Iowa Liberal

Still pulling, hoping, and wishing for the Green Revolution in Iran to keep snowballing.

The violence has increased, but the protesters have overwhelmed government forces numerous times. Andrew Sullivan should get a Peabody for coverage of the tumult in Iran this past year. He’s been the one-stop shop of the war coverage. If you’ve been trying to follow it on cable news…why?

-jb

If Ahmadinejad makes a speech and no one is there to hear it did it really happen?

I am so so glad this little man can now give a speech without the right wing fringers pissing their pants in fear all over the networks. I mean, they still do quiver and quake but a least we don’t have to endure the humiliation of our president doing the same.

-mg

Those who cannot stomach reality should not watch.

UPDATE: More on Neda (whose name means “voice” in Farsi) and how she has become a rallying cry in Iran here.

-jb

They don’t need neocon advice. They’ve been listening plenty.

We believe that there is indeed an Obama effect in play here.

Bush/Cheney/Limbaugh/insert-neocon-here can never inspire them, because for all the pontificating, there is no masking the contempt for Middle East Islamic culture. Between friends, little more is needed than a brief nod of the head and a wink.

-jb

Amazing.

If they refuse to stop, they can’t be stopped.

-jb

It’s rather amazing that Iran went through with the election at all. Now it’s either crush the people or get tossed out…

Unofficial news – reports leaked results from Interior Ministry:
Eligible voters: 49,322,412
Votes cast: 42,026,078
Spoilt votes: 38,716
Mir Hossein Mousavi: 19,075,623
Mehdi Karoubi: 13,387,104
Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad (incumbent): 5,698,417
Mohsen Rezaei (conservative candidate): 3,754,218

39% Mousavi, 27% Karoubi, 11% Ahmedinejad. The only thing that would lead to doubting the credibility of these numbers is the question of whether the government in Iran would bother to count the votes in the first place.

Unfortunately, right now the people are getting their asses kicked, and the Revolutionary Guard has taken over the press. Biden has expressed doubt, but let’s hope Obama and the rest of the world states openly what everybody knows to be true: Mousavi won the election, and Ahmedinejad/Khamenei tossed out the results. Get the truth out there and keep saying it.

BTW, Daniel Pipes, a major Islam-hatin’ neocon who passes for an intellectual and Middle East expert in rightwing circles openly rooted for Ahmedinejad to win, because Pipes would have better cause to push for war on Iran. Actual reform in the Middle East doesn’t matter. Our far-right lizard-brains need far-right lizard brains in other countries to fight.

-jb

UPDATE: The case for not giving Ahmedinejad rhetorical fuel by inserting ourselves into the middle of this and providing quieter support…

Scott Ritter:
* Former Marine captain
* Combat veteran
* Conservative Republican
* Former UN weapons inspector
* And soldier who put his life on the line defending Israel from SCUD missile attacks during Gulf War I

When he pointed out the lies of the Clinton adminstration, Scott Ritter was a media darling.
But when he stood up to the lies about weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq, he was slandered and censored.

You won’t see Scott Ritter on US news television any more,but you will see him on Brasscheck TV.

Here’s his informed message about war with Iran that’s being censored.

Brasscheck TV

-aa

Strikes against Iran would have consequences:

A U.S. military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets, say a variety of oil industry experts, many of whom think the prospect of pandemonium in those markets makes U.S. military action unlikely despite escalating economic sanctions imposed by the Bush administration.

The small amount of excess oil production capacity worldwide would provide an insufficient cushion if armed conflict disrupted supplies, oil experts say, and petroleum prices would skyrocket. Moreover, a wounded or angry Iran could easily retaliate against oil facilities from southern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz.

I was wondering out loud this morning during an NPR report about this very subject this morning on my way to work.  How much would the online devoted want this confrontation if they had a taste of five or six dollar a gallon gas, runaway inflation or increased American casualties in Iraq?  Have they seen a map of the region and noticed Iran’s geographic advantages?  Have they thought of who is supposed topick up the tab for this latest adventure?  Taking into consideration the vast disconnect between the way people live their lives and their understanding of the systems that make it possible it’s not at all surprising to think that some believe that an attack on Iran would be another entertaining blip on the cable news video game console.

   He and others noted that Iran would not need to attack well-guarded facilities in places like Saudi Arabia or harass tankers in the U.S.-patrolled Strait of Hormuz, at the head of the Persian Gulf. It could simply collaborate with Shiite forces in southern Iraq to cut off Iraq’s roughly 1.7 million barrels a day of production, further weakening its neighbor while driving up prices for its own exports.

“Certainly when you lose 2.5 million barrels a day of Iranian production, which is the most likely case scenario, that will literally just make the market go berserk,” al-Awadi said. Asked whether the companies he worked with had contingency plans, he said, “The oil industry does not have contingency plans. We are not military people.”

