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Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ask: 'Where is my vote?'
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Arabia
Iranians protest at Consulate in Dubai
DUBAI - A crowd gathered in front of the Iranian Consulate in Dubai, on Sunday, protesting the results of the Iranian presidential election which took place on Saturday. More than 150 Iranians assembled Iranian consulate at 9am to peacefully protest the results of what they claim to be a rigged presidential election. Protesters were holding signs in Farsi saying 'where is my vote' or 'two times two equals 24' to portray how they believe the votes were calculated in Iran, said Samad Yazdanie, 27, salesman.

Khamis Mattar al Mazina, Deputy Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, said nobody was arrested during the peaceful protest, which was watched over by riot police. He also said people here have a right to express their point view as long as the do not break any laws or endanger the safety of others.

Police had arrived at the scene and asked the people to leave peacefully. "They said we need to get permission to hold such gatherings," said Kamyar Mohammadi, 23, graphic designer.

"We want to respect Dubai's rulers, we need their support for us, but we also need to show our anger towards this act of national betrayal," said Yazdanie. "This is the first time we do anything like this in Dubai, and honestly, this is the least that we can do."

But it was not only the protesters that were holding cameras and taking pictures. Two men with video cameras standing on top of the walls of the 
Iranian Consulate were also filming 
the protesters.
It's more sophisticated: you film them and then pinch them quietly, instead of sending in the riot police (at home). The Basij and Revolutionary Guards are certainly doing that at home. Expect a lot of people in Iran, and perhaps some in Dubai, to disappear in the next few weeks.
"They are filming our faces to scare us. They want us to know that they now know who we are," said Mohammadi. He also said "for 30 years people didn't vote because we didn't trust the government, but this time we thought we can make a change through peaceful methods - now we feel betrayed. Now we feel used and pathetic."

Another protester, Saeed Kamali, 24, interior designer said "I am here to support my people, who are in a middle of a war in Teheran."
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Say! Where are all those protests in London, Paris, Berlin and San Francisco to show solidarity with the Iranian people like they had for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Gitmo detainees? Do ya think there is some kind of double standard here? Or is it one of those "any enemy of the Jooos, is a friend of mine?"
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/16/2009 12:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Iranians concider themselves Persian, not Arab. When they are in trouble the Arabs could care less.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/16/2009 15:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Where are all those protests in London, Paris, Berlin and San Francisco to show solidarity with the Iranian people

Ideology trumps.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/16/2009 21:05 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan prepares offensive on Taliban stronghold
Pakistan's army launched airstrikes and ferried in tanks and artillery as it confirmed Tuesday that it was preparing a major offensive against insurgents in al-Qaida and the Taliban's safest haven along the Afghan border.

The highly anticipated military operation in South Waziristan is seen as a potential turning point in the yearslong and sometimes half-hearted fight against militancy in Pakistan. It could also help curb Taliban attacks on Western forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

But the offensive in the lawless tribal region will also be the toughest yet for Pakistan's military, testing both its fighting capability and the government's will to see it through, analysts said.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the military had received executive orders from the government to begin operations against Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, whose base is in South Waziristan.

"The necessary measures and steps which are part of a preliminary phase of the operation, the preparatory phase of the operation, that has commenced," Abbas told a news conference.

But Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira stressed that the operation "has not been officially started."

They declined to give more details, citing operational secrecy.

Convoys of military trucks carrying tanks and artillery were seen Tuesday in the towns of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank, near South Waziristan. Intelligence officials said they were part of the buildup for the operation against Mehsud.

In recent days, the military has shelled and launched airstrikes in both South Waziristan and neighboring Bannu, although so far there has not been large-scale fighting with the militants.

On Tuesday, the army shelled suspected militant hideouts in three villages in South Waziristan in response to attacks on two military checkpoints, and helicopter gunships targeted Mehsud hide-outs in the region, intelligence officials told The Associated Press.

One official called the attacks "surgical strikes" ahead of the main operation.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose information to the media.

The military buildup comes as the army says it is entering the final stages of a major operation against the Taliban in the northwestern Swat Valley, which has triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks by militants across Pakistan that have been blamed on Mehsud.

More than 100 people have died since late May in suicide bombings on targets including police and security buildings, mosques and a hotel catering to foreigners. The attacks have fueled anti-Taliban sentiment in Pakistan that in turn has emboldened the politically weak government of President Asif Ali Zardari.

A military assault in South Waziristan would likely trigger an escalation in the attacks — something the government is bracing for.

"The risk of lives is there — we have to give sacrifices, we have to pay this price and the nation is ready to give this price to get rid of this menace," Kaira said.

The slow start to the offensive may indicate the government is talking it up before launching it to allow civilians time to flee. The Swat offensive displaced more than 2 million people.

Thousands of residents have already fled Waziristan, local officials and refugees say, and are most are staying with extended family. Aid agencies have warned that the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan's northwest could worsen if fighting spreads in the tribal belt.

The armed forces may also need more time to mobilize for a full-scale battle in Waziristan, a hard-scrabble, mountainous area where well-armed tribes hold sway and the government's influence is minimal.

Many Taliban and al-Qaida militants fled to the region after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. It remains a base for cross-border attacks on Western and Afghan forces and a training center for militants operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. South Waziristan is also a possible hiding place of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

Militants have had years to dig in and store arms and ammunition in bolt-holes that include concrete bunkers and tunnel networks, said Asad Munir, a retired brigadier and former intelligence chief for the tribal region.

Battle-hardened fighters from Afghanistan, Swat and elsewhere will rally to join the fight, he predicted.

"This is going to be their final battlefield because the prominent leaders of al-Qaida, the Afghan Taliban, the local Taliban and our own terrorist jihadi organizations, they are all here," Munir said. "They will defend this place, which has acted as a sanctuary for them."

U.S. missiles fired from unmanned drones have repeatedly struck South Waziristan, most recently on Sunday, and militants would become far more vulnerable to airborne attacks if they are forced out of their strongholds by Pakistan's offensive. The military has launched repeated operations in the past, only to later back off as the government has pursued failed peace deals instead.

Abbas said Tuesday there were unconfirmed reports that al-Qaida-linked Uzbek militant leader Tahir Yuldash was injured in a Pakistani air force strike Sunday in South Waziristan. He gave no further details.

Yuldash leads the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and has survived numerous Pakistan military operations to trap him in the tribal regions.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/16/2009 13:15 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could this be the alamo for Al Qaeda and Taliban illuminaries? Sounds possible.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/16/2009 16:10 Comments || Top||

#2  "USE ALL DIPLOMATIC MEANS TO STOP THE FIGHTING, BECAUSE OF THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS"

Translation: "Our side is losing so we are appealing to your stupidity, in order to preserve jihad strength at status quo levels."

