Comments on: Iran’s Future Still In Doubt

By: WWS

WWS — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:18:23 +0000

Iran has now completed the transition from Islamic Republic to military dicatatorship. There’s no more hiding behind the faux legitimacy that elections offer – but the men with the guns don’t need that anymore.

Military dicatatorships don’t end through elections, and not through protests. See North Korea, Burma (Myanmar), and Saddam’s Iraq. And there are plenty more examples. Once the dicator is in power and has the support of enough thugs to kill the loudest opposition members, he is there to stay until some equal and opposite force is applied.

This means much bloodshed. No matter how unhappy the Iranian people are, I do not see anything to convince me that they are willing to die for their freedom.

A people not willing to die for their freedom will remain slaves forever. Slaves may moan, cry, and complain, but slaves they will remain.

By: KauaiBoy

KauaiBoy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:05:14 +0000

Twenty years ago the Tiananmen Square protests captured the world’s attention and things in China haven’t changed. The only way I see change occurring in Iran is after a very bloody revolution. As Americans, it is easy for us to say fight for your freedom, but I doubt they have the stomach to do what our ancestors had to do to gain their freedom from religious and economic oppression. Maybe this is why the administration’s response was so muted and weak willed.

By: kathie

kathie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:12:42 +0000

From Andrew Sullivan twittering. Interesting I think……….

Ex-CIA field operative Robert Baer has his eyes on Rafsanjani:
If the protests and demonstrations in Tehran cannot be controlled, we should seriously start to wonder about Khamenei’s future. Rafsanjani is rumored to be in the holy city of Qum plotting against Khamenei, seeing if he has enough votes in the 86-member Assembly of Experts to remove Khamenei. A vote recount is unlikely to change the results of the election, but it could lead to more demonstrations, which backed by Rafsanjani and the other mullahs, might just end Khamenei’s 20 year run.

By: kathie

kathie — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:58:56 +0000

I don’t feel very confident that change is coming. Mohammad Khatami is the driving force behind Iran’s foreign policy. Both guys are hell bent on a nuclear weapon and the destruction of Israel. It also seems that Obama is not too keen on Israel either. I think we are going to have many stormy years ahead. The Muslin world is bolstered by Obama’s words and not every body is a peace loving guy who just wants to get along, I guess we found that out on 911. Does Obama remember that day?

By: Frogg

Frogg — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:49:03 +0000

That Revolutionary Guard news is trully huge. The people have no chance (and the government will eventually beat the uprising out of the people) unless much of the Guard side with them. I hope the people can turn this into a real uprising towards true democratic reform.

By: russellshih

russellshih — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:26:46 +0000

I don’t know if a revolution will occur in Iran or not, but I’m absolutely certain of one thing (100% sure), if a revolution does occur and is successful Obama will be given the credit by those in the MSM—they are eagerly awaiting the event.

By: marksbbr

marksbbr — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:20:48 +0000

I think I read somewhere that the leading ruling clerics were calling for an investigation into the election results. Meanwhile, this morning CNN denounced the protests, citing a pre-election poll showing Ahmadinejad as the clear winner. I’m not surprised CNN would take that stance, after all they are a network that loves oppressive tyrants, but I doubt a pre-election poll. Look at how wrong the exit polls were here in 2004 when all the pollsters were in the urban areas.

Still, however, do we know the nature of these protests? As great as they are, the Iranian president still has less power than the ayatollahs. Are these protesters against the regime as a whole, or just against Ahmadinejad?

By: jeffgus

jeffgus — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:09:57 +0000

So does anyone think that the people in Iran would have the boldness to rise up if they knew the country next door — that they were at war with for many years — could see this as weakness?

I hope somebody thanks Bush because none of this boldness could happen without some feeling of security.

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:08:25 +0000

I just read one report that students at Tehran university were being arrested en masse and that faculty is resigning. Unsourced report said “hundreds” of students have been rounded up with 500 being the high boundary on the number.

Mess with people’s kids and their parents soon get involved.