Right, because that’s what big government is there for; to provide a hedge against risk.  Either through subsidies or protection against externatilities, the energy industry is hugely dependent upon the government to protect them against the real world (eg-free markets) which is why I don’t think we’re going to act against Iran.  Whether or not fools like Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin and the rest of the online devoted realize it, economically and militarily we are in a considerably weaker position now than we were ten years ago and cooler heads are well aware that an attack on Iran would be a disaster for the country.

-mg

Two things from this article:

1. Some are fond of the label “Mad Mullahs” in reference to the Supreme Leader, the Council of Guardians, Assembly of Experts, or what have you.  They are wrong to think that they are irrational.  The men who control Iran are quite the opposite for they know the trick of tyranny; a frightened local populace is easy to control as they will always huddle under the umbrella of power.  Therefore, it would follow that constant threats of violence against Iran only serve to strengthen the totalitarian regime.
2. From the article:   “Pro-Ahmadinejad students called the protesters sellouts beholden to the United States. ‘Death to the hypocrites,’ they shouted.  Sound familiar?

-mg

Ahmadinejad says that Iran has no homosexuals. None that he knows about, anyway. If he did they’d be hanged.

-mg

Two party talks with Iran are proceeding:

Despite the tensions, the two countries appear to have common concerns – both support the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and neither wants the Iraqi state to collapse completely.

Deep-seated opposition in Iran to any talks with the US has been largely overcome since Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, last year backed the idea.

Iran has become increasingly concerned at the growing strength of militant Sunni groups, including al-Qaeda, in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion and at insurgents’ links with Saudi clerics and officials. Such groups regard Shia Muslims as infidels and have attacked both Shia civilians and shrines in Iraq.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting a war by proxy within the borders of Iraq and it’s a good sign that we’re sitting down with at least one side to address their issues.  The question remains, however, over when this administration plans on confronting the greater threats of Saudi sponsored militant Wahabism (you know, the group responsible for 9/11?) and al-Qaeda sponsorship by our good buddy Pakistan.

-mg

Or so The Blotter would have us believe according to their latest expose of the super-secret leak that may or may not have been given to them by a very knowledgeable source!!! These “leaks” are intentional overtures along the same lines as Darth Cheney slumping over a lectern on the deck of an aircraft carrier. The covert “black” operation in question is supposedly a move aimed at destabilizing the Iranian government. Ironically, feeding media “leaks” like this is a way in which the CIA plans on destabilization by way of keeping Iranians scared shitless of an imminent foreign threat. If you can find anything in the feature that is anything beyond the obvious then please, let us know. (My God, if the CIA wasn’t trying to track down the clandestine weapons finance channels of it’s enemies then we’d have a problem!)

The best part of feature is by far the comments section! Check it:

If it was a secret, it isn’t any longer. I will turn off ABC News and never watch again.

I consider ABC News Traders to the United States

Posted by: David Reid | May 22, 2007 6:36:30 PM

Isn’t this type of reporting TREASON!!!! * Where’s the responsibility for the good of the country? This is disgusting! What are you thinking????

Posted by: Robert Lipps | May 22, 2007 6:40:50 PM

Hey if you love Iran and hate the United States leave!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: stephen | May 22, 2007 7:34:09 PM

-mg

UPDATE: Same goes for the parade the Navy put on today through the Strait of Hormuz.  Why are they betraying our positions!??!?!

UPDATE II: Guess who didn’t waste any time in getting indignant over a phony “classified” story! These self-absorbed conservatives can’t resist an opportunity to wrap themselves up in the flag.

Editors note: Robert Lipps uses all caps because when he writes treason he really means it!

“Conservatives” like this clown would have you believe that if Iraq were sitting on top of the worlds Macadamia nut reserves we would have still invaded Iraq.  Nevermind the fact that the worlds financial markets react reflexively to news from that region.

Iran’s aim is not only “to install 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility but it has planned for 50,000 centrifuges,” the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Almost a quarter of the world’s oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Iran has the second-biggest proved oil reserves and is the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. 

No big deal, though, right?  We better get used to market instability because it’s here to stay.  Welcome to Peak Oil.

-mg

Here’s an instructive snippet taken from the International Relations Center website featuring an interview with Chomsky:

Shank: How can the U.S. government think an attack on Iran is feasible given troop availability, troop capacity, and public sentiment?

Chomsky: As far as I’m aware, the military in the United States thinks it’s crazy. And from whatever leaks we have from intelligence, the intelligence community thinks it’s outlandish, but not impossible. If you look at people who have really been involved in the Pentagon’s strategic planning for years, people like Sam Gardiner, they point out that there are things that possibly could be done.

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