Iran declares win for Ahmadinejad in disputed vote

"possible fraud"

I don't believe it.

This probably isn't going to end well....

A few 'hanging chads' there it seems.

I think we've seen this 'result' before. It usually goes something like this:

incumbant desperately needs/wants to stay in power and declares democratic victory despite evidence to the contrary.

opposition also declares victory and demands it be recognized.

party in power (up to the election, anyway) says any protest equals direct violence against government (or some sort of rubbish along those lines) and threatens to meet it with lethal force 'if necessary'.

opposition is issued same threat and is forced either literally or figuratively to give up, or are jailed/killed for 'treason'.

I say let em shoot it out. Winner gets to keep power if they play nicely with the other kids in the UN. and other international organizations.

Let's just hope for Iran's sake that katherine harris isn't brought in (however, that WOULD be good for America).

Taka

Ahmadinejad is one of the few aces the Republicans have that will allow them to keep pushing for increased defense spending, missile shield, etc.

Republicans NEED Ahmadinejad to remain in power.

susisake:

Republicans NEED Ahmadinejad to remain in power.

I'm asuming that comment, like 90 percent of what you put up, refers to America's Republican Party.

They are out of power.

You are out of ideas.

Republicans NEED Ahmadinejad to remain in power.

I'm a republican and neither I nor any of my republican friends want Ahmadinejad in power. It is the leftists who always come to the defense of Ahmadinejad regarding Israel, his nuclear weapons program, and his Hezbollah terrorist proxies. The leftists are undoubtedly celebrating Ahmadinejad's victory. David Duke is celebrating as well.

Well if he wins then he wins.....If this is the case then the rest of the world will have to accept this and work with him to find peace.

JoeBigs: "the rest of the world will have to accept this and work with him to find peace"

Find peace with a madman who has called for Israel's destruction? I suppose anything's possible...

I can't wait for Sushi's next post here.

the defense of Ahmadinejad regarding Israel, his nuclear weapons program, and his Hezbollah terrorist proxies.

It's the flip-side of the American political coin my friend. We had years of American centre-right financial support of Israel regarding Gaza, Israel's nuclear weapons programme and Israel's military proxies.

JoeBig:

" If this is the case then the rest of the world will have to accept this and work with him to find peace. "

Good luck with that. To understand his idea of peace, read up on how he and his mentors define "peace". Hint: Israel is not in it.

northlondon:

" It's the flip-side of the American political coin my friend. We had years of American centre-right financial support of Israel regarding Gaza, Israel's nuclear weapons programme and Israel's military proxies. "

That is the standard leftis/islamist rethoric.

And of course there is nothing Israel can do to please its islamist critics, short of ceasing to exist.

To claim that the hatred of Israel has anything to do with a particular piece of land is laughable.

"Ahmadinejad is one of the few aces the Republicans have that will allow them to keep pushing for increased defense spending, missile shield, etc.

Republicans NEED Ahmadinejad to remain in power."

Yes, just like Abe Lincoln need surgery to take the bullet out.

WilliB:

And of course there is nothing Israel can do to please its islamist critics, short of ceasing to exist.

To claim that the hatred of Israel has anything to do with a particular piece of land is laughable.

And that is the standard centre-right/ Zionist rhetoric isn't it ? You see, we don't all share the same political and geographical ideals buddy.

when is tehran NOT tense ?

Congratulations to Mahmoud I'minajihad, and my condolences to the Iranian people.

when is tehran NOT tense ?

Have you ever been there ? Most probably not. So I guess Compton is not going to be tense tonight ? Or downtown Marseilles ? Or Coldharbour Lane in Brixton ?

my condolences to the Iranian people.

Sarge, I doubt that they care for your condolences very much. It seems that the majority voted for him again. I mean, the rest of the world must have offered it's condolences to the American people when Bush was declared the winner despite not having the majority vote.

I'm a republican and neither I nor any of my republican friends want Ahmadinejad in power.

Most Republicans have said it doesn't matter who wins because they don't see the elections as anything other than a sham.

Most Republicans have said it doesn't matter who wins because they don't see the elections as anything other than a sham.

Please note the last sentence of my post above yours. The Republican Party of America were the masters of the election sham long before Ahmadinejad tried it.

