Iranian democracy

S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
3 Body No Problem said:
Interesting article in the mainstream press.
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thanks for that 3BNP, sadly the fairly uncontroversial thrust of Crooke's closing paragraph seems about right to me in his assessment outlooks: ie Ahmadinejad is violent and personally ascetic, as opposed to some who are violent and flagrantly corrupt.
(though i would hope anyone still labouring under the misapprehension the man is some Islamist Robin Hood has seen the light.)
also an interesting quote from the Syrian foreign minister there to help remind us the dictatorship would do well to stick with the theocracy.

totally OT (but hey that's me, remember our diversions about M14 funding on a Lebanon thread), but does anyone know who funds Crooke's Conflicts Forum? i am assuming they don't get all their money from the Clarks shoes empire, after all.

Muslim Brotherhood? Iranian interests?
 
S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
They came in the small hours, just as the dormitories were settling down for the night. Outside, Tehran was still in ferment, a city gripped by fury two days after a "stolen election". Inside the dorms on Amirabad Street, students were trying to sleep, though nerves were jangling; just hours earlier several had been beaten in front of the main gate to the university.
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"Death in the dorms: Iranian students recall horror of police invasion"
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
just heard an Iranian-American professor on NPR going on about the privatization programs that have been heavily promoted by the regime, specifically Khameini. he mentioned that Ahmedinejad, contrary to the popular image of him drawn by some (ahem Lenin's Tomb types ahem), has overseen very aggressive privatization over the last several years. tbf those labeled as reformers have been well mixed up in it too.

here's an article on the topic
here's the Wiki entry
here's the, uh, official privatization website of Iran (no, really)

the professor was very clear about who was benefiting from privatization, to paraphrase - "the Revolutionary Guard (who he compared to the Russian oligarchs), generals, those in the security apparatus, those in the intelligence community".
 
swears

swears

preppy-kei
padraig (u.s.) said:
he mentioned that Ahmedinejad, contrary to the popular image of him drawn by some (ahem Lenin's Tomb types ahem), has overseen very aggressive privatization over the last several years. tbf those labeled as reformers have been well mixed up in it too.
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But let's not forget how Ahmedinejad is bravely standing up to Amerikkka and their plans for an invasion. (Anytime now, honest)
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
swears said:
But let's not forget how Ahmedinejad is bravely standing up to Amerikkka and their plans for an invasion. (Anytime now, honest)
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ironically, this is one of the few bits of the Iranian regime I find justifiable. after all they surrounded, or at least hemmed in, by U.S. troops. not to mention Israeli hawks & their crazy American neocon allies constantly mouthing off about bombing the (which, btw, it's unclear we or the Israelis could do successfully, at least not w/o a massive & prolonged bombing campaign, it wouldn't be anything like Osirak back in '81).

of course I still wholeheartedly agree about anyone ridiculous enough to back a boorish thug like Ahmedinejad (or really, what he represents) for such a deeply stupid reason.
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
polystyle desu said:
The Revolutionary Guard - will any cracks appear in their ranks ?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/world/middleeast/21guards.html?ref=world
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that's generally what happens to every security state isn't it? the security apparatus inevitably devours itself. dunno how soon that's likely to happen in Iran. but a very interesting article nonetheless - made very clear just how many many pies the IRGC have their fingers in. they really are like the oligarchs, but much better organized, more powerful, etc.
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
the mythical Iranian "mega-embassy" in Nicaragua

The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned in May. "And you can only imagine what that's for."...A U.S. diplomat in Managua conceded: "There is no huge Iranian Embassy being built as far as we can tell."...Last month, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) even told reporters in a call organized by the Israel Project that "the growing influence of Iran in the Western Hemisphere reminds me of the relationship between Russia and Cuba when we dealt with the Cuban missile crisis."
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I love it, it ties things together so neatly - hey, the Sandinistas & Iran! it's like Iran is Russia! you know, from the Cold War! and not just an embassy, but a mega-embassy! that's just one step below an ultra-super-awesome lair of evil! and then where would we be? utterly f**ked, that's where. no one wants to see a Nicaraguan Embassy Crisis, surely.

well it made me laugh anyway
 
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nomadthethird

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
swears said:
But let's not forget how Ahmedinejad is bravely standing up to Amerikkka and their plans for an invasion. (Anytime now, honest)
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What are we going to do, chuck old N'Sync CDs at them?

We're flat broke.

Edit: glad to see you're blogging padraig
 
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