Obama: "I apologize for my country's causal role in the conflict, and I will seek the belligerent peace that the jihadis demand."
Posted by: Black Bart Sliter4867 || 06/16/2009 17:02 Comments || Top||


Pakistan likely to offer intelligence-sharing to India
YEKATERINBURG: Islamabad is expected to suggest an intelligence-sharing mechanism with its top investigators to New Delhi in the first meeting of both countries’ leaders since the Indian government suspended dialogue following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The idea is that India shares useful intelligence so that the Paks can find their weak spots and leaks, and fix them. Pakistan in turn gives India a bunch of nonsense.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh are set to resume formal bilateral contact on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters. However, official sources said this was merely an opportunity to convey the Indian government’s concerns to Pakistan at the highest level. They said the meeting was organised after the Pakistan high commissioner in India expressed President Zardari’s wish to meet Dr Singh. They said the Indian PM would call upon the Pakistani leadership to take credible action against terrorism. Dialogue was being resumed in line with Dr Singh’s vision of maintaining cordial relations with all of India’s neighbours, they added.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I never met an Indian I didn't like. With the possible exception of Khalil Gibran."
Posted by: mojo || 06/16/2009 13:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The Mumbai attackers passed through over 100 checkpoints between northern Pakistan and Karachi, and then were allowed to hire a cargo boat without carrying cargo. Nuf said.

Of course, when the jihadis reached Mumbai by small boats, and commenced off-loading their bomb laden bags, a harbor employee questioned same but backed off when one shouted, "Mind your own business!" Nuf said, again.
Posted by: Black Bart Sliter4867 || 06/16/2009 17:35 Comments || Top||

#3  My father did not speak well of Khalil Gibran either, mojo. Poseur was not the word he used. But I thought the gentleman was Lebanese?
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2009 22:33 Comments || Top||


50 Taliban killed in Mohmand, Bajaur
RAWALPINDI: Security forces personnel on Monday claimed to have killed 50 Taliban in operations in Mohmand, Bajaur, Malakand and Bannu during the past 24 hours.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said five Taliban were killed in retaliation after they attacked a local lashkar in Dir. They said the lashkar also destroyed three houses and injured six Taliban. It said another member of the Taliban was killed when police fired at a car that refused to stop at a checkpost. “The car exploded, as it was primed for a suicide attack,” it added.

In Mohmand Agency, 29 Taliban were killed and 25 wounded when security forces targeted their hideouts with jet planes, and helicopter gunships. In Bajaur, eight Taliban, including a commander, were killed, a security official in Khar told AFP.

In the Jani Khel area of Bannu district, Taliban fired rockets at a police station and an airport early on Monday. “Seven Taliban were killed in the retaliatory attack,” said Zahinuddin, a local police official.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistani police arrests seven militants in Islamabad
Police here Monday night arrested at least seven militants from a posh area, police sources said. The militants were arrested from F-7 sector of Islamabad in a raid conducted by police on a tip-off, local news channel Samaa quoted the sources as saying.

It said the militants have been shifted to an unknown location and the authorities were expecting breakthrough leads during interrogation.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Bomb kills two police, teacher shot in Thai south
A bomb killed two policemen and a Buddhist teacher was shot dead Tuesday in the latest surge of violence in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south.

The bomb hidden in a motorcycle wounded two other officers outside a police station in Pattani, one of three southernmost provinces near the Malaysian border where roughly 3,500 people have died in five years of unrest. Police said the device hidden under the seat was triggered by a cellphone when officers went to look at the motorcycle left in front of the building. In neighboring Yala province, a female teacher was killed in a drive-by shooting as she travelled to work, police said.

The latest incidents occurred as Thailand's army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, was due to chair a meeting in Bangkok of army commanders from the three restive provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. Thirty-one people have been killed and more than 50 injured in the region over the past 11 days, with police, soldiers, teachers, laborers and Buddhist monks among the victims.

The region's Buddhist minority has borne the brunt of the attacks since a June 8 shooting at a Narathiwat mosque, where unknown gunmen killed 10 Muslims at prayer and wounded 12 more. No arrests have been made following the incident, which angry Muslim residents blamed on security forces. The military has denied involvement and says jihadi terrorists separatist militants seeking to cause sectarian rifts are the likely masterminds.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has vowed not to use military force to tackle the unrest and promised development aid to raise living standards in one of Thailand's poorest regions. The government planned to invest heavily in tourism, fisheries and rubber and palm oil industries, Abhisit said on Sunday.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/16/2009 02:35 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Philippines says seizes rebel bases; kills 100
MANILA, June 15 (Reuters) - Fighting across oil and gas-rich marshlands in the southern Philippines has escalated with members of the country's largest Muslim rebel group reinforcing rogue guerrillas, an army field commander said on Monday.

Troops have been fighting rogue Muslim guerrillas since last August and if reports of regular members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) joining the fighting are confirmed, it would mark a dangerous expansion to the war. Soldiers have captured at least eight Muslim rebel bases in south, seizing a cache of weapons and explosives and killing nearly 100 guerrillas in 10 days of fighting, Colonel Medardo Geslani, an army brigade commander, told reporters.

Violence across the marshlands and nearby hills on the southern island of Mindanao has spread in recent weeks and displaced more than 50,000 families, pushing back prospects of peace talks stalled since August 2008.

Geslani said troops had recovered dozens of assault rifles, crude bombs and undetermined rounds of ammunition in five of eight guerrilla bases across Maguindanao province. No material was recovered in the other three, he said, adding Muslim rebels from other areas in Maguindanao province have joined the fighting between troops and a rogue faction of the MILF.

Geslani said 93 guerrillas were killed and dozens wounded since June 4 when troops launched an air and ground assault on key Muslim rebel bases in Maguindanao, an MILF stronghold. He said soldiers counted at least 50 mangled bodies found in concrete bunkers that were directly hit by artillery fire and aerial bombs. "We are in the process of methodically destroying them. We're winning in the war."

Geslani said fighting has spread to other areas across the marshland because some MILF units were sending reinforcements to rogue Muslim rebels.

