Tens of thousands of supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi rallied yesterday in the capital of Tehran in a fifth day of demonstrations, as Iran’s Foreign Ministry registered a diplomatic protest over what it called “interfering remarks” by U.S. officials since the vote.Mr Mir Hossein Mousavi received only 34% of the vote in the recent elections, to the 63% won by current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The outcome was totally against expectations and has raised the idea of voter fraud, not just on the part of Mr Mousavi and his followers, but across the globe.
(I think that if it had been 52% for President Ahmadinejad it would have been much more believable, given his support out in the countryside—although the majority of Iranians live in urban areas.)
The support outside Iran is subdued, but there are actions of support, including doing things to sustain Twitter, which is the social networking tool presently being used. Apparently "Flash Crowds" are back.
I noted that Instapundit now has a green banner—green being the color of Mr Mousavi's insurgent efforts.
When I took my wife out to LongHorn Restaurant for dinner (half way between the DRC Mother Ship off the 93 Freeway in Andover and our home in the Belvidere), I found the receipts and the credit card receipt printed on green paper. So, I asked the Greeter if this was in support of the Iranian opposition. His response was that they don't support Iran. I further explained and he said that if I supported Mousavi, then they support Mousavi. Good answer.
It does seem the issue of the election, which is fraught with so much potential to see things change in the Middle East, is being downplayed in the US media, notwithstanding the Iranian Foreign Ministry protest about US interference.
So far, fifteen people have been killed as the Central Government tries to suppress the protests. What is interesting is that the protesters are not just college students, but includes middle aged people. Here is a photograph from Teheran
and an anonymous quote to go with it:
If the Iranian regime does not put this down hard and fast they are going to crumble. When the respectable "Mom" starts taking swings at the cops or the regimes attack dogs, something has dramatically begun to change. And if "Mom's" take to the streets and are gunned down—then the regime will be on borrowed time, and we may see a replay of Romanian circa. 1989.This is an interesting series of events and very serious. It also raises the question of if we should have a "realist" view of the Middle East or if we should be taking a view of the area that puts an emphasis on spreading democracy♠.
Regards — Cliff
♠ In researching the links I came across the Henry Jackson Society. I always like Senator Scoop Jackson.
3 comments:
Cliff,
So if you're the Guardian Council, you do your bogus "recount" and re-jigger the numbers to make them closer (like the more plausible 52%) and then you slam the door on any potential re-bringing this up.
This is a tricky tightrope for the U.S. to walk...I know Obama has taken heat in some circles (including a recent op-ed I saw by John McCain) but I think there's a real danger in undermining all this if we appear too meddlesome --a propaganda win for the hard-liners of the "see, I told you so" variety, and then we could even lose the support of those who are *with* democracy here.
I have no doubt that Scoop Jackson is your type of Dem. I just saw a comment on LiL where someone was saying they could never vote for a Republican, no matter what. Lynne already gave a great response about how local elections are non-partisan, but at the end of the day for me it has more to do with open-mindedness..
best,
gp
As someone commented overnight, in history there is no "end state," just continuing flow. That said, at the risk of appearing to be an unreconstructed "neocon," there may be a small shift in the Middle East and that might well be good for the world as a whole. While my mind says, be a realist, my heart says don't cozy up too closely to dictators, and there are a lot of them in the Middle East—or as my Wife's Cousin says, neo-Mamalukes.
I think that President Obama is taking the proper course. Publicly we state that this is an Iranian problem, to be solved by Iranians. Quietly we do things like have some low level State Department apparatchik call Twitter and say, please don't go down for maintenance at this point, and other like things to give the demonstrators some freedom to maneuver across the World Wide Web.
Regards — Cliff
OK, I walked away, but then had to come back. If people are going to vote in the local elections based upon party affiliations—e.g., "I am not going to vote for any Republicans"—then let's stop the non-partisan pretense which masks the fact that these elections are, by and large,♠ as Lynne Lupien would say, between the local Democratic Party Good ol' Boys (Establishment) and the Good Government people (Reformers).
Frankly, I don't want to go there, but if the voters can't see beyond party labels, then in essence that is where we are. The only question then is how well this violation of the spirit of the process is hidden.
Regards — Cliff
♠ With the exception of Joe Mendonca and Tim Golden on the School Committee, at least since I blew in. And, no, I judge George Anthes to only be a Republican at the Presidential/Senatorial level. And, his career on the City Council was before my time.
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