[iH1wMOhE]

One wonders how many bombs it would take to handicap the Iranian military enough to let the Green Revolution 2.0 take hold.

Not that anyone with the power has the testicular fortitude to do it.

Dr. Strangelove, I highly advise against this.

[Bemapayople]

One wonders how many bombs it would take to handicap the Iranian military enough to let the Green Revolution 2.0 take hold.

Not that anyone with the power has the testicular fortitude to do it.

small ideas from a small mind

[berdyanskdotsu]

I could very well be wrong, but how much do you think the economics, the worldwide recesssion(excluding China) has played into this unrest? One thing seems to be certain, and that is, when folks suffer economically it seems fertile ground for CHANGE. We may eventually even see some of this here, once the unemployment plays out and folks can't get help due to budget cuts. When you get millions of folks very disatisfied and insecure, shit seems to erupt. And I have a feeling this unrest in the M.E. is driven by the economics. Afterall what did the King of Jordon do? Throw money at the problems...

I think you are not wrong - economics is most certainly the underlying cause of several outbreaks and nation wide protests. But, I don't think this is the case for Iran.. despite all its major economic problems and flaws (ahmadinejad's economics disruption and foreign sanctions imposed onto the fulcrum of the Iranian economy - exports)

However, "folks suffering economically" do indeed lay the foundations for giant protests. Why? Because we are all relying on economic stability, to have social commodity, financial independence, fixed employment and ofcourse fiscal depression (ie. paying less taxes).
When these conditions are not met, and you notice bankers and banking economists getting paid ridiculous salaries and giant bonuses for not doing their job properly, then you get angry .. and it is understandable.

I too, think we are converting to a global pandemic of protests, not just in the Middle east and Africa, but even in Europe soon.

[iH1wMOhE]

I could very well be wrong, but how much do you think the economics, the worldwide recesssion(excluding China) has played into this unrest? One thing seems to be certain, and that is, when folks suffer economically it seems fertile ground for CHANGE. We may eventually even see some of this here, once the unemployment plays out and folks can't get help due to budget cuts. When you get millions of folks very disatisfied and insecure, shit seems to erupt. And I have a feeling this unrest in the M.E. is driven by the economics. Afterall what did the King of Jordon do? Throw money at the problems...

Iran has a serious opium addiction problem that largely stems from the Afghani opium trade. This, in combination with the blatant corruption of their most recent elections, has led to a lot of unrest in Iran.

I'm sure the whole stuxnet thing didn't help things either.

[glasscollector]

Dr. Strangelove, I highly advise against this.

Shit, now we have Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya to add to the target list. Our flyboys are going to be busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.

Scouts out, tally ho!!

[BrianGoldsmith]

Not unexpectedly, the regime in Tehran has responded with force, using tear gas, paintballs and clubs to disperse peaceful protesters. They have also begun jamming satellite news programs and censoring the internet. I guess they missed that face that these measures failed in Egypt.

This could get interesting. It could also get very bloody. Unlike Egypt, I don't thing the Iranian military is going to refuse to attack protestors.

Matt

Unfortunately after the whole Iraq WMD thing and the media purposely misquoting Iranian president for several years to have us believe that Iranian leader said he wanted to "wipe Israeli civilian population off the map" it is hard to know what the truth and reality is any more about that part of the world.

[samanthalueus]

Unfortunately after the whole Iraq WMD thing and the media purposely misquoting Iranian president for several years to have us believe that Iranian leader said he wanted to "wipe Israeli civilian population off the map" it is hard to know what the truth and reality is any more about that part of the world.

Please try to keep up to date. You're discussing comments from the previous administration dating back half a decade.

This thread is about protests in Iran today.

But thanks for rolling out the same old tired noise from 2003.

[berdyanskdotsu]

Please try to keep up to date. You're discussing comments from the previous administration dating back half a decade.

This thread is about protests in Iran today.

But thanks for rolling out the same old tired noise from 2003.

I agree with MattInFla, It is pretty irrelevant in this thread.

However, just to put my quick opinion on what rytis2001 said:

Unfortunately after the whole Iraq WMD thing and the media purposely misquoting Iranian president for several years to have us believe that Iranian leader said he wanted to "wipe Israeli civilian population off the map" it is hard to know what the truth and reality is any more about that part of the world.

I remember that discourse by Ahmadinjead, and I heard it in Persian since I understand it... and Ahmadinejad did not say "wipe Israeli civilian population off the map" , but instead said.. The state of Israel is an illegal occupation and should not be on a legal map.

But then again, media manipulation has been occuring for over a century.. so nothign surprising there. Just surprised how so many media outlets never corrected the translation.

However, that has nothing to do with the Iranian protests today.
We are clearly living history, all of us; Where several countries are tired of being driven into awful living conditions, being led my arrogant and selfish authoritarian figures, who are corrupt to the bone marrow, and who use religion for lucrative purposes (Saudi arabia, Iran etc.), unable to have the vox populi freedom.