Less than a dozen troops were wounded in 10 days of fighting for the control of rebel bases that sit on strategic points that control traffic of people and goods near the marshland area, he added.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Get advisers from Sri Lanka to show you how its done.
Posted by: Ptah || 06/16/2009 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  members of the country's largest Muslim rebel group reinforcing rogue guerrillas,

"rogue guerillas"? What the heck are those?
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2009 22:40 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Activists Launch Hack Attacks on Tehran Regime
Anyone with expertise in this sort of thing might want to see what they can do to help the brave Iranian people in this regard.
While demonstrators gather in the streets to contest Iran’s rigged election, online backers of the so-called “Green Revolution” are looking to strike back at the Tehran regime — by attacking the government’s websites.

Pro-democracy activists on the web are asking supporters to use relatively simple hacking tools to flood the regime’s propaganda sites with junk traffic. “NOTE to HACKERS - attack www.farhang.gov.ir - pls try to hack all iran gov wesites [sic]. very difficult for us,” Tweets one activist. The impact of these distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks isn’t clear. But official online outlets like leader.ir, ahmadinejad.ir, and iribnews.ir are currently inaccessible. “There are calls to use an even more sophisticated tool called BWraep, which seems to exhaust the target website out of bandwidth by creating bogus requests for serving images,” notes Open Society Institute fellow Evgeny Morozov.

In both Iran and abroad, the cyberstrikes are being praised as a way to hit back against a regime that so blatantly engaged in voter fraud. But some observers warn that the network strikes could backfire — hurting the very protesters they’re meant to assist. Michael Roston is concerned that “it helps to excuse the Iranian regime’s own cyberwarfare.” Text-messaging networks and key opposition websites mysteriously went dark just before the election. Morozov worries that it “gives [the] hard-line government another reason to suspect ‘foreign intervention‘ — albeit via computer networks — into Iranian politics.”

Iran has one of the world’s most vibrant social media communities. That’s helping those of us outside Iran follow along as this revolution is being YouTubed, blogged, and Tweeted. But Iran’s network infrastructure there is relatively centralized. Which makes Internet access there inherently unstable. Programmer Robert Synott worries that if outside protesters pour too much DDOS traffic into Iran, carriers there “will simply pull the plug to protect the rest of their network.”

For the moment, however, those connections are still live. And activists are using them to mobilize mass protests in Tehran. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has just appeared. Tens of thousands of protesters are chanting “‘No fear, No fear, we are with each other.’”

Meanwhile, universities are recovering from assaults by pro-regime goons. Students were bloodied. Memory cards and software were swiped by police. Computers were smashed.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In terms of the White House, this explosion of over a reported 3 million Iranians demanding long over due freedom, is an absolutely disgraceful missed opportunity to assist in various ways to bring down the despotic Islamic Iranian régime. Then again what's in today's White House very likely supports rat boy.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 06/16/2009 2:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Mark, "Disgraceful" is O'Bambi's hidden middle name.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 06/16/2009 2:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah. Breaking websites will really work to overthrow the regime. Good work, guys.
Posted by: gromky || 06/16/2009 3:44 Comments || Top||

#4  A tempest in a glass of water.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/16/2009 4:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Again folks, breaking websites ALONE won't bring down the Mad Mullahs™. Nor will Twitter ALONE.

But put it all together, and ...
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 7:54 Comments || Top||

#6  ridicule, lack of respect, and finally lack of fear, delegitimizes authority...a good first step
Posted by: Frank G || 06/16/2009 7:56 Comments || Top||

#7  My computer has been "rapidly updating" the official news mouthpiece of the regime for two days now.
Funny, but it doesn't seem to load ...
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 06/16/2009 13:10 Comments || Top||


Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ask: Where is my vote?'
TEHRAN, Iran -- Violence flared across Iran on Monday with the first reported death from anti-government riots, as hundreds of thousands of defiant Tehranis took to the streets demanding "Where is my vote?" after Friday's disputed presidential election.

The unrest, possibly Iran's worst political crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, confounded predictions that the regime would be able to contain the fallout from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's unexpected claim of a landslide victory. Iranians who were feeding the Twitter online social-networking service reported clashes between Mousavi supporters and security forces and the Basij militia in Shiraz, Mashad, Babool and Tabriz.

Unknown gunmen killed one person and wounded others in Azadi (Freedom) Square, the Associated Press reported, citing a photographer who witnessed the shooting. Photos posted on the Internet showed that at least four people had been shot, and there were reports that clashes were spreading across Tehran and raging in other cities, including Isfahan.

Dramatic video aired by Britain's Channel 4 television showed a crowd throwing rocks and setting fire to a building that belonged to the pro-government Basij militia. A helmeted militiaman on the roof fired his AK-47 rifle into the air before retreating from a shower of stones. As flames licked from the building's windows, the militiaman returned to the front of the roof and fired multiple shots into the screaming crowd. The video showed at least one young man, reportedly dead, being carried from the scene.

The bulk of the protests - held despite warnings by the Interior Ministry - were peaceful, with anti-Ahmadinejad crowds honking car horns, flashing victory signs and shouting "Allahu Akbar!" - "God is great" - from rooftops well after dark.

The size and persistence of the protests appear to have caught the regime off guard, and it's vacillated between using force to put them down and trying to appease the mostly young protesters. Special anti-riot forces and motorcycle-riding Basiji militiamen have beaten and chased Mousavi supporters through the streets. At times, though, the protesters have fought back.

Thousands of Tehranis streamed down wide boulevards on foot and motorbike into Enghelab (Revolution) Square anyway, as riot police in helmets and shields stood immobile on the square's rim. Fashionably dressed women wore signs that read, "Where is my vote?"
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336101 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Where is my vote?" > On a separate note, 'tis weirdly and mysteriously the same questionne' mainstream Amerikans + World should be asking as per OWG-NWO = GLOBAL GOVT.!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/16/2009 2:38 Comments || Top||

#2  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8102400.stm

holding a recount for what its worth , in contested areas .

No dount will just adjust figures slightly and then continue down the dinnerjacket path of enlightenment .. /facepalm
Posted by: Big Foot || 06/16/2009 4:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Today, the government of Iran, dispatched a contingent of mullahs to consult with Senator-elect Al Franken on recount and political recovery techniques, after it was learned that the actual electoral count for Amenajenadad was three votes.
Posted by: Zenobia Gleaper7752 || 06/16/2009 6:12 Comments || Top||

#4  The ferment is beyond Teheran

From the Beeb:

"Ahmed is an unemployed graduate in Shiraz who has joined a pro-Mousavi rally every day since the results came out. He told the BBC the authorities were shipping in guards from outside the city to deal with the protests.

"The Basijis [volunteer militia] are very organised, armed with batons and sticks and they basically attack without warning".

He said the mood of the crowd had been volatile: like "Sparks of fire under the dust".