Looks clearly rigged election, everyone predicted close election and there was a lot of people criticizing Ahmedinajad, even some of his previous supporters, and there were several candidates. this is BS. I wonder how much Iranians regret replacing the Shah dictatorship with a theocratic dictatorship. at least the Shah modernized Iran and had close diplomatic relationship with most countries . Now Iran is poorer and isolated. I doubt Iranians chose Ahmedinajad.

Who would vote for such an idiot anyway. Now Iranians have to wait for their Obama . on the other hand everything in hands of the "supreme" leader. so their Obama have to be a new supreme leader and new constitutional council.

The Republican Party of America were the masters of the election sham long before Ahmadinejad tried it.

The Islamic Republic nearly consumed two presidencies. Carter's of course, and then Reagan's. While Iran Contra has been all but excised from the historic record, in the late 1980s it posed some very troubling constitutional and leadership questions. one of the Reagan administration's defenses was that it had been trying to strengthen moderates within the Tehran government.

The missed opportunity was when a moderate was elected in 1997 Bill Clinton didn't move on it. Of course the "we don't negotiate with evil we defeat it" chorus would have been louder than when Reagan strengthened diplomatic overtures to the USSR after Gorbachev came to power.

The Iranian people did show solidarity with Americans after 9/11. There were candle light vigils in Tehran. But that couldn't be accommodated in a black and white mindset. When GWB declared Iran to be a member of "the axis of evil" that must have been music to the hardliner's ears. There was no way anyone could campaign on a reapproachment with the USA platform in 2005.

American conservatives probably see the noble Iranian people are suffering under a tyrannical regime led by religious and assorted crackpots. Yet such a view is hard to maintain given the fact Ahmadinejad does have a strong base of popular support which owes both to populist domestic policies and his confrontational foreign policy. It is viewed, by some Iranians, as a source of strength in a dog eat dog world. Don't mess with us.

I wonder how much Iranians regret replacing the Shah dictatorship with a theocratic dictatorship.

I wouldn't go there, it will elicit a denunciation of the US role in toppling democratically elected Mossadegh and re-installing the Shah in power in 1953. Had he not been forced to leave the country in 1979 when he was terminally ill, it's unlikely his teenage son could have held on to power. The family is immensely wealthy and he maintains a government in exile which is not taken seriously be anyone in Iran.

The U.S. Republicans have great reason to celebrate tonight.

One of their few remaining aces to remaining relevant and scaring Americans has keep his post.

A great day for Republicans everywhere. :-)

I don't see a second Ahmadinejad term as simply a continuation of the first. After Saddam was toppled there was a power vacuum in the Muslim Middle East. Ahmadinejad was clearly trying to increase his regional stature by making pronouncements intended to play well on Arab Street and position himself as the anti-GWB. But he wasn't successful. It's very likely Persian Shias can assume leadership of Arab Sunnis.

SushiSake: Republicans NEED Ahmadinejad to remain in power.

You've officially reached troll status. How the mighty have fallen....

Well I guess we're just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out. I can't say I know what happened in the polling stations on both sides, but it seems odd to me. From BBCnews.com:

"The figures, if they are to be believed, show Mr Ahmadinejad winning strongly even in the heartland of Mr Mousavi, the main opposition contender.

The scale of Mr Ahmadinejad's win means that many people who voted for a reformist candidate in the previous presidential election four years ago have apparently switched their votes to Mr Ahmadinejad, he adds."

To claim that the hatred of Israel has anything to do with a particular piece of land is laughable.

Considering that Israel is a particular piece of land, what is laughable would be the claim that hatred of Israel has nothing to do with that.

Since US is bankrupt, they must make money. They can export weapons because that is the only industry they have which is good. Forget car industry or some industry. Since US is bankrupt and need to borrow 300 billions from Asia each year just to get going, US should hand over industries or start selling missiles to Japan and China.

With regard to their antagonism and objections to Israel's existence what historical basis can Persian, Shiite Iran point to that would justify the way A'jad uses the issue for Iran's naked imperial ambitions in the region?

None.

With regard to their antagonism and objections to Israel's existence what historical basis can Persian, Shiite Iran point to that would justify the way A'jad uses the issue for Iran's naked imperial ambitions in the region?

None.

So what? They are separate issues and the yet-to-be-established (as opposed to naked) imperial ambition of Iran has nothing to do with the much broader objection to the existence of Israel.