An Iranian Crisis
It is obvious that Friday's election results are fraudulent. Eighty-five million votes were cast and results were released 2 hours later -- no monitoring, no checking. And its not as if these were cast on electronic devices. They were paper ballots. There is simply no way that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won with such a large plurality -- and one would assume that the other two candidates would have taken more votes than they seem to have been allowed. Indeed, there is every bit of evidence that Mir Hussein Moussavi has actually won this thing.
I watched for a few minutes Ahmadinejad's bizarre news conference with state run media. It was his typical nonsensical rambling statements. He says he won and that the results are fair, but opposition figures have been arrested. Regime opponents, male and female, have been beaten by police. Opposition media and communication outlets, including blogs have been shut down. But the people continue to shout in defiance of regime threats.
The State officials may have announced a winner, but he opposition continues to contest the vote. The next few days will be interesting. Indeed, the clerics at the top could be facing their own internal battles over this. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei may be Supreme Leader, but he can be deposed by fellow senior clergy. I don't think this thing is over. But this thing could also get dangerous, especially if Iran becomes destabilized.
I watched for a few minutes Ahmadinejad's bizarre news conference with state run media. It was his typical nonsensical rambling statements. He says he won and that the results are fair, but opposition figures have been arrested. Regime opponents, male and female, have been beaten by police. Opposition media and communication outlets, including blogs have been shut down. But the people continue to shout in defiance of regime threats.
The State officials may have announced a winner, but he opposition continues to contest the vote. The next few days will be interesting. Indeed, the clerics at the top could be facing their own internal battles over this. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei may be Supreme Leader, but he can be deposed by fellow senior clergy. I don't think this thing is over. But this thing could also get dangerous, especially if Iran becomes destabilized.
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