Ali, also from Shiraz, emailed the BBC Have Your Say to describe his experiences at Monday's rally in his city.

There were lots of police on motorcycles attacking people

Ladan, Shiraz
He said tear gas was fired and then "Police on motorcycles attacked the protesters". He described taking refuge in someone's house but police broke windows to follow them in.

"They also arrested three young men and attacked another two. They started to hit them with batons ruthlessly. We could see blood running down their heads".

Ladan got in touch with BBC Persian TV: "My sister and her friends went to Molla Sadra Street in Shiraz. There were lots of guards and police on motorcycles attacking people."

Azarnoush in Shiraz tweeted: "Students are being surrounded in Shiraz University, civil police is in fight with people".

People have emailed the BBC from across Iran, in Yazd, Rasht, Esfahan and Tabriz to describe pro-Mousavi rallies. "

Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 10:37 Comments || Top||

#5  I saw where current Iran government plans to have a "limited vote re-count." They are going to count the ones that go their way and dump the rest.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/16/2009 12:32 Comments || Top||

#6  You'd think that idiots on motorcycles would be easy meat for organized street fighters. Get a long stick & three or four friends with long sticks, and play pike & pole-vault on any of these thugs who dare to charge you. A motorcycle isn't a horse, and a couple guys on a motorcycle isn't the cavalry. They're dynamically unstable and easily smashed up by somebody with a hoe or shovel who's willing to stand his ground.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 06/16/2009 13:50 Comments || Top||

#7  The Basijis [volunteer militia] are very organised, armed with batons and sticks and they basically attack without warning".

Yes, we saw it as it happened.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/16/2009 16:49 Comments || Top||

#8  There is now first hand, perpetrator evidence that proves that ballots were NOT counted. I watched BOTH major presidential debates on the Live Station feed, and both the clerical and semi-secular candidates slaughtered Ahmadinejad. He was accused of misuse of over 1 billion dollars, and refused to account for same. The Ayatollah's candidate - former speaker of the Iran parliament - blasted Ahmadinejad for lying about the angelic presence during his UN speech.

There is no freaking way that anyone could win a free election in face of a refusal to either account for cooking the economic books or to apologize for blasphemy. Ahmadinejad is under effective condemnation for blasphemy.

Unfortunately, the faux-president owns the military and civil service. And, in spite of clerical opposition, they have now fatwahed against use of protests for "counter-revolutionary" purposes. They prefer the status quo to free elections. Civil war is certain. It will likely start in the ethnic areas to the east, and gain Persian support. And there are professional soldiers who would like to have a go at the Basij parasites, who strike break for the Ayatollah' family companies.
Posted by: Black Bart Sliter4867 || 06/16/2009 17:12 Comments || Top||

#9  Unfortunately, the faux-president owns the military and civil service.

In the end, the election will go the way the ayatollahs want it to, Black Bart Sliter4867, because the game was rigged from the start, when the ayatollahs picked which potential candidates they would permit to run. The election was neither free nor fair, just like every election since 1979. What happens after the final results are announced is the interesting bit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2009 22:48 Comments || Top||


Speed of Iran vote count called suspicious
CAIRO (AP) - How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner?
Have a million ACORN volunteers do the counting?
That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election. International polling experts and Iran analysts said the speed of the vote count, coupled with a lack of detailed election data normally released by officials, was fueling suspicion around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory.

Iran's supreme leader endorsed the hard-line president's re-election the morning after Friday's vote, calling it a "divine assessment" and appearing to close the door on challenges from Iran's reformist camp. But on Monday, after two days of rioting in the streets, he ordered an investigation into the allegations of fraud.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's reformist challenger, claims he was robbed of the presidency and has called for the results to be canceled. Mousavi's newspaper, Kalemeh Sabz, or the Green Word, reported on its Web site that more than 10 million votes were missing national identification numbers similar to U.S. Social Security numbers, which make the votes "untraceable." It did not say how it knew that information.

Mousavi said some polling stations closed early with voters still in line, and he charged that representatives of his campaign were expelled from polling centers even though each candidate was allowed one observer at each location. He has not provided evidence to support the accusations.
His supporters have reported intimidation by security forces who maintained a strong presence around polling stations.

Observers who questioned the vote said that at each stage of the counting, results released by the Interior Ministry showed Ahmadinejad ahead of Mousavi by about a 2-1 margin. That could be unusual, polling experts noted, because results reported first from Iran's cities would likely reflect a different ratio from those reported later from the countryside, where the populist Ahmadinejad has more support among the poor.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Iran vote will go fast if you don't have to count them in the first place, that is the outcome is determined before the election.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/16/2009 12:34 Comments || Top||


Protesters plan more mass rallies in Iran

Iranian women come to the aide of a man being beaten, allegedly by the Basiji. (c) Flicker.
Reuters summary of the previous day's events, useful if you're just now getting to the story.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian demonstrators called for more mass protests on Tuesday, a day after hardline Islamic militiamen killed a man during a march by tens of thousands against a presidential election they say was rigged.

The Iranian capital has already seen three days of the biggest and most violent anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution after hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner of last Friday's vote.

"Tomorrow at 5 p.m. (8:30 a.m. EDT) at Vali-ye Asr Square," some of the crowd chanted at Monday's march, referring to a major road junction in the sprawling city of some 12 million.

Further protests, especially if they are maintained on the same scale, would be a direct challenge to authorities who have kept a tight grip on dissent since the overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah after months of demonstrations 30 years ago.

"We fight, we die, we will not accept this vote rigging"

People on the streets of Tehran
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he was "deeply troubled" by post-election violence in Iran. "The democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent -- all those are universal values and need to be respected," he told reporters. Obama said he would continue pursuing tough, direct dialogue with Tehran but urged that any Iranian investigation of election irregularities be conducted without bloodshed. The world was inspired by the Iranian protesters, he said.

Demonstrators filled a broad avenue in central Tehran for several kilometers (miles) on Monday, chanting "We fight, we die, we will not accept this vote rigging," in support of Mirhossein Mousavi, the defeated moderate candidate.

Mousavi said he was "ready to pay any price" in his fight against election irregularities, his Web site quoted him as saying, indicating a determination to keep up the pressure for the election result to be annulled.

Some formed a human chain in front of a building of the Basij Islamic militia, but others broke through and the hardline volunteer paramilitaries opened fire on the crowds sending thousands fleeing in havoc. One man was killed and many wounded, said an Iranian photographer who witnessed the shooting. Television footage showed one man, his leg covered with blood, being bundled onto the back of a taxi and driven away.

