavi rallies that are pretty incredible. Things may not change completely, but even incremental change is good.

Sooner_Havok

6/12/2009, 03:01 PM

I have heard tale that some in this country want Ahmadinejad to win. Otherwise they are afraid Obama might think diplomacy is working.

Just a tale though

Chuck Bao

6/12/2009, 03:34 PM

Crucifax Autumn

6/12/2009, 09:24 PM

Fraggle145

6/13/2009, 01:37 AM

Otherwise they are afraid Obama might think diplomacy is working.

OH NOES!!! :gary:

Crucifax Autumn

6/13/2009, 01:53 AM

Holy **** Fraggle...I make that reasoned and balanced post and you didn't quote me????????????

A certified centrist with a common sense viewpoint and you shun me!!!!!!!!

lmao

olevetonahill

6/13/2009, 01:59 AM

Holy **** Fraggle...I make that reasoned and balanced post and you didn't quote me????????????

A certified centrist with a common sense viewpoint and you shun me!!!!!!!!

lmao

He thinks yer Ugly :eek:

Gandalf_The_Grey

6/13/2009, 07:09 AM

Okla-homey

6/13/2009, 07:35 AM

This just in...Iran state media declares incumbent Iwannajihaad the winner.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSEVA14340720090612?sp=true

1890MilesToNorman

6/13/2009, 08:00 AM

The Mullahs run the country anyway so does it really matter?

TUSooner

6/13/2009, 10:50 AM

I mentioned this in another thread a couple of weeks ago.

While their current puppet president is a whacko and the religious nuts that really run things are pretty anti-American and goofy, the Iranian people as a whole are pretty into western culture and extremely educated by regional standards.

The vote isn't so much FOR the new guy as against the policies that are leading to their isolation in the world which shows that in some way the sanctions the world imposes through the more diplomatic channels does have an effect, though it is more of a slow burn that destroying an entire country and rebuilding it.

With the Iron fist the religious goofballs rule with I'm not certain it will be enough, but in the event the more sensible majority there actually rises up and forge their own freedom I'm sure they will cling harder to it than in the event it is just given to them through no effort of their own.

My wife could have voted if she'd have kept her passport up to date.
I see they had some anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrations. I'm glad they have even a few small signs of democratic activity.
Newsweek had some good articles on Iran last week. Some of the anti-A'jads were saying they hoped A'jad would win, just to make things bad enough for a revolution. It's the old Lenin strategy of "the worse the better."
Although the election is mostly for show, it does show how people are thinking. The hillbillies and city poor folks like A'jad, the more educated recognize he's a jerk and they want a more sensible "puppet." As one young semi-exile said, they want someone who will actually make he gubment work inside the country rather than a loony who just trots the globe saying stupid things.

Fraggle145

6/13/2009, 11:04 AM

Holy **** Fraggle...I make that reasoned and balanced post and you didn't quote me????????????

A certified centrist with a common sense viewpoint and you shun me!!!!!!!!

lmao

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/funny-pictures-giraffe-shuns-duck1.jpg

Scott D

6/13/2009, 01:23 PM

lots of rioting going on in Iran according to news outlets.

olevetonahill

6/13/2009, 02:49 PM

My wife could have voted if she'd have kept her passport up to date.
I see they had some anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrations. I'm glad they have even a few small signs of democratic activity.
Newsweek had some good articles on Iran last week. Some of the anti-A'jads were saying they hoped A'jad would win, just to make things bad enough for a revolution. It's the old Lenin strategy of "the worse the better."
Although the election is mostly for show, it does show how people are thinking. The hillbillies and city poor folks like A'jad, the more educated recognize he's a jerk and they want a more sensible "puppet." As one young semi-exile said, they want someone who will actually make he gubment work inside the country rather than a loony who just trots the globe saying stupid things.

bro If ya have any Insider stuff , Keep us posted ok ?

badger

6/13/2009, 03:50 PM

A-Jad won (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8098942.stm). Expect a lot of riots and protests and revolution-like activity brewing. I doubt anyone in Iran or the rest of the world trusts the election's results are legit if they are not the results they personally wanted. Sorry

Scott D

6/13/2009, 05:16 PM

you mean like this baj?

Election battles turn into street fights in Iran
By ANNA JOHNSON and BRIAN MURPHY,
Associated Press Writers Anna Johnson And Brian Murphy,
Associated Press Writers – 10 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police in the heart of Iran's capital Saturday, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal election victory from his reformist rival.

The brazen and angry confrontations — including stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police — pushed the self-styled reformist movement closer to a possible moment of truth: Whether to continue defying Iran's powerful security forces or, as they often have before, retreat into quiet dismay and frustration over losing more ground to the Islamic establishment.

But for at least one day, the tone and tactics were more combative than at any time since authorities put down student-led protests in 1999. Young men hurled stones and bottles at anti-riot units and mocked Ahmadinejad as an illegitimate leader. The reformists' new hero, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the true winner of Friday's presidential race and urged backers to resist a government based on "lies and dictatorship."

Authorities, too, pushed back with ominous measures apparently seeking to undercut liberal voices: jamming text messages, blocking pro-Mousavi Web sites and Facebook and cutting off mobile phones in Tehran.

