2009 Iran Elections and Protests

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thank fsm. In The Murder Scene Age: 36 Gender: Female Posts: 20564	June 24th, 2009 at 06:15pm I looked around for a topic on the 2009 Iran elections and subsequent protests, and I didn't see anything, which struck me as a surprise. So here it is. If you haven't read up on the issue, have some links. Do you think these protests will go anywhere? If so, where? What will be the outcome? Do you feel other nations (particularly the US and Britain) should keep out of it? Or do you feel that, as some prominent Iranians and others have said, that we should boycott Iranian oil and stop transacting with "a government that does not represent a majority of its people" as a way to stand up against the regime? What about the Internet? Do you feel its role in this horrible situation is important? Why? Discuss, and please, please be civil to one another and to those involved.
blow Bleeding on the Floor Age: - Gender: Female Posts: 1137	June 24th, 2009 at 07:17pm I think it's incredibly amazing and brave of the Iranians to protest the way they have. I fear that the government will continue to crack down with violence until the dissidents give up. Everyday there are more and more reports of increasing violence and deaths in the streets of Tehran. However I hope that the protests will succeed. The current Iranian government is just a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. I think that interference from other nations will not help. Khamenie is already blaming the US and Britain for the uprising. They've even coerced prisoners into confessing to being trained in and taking orders from the US. The internet has a very central role in this conflict. The protesters are using it greatly to their advantages, posting videos and photos of the protests and the Besiji attacks. I think they've been relying on word of mouth to plan the protests more than the internet, but youtube and twitter have been a way for them to tell the world what is going on. Some of the best videos I've seen: yells of Allah O Akbar from the rooftops at night. Poem for the Rooftops of Iran One of the most disturbing videos I have seen is that of Neda's death. She was a completely innocent woman who wasn't even participating in the protests but still she was gunned down mercilessly.
thank fsm. In The Murder Scene Age: 36 Gender: Female Posts: 20564	June 24th, 2009 at 08:08pm ^ Maybe you're right about stepping in, but boycotts seem like a decent, peaceful way to show our dissent and support the protesters. Then again, there is a part of me that really says that the US is always butting in when we aren't wanted. I just wouldn't want Iran to be less than okay with the US. We're already doing badly enough over there. =/
blow Bleeding on the Floor Age: - Gender: Female Posts: 1137	June 24th, 2009 at 08:31pm I think if citizens decided to do it all on their own, but if the government asked people too it reflect badly on the protesters. (in the eyes of the conservative Iranians) Obama has taken back his July 4th invitation. I don't think he should support the protesters anymore then he has; no matter who comes out on top he has to deal with them.
souverian. Demolition Lover Age: - Gender: - Posts: 19169	June 25th, 2009 at 12:38pm Unfortunately, I don't think the protests will stir Khomeini to revoke the elections. He seemed really vehement in the speech he made about keeping Ahmadinejad in power. Clearly, he supports Ahmadinejad over Mousavi. And it has been proven that the elections were indeed rigged, whether or not they would have changed the outcome is still unknown. The Iranian government has successfully kept all this information hidden from the public eye. I don't think other nations should get involved, unless the violence gets worse. I think the US has done enough in interfering in the affairs of other nations. And the internet has played a surprisingly critical role throughout this whole thing. I don't think the world would have any knowledge of what is going on within Iran if it wasn't for the internet. All major news publications and networks are relying on it for information.
blow Bleeding on the Floor Age: - Gender: Female Posts: 1137	June 25th, 2009 at 05:15pm dragonfly outro.: Unfortunately, I don't think the protests will stir Khomeini to revoke the elections. I'm afraid of that as well. Although according to the Huffington Post Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is succeeding in convincing the Assembly of Experts to remove Khamenei from power, or at least have some sort of compromise. There are a lot of powerful people on the side of the reformer, they just need to strategize. Just read this on Huffington Post: Quote It's worth noting, through the fog of this propaganda, that the doctor who aided Neda told the BBC in an interview posted below that, after the shooting, he saw passers-by seize "an armed Basij militia volunteer who appeared to admit shooting." Quote WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're anxious to hear your government's response to all of these developments which have been very dramatic over the past two weeks. A key question many people around the world are asking is, why did your security forces kill that 26 year-old beautiful student named Nada? GHADIRI (through translator): This death of Ms. Nada is very suspicious. She was shot from behind. The location was where there was not much demonstration, there was no police presence and the gun that shot and killed her was a smuggled gun. It was not a government-issued gun. [...] My question is that how is that this Nada was shot from behind and several cameras take that. And this is done in an area where there was no important demonstration... If the CIA wants to kill some people and attribute that to the elements of the government and then choosing a girl would be something good for them because it would have much higher impact. Therefore, we believe and we are looking into this to find who the elements were who did this. [...] BLITZER: Do you really believe that, Mr. Ambassador? You're a distinguished diplomat representing Iran. This is a very serious accusation that you're making, that the CIA was responsible for killing this beautiful, young woman. GHADIRI (through translator): I'm not saying that the CIA had done this. There are different groups. Could be intelligence services, could be CIA, could be the terrorists. However, these are the people who do these things. You could ask Mr. Andreotti, who was an Italian diplomat whether Gladitators were a secret group related to CIA or not. Now they of course they use better methods. Of course, you're not going to say that CIA is a sacred organization that hasn't done anything to other worlds. BLITZER: Mr. Ambassador, why won't your government allow people to go mourn at a memorial service for Nada, as her family has requested? GHADIRI (through translator): We have no problem with mournings. Naturally we don't want to provide an opportunity for the rioters to come in and make the situation worse This is so much bullshit. I can't believe this guy, he's just saying what the government feeds him. And calling the protesters rioters? you can't deny video evidence of the Basiji brutality! Do they think we're all idiots?
thank fsm. In The Murder Scene Age: 36 Gender: Female Posts: 20564	June 25th, 2009 at 07:52pm The CIA? God, I can't even swallow that. It makes me so mad.
Person0001 Always Born a Crime Age: 43 Gender: Female Posts: 5099	June 26th, 2009 at 09:51am dragonfly outro.: I don't think other nations should get involved, unless the violence gets worse. I think the US has done enough in interfering in the affairs of other nations. I'm torn, because while I agree that the U.S. has botched international relations considerably by declaring military actions stemming from civil unrest over the course of this century, we are also sworn to aid the propogation of democracy. We aided France in their struggle for civil rights, so don't we owe Iran the same courtesy?

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