"Tanks and guns have no use any longer," chanted the protesters in a deliberate echo of slogans used leading up to the 1979 revolution.

Members of Iran's security forces have at times fired into the air during the unrest and used batons to beat protesters who have pelted police with stones.
One of the more interesting series of photos I saw was a Mousavi supporter helping a Basij officer get away after the latter had been seriously injured and was bleeding on the ground.
The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran.

Gunfire was also heard in three districts of wealthy northern Tehran on Monday evening and residents said there had also been peaceful pro-Mousavi demonstrations in the cities of Rasht, Orumiyeh, Zahedan, and Tabriz on Monday.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Obama Says Iran Must Pick Its Own Leaders
This is long but I'm not sending it to Page 49. I'm unhappy with my President and you should be too. The man has to stand for freedom and human rights or the United States doesn't mean anything anymore. The woman in the photo showed more courage today than my government, and that is simply shameful.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama for the first time voiced his concerns about the way Iran's election was conducted, though he fell short of calls from some democracy activists that he formally denounce the vote.
He's picking and choosing his words, "voicing concerns", because he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what to say because his moral core doesn't have the words for "freedom" and "human rights" and "liberty".
Mr. Obama said he was deeply troubled by the violence surrounding the election, but also stressed it was up to the Iranian people to choose their leadership.
No, it isn't and it hasn't been, and that precisely is the problem. Does the man not understand the difference between democracy and dictatorship? Iran is ruled by a Guardian Council. They pick and approve of the presidential candidates. They approve of all other national leaders. They veto government legislation. Iran has billed itself as an 'Islamic Republic', sovereignty coming from Allah and not from the people. Therefore it isn't up to the people in the first place. Now that the people are rising up Khamenei is moving to make clear to the world what perceptive people have always understood -- Iran is ruled by thugs.

Does Obama not understand this?
He said he would maintain his policy of directly negotiating with Iran's leadership on its nuclear program, irrespective of the current vote.
There is nothing to negotiate. The 'leaders' may not be there next week. And if they are, they are certainly not going to compromise with you -- not after they slapped their own people down. Khamenei is arresting the very people he hand-picked to run in the election. The smart thing to do is to get on the side of the people, so that if and when they throw out (and execute) the Guardian Council, we'll be able to say, "we were on your side when it mattered." Obama is throwing that away.
"It is up to Iranians to decide who their leaders may be. We respect Iranian sovereignty," Mr. Obama said following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. "I think it would be wrong to remain silent about what we've seen. ... The world is watching and is inspired by their participation, regardless of the outcome."
So don't be silent. Take a stand, man, and pledge the United States to being on the side of the common, ordinary people of Iran who are rising up.
The fluid political developments inside Iran are placing Mr. Obama in an increasingly difficult diplomatic position, U.S. officials and regional analysts said. Mr. Obama has pledged both to support democracy in the Middle East and to engage directly with Tehran's clerical rulers over the future of Iran's nuclear program.
The former should take precedence over the latter. Dump the clerics.
Any push by Mr. Obama to overtly support Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi could make diplomatic talks more difficult, while also potentially painting Mr. Mousavi and his supporters as American puppets, these officials and analysts said.
They will be painted as puppets regardless. It's already happening. The key is to get out in front and use the inspiration of the Iranian people to make clear where you stand as a world leader, and in turn to inspire the Iranian people to dump the thugs.
Still, a gathering number of Iranian opposition leaders, both inside Iran and out, are calling on Mr. Obama to lend more direct public support for those Iranians challenging the vote that re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. These activists fear that any near-term dialogue between the Obama administration and Mr. Ahmadinejad or Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could result in legitimizing the Iranian regime while also validating the election results.
Absolutely correct, and Short Round would use such talks expressly to smack down the internal revolution.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Monday ordered a probe into alleged voter irregularities in the country's presidential election. This was a shift after his strong endorsement of Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election over the weekend.
It's a sham -- it is what thugs do when they're trying to placate the people. Call for an investigation and then bury it.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday joined world leaders in supporting an inquiry into the disputed presidential election in Iran. "My position and that of the United Nations is that the genuine will of the Iranian people should be fully respected," Mr. Ban told reporters in New York. "I am closely following how this investigation into this election result will come out."
Don't follow the 'investigation', follow the people. Put the U.N. on the side of the people and you'll send a message to thugs all around the world. That would be legacy worth having as Secretary-General.
"We view the implications of recent events in Iran with serious concern," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

Mr. Miliband said the long view from London on the election outcome was its impact on Iran's nuclear program. "It is the implications of the decisions that are being made at the top levels of the Iranian regime that are of most concern," he said. The foreign secretary said the West's diplomatic overtures should be "answered by Iranian willingness to sit down and negotiate."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was "profoundly troubled by the political situation in Iran" and "condemns the violence against the demonstrators." He condemned the arrests of opposition political leaders and called for an end to restrictions on freedom of expression.
That's better -- Nick gets it. France can't do a lot, practically, to help the demonstrators, but France can take their side.
The French foreign ministry on Monday summoned the Iranian ambassador to the ministry to explain his government's actions, but the ambassador sent his press counselor in his place, according to an official at the French mission to the U.N. in New York.
A clear demonstration that Iranian officials plan to weather this and don't give a damn what the world thinks.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.S. was still evaluating the claims of election fraud, but reiterated the administration continued to have "doubts about the returns, which showed Mr. Ahmadinejad winning 63% of the vote.
Oh come on, we're not 'investigating' election fraud in Iran -- we have no such ability whatsoever. It's not like we're going to be examining voting machines. Kelly is stalling for time because Obama and Hillary do not know what to do. And they don't know because they don't have a moral core.
Ongoing demonstrations could force the Obama administration to take a firmer line on Tehran's handing of the election in the days ahead, said a number of Iranian activists and former U.S. diplomats. These officials said the political uprising in Tehran could represent a rare generational shift in the country, where a rising pro-democracy movement is seeking to uproot the founders of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Not to support these reformists, said these officials, could have a much broader impact for democracy promotion across the Middle East.

In his outreach so far to Iran, including in a speech on the Persian New Year, Mr. Obama has generally demurred from democracy and human-rights issue while formally recognizing the rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Thus ripping the heart out of democracy movements around the world. If the President of the United States won't support democracy, no one will.
Former U.S. officials said the Obama administration is walking an increasingly delicate line between supporting democracy in Iran while pursing the abolition of Tehran's nuclear program. Any rupturing of a dialogue between Tehran and the West could have major implications for global security, these officials said. Israel has vowed to attack Iran's nuclear research sites if there isn't progress diplomatically to contain the nuclear program.
That's the 'realists' talking, the one who don't want to 'upset' things. Right now upsetting Short Round and Khamenei is exactly what needs to be done.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336095 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry, I cannot hold back.

