Thursday, June 25, 2009

Iran: What Now?

Ahmadinejad demands apology from Obama

No, sweetheart. You should call off your goons and be apologizing to the people of Iran.
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Street rioting (yesterday):


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Posted at Azarmehr's blog today:



As Jesse Jackson used to say, "Keep hope alive!"
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Canada disinvites Iranian diplomats to Canada Day celebrations and rebukes the regime for appointing the butcher, Saaed Mortazavi, to oversee the treatment of Iranian dissidents and protesters. God help them. This man is the one responsible for the beating death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in 2003.

Iran has very few friends left. Poor thing. They don't get invited to any of the parties. I wonder why. /sarc

But seriously, this cannot help them at all. They have become even more of an international pariah than they were before, although that's hard to imagine.
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Ahmadinejad says blah, blah, blah, blah. In the meantime, Mousavi sticks to his guns.
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A deal to save Iran?
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12:37 pm @ niacInsight: Shirin Ebadi, Nobel peace prize laureate, is being targeted by the regime.
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Statement from Mousavi (translated at niacINsight webpage @ 11:02 am):

"Kalemeh posted the text [Persian] of Mousavi’s latest statement addressing the people of Iran, where he criticized the state media and internet sites related to the government and Kayhan newspaper for distorting the truth. “They have used the resources that belong to you to not only cover up the violations and recent hurtful events but also to blame the person who has accompanied you in demanding your rights.”

Mousavi says the government is trying to ignore the violations that occurred during the elections and the violence and murders that ensued afterward. “If those responsible for the 18 Tir 1378 [July 9, 1999] were legally dealt with, we would not have witnessed a repetition of those atrocities in broader dimensions and bolder distortion of the facts.”

Mousavi announced his readiness to respond to all the “accusations” and said that he is not willing to give up in the face of threats or for personal interests. In the end, Mousavi asked the people to continue the protests while remaining peaceful and avoiding the “trap of ill-wishers” who try to attribute the movement to foreign elements. “It is up to us to offset this evil conspiracy with our behavior and speech.”

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Two plans, both equally valuable and both implementable:

Michael Ledeen's and Ryan Mauro's.

Sistani speaks
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Fallout for Russia?
"Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sees not a great reformer in Mikhail Gorbachev but a leader who was too weak to hold the Soviet Union together. Others have learned from China's Tiananmen crackdown the value of brutal force. So it is interesting that in the midst of the upheaval in Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a trip to the Kremlin.

Mr. Putin has a great deal riding on the outcome in Iran. With the Russian economy teetering, he needs a steep increase in oil prices to stave off the collapse of his government. So he has been working to increase tension in the Middle East and now sees the Iranian crisis as potentially helpful -- if Ahmadinejad comes out on top."
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"For Mr. Putin, the unknown factor in all of this is how the West will respond to what's happening in Iran. It could give him pause if Iran faces penalties of real significance for using lethal force against nonviolent protestors. Surprisingly, European leaders are showing unusual assertiveness in condemning the Iranian regime.

But what has been flagging so far has been leadership from the United States. Only in his second statement, a week into the crisis, did President Barack Obama underscore the importance of nonviolence, though he still declined to support the Iranian protestors."
Understatement of the year!
"But the Soviet Union used tanks to quash dissent when it could. Dictatorships use force when they can get away with it, not when a U.S. president makes a strong statement."
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"Millions of Iranians are fighting to join the Free World. The least we can do is let the valiant people of Iran know loud and clear that they will be welcomed with open arms"
RTWT

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