This is the same Ahmedinejad who during the Iran/Iraq war, used young children to clear battlefields of land mines, because they did not scatter when a mine exploded the way mules did. Ask the parents of those children, those who were forced to give up a child, how they feel about Ahmedinejad.

This kind of mind will not go down without slaughtering crowds of Iranians.

Gradual change would have been preferable, since internal revolutions NEVER work out.

As for Obama? He is doing exactly as was expected prior to the the election.

The potential for change is directly conditional on the persistence and endurance of the youth filling the streets of Iran. It will be unstoppable if the demonstrations move to the poorer rural regions of the country.

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-dawn-for-iran.html

This genie is out of the bottle. Change may be slow in coming, nevertheless, it will come.

The Bush policy was to support European diplomacy with the aim of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Just as the Europeans despaired of achieving this and were ready to go back to sanctions, etc., Comrade Zero barged in and said he wanted direct negotiations with Iran without preconditions, completely undermining the delicate diplomatic process that would have led to a more effective and realistic approach.

But don’t let facts or ‘nuance’ get in the way of another kick at GWB.

I love you. I love your writings, and I agree with most of what you say here.

But…

For the moment this is not an Obama issue. This is not a Bush issue. This is an issue for the Iranian people, and I think it better to keep the spotlight focused on them, rather than use the event to show how it is, in the end, all about US. There will be plenty of time to address the causes, ramifications and implications of this event on domestic politics later.

“The decent things was to apologize, though I would have been fine if he hadn’t.”

You still don’t understand the logical interpretation of what you write: You would have been fine if he [Letterman] hadn’t done the decent thing?

What constitutes basic decency is doing the decent thing when it is necessary, required etc. Do you not understand this?

FYI, when you write a line like the above quote, I assume everything that follows is not worth reading. Gibberish as a form of communication works fine in Leftist Groupthink land over at Kos et al. When everyone expresses the same ideas over and over ad nauseum it’s easy to infer meaning after a few buzzwords. Grammar, syntax, logical conclusion — eh, not necessary. It’s a little different at this site.

Just to avoid any unwarranted confusion in an already complex situation.

Kyle
Savannah, GA

Ahmadinejad’s foes are mostly students and a motley mix of professionals and disaffected urbanites, whereas his support base is mostly rural and of the working class. IMHO history has shown that in any internecine political conflict, it’s always the hammer and sickle (Pardon the pun.) that wins out over the pen and paper.

In short, Ahmadinejads base of support is the grassroots heart and soul of Iran, and that heart and soul is pure desert fury. As for wanting a little liqoured up T&A to spice up thier “fundie” lives, we’re all human ain’t we? Only Allah knows how many of the Basij were thinking of the Irans version of Raquel Welch when they were trampling Saddams Iraqi minefields with their bare feet?

Their thoughts at that moment are unimportant, what is crucial is the fact that they did it and that the fanaticism that drove them on still exists, and that fanaticism isn’t a passing phase but rather a deep seated, almost racial memory strength, power in their lives to this day.

That’s what the powers-that-be here in the belly of the Great Satan don’t understand. Just like they failed to understand the historical underpinning driving the South Ostetian issue last year. For instance, Putin is ex-KGB and in essence a philosophical son of Stalin – and Stalin was an Ostetian.

Russia grabbing South Ostetia wasn’t just an opportunistic power grab, it was a re-fullfillment (If that’s a real word?) of historical Russia’s version of Manifest Destiny. Of course they were going to do it!

But I digress …

Thanks.