Posted on 06/28/2009 8:37:07 PM PDT by forkinsocket
CAIRO — The rancorous dispute over Iran’s presidential election could turn into a win-win for Arab leaders aligned with Washington who in the past have complained bitterly that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was destabilizing the region and meddling in Arab affairs, political analysts and former officials around the region said.
The good-news thinking goes like this: With Mr. Ahmadinejad remaining in office, there is less chance of substantially improved relations between Tehran and Washington, something America’s Arab allies feared would undermine their interests. At the same time, the electoral conflict may have weakened Iran’s leadership at home and abroad, forcing it to focus more on domestic stability, political analysts and former officials said.
“When Iran is strong and defiant they don’t like her and when Iran is closer to the West they don’t like her,” said Adnan Abu Odeh, a former adviser to King Hussein of Jordan.
Of course, such an outcome could also prove to be wishful thinking, political analysts cautioned. Other power centers in Iran, from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to the military, can have more influence over regional policy than the president. It is also possible that a deeply divided leadership could aim to exacerbate regional tensions to distract attention from its domestic problems.
The Iranian standoff may also serve as a cautionary tale for Arab leaders who have watched as modern technology, like the Internet, social networking sites and cellphones, has yet again undermined the ability of authoritarian states to control access to and distribution of information.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They know that with Iraq, Afghanistan, and now perhaps Iran going that road...they could well be in line themselves.
What is Arabic for “nanner nanner nanner”?
I wish we could get a pro west democratic government in iran and then tell the arabs to shove off.
loobla loobla loobla
Mir Hossein Mousavi arrested in Iran
by Breaking Tweets June 28, 2009
http://www.groundreport.com/World/Mir-Hossein-Mousavi-arrested-in-Iran
GroundReport Editor’s Note: The following report is unconfirmed and we do not certify its accuracy. We will continue to update as facts emerge.
Breaking Tweets can confirm via reliable sources that Mir Houssein Mousavi has been arrested in Iran. He was arrested at approximately 9:30 p.m. Sunday in Tehran.
Mousavi lost June 12’s presidential election to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a landslide, even though the results were expected to be close. It has sparked controversy in the days since and Mousavi supporters have organized protests.
The first to tweet about the news is Omid Habibinia, an Iranian journalist who lives in exile in Switzerland.
Iranian-American Lily Mazahery, a lawyer and human rights activist who is well-connected in Iran, also confirmed the story. Mazahery has previously used Twitter to break major news stories from Iran before the media such as Roxana Saberi’s release and Delara Derabi’s execution.
Sure...with a size 12 boot.
I had read that report hours ago on tweeter...where now sources are also debunking it. Fog of war.
Yep, it’s a lot to keep up with. Seems to me the Iranians will appreciate their freedom even more than Iraqi’s because they are going to have to fight for it on their own, had one more editorial you might be interested in;
Democracy is percolating in Iran
By Adel Safty, Special to Gulf News
Published: June 28, 2009, 23:14
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10326875.html
It is widespread, defiant and characterised by the substantial presence of women and young people using cellphone cameras and web-based social networks to communicate with the outside world. In other words, it can be violently repressed; but it cannot be silenced.
The movement’s agenda is revolutionary because although it is not advocating the overthrow of the political/clerical establishment, its demand for integrity, freedom of assembly, rule of law and justice are rooted in democratic governance. And this challenges the very legitimacy of the clerical order.
This is evident from the ubiquitous signs carried by protesters reading ‘Where is my Vote?’ and from the protesters’ insistence on exercising their democratic right to protest, braving the brutality with which the establishment has responded.
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[more at link]
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