The extent of possible casualties and detentions was not immediately clear. Police stormed the headquarters of Iran's largest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, and arrested several top reformist leaders, said political activists close to the party.The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Mousavi did not appear in public, but warned in a Web message: "People won't respect those who take power through fraud."

Many backers took this call to the streets. Thousands of protesters — mostly young men — roamed through Tehran looking for a fight with police and setting trash bins and tires ablaze. Pillars of black smoke rose among the mustard-colored apartment blocks and office buildings in central Tehran. In one side road, an empty bus was engulfed in flames.

Police fought back with clubs, including mobile squads on motorcycles swinging truncheons.

The scuffles began when protesters gathered hours outside the Interior Ministry around the time officials announced the final election results showing a nearly 2-to-1 landslide for Ahmadinejad. Demonstrators chanted "the government lied" and waved the ribbons of Mousavi's "green" movement — the signature color of his youth-driven campaign.

"I won't surrender to this manipulation," said a statement on Mousavi's Web site. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran's sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship."

The door for possible compromise was closed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He could have used his near-limitless powers to intervene in the election dispute. But, in a message on state TV, he urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, calling the result a "divine assessment."

There are no independent election monitors in Iran. Mousavi's claims, however, point to some noticeable breaks with past election counting.

The tallies from previous elections — time-consuming paper ballots — began to trickle in hours after polls closed. This time, huge chunks of results — millions at a time — poured in almost immediately from a huge turnout of about 85 percent of Iran's 46.2 million voters. The final outcome: 62.6 percent of the vote to Ahmadinejad and 33.75 for Mousavi, a former prime minister from the 1980s.

The U.S. refused to accept Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she hoped the outcome reflects the "genuine will and desire" of Iranian voters. At a joint appearance with Clinton, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said his country was "deeply concerned" by reports of irregularities in the election.

Past Iranian elections were considered generally fair. In 2005, when Ahmadinejad was first elected, the losing candidates claimed irregularities at the polls, but the charges were never investigated.

"The majority of Iranians are certain that the fraud is widespread," said Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leilaz. "It's like taking 10 million votes away from Mousavi and giving them to Ahmadinejad."

Whether this is enough to spawn a sustained opposition movement remains an open question.

Much depends on how much they are willing to risk. The heartland of Iran's liberal ranks is the educated and relatively affluent districts of north Tehran. It's also the showcase for the gains in social freedoms that began with the election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997: makeup, Internet cafes, head scarves that barely cover hair and satellite dishes that are technically illegal but common.

The ruling clerics tolerate all that to a point — part of a tacit arrangement that the liberties stay as long as reformists remain politically meek. A real protest movement could threaten their coveted Western-looking lifestyle and risk a brutal response from groups vowing to defend the Islamic system.

The political chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guard has warned it would crush any "revolution" against the Islamic regime by Mousavi's "green movement" — drawing parallels to the "velvet revolution" of 1989 in then-Czechoslovakia.

Authorities also called foreign journalists with visas to cover the elections, including members of The Associated Press, and told them they should prepare to leave the country. Italian state TV RAI said one of its crews was caught in the clashes in front Mousavi's headquarters. Their Iranian interpreter was beaten with clubs by riot police and officers confiscated the cameraman's tapes, the station said.

"The massive demonstrations of police and army presence on the streets was designed to show that they were quite ready to kill protesters if they had to in order to impose order," said Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "On the whole, these guys in north Tehran who are terribly upset about what is happening are not ready to die."

Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, denounced the outcome as "a Tehran Tiananmen" — a reference to China's brutal 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists — and urged the international community not to recognize the result.

There were also protests by Mousavi supporters in the southern city of Ahvaz in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan who shouted, "Mousavi, take our votes back!" witnesses said.

Mousavi called on his backers to avoid violence, but he is still talking tough about pressing his claims of election fraud. He charges the polls closed early but has not fully outlined all of his fraud allegations.

Unlike his ally Khatami, Mousavi is a hardened political veteran who led the country during the grim years of the 1980-88 war with Iraq. He also could join forces with the powerful political patriarch Heshemi Rafsanjani, who strongly opposed Ahmadinejad's re-election during the intense monthlong campaign.

Amjad Atallah, a Washington-based regional analyst, called it "one of the most existential moments" in Iran since 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"You can't overstate how important what is happening now is for Iran," he said.

In Tehran, several Ahmadinejad supporters cruised the streets at dawn waving Iranian flags out of car windows and shouting "Mousavi is dead!"

They were quickly overwhelmed by the Mousavi backers.

The protesters — some hiding their faces with masks — still wandered the streets after nightfall as some fires still burned. The pungent smell of burning rubber and smoldering trash lingered in some parts of the city.

Hundreds of anti-riot police blocked the streets leading to Tehran University's dormitory, home to thousands of students and the site of the 1999 student riots that marked the biggest disturbances in post-revolution Iran. University exams nationwide were postponed until next month.

Oddly, normal life was interspersed with the anger. People continued shopping and stores remained open.

With the Internet and mobile texting down, some Iranians turned to Twitter to voice their views.

