Iran Election 2009
Moorhead Kennedy, one of the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran 444 days in 1979 - 1980, had this to say about America speaking out about Iran’s 2009 Election:
Q: Do you think it is prudent for this White House to take the standoffish approach that it has for fear of potentially getting drawn into [the conflict over Iran's election]?
A: It’s not the fear of being drawn into a conflict. It’s expressing our respect for a sovereign state that we do not interfere in the internal affairs of another country. And I think part of the Iranian deep, deep resentment of the United States is that we have never treated them with proper respect. And, of course, that’s been furthered by some of the episodes in our relationship. Not only the famous CIA coup, but the fact that we…helped Saddam Hussein when he attacked Iran in 1980 and did not prevent him in any way from using chemical warfare against Iran. There are a great many resentments there. So if we have to hold back from interfering in any country, it should be Iran.
Iran: An Inconvenient History
Many Americans seem to forget, or don’t even know (perhaps because CNN doesn’t post timelines that go back longer than thirty years), that in 1953 the USA overthrew Iran’s democracy and replaced it with a puppet dictator in order to keep control of their oil. So, Americans should understand when citizens of Iran who DO know their history think we’re full of baloney when we speak of spreading democracy and promoting freedom.
Moussavi: An Inconvenient Challenger
Another thing I’ve noticed is that most Americans who have jumped on the bandwagon of Moussavi know very little about him. When the facts are on full display (as they often aren’t in the corporate main stream media) one wonders if Moussavi isn’t just as bad for the West as Ahmadinejad. Here are a few words about Moussavi, the guy we want so much to lead Iran:
Though the 67-year-old former prime minister is credited for successfully navigating the Iranian economy as prime minister during the Iran-Iraq war, he also was a hard-liner whom the Economist described as a “firm radical.”
He, like most Iranians in power, does not believe in the existence of Israel. He defended the taking of the American hostages in 1979. He was part of a regime that regularly executed dissidents. And as late as April, he opposed suspending the country’s nuclear-enrichment program but said it would not be diverted to weapons use.
A Closer Look at the Mirror
As with most things in life, the 2009 Iranian Election is a great opportunity to look at our own country. In particular, it’s a great opportunity for Americans to see their own country from an outside perspective because the 2009 Iranian Election has many similarities with a couple of recent American Elections.
Just like most of the world clamors for Moussavi to be elected, in 2000 most of the world (including the majority of voters in the US) clamored for Gore to be the next president, but he wasn’t elected.
And, just as many people believe the Iranian election was rigged, many believed — and we now know — that the US 2004 election was rigged.
The unelected members of Iran’s Guardian Council have the power to decide if Iran’s votes get recounted, just like the unelected conservative-leaning Supreme Court decided in Bush v. Gore that Americans could not count all the votes in the 2000 US election.
Even though most of the world wants Moussavi elected, to our astonishment and disbelief, most of the poor and rural Iranian population want Ahmadinejad to be reelected. This is what America looked like to the rest of the world when most of the poor and rural Americans still wanted George W. Bush to be their leader in 2004, even as he talked like a TV cowboy and rode his stick horse off the edge of a cliff.
So, to paraphrase a very wise philosopher, let’s pick the log out of our own eye and not cast the first stone.
Iran has never jumped into the middle of our election process — and they’ve yet to overthrow one of our presidents — so we should take a back seat, stop pointing self-righteous fingers, and despite the bluster of the main stream idiots, we shouldn’t get involved.
Related Articles
Can a even Higher Tier Ayotollah be summonned to address the situation in IRAN?
You make excellent points about the similarities to the situation here in the US.
I’m always happy when my friends see through the BS like I do.
btw, since I’m so bad at reading minds and motivations with my “gut”…I am more and more influenced by how people who try to influence us, using facts and figures.
We heard that about 68% of Iran is “urban” and the writers, talking heads…and ex-presidential candidates…used that to “prove” the election was rigged, because MA had the rural support and M had the urban support. Since I have visited Iran, that just didn’t ring true to me.
