Monday, October 8, 2007

Student Protests in Iran


An amazing site
Several hundred students protest in Iran today. Hopefully the media will cover as much of this as is possible.
Hind sight is, of course, 20-20...I am just finishing "Imperial Life inside the Emerald City"
Author Rajiv Chandrasekaran stated that it was highly likely that Sadam was about 12-18 months from being over thrown before the US invaded. He also stated that his "bravado" and antagonistic behavior in the court of world opinion was to try to remain in power at home...
That being said...with all the threat of war with Iran,
I am hoping that the US has the right intelligence. Ahmadinejad is not the "leader" of Iran, more of a figure head and front man for the Supreme Leader,Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Students have long been active in Iran and are potentially what will force the ultra radical muslim extremists to recognize the youthful majority in Iran. (something like 70% of the population is under the age of 30) I would hope that we are "on our game" this time...and do not get sucked into a situation that could be avoided with proper intelligence.

The Graphic at the top is actually Ahmad Batebi. His 1997 protest condemned him to death only to have the sentence commuted to 15 years by international pressure.

I believe there is much, much more to Iran than we know....I believe there is a boiling underground protest of Iranian youth seeking a more democratic Iran.

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