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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 10/09/2007 : 04:07:15
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- About 100 students staged a rare protest Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a "dictator" as he gave a speech at Tehran University marking the beginning of the academic year.
While the demonstrators and hard-line students loyal to Ahmadinejad scuffled in the auditorium, the president ignored chants of "Death to the dictator" and gave his speech on the merits of science and the pitfalls of Western-style democracy, witnesses said.
The hard-line students chanted "Thank you, president" as police looked on from outside the university's gates without intervening
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Organizers hoped to avoid a similar disturbance Monday with tightened security measures. They checked the identity papers of everyone entering the campus and allowed only selected students into the hall for the speech, but the protesters were somehow able to gain entrance. |
Note the Bush-style screening of audience members. Getting 100 anti-Ahmadinejad protestors past that says something for the students' skills and persistence.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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moakley
SFN Regular
USA
1888 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 04:37:03 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Organizers hoped to avoid a similar disturbance Monday with tightened security measures. They checked the identity papers of everyone entering the campus and allowed only selected students into the hall for the speech, but the protesters were somehow able to gain entrance.
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Note the Bush-style screening of audience members. Getting 100 anti-Ahmadinejad protestors past that says something for the students' skills and persistence.
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In fairness, I believe that Bill Clinton was accused of this as well. Control the message I guess. Can't afford to many Harry Taylor type diversions from message too often. |
Life is good
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 06:24:34 [Permalink]
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Getting 100 anti-Ahmadinejad protestors past that says something for the students' skills and persistence.
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Probably "democracy" activists bought and paid for by the NED. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 09:14:16 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Gorgo
Getting 100 anti-Ahmadinejad protestors past that says something for the students' skills and persistence.
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Probably "democracy" activists bought and paid for by the NED.
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Thanks for making me aware of the National Endowment for Democracy. It looks as though I'd generally support their efforts.
I do suspect that most of the hundred students were not paid foreign agents. From my understanding, there is still a large, domestic democratic movement within Iran. That's one of the reasons that I'm against making war on Iran. I have hope that, given time, and a lack of the kind of outside actions that would tend to strengthen the hands of the mullahs, the Iranians will themselves sort out their internal problems.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 09:47:03 [Permalink]
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Probably "democracy" activists bought and paid for by the NED.
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Thanks for making me aware of the National Endowment for Democracy. It looks as though I'd generally support their efforts.
[/quote]
You can have them. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 10:09:09 [Permalink]
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Whatever you (an Ron Paul, who wrote on your second linked site) think of NED, do you really think there are no Iranians who want democracy for their own sake? That's the primary issue here.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 10:19:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Whatever you (an Ron Paul, who wrote on your second linked site) think of NED, do you really think there are no Iranians who want democracy for their own sake? That's the primary issue here.
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Sure. It could be that they are Iranians that want democracy for their own sake. That doesn't mean that what they want hasn't been colored by western NGO's.
Ron Paul and a lot of other people. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 11:17:42 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Whatever you (an Ron Paul, who wrote on your second linked site) think of NED, do you really think there are no Iranians who want democracy for their own sake? That's the primary issue here.
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Iran is a country of some 65 million people. I think with those numbers it's safe to assume you can find representatives of virtually any kind of ideology there. The question is not if the number is greater than zero, but if it exists in numbers that are significant.
Which, in this case, is very likely. |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 05:08:17 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- About 100 students staged a rare protest Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a "dictator" as he gave a speech at Tehran University marking the beginning of the academic year.
While the demonstrators and hard-line students loyal to Ahmadinejad scuffled in the auditorium, the president ignored chants of "Death to the dictator" and gave his speech on the merits of science and the pitfalls of Western-style democracy, witnesses said.
The hard-line students chanted "Thank you, president" as police looked on from outside the university's gates without intervening
. . .
Organizers hoped to avoid a similar disturbance Monday with tightened security measures. They checked the identity papers of everyone entering the campus and allowed only selected students into the hall for the speech, but the protesters were somehow able to gain entrance. |
Note the Bush-style screening of audience members. Getting 100 anti-Ahmadinejad protestors past that says something for the students' skills and persistence.
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But wait, the US media says Ahmadinejad rules Iran with an "iron fist." Odd that he's getting protestors.  |
-Chaloobi
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 06:42:53 [Permalink]
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| Ahmadinejad doesn't have a lot of power in Iran. He is an elected official. Sounds like either the U.S. media has slanted something, or some western funds have bought a megaphone or two. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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SamoanEagle
New Member
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 07:51:48 [Permalink]
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Ahmadinejad doesn't quite have the power he used to have. Last month Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a liberal (by Iranian clerical standards) was elected to head the council of experts, the body which has power to challenge Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
| Rafsanjani"If the assembly of experts wants to take responsibility for important practical duties and to interfere in the current issues of the country at the highest level and to be more active in various areas, there is no obstacle from a legal and Islamic viewpoint. The assembly of experts is among the most important elements of Islamic Iran." |
He has previously suggested reforms to the structure of Iranian politics, including replacing the supreme leader with a council and introducing limited terms for the leaders of the country.
Potentially, this could lead to serious change in Iran. We'll have to wait and see what happens. |
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 21:33:25 [Permalink]
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| Right. I was being sarcastic. The US government doesn't think the US citizenry is sophisticated enough to understand anything other than an all power dictator. So they simplify things for us in order to more effectively demonize the bad guy and get us behind whatever policy they've trumped up to hide their true intentions. |
-Chaloobi
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Mycroft
Skeptic Friend
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 10/10/2007 : 22:04:47 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by chaloobi
Right. I was being sarcastic. The US government doesn't think the US citizenry is sophisticated enough to understand anything other than an all power dictator. So they simplify things for us in order to more effectively demonize the bad guy and get us behind whatever policy they've trumped up to hide their true intentions.
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So what do you identify as the "trumped up" policy and what do you identify as the governments "true intentions"? |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2007 : 09:25:48 [Permalink]
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Trumped up polciy? How about Iran is developing nuclear weapons, are well along in that regard, and that Ahmedinijad is an all powerful dictator bent on the destruction of Isreal and the domination of the Middle-East. Setting aside Ahmedinijad's empty rhetoric - which has lost him much support within Iran's political power structure - there is no evidence any of this is true.
As for the true intentions? For some reason the Bush Administration wants a war with Iran and they are currently engaged in whipping up fear in the US to gain support for that policy. I don't know why. I'm sure it loosely relates to dominating the middle-east in order to secure a reasonably priced oil supply and lucrative contracts for US oil companies for the forseeable future. But who knows. Perhaps their support for Shia militias in Iraq is an issue. Perhaps Iran's growth in influence with the removal of Saddam as a detterant is another issue. Maybe it is in part influence from the Isreali lobby. |
-Chaloobi
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Ahmadinejad gets a dose of homegrown democracy