Turns out, that by using the United Nations chart that defines “urban” for all countries, the only thing that defines it in Iran is that it is a “municipality”. This means public services like water, electricity, etc. In Iran’s case, this can mean any village that has a well and a pump that in some way provides water for the public good.
Population count does not influence the definition of urban in Iran…as it does for other countries on the chart.
So, my contention has been that at least 70% of Iran is actually rural instead of urban…and this is why I doubt there was widespread or significant vote tampering.
Further, given the admission by Israel that they actively fund and support efforts to destabilized Iran…and knowing the USA history in Iran and knowing that we probably are still doing the same….I’m guessing a large part of the disruption in Iran is…manufactured.
From the start, did you all noticed the supposed spontaneous demonstrations..with commercially printed signs and banners? There was a lot that was planned well in advance. A few spectacular fires, arrests, clashes, riots, etc. to gain attention of the press. Highly suspect in my opinion.
Also, though not qualified to debate it, I understand that electronic communication technology and software either developed or utilized by Israel was used to direct anti-government actions in the last few days.
Nate Silver, the guy who predicted the Obama/McCain election result to almost pinpoint accuracy, also did a similar study of the likely Iran outcome and also doubts there was a stolen election…I just heard that on npr or moyers or democracynow and so don’t have a link.
Here’s the UN chart.
I think it is an amazing document in that the definition of urban is so broad as to be meaningless…at least to me.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/Demographic/sconcerns/densurb/Defintion_of%20Urban.pdf
As this gets uglier and uglier, the Iranian powers-that-be would dearly love to be able to blame America. It seems mighty wise not to give them the opportunity.
I agree, Indigo.
Iran is 4 times the size of Iraq which is 4 times smaller than Afghanistan which is 4 times larger than California.
And..since we still can’t seem to handle Iraq and North Korea is the size of New Mexico….
Might be a good idea to mind our own business.
Of course I’m not a big business who’s business is to tap under-developed markets….with the help of the MIC.
Here is a link to a techy who thinks the Twitter thing in Iran was Israeli inspired.
He really lays out a lot of interesting info.
http://intifada-palestine.com/2009/06/21/proof-israeli-effort-to-destabilize-iran-via-twitter-iran-election/
Thanks for the info and links, Xman! I’m still digesting it. I think it would have been darn funny if after L.A. Laker fans rioted outside the Staples Center and lit fires and pelted policemen with bottles after winning the NBA championship, the Ayatollah warned America not to repress free speech or harm demonstrators. I’m with you Xman…the whole excessive over-the-top news coverage and one-sided inuendo smells to high heaven of a bunch of CIA/Mossad agents sitting in their cave Twittering away and stirring the pot.
Joe, Indigo and Xman I do believe the three of you along with millions of others are smoking that wacky tobaccy from the same bong.
They are using the old magicians trick of distraction to do as they please and no one pays attention to what is really going on and affects us all.
They have us distracted with North Korea and Iran as well as all this talk of torture and those infamous photos. everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, all worried about what it all means.
But yet we sit back and don’t even make mention of the fact unemployment keeps rising, as well as the price of oil and gas is skyrocketing even tho we have an over abundance of it and the price of gas should be around a dollar.
Everyone cheers when a credit card reform bill is passed and it sounds good until a close look reveals that now they will be able to screw more people and increase their profits further.
Nobody pays attention to the bills they attach to these fantastic sounding ones that in the long run keeps those that have, get even more and the rest of us pay for it.
How long did they have my generation bull shitted with the fear of communism, and how many young guys died in Vietnam fighting this menace as billions were made fighting the war. Now billions are made as we loose good paying jobs to Vietnam.
So don’t worry about these distractions, worry about what really affects our daily lives and those of our children and grand children. I drive trough industrial neighborhoods and see one factory after another being knocked to the ground and think of the hundreds of jobs these buildings represented, and no one makes mention of it.
And if what you are saying is true about Iran, why in the hell are we getting excited about it, when we have so much more to worry about.
