Iran's Guardian Council ready to do limited recount of ballot boxes

At least 15 dead. Shot by government security forces.

Iranian gov't directing DDOS attacks on American and foreign websites covering the crackdown.

No comment from the moral cowards Obama, Biden, Reid, Pelosi and Clinton.

Too young to remember Kent State, are we?

Too young to remember Kent State, are we?

More germane might be the truly genuine political murder of the era, the consequences and the fraud behind it ~

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/world/europe/27germany.html?_r=1

Funny, the Lefties here were quite heavily invested in the so-called reformers, confident that Obama had reached Iran the way Bush the Cowboy never could. And now our rookie president is too coward to take a stand on the crackdown.

Yabits, goodDonkey,betzee, susisake,smithinjapan - no comment?

More germane might be...

Mmmm. Well, yes. It might be. However, I think you'll have to be more explicit as to how the shooting death by a Stasi-agent-cum-West-German-policeman is more germane to this case.

What government would not put down a violent demonstration, even using lethal force?

I'm a bit confused about the term "volunteer militia", their connection to the government and their rights (like shooting down people)

Typical. Bush authorizes surveillance of phone calls made to America by suspected foreign terrorists and the Left screams that the Constitution has been shredded.

The Iranian gov't counts millions of hand written ballots in a matter of hours, declares a winner, and cracks down violently on innocent unarmed protesters.

Mr Moral Equivalence comes here with Kent State and even asks "What government would not put down a violent demonstration, even using lethal force?"

Moderator: Stay on topic please. References to President Bush and Kent State are of course irrelevant to this discussion.

"And now our rookie president is too coward to take a stand on the crackdown."

Obama has made his comment. And with great care; an out and out declaration of support for the protesters would be counter-productive. America cannot allow itself to be painted as the instigator of this uprising.

Why should Obama, Biden, Reid, Pelosi and Clinton say anything right now?

They already made statements based on the election. Now we see freedom in process. Why get involved and say something that could backfire at a later point?

I'm surprised at the level it's reached. I'm not disagreeing with the protest, just pleasantly surprised at the level of activity. I'm not for all the destruction.

How about the protest from roofs? These people are standing up. < :-)

Wonder if the hundreds of thousands of protesters will make any difference.

Wonder if a higher body count will.

Probably not.

Teleprompter - "Funny, the Lefties here were quite heavily invested in the so-called reformers, confident that Obama had reached Iran the way Bush the Cowboy never could. And now our rookie president is too coward to take a stand on the crackdown."

You're obviously still hurting from watching the GOP get thrashed last November, aren't you? :-)

I'm not sure at this point whether President Obama has made a statement about this events.

What is it to you whether he has or not?

You're obviously still hurting from watching the GOP get thrashed last November, aren't you? :-)

Not as much as the family and relatives of the 15 dead in Iran are.

Obama could encourage the iranians to rise up and overthrow their oppressors ..then withdraw that offer later and stand back as they are all slaughtered..that's the proven cowardly approach.

Where's Obama? Don't Iranians deserve Hope and Change? Iran, not to mention the rest of the troubled region, deserves better.

Here is a real leader - former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney - telling it like it is:

"...it's very clear that the president's policies of going around the world and apologizing for America are not working."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0609/Romney_calls_on_Obama_to_speak_out_on_Iran.html?showall

I hope we are seeing the seeds of real change in Iran. Persian people have a history of great cultural and social wonder. I hope that the dark age the Islamic Revolution brought to Iran will soon be ended and that new awakening of a Secular partnership with Islam will create an Iran that can rejoin the global community and become a valued leader of the region. If the theocrats are smart, they will seize this opportunity for face saving change and create a more open society. If they fail to see the chance, then we may see the theocracy and opposition in years of conflict that will ultimately end in change for Iran. I hope we can see change without a massive loss of life and economy.

15 dead in iran suddenly an issue,when tens of thousands can die in Iraq for a better system,and go unnoticed..blinkered fool

teleprompter - "Where's Obama? Don't Iranians deserve Hope and Change? Iran, not to mention the rest of the troubled region, deserves better."

Tele, tell us again why President Obama needs to get involved in this over other leaders of countries, say, closer to Iran?

You're creating your own straw men and shooting them while simultaneously proving to all of us that you're still hurtin' real bad that candidate Obama whumped your guy last November. :-)

And while you say "Don't Iranians deserve Hope and Change?" you seem to be completely oblivious to the change on the streets of Iran that is clearly described in the the thread you are posting on but for some reason choose to ignore.

Friendly hint: Please think before you post. It would help the rest of us to have something rational to reply to.

Thanks. :-)

Where's Obama? Don't Iranians deserve Hope and Change? Iran, not to mention the rest of the troubled region, deserves better.

This implies that Obama rules the world, or that the US has a right or a responsibility to intervene in the affairs of every country whose actions displease it.

Tiresias, it's called arrogance. :-)

tkoind2: I hope we are seeing the seeds of real change in Iran.

Yep. You can't turn back what's happening now. Even if the results don't change and even if they can be proven it won't do much to stem the feeling that the protesters have created. I'm really curious as to how the Iranian government will react to this. It's something that can't be ignored anymore.

my maid, who's Iranian, is worried sick about what's going on. I'm told she's been sitting at my home computer looking at twitter.