What will the price in Iranian blood be for your fecklessness? What about American and Israeli and other innocent blood down the road when this squandered opportunity ends up in Mullahs with Nukes, Barry, you ignominious dickhead?

Obama is simply a dumbfuck Chicago Pol; a narcissist who thinks his shit don't stink, and who thinks he can finesse anything. The ignorant bastard has never had to work for anything in his life, from his ivy league scholarship to his dirty tricks to win the Senate seat, to the GOP leadership's utter incompetence nominating McStain who refused to hit him hard, and the national press handing him this election with their Bias, then the press becoming as slanted as state owned media in old Communist eastern europe in order to cover the huge errors he has made so far.

All Obama has to do is be brave enough to speak a few words of respect for democracy and the will of the people, that's all the minuscule amount of courage that he needs to take a stand. It could be as few words as Reagan use "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall". Compare that small act of speaking to the Iranian people putting their lives on the line against the regime of thugs. And these are thugs who, if left in place, will have nukes, and don't give a crap about anyone's population including their own.

If this fool sides with the Mullahs and Amadhinejad, he deserves to be thrown out of office for cowardice and incompetence, for his endorsement, by inaction, of the thugs.

A quote for that vacuous preening shithead we have in the Oval office:

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/16/2009 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama is simply a dumbfuck Chicago Pol

If only! A politician knows that keeping promises is his stock in trade.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/16/2009 5:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I suspect he's a little nervous about the prospect of street protests when the tea parties gather steam ahead of the 2010 elections here. When it becomes clearer the power nakedly grabbed, the debt gathered, and the economy still tanked, Teh One may not be enthusiastic about a people expressing their will against an unpopular regime
Posted by: Frank G || 06/16/2009 7:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe instead of 3 AM they should wake him up around 10 AM. I hate to say this but Hillary got this one right. He must not trust anyone other than Ayers, Marshall and Wright or either Jim Jones, Bob Gates and other responsible thinkers are lethargic also. I suspect this is his Carter moment and he is acting accordingly.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/16/2009 7:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Didja ever notice that almost all bullies are actually cowards?
Posted by: Parabellum || 06/16/2009 8:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Obama is more confrontational with Israel then with Iran.

Instead of saying, "It is up to Israelis to decide who their leaders may be. We respect Israeli sovereignty."

He said, "endorse a Palestinian state or else."
Posted by: Lord garth || 06/16/2009 8:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Leftists despise individual freedom, and obambi is a leftist. He was probably choking on bile just making the lame utterances he's made thus far. He'd be a mullah himself if he could get away with it...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/16/2009 9:03 Comments || Top||

#8  Obama is simply a dumbfuc* Chicago Pol; a narcissist who thinks his shi* don't stink, Old Spook

I believe the appropriate term is "uppity." It is a colloquial term used during the presidential election by Congressman Lynn Westmoreland. Not heard much anymore in "polite" society.

Keep pushing the envelope, meneer...
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2009 9:51 Comments || Top||

#9  Besoeker, we don't need that, especially today. Don't do it again.

AoS
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 10:19 Comments || Top||

#10  The clinched fisted Communist (opps...forget that his advance people changed it to Community) Organizer strikes again.
Posted by: jack salami || 06/16/2009 10:19 Comments || Top||

#11  In fairness to BHO, part of the reason he is holding back has to do with the political situation in Iran. As I have said before, Moussavi and his reformist supporters are NOT necessarily on the same wave length. Moussavi has been PART of the regime, and is no western liberal, albeit (like Rafsanjani) he is more sane than dinner jacket. The reformers are trying to use him, and he them.

Moussavi has NOT called for the US to support him, and probably wont. A few reformers have asked for support, in tweets, and occasionally in interviews with MSM. But can it be proven they speak for the entire movement? There is no leader of the true reformists, only Moussavi for now. No Walesa here.

And will it strategically make sense to call for US support? This isnt Poland. Granted, dinner jacket will call moussavi a puppet anyway. Will fence sitters beleive him? And who are the fence sitters who count, anyway? Moussavi voters who havent come into the streets yet? dinner jacket voters having regrets? Or more importantly, the regular Army? (which some say resents the influence of the Rev guard/pasdaran) I dont know.

I give BHOs speech a b-, or at worst a C+. He understood what he needed to do, and he more or less did it. But this is a guy whose rhetorical skills should have given him an A. He should have managed to avoid saying anything risky, and STILL have been more inspiring, instead of checking the boxes.

I dont think this is cause he doesnt have the words for freedom and liberty. If it was a matter of reconciling two sides, in order to achieve freedom and liberty, he would do it just fine. What he seems to lack is a core for revolutionary confrontation. The Bushies had the core in words, they just had a tendency to apply the rhetoric excessively and with inconsistent or incompetent follow through. Clinton was a born compromiser, but he could at least empathize with someone elses aspirations and articulate them.

BHO, derided as a messiah, and worshipped by some as a messiah, is singularly LACKING in messianic qualities. Thats good on domestic policies (and has disappointed many of his backers so far) and is good on many for policy issues. But faced with a democratic revolution like this, it leaves him tone deaf.


Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 10:53 Comments || Top||

#12  as for the contrast to messing with the Israeli coalition - sure, if Im bibi (and I AM someone with more respect for Bibi than a week ago) I pocket that.

But that doesnt do a thing for folks in Teheran.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 10:55 Comments || Top||

#13  I actually would rather BHO didn't say much here...

If anything makes a mass protest uncool in Iran, it's having a US Presidential backing to it. That partly explains why the previous protests over there in 2003 (albeit of smaller magnitude) didn't quite catch on, irrespective of how good President Bush's intentions were. The Iranian politicians were too afraid to endorse the protests, lest they be seen as America-influenced traitors

There is a massive unrest in Iran (at least 100,000 took part in a mass rally yesterday)The best we can do (for RIGHT NOW) is to sit back, be quiet and watch the fireworks.
Posted by: sludge || 06/16/2009 11:42 Comments || Top||

#14  Obama Says Iran Must Pick Its Own Leaders

That's precisely the problem isn't it? They can't since Iran is an islamic dictatorship. What a weasel the US has for a president. America: the #1 friend of dictators since Jan 20, 2009.
Posted by: ed || 06/16/2009 12:04 Comments || Top||

#15  Until the protestors hold signs that say "forget '53, we want US support anyway" I fear Obama will be too worried it would be counterproductive.