Damn! Pelmo!
Your BS detector is working good today.
Actually, I agree with you. It is all a distraction. A shell game.
But I’m a recovering shell game addict and I’m having a relapse…and I’m worried some idiot will turn it into my Dad’s war (Korea) or my war which damaged my faith in my country but left my body intact or now my nephews wars.
Maybe some medicinal Marijuana will cure me.
I need a cure because I have Disappointus Obamaitis.
And I agree with you Xman about these senseless wars that are killing and much worse maiming our young men and women. We get into these stupid conflicts for no reason at all, but to let generals play their silly games and coporations to make billions of dollars.
Somebody has to explain to the idiots in Washington that you can’t play war games with a citizen army. It is one thing to use the National Guard as a short term fillin, in case of an emergency, but not as a full time army.
You want a fun conspiracy theory I have. Keep the unemployment rate high. In a bleek market, when people can’t find work, where do they turn? The military, they are always hiring.This way you can fight the wars you have and look for new ones to create.
From where I sit the reason for your Disappointus Obamaitis, is that the man sold his soul to the devil, just to be president.
I’m agreeing with you, too, Pelmo. The points you made are why I raise the issue of Iran — because if you look at CNN’s home page at the moment, the 10 top-most links are devoted to the situation in Iran. What’s more, the MSM’s brainwashing is working…I’m starting to hear the water-cooler talk revolve around supporting the party that lost the election, or even “time to invade.” It’s ridiculous, as you pointed out, to even consider such things when America is shutting down economically and we’re all sliding into the poor house. I do believe, as you also pointed out, it is a bigger attempt to keep us focused on “them” (whoever “them” is at the moment) instead of “us” and our own problems which the elite would put off fixing for as long as they can possibly continue to loot the middle class of America.
Pelmo, you need to belly up to the bong.
Indigo I tried it once about 35yrs ago, nothing happened, so now I stick to Scotch when I want a cocktail and beer with my burgers and pizza.
Joe your right, with all those distractions they are picking our pockets clean, and only a few of us are noticing it. We were building a sizeable middle class, and in one swift motion they swooped down and made shure that it was brought back down to a managable size, by wiping out all those retirement and savings plans. Even those scollege savings plans that were supposed to be guaranteed are loosing there value also.
Don’t forget when the government in the 80’s let the corporations raid their own employee’s pension funds…because there was far more than ever needed in case of a downturn…….
Yes we do Xman, and how well both parties have their backers bickering back and forth over petty things and not paying attention to what is going in Washington as legislation is passed that makes the corporations and the elite more powerfull and the rest of us weaker.
Seems American political discourse has devolved into the polemics of deaf-eared hired guns trading party positions, rather than honest intellectual discourse honing issues from opposing sides -with a real chance at sharpening the outcome. We’re doomed to dullness.
Doesn’t do much for one’s mental health…does it?
Time to go diving again….I call it my Salt Water Therapy. This time to the west coast of Baja. Yeah, I like the rough, cold water. Lobster, Abalone…and spearing big fish.
Good luck, Xman. Beware the Humboldt squid.
Xman have fun. Greetings to yoiu all from Vilnius, Lithuania where I am at, celebrating the 1000th anniversary of this country.
Thanks Pelmo.
1000 years is really something. A friend from there told me that long ago they had bears all over and had to place huge stone blocks weighing several tons each…over the top of the graves of the rich and famous, so the bears couldn’t dig up dinner.
Thanks a lot for ruining my day, since I planned on going for a walk in the woods today.
I did not talk of giant squids and monster sized sharks went you were going diving.
One thing that is really nice about being here is that we are getting a real glimpse of how things were during and after WWII. The things you never read in history books.
What have you been up to over there, Pelmo?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/15/lithuania-anti-gay-law-pr_n_233654.html
Pelmo…Here, have a beer.
I think the bears are all gone.
Yep, once I see a grey shape slide by…my imagination can run wild. Luckily, it is almost always a seal.
I am envious. Love talking to the old people talk about events they actually lived.