With his reticence and mealy-mouthed, calculated prevarications our rookie Commander-in-Chief is obviously satisfied to let his predecessor's verdict stand: Iran, axis of Evil.

Another rigged election to keep a nutcase in power. Its a bit like Zimbabwe. My heart goes out to the protestors. I hope they are successful in ousting this despotic leader and bringing in true democracy and hope to Iran.

to keep a nutcase in power maybe, but after just reading about the guy, he ain't gonna be different. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/15/iran.elections.analysis/index.html

did you know he was one of the main guys behind placing a Fatwa on Salimon Rushidie? Denies Israel's right to exist....

now I wonder what all the fuss was about. Maybe he's changed.

"With his reticence and mealy-mouthed, calculated prevarications our rookie Commander-in-Chief is obviously satisfied to let his predecessor's verdict stand: Iran, axis of Evil."

Whole lot of bitterness there, my friend. You ought to just accept the fact that last year's elections are over, and the right people won. In this election it seems pretty clear to me that, legitimately or not, the right person didn't win, but will remain in power. It has nothing at all to do with Obama, nor should he do anything about it (and if he did, you'd condemn him for it and ask where is our indignation, etc.).

Other posters are right, it will be interesting to see what happens next now that the people are further making their voices heard. What's happening cannot be ignored by the IRANIAN government, and needn't intervention by others.

Funny, the Lefties here were quite heavily invested in the so-called reformers, confident that Obama had reached Iran the way Bush the Cowboy never could.

As a liberal, I stand with those calling for reform in Iran. I have little doubt that President Obama's overtures to the people of Iran and its government are having a great deal of impact on how passionately those supporting reform within Iran are responding. If these brave people did not have hope that they can change things for the better, they wouldn't be risking their safety the way they are for a new vision of Iran.

I oppose the cowardly hardline conservatives of Iran just as I oppose the cowardly hardline conservatives in the US.

yabits -- completely agree. The supporters of Mousavi definitely liken him to an Iranian version of Obama, and much of his support comes from the same groups as did Obama's, namely younger voters and better-educated ones. While Ahmadinjad gets much of his from lower-income, rural areas, just like McCain. And there is no question that Obama's victory has emboldened these folks. The latest news is that Mousavi has rejected the recount, as it is not the real issue. The real issue is that 53 million ballots were printed, but only like 39 million counted. A recount of the 39 million won't answer what happened to the missing 14 million.

And there is no question that Obama's victory has emboldened these folks.

Hope for necessary, liberal change is a very powerful force. One can almost hear the hardline followers of Ahmadinejad likening his opposition to the Iranian version of "Sore-Losermen." Conservatism wedded to religious fundamentalism is always bad news for ordinary people who possess brains capable of critical thought.

What government would not put down a violent demonstration, even using lethal force?

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I don't think Ahmadinejad has supporters here as much as he has people who smell a hate-fest when it is brewing.

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Thank heavens the US would never fund anti-government demonstrations, especially in Iran. Subject only to our reserved right to second-guess the people's will and to blacken those we dislike with charges of thwarting it, we always support popularly elected governments unless, of course, we do not like the results.

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you are naive if you do not think that the US supports the Iranian opposition or that it will not try to get as much political mileage as possible from this result.

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Protests are good for the American propaganda machine.

And there is no question that Obama's victory has emboldened these folks.

Whatta laugh. Twitter feeds out of Iran are full of messages from young Iranians in revolt against the mullahs asking "Where is the support from America?"

If there was ever a moment to reach to out to 'moderate' Muslims isn't this it?

"America can't impose its values on other countries."

Obama has no problems trying to impose his New Left values on democratic Israel;but with Iran he defers to a regime that murders its own citizens in cold blood.

Problem is the hardliners on the guardian council pulled the strings to get Ahmadinejad elceted in the first place. I'm sure their crooked recount will conform his win.

Obama has no problems trying to impose his New Left values on democratic Israel;but with Iran he defers to a regime that murders its own citizens in cold blood.

Since the level of US aid to Israel is somewhat greater than what we send to Iran, we do have a greater claim to how all financial assistance is being used. Common sense should tell you that. Alas...

If there was ever a moment to reach to out to 'moderate' Muslims isn't this it?

President Obama is playing it just right. Of course, if President Obama "reached out" to the point that he was throwing gasoline on the fire, the resulting carnage would suit teleprompter just fine as giving him more reason to score his partisan-hackworthy political points.

Twitter feeds out of Iran are full of messages from young Iranians in revolt...

That's right. Form a U.S. policy response based on Twitter feeds.

Do you think they'll Photoshop the results? ;)

The recount may confirm a "win" but that might not do anything to settle public unrest. The Iranian economy is not doing well so people have a lot to complain about. Too early to predict what is going to happen but I understand the Iranian maid's concern.

The population of Iran is more than 70,000,000, of which even hundreds of thousands of protestors represents about one percent of the population.

Western media is intentionally blowing this out of proportion.

Everyday the equivalent of 100 airliners crash everyday containing children under the age of 5 who have died of poverty related causes.

Statistically speaking, the first thing the Western world does when it faces financial difficulty is fire their "maids" per se, and we have at least ten percent of our own population that is unemployed (Try to imagine what would happen if 10% of the population started protesting).

Lets worry about what we are doing wrong in our own countries before we start messing with others.

If you want to make references to "evil", try looking it up in Biblical, Islamic, or even Buddhist terms and you might see yourselves along this very axis.