Iran Election

[Eilonnwy]

I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up already.

Anyway, as we all know Ahmadinejad (Holy crap I spelled that right on my first try) was re-elected as president of Iran under very suspicious circumstances, and chaos has reigned in Iran since.

In case you were living under a rock, I'll recap: He swept the voting by 60% everywhere, 12 million votes were supposedly counted in 12 hours, he was announced as winning before the polls closed, voting fraud has been confirmed in 50 states where there were more votes than registered voters, the list goes on. As a results, those who support Mussavi began to protest peacefully in the streets of Iran until last Friday, the Supreme Leader Khamenei announced that the election results would stand and further protests would not be tolerated.

The protests continued, but they turned bloody due to the militia known as the Basiji. On Saturday, it was reported that the Basiji killed a woman named Neda who wasn't doing anything wrong. She was shot in the chest and her death was caught on a camera phoen and quickly updated to youtube. She has now become a matyr for the protesters and her name known worldwide, which means "voice".

The protests have continued, despite the fact that the Basiji have become more violent. At night people shout "Allah Akbar" on the rooftops. The number of protesters has decreased, but the level of violence has increased. People have been beaten, shot, thrown off bridges, hacked away at with axes. I've seen a picture of a deceased man with an axe wound in his chest, and a picture of an baby, shot in the back while in his mother's wound.

Of course, I have been following most of this news on Twitter. I created a second account specifically for following the Iran Election, and I have been retweeting various bits of news from sources I found in Iran. https://twitter.com/aeronnwy It's all been very astounding and I can't help but keep track of it. What's also amazing is the fact that, despite Iran's attempt to block communication and kicking out news reporters, pictures, videos, and news have come from twitter, facebook, and youtube. Videos have been shot by cell phone cameras.

How many of you have been following these events in Iran, and what are your thoughts? I personally hope that the protesters can effect change, but I have no idea how it will play out. I respect Obama's stance on this, we cannot make this conflict about the US, it's an Iranian issue. And if we do, it could make things worse. I think if any intervention happens, it should come from the UN.

Videos: http://bit.ly/uOy95
History lesson of US intervention with Iran: http://bit.ly/pnWc0

[LukeMC]

Ahh I heard about this quite recently. My gut reaction was to want to help the protestors and restore a just system. I then remembered how America's supposed role of policing the world went and suddenly changed my mind.

I certainly would love for the protesters to win on this one, but obviously we don't want that to be due to support solely from the USA or Britain (or both). Like you say Eilonnwy, the UN would be the most appropriate source of intervention if any is to take place- which I hope it does. I don't see how they can ignore such an issue. If they leave it to the Iranian protesters then they are basically letting the issue slide. This shouldn't be the case, as this is a blatently corrupt raping of democracy and as citizens of the earth we shouldn't allow other people to be subjected to an unjust system if we can immediately help it. I can't imagine this kind of thing slipping through in France or Germany- the western world would go nuts. Iran should get the same support if its people are being taken on a ride like this, and of course, the support should come from the united nations, not the united states or kingdom.

I can almost guarentee that I said something stupid/uneducated there.

[Rockthatpiano06]

I agree with both of you guys. I don't understand the people who say they want obama to do more... what more can he possibly do without getting us in trouble? Right now we already have n. korea saying they are going to blow us off the map, the president of iran telling obama to apologize for what he has already said about iran, and then of course everyone's favourite terrorist bin laden... Personally I'd rather just passively support them then risk getting into another 'military operation'

[LEDO]

Iranis killing Iranis. It is almost like Iraqis killing Iraqis. Seems like it is a "no lose" situation all around. Sit back and pass me the popcorn.

[Rob]

... except for the Iranians :S

[Overmars]

Iranis killing Iranis. It is almost like Iraqis killing Iraqis. Seems like it is a "no lose" situation all around. Sit back and pass me the popcorn.

Same here, I don't understand people that get so worried about something that really shouldn't be their concern, something that they can't control and that doesn't affect them at all.

[Tiberius]

It does affect us IMO. Whilst I don't think we should get involved, the possibility of the Iranians continuing their nuclear activities under Ahmadinejad is high. That could affect everyone.

[Eilonnwy]

And it matters to us if you care at all about basic human rights.

[Samson]

The U.S. has more to worry about from Korea than Iran.....

I do not believe we should get involved in this on a forceful level....Peace talks, negotiations, whatever...but without threats.....

[Dotard]

Nah.

Nuke 'em all.