Michael Totten has a good essay on why BHO is wrong to worry about that.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 12:26 Comments || Top||

#16  LH, I hear you and understand the concern. I don't want Obama pledging to send the Big Red One into Tehran.

But he CAN say, loudly and simply, "we stand with all people in the world who want democracy, liberty and human rights. We stand with all brave people willing to fight for their families, their children and their rights to live in freedom."

That's all he has to do.

And wear a green tie.

The Iranians will do the rest.

The Poles didn't ask Ronald Reagan to send the army through the Fulda Gap. But every time Reagan spoke for liberty and freedom, dissidents everywhere behind the Iron Curtain took heart.

Heart. That's what it is about. When people lose their fear, an evil regime's days are numbered. Obama can give the Iranians heart without committing the US to a dangerous course, and that's all I ask him to do.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 12:39 Comments || Top||

#17  Zero has already spoken forcefully about the struggle for freedom - in Cairo. He said that no country should impose its politics or values on other countries. He isn't going to now contradict himself by getting embroiled in this kerfuffle. No, he is a man of his word and his word is "back-off".
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/16/2009 12:57 Comments || Top||

#18  And I hear you Steve. Obviously no one is talking about armed intervention. We are talking about presidential statements. And when I said Iran isnt Poland, that is what I had in mind. In 1989, in Poland, there was, afaik, no one who had ANY particular reason to dislike or mistrust the United States. Maybe FDR and Yalta, but I think most Poles didn't really think there was much FDR could have done. Whereas in Iran there is '53, and the support for the Shah over the years. Whether thats as important as folks like Sullivan and John Judis think, or as unimporant as someone like Michael Totten thinks, I am not in position to say, which is why I am fence sitting on this one.

is what you have written that much stronger than "The world is watching and is inspired by their participation " ? Its a matter of subtle differences in wording.

As I said, I give BHO a C+. I dont know about you, but when my kid comes home with a C+ its not cause for celebration. But I dont think it means BHO is against freedom. He may be so "realist" that he has no stomach for any US support for freedom abroad (rather than simply forced to abandon such support out of a belief we are too overstretched at this time). Or maybe not. But whether he is that "realist" or NOT, he clearly is not one with stomach for confrontations for freedom. He likes to see the other guys side. In some instances that may well work - we are going to get farther with Russia, say, by acknowledging where Putin is coming from than by cheering for the Yelstin era. But Iran is different, in ways that dont comfortably fit BHO's world view.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 13:00 Comments || Top||

#19  "The Poles didn't ask Ronald Reagan to send the army through the Fulda Gap. "

but they did ask him to speak out.

have the iranian protestors aske BHO to speak out? If not, why not? Lack of leadership? Fear of the alienating Iranian fencesitters? Higher priorities?
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 13:04 Comments || Top||

#20  LH, BHO IS against freedom. This is all a part of his makeup along with sucking up to every dictator in the world from Venezuela to China. He despises freedom in the US because it interferes with the control (aka power) he craves.

This is shown by every thing he does and says. Total government control be it of GM, banks, healthcare, media, etc. all screams of BHO's fascist nature.
Posted by: AlanC || 06/16/2009 13:37 Comments || Top||

#21  Steve:

My study is a bit littered, I've just ripped the entire "U" section out of my Websters. I was aware of the recent injunction regarding discussions about birth certificates. Please let me know if there are other prohibited words or phrases. I'll get right after them as well!

You know what you're doing; so do I.

Next time - no warning.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2009 13:48 Comments || Top||

#22  That the man is neutral between the wolf and the sheep is all that needs to be said about him, and all that will be remembered, if there are aught to remember afterward.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 06/16/2009 14:00 Comments || Top||

#23  Looks like the admin did something practical

Reuters:

The U.S. State Department contacted the social networking service Twitter over the weekend to urge it to delay a planned upgrade that could have cut daytime service to Iranians, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

“We highlighted to them that this was an important form of communication,” said the official of the conversation the department had with Twitter at the time of the disputed Iranian election. He declined further details
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/16/2009 14:05 Comments || Top||

#24  It may appear a bit counterintuitive, but if Barry plans to 'do nothing' he should probably 'say nothing' as well. On the other hand, if he plans to take some sort of action, it would be well advised to 'say nothing' of it as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2009 14:39 Comments || Top||

#25  This is shown by every thing he does and says. Total government control be it of GM, banks, healthcare, media, etc. all screams of BHO's fascist nature.

In a very loose sense "Government total Control" is desirable, there's no blame shifting, we know just who to blame.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/16/2009 16:58 Comments || Top||

#26  I'm sure Obama had nothing to do with this upset in Iran, but he couldn't create a better diversion from our financial woes if he tried.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/16/2009 17:02 Comments || Top||

#27  Respect for "sovereignty"? Israeli Jews would be slaughtered if a belligerent paleosaur entity was formed on their eastern border, which is only 9 miles from the sea at one point. Hussein O has an agenda that goes beyond preserving life and liberty.

I don't suppose Big Media would corner the Enlightened One on his position-of-weakness' diplomacy?
Posted by: Black Bart Sliter4867 || 06/16/2009 17:43 Comments || Top||

#28  Obama is going to go with his strength on this one; wait for the worst to happen and then apologize. He is working with Charlie Gibson in the Whitehouse on crafting an emotional filled apology to be delivered in Primetime.
Posted by: airandee || 06/16/2009 20:05 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Behold! A Protest Babe....
Posted by: Sherry || 06/16/2009 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  I like the Green. Good touch.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/16/2009 1:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Pretty Persians Get Ayatollahs Hot Under The Turban



Roxana Saberi

Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Shally Zomorodi

Sarah Shahi (Daily ÇåÇ Shot)

Rudy Bakhtiar

Leyla Hatami



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/16/2009 3:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Thanks, Steve. This is hot with a timely edge. Too bad our government has voted 'present' on this one. She deserves better.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/16/2009 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Happy Birthday: June 16th.

Geronimo - died 1909 (79)

Stan Laurel - died 1965 (74) "Laurel and Hardy"

Ilona Massey - died 1974 (64) "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"

Faith Domergue - died 1999 (74) "This Island Earth"

Joan Van Ark - 66 "Dallas" (Now)

Phil Mickelson - 39 "Fore" (Now)

On this day in history: June 16th.
1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed.
1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle, and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; traditionally "Bloomsday".
1940 – Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Premier of Vichy France.
1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first skyjacking of a commercial plane.
1963 – Vostok 6 Mission – Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/16/2009 10:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Hope she's still alive
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/16/2009 12:14 Comments || Top||

#7  EC, I'm very worried about her. Much as the Chinese eventually identified and killed the courageous fellow who stood in front of the tanks, I'm afraid the Mad Mullahs will kill her and everyone else they can identify on video and images. That's what thugs do.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 12:18 Comments || Top||

#8  The Iranians may find out soon that they either have to go the entire way and finish off the Mullah regime for good. I believe that this is possible right now.