"Very disappointed with Iran elections," said one entry."Apparently still a backward regressive nation."

Another: "Elections in Iran: stayed tuned as it gets interesting (& maybe scary)."

Ahmadinejad addressed a crowd in Tehran, but did not mention the unrest, saying only "a new era has begun in the history of the Iranian nation."

But there were no hints of any new policy shifts on key international issues such as Iran's standoff over its nuclear program and the offer by President Barack Obama to open dialogue after a nearly 30-year diplomatic estrangement. All high-level decisions are controlled by the ruling theocracy.

____

Brian Murphy reported from Cairo.

Crucifax Autumn

6/13/2009, 05:58 PM

I'm thinking that the smart Iranians are going to put together a real resistance to the governments backward policies and keep up the pressure now.

soonerfan28

6/13/2009, 07:20 PM

Iranian civil war would be great.

Crucifax Autumn

6/13/2009, 07:53 PM

Something to watch on the news anyway!

Scott D

6/13/2009, 10:24 PM

I'm thinking that the smart Iranians are going to put together a real resistance to the governments backward policies and keep up the pressure now.

The problem as it sits right now, is that the government Iranians are the ones with the guns.

Crucifax Autumn

6/13/2009, 10:28 PM

That's been true in a lot of other places too.

Ike

6/13/2009, 10:51 PM

I'm thinking that the smart Iranians are going to put together a real resistance to the governments backward policies and keep up the pressure now.

For smart people to put together a resistance, they have to convince the dumb people to join them...primarily because there are a lot more of them. Unfortunately, over there, the religious extremists have a pretty good lock on them right now.

Crucifax Autumn

6/14/2009, 12:57 AM

Well, in their defense religious leaders here have quite the hold on the dumb too!

Scott D

6/14/2009, 01:43 PM

and it's not really smart and dumb people, but rather educated and uneducated.

Crucifax Autumn

6/14/2009, 03:23 PM

Or what they are educated about. The "uneducated" ones can probably run circles around anyone in a Koran quoting contest.

OklahomaRed

6/14/2009, 03:58 PM

The problem as it sits right now, is that the government Iranians are the ones with the guns.

Can you see what the 2nd ammendment is so important? It's not so we can go hunting. It's to keep the government honest.

Scott D

6/14/2009, 05:55 PM

Can you see what the 2nd ammendment is so important? It's not so we can go hunting. It's to keep the government honest.

It's probably a better indicator as to why "Separation of Church and State" is so key in a free society than the second amendment ;)

Mixer!

6/14/2009, 07:51 PM

It's probably a better indicator as to why "Separation of Church and State" is so key in a free society than the second amendment ;)
This.

Fraggle145

6/15/2009, 12:30 AM

Or both.

John Kochtoston

6/15/2009, 01:31 AM

I'm hearing that the Army is staying out of this scuffle, for the moment, for a few reasons:

1) Many members of the opposition leadership are Iran/Iraq war heroes.
2) Ahmedajiad (that's as good as it's gonna get. Sorry.) doesn't want to unleash the army and create a bunch of martyrs for the opposition.
3) The army's not entirely sure who to back in this fight.

Links to these things are out there, but I'm too tired to look them up right now. This could be just a few days of unpleasantness in Iran, or this could be Berlin 1989 type stuff.

Vaevictis

6/15/2009, 02:35 AM

Can you see what the 2nd ammendment is so important? It's not so we can go hunting. It's to keep the government honest.

With respect to keeping the government honest? No, not really.

Legality of arms is pretty irrelevant in revolution. If you're hellbent on resisting the government getting armed is the least of your problems. That's the easy part.

Vaevictis

6/15/2009, 02:36 AM

Links to these things are out there, but I'm too tired to look them up right now. This could be just a few days of unpleasantness in Iran, or this could be Berlin 1989 type stuff.

... or more like Iran 1979 stuff, when the military decided that they had had enough with the Shah and stopped backing him.

Once the military called it quits, it was over.

Pricetag

6/15/2009, 10:39 AM

campaign manager

http://www.michaelporterswrestleshoot.com/slick1.jpg
Is it just me, or does Vince Young look a lot like Slick?

stoops the eternal pimp

6/15/2009, 11:02 AM

If Vince would wear a beard and dress like a pimp, they would be twins

John Kochtoston

6/15/2009, 12:10 PM

Is it just me, or does Vince Young look a lot like Slick?

Slick is way too cool of a nickname for Vince Young. I'm thinking Virgil. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Mike_Jones_NWO.jpg/200px-Mike_Jones_NWO.jpg

picasso

6/15/2009, 12:17 PM

won't matter who gets elected. nothing will change.

John Kochtoston

6/15/2009, 02:58 PM

Mixer!

6/15/2009, 11:27 PM

Is it just me, or does Vince Young look a lot like Slick?
Slick is way too cool of a nickname for Vince Young. I'm thinking Virgil.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Mike_Jones_NWO.jpg/200px-Mike_Jones_NWO.jpg

John Kochtoston

6/16/2009, 12:08 AM

Sorry for the DP. No one needs that much Virgil, or Vince Young.