Comments on: Will the Western Left side with the Iranian resistance?

By: Euripides

Euripides — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:17:09 +0000

"Musavi’s ‘people’ is also easily, but strongly, distinguished from Ahmadinejad’s anonymous masses dependent on state charity." Good job that civilized people just don't give a f**k about those dependent on state charity isn't it? We can't have the elites having to worry about them or even considering them as people too can we?

By: marlowe

marlowe — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:29:56 +0000

My first comment on Mondoweiss! A bit about me: I'm an Iranian living in Canada and have been trying to read as many diverse reports and analyses as I can. Hence my arrival at this site. I agree with you, Outsider, that we should focus on what's actually happening in Iran and try to inform ourselves about the complex political, historical, cultural, and economic contexts that have led to the events of the past week. But: I absolutely don't trust American pundits who are shamelessly and narcissistically jumping on the Moussavi bandwagon to promote themselves. Have you checked out Andrew Sullivan's blog lately? All of a sudden he's discovered his revolutionary spirit and is presenting himself as if he at all matters to the circulation of information flowing from Iran. And this morning he compared the events to the American Revolution! Wtf, Beltway Bloviators, it ain't about you. As for Al Giordano? He's a creepy Obamabot hack who has no clue what he's talking about when it comes to Iran. He's busy building strawmen on the Left (without any actual references to those whom he would heroically take down) in order to slap them aside and offer himself as the voice of reason. He's no authority where Iran is concerned. Ugh, I can't stand his "work" or his (totally unwarranted) arrogance. p.s. to Jeff Blankfort: Believe it or not, there are actual Iranians who voted for and who support Ahmadinejad. I'm not one of them, but it's patently and hilariously absurd to assume that they don't exist just because you haven't come across any yourself.

By: Mooser

Mooser — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:38:14 +0000

"Will the Western Left side with the Iranian resistance?" Jeez, I hope not. If anything is the kiss of death for a movement, and the guarantee of an unimpeded trip down the drain to the ash-heap of history, it an embrace from the "Western Left". And given all its success in moving the West leftward, will it even have time?

By: mary

mary — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:43:08 +0000

The US Department of State’s 2005 allocation of $75 million for “democracy promotion” was seen by the Iranians as a “dirty tricks” fund, with some of that money funding democracy-promotion workshops in neighbouring countries where anti-regime Iranian activists are coached in how to peacefully overthrow their government. However, the reality of overthrowing the Iranian regime is far more complicated, with many analysts believing that Iran will be a tough nut to crack. “Georgia and the Ukraine had many of the preconditions, including a wildly unpopular president who was still held in high esteem by the West,” says Christine Quirk, an Istanbul-based democracy transition consultant. “The opposition in both countries used stolen elections as a pretext to bring good old-fashioned political organising together with people’s outrage at the blatant abuse of political power. What both also have in common is assistance from the Serbian youth group Otpor, which is also advising Iranian activists,” she says. “Other than help from Serbian youth, I’m not convinced Iran has much in common at all with Georgia and Ukraine.”

By: mary

mary — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:42:35 +0000
Jeff is a good friend and we agree on much. I will not enter into the fine points of what he knows or thinks, since there is a possibility that one can NOT see the demonstrations as natural and can see them as colour revolutions with heavy external intervention, and at the same time NOT back Ahmadinejad. please see the following: " target="_blank">http://www.the-diplomat.com/article.aspx?aeid=580... excerpted below.

By: Marion

Marion — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:05:54 +0000
The Neocons are hard at work trying to get the U.S. to overthrow the Iranian government: Sunday Morning in Iran, A Letter from Mousavi’s Office " target="_blank">http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2009/06/20/...

By: Marion

Marion — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:57:30 +0000
This report was actually written and published the day before the elections in Iran: State Department Backs 'Reformists' in Wild Iranian Election Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:16 AM By: Kenneth R. Timmerman " target="_blank">http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Iran_election_Re... So what exactly does this tell us?

By: Marion

Marion — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:43:13 +0000
Are the Iranian Election Protests Another US Orchestrated ‘Color Revolution’? by Paul Craig Roberts for Information Clearing House " target="_blank">http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2009/06/are-ira...

By: Marion

Marion — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:11:04 +0000

Who was the left supporting in Lebanon, March 14th or March 8th?

By: Marion

Marion — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:09:19 +0000
A question to think about, when there has been an election held in a country that was won by the so-called Left but contested on the streets by the so-called right to have been rigged, what has the Left usually done? More reports on the Iranian and Lebanese elections: Learning to Live With the Devil We Know " target="_blank">http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090616_lear... **** The Lebanese Elections By Karim Makdisi " target="_blank">http://www.counterpunch.org/makdisi06172009.html *** Iranian Elections: The "Stolen Elections" Hoax " target="_blank">http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&... **** Henry Kissinger on BBC talking about the need for an emergence of a new regime in Iran out of the present presidential elections crisis. " target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc8EWr2B5so&eu... **** Beijing cautions US over Iran " target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KF20Ak03...