If they back off revenge will be terrible.
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/16/2009 14:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Change in Iran is a great way to undermine Bammo's foreign policy. If Castro dies Bammo might even insist on joining the evil corpse on the funeral pyre like tribal wives of old.
Posted by: Iblis || 06/16/2009 14:34 Comments || Top||

#10  Is it wrong to want to try to protect her in exchange for unlimited sexual favors?
Posted by: Unique Battle || 06/16/2009 17:38 Comments || Top||

#11  yes its wrong - even if she's over 18. (Unless you're a pervert late-night comedian...)

Having said that she is a protest babe...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/16/2009 18:09 Comments || Top||

#12  She's to be protected on general principles.
Posted by: Mike || 06/16/2009 18:18 Comments || Top||

#13  my favorite videos of the last few days were of "Riot Police" (read: thugs) running away from Iranian women who have just HAD ENOUGH!!

Kiss ass, ladies...KICK ASS!
Posted by: Justrand || 06/16/2009 22:06 Comments || Top||


Status
Two things to mention to our valued readers:

First, Fred is on the mend, and he'll be kicking (well) around here real soon.

Second, we change the bloid this morning to honor the brave, ordinary people of Iran. They deserve our support.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Job well done, Doc Steve --- my inner self tells me, Iranians are aware of support from websites in the US -- with just the use of color.
Posted by: Sherry || 06/16/2009 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  I watched the video from yesterday, with the motorcycle thugs beating people with clubs, I saw that two of them got their own asses kicked, and a bike (Theirs, I think) on fire, that's exactly what's needed, more thugs asses kicked
(I don't care if they hide behind "POLICE" badges whomp them anyway)
I strongly recommend protesters carry 2 1/2 foot long lengths of 3/4 pipe, when the policethugs hit, smush them (Also good for front bike spoke)They attacked citizens, that alone loses them their 'Police" Status right there.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/16/2009 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Easy does it, Jim --- Let the Iranians take this one step at a time --- this is new to them ---- like the Iraqis, there is much to be learned in this "Let freedom reign."

Knowingly, we Americans do have a violent streak in us, but it usually has been used, when true freedom is being threaten... our own Revolutionary War, the two Big Wars, etc....
Posted by: Sherry || 06/16/2009 1:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Michael Totten is doing great work this week at Commentary. I recommend that you read every word.

From his most recent essay, I propose we give some consideration to the Khomeinist doctrine of velayat-e faqui via the prism of the aims and actions of the new global elite. Is transnational progressivism just another name for velayat-e faqui, or as Steve put it, old wine in a shiny new velvet-swaddled steel bottle? And for further consideration, read this article and ponder if there is a certain solidarity in play.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/16/2009 1:40 Comments || Top||

#5  God help 'em. Seeing hte videos of those thugs stirs up a basic deep anger in me, the US Soldier's anger at seeing people in power beat on the powerless. Part of me thinks it worth it to have a good rifle and a well positioned and hidden place up high to introduce those fellows to 7.62mm of high powered consequences.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/16/2009 2:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Its 3 AM in Washington:

George W. Bush gets the phone call. What would he do?

Barack H. Obama gets the phone call. What will he do?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/16/2009 7:36 Comments || Top||

#7  I heard his comments last night, Jack. Pure pablum.
Posted by: Parabellum || 06/16/2009 8:17 Comments || Top||

#8  #6 Its 3 AM in Washington:

George W. Bush gets the phone call. What would he do?

Barack H. Obama gets the phone call. What will he do?
Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-06-16 07:36


The best answer to that is at this post:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/06/bush-stood-with-democracy-activists.html
Posted by: Hupaviter Peacock3016 || 06/16/2009 11:10 Comments || Top||

#9  All this time I've been saying "Bomb Iran!" and now you put a human face on them. Shame on me. Good luck and best wishes to them. I hope it all works out for the best. Of course, we're all human, aren't we? Today's DS&TP is truly inspired and inspirational.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/16/2009 11:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Exactly my point.

Even Clinton would have reacted more forcefully than this. He (Zero) can't create strawmen here. But if he did, it would go like this:

"There are those who would say that this is an overt expression of frustration that the long road to freedom has been impeded but on the other hand there are those who understand the reality of the new world politik - of not interfering - of not imposing on others our values such as liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness."
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/16/2009 12:49 Comments || Top||

#11  No EU, not shame on you. Bombing Iran was not a shameful idea. The bombs would have landed on the 17 Army divisions and special forces divisions outside the population centers, on the nuclear development sites, in short, the entire infrastructure that is a threat to the world. The people of Iran are rather western in philosophy. They have been hijacked and their country derailed by Islamic extremism, it can happen anywhere, here included if we are not careful. If this revolution is successful Iran will not be the great friend to the Arab world it once was. They will be moderate. I am afraid this is opportunity lost, zero will do nothing and perhaps the opportunity for the greatest event in our time with relation to the east will be missed.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/16/2009 15:56 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-06-16
  Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ask: 'Where is my vote?'
Mon 2009-06-15
  Tehran Election Protest Turns Deadly: Unofficial results show Ahmedinejad came in 3rd
Sun 2009-06-14
  Ahmadinejad's victory 'real feast': Khamenei
Sat 2009-06-13
  Mousavi arrested
Fri 2009-06-12
  Iran votes: Not a pretty sight
Thu 2009-06-11
  Gitmo Uighurs in Bermuda
Wed 2009-06-10
  Foopy becomes first Gitmo boy to stand trial in US
Tue 2009-06-09
  Truck bomb and gunnies attack 5-star Peshawar hotel
Mon 2009-06-08
  March 14 Maintains Parliamentary Majority in Record Turnout
Sun 2009-06-07
  30 MILF banged, camp seized
Sat 2009-06-06
  32 dead in mosque Pakaboom
Fri 2009-06-05
  Sufi Muhammad arrested
Thu 2009-06-04
  Three killed in renewed Hamas-PA clashes in Qalqiliya
Wed 2009-06-03
  Hafiz Saeed sprung
Tue 2009-06-02
  NKor names Kimmie's successor

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