Iran Election June 09

[NUS]

If this victory was so swift and undeniable then IRI must have plenty of evidence to prove it beyond any doubt, but instead they diploid riot police and paramilitaries armed with baton, daggers, teargas, grenades and Uzis.

Yeah, they should leave a crowd alone to burn the entire city, not just several buildings.

Looking at the ugly situation in "color revolutions" countries, I really hope Iranians are smarter, and can handle elections without destroing their state. :(

[zraver]

I heard reports that some of these riot police that were taken by the People, are actually Arabs and dont even speak Persian. Some of them even come from as far as Venezula.

Who knows, maybe, Chavez has Iranians in his riot police.

Its like the Romans who used captured Germans to fight against Persians, and captured Easterners to fight against the Germans.

I am hearing reports of Arabs as well, presumably Hezzbollah troops. I don't put much credence in it.

[zraver]

Z,
Where is the picture? thanx

See many women, kids or elderly? These guys are all Guards or Basiji which means A-jad has tens of thousands of troops in Tehran who need only put on the uniform and pick up their guns.

[Oscar]

I don't quite understand so much passion for Musavi. The guy is more conservative than Khatami and he's supported by the second most powerful character of the regime no less, Ali Rafsandjani, who is, if you have a look at his bio, a sick bastard. Musavi was in charge as Prime Minister during the darkest hour of the regime when thousands of students got executed...Thats not a colour revolution in any way, more like two sharks fighting for power by proxies...

Concerning the votes, well there were most certainly massive frauds, but saying Musavi won...no one has any proof of that yet.

[Guest]

I don't quite understand so much passion for Musavi. The guy is more conservative than Khatami and he's supported by the second most powerful character of the regime no less, Ali Rafsandjani, who is, if you have a look at his bio, a sick bastard. Musavi was in charge as Prime Minister during the darkest hour of the regime when thousands of students got executed...Thats not a colour revolution in any way, more like two sharks fighting for power by proxies...

Concerning the votes, well there were most certainly massive frauds, but saying Musavi won...no one has any proof of that yet.

Aryajet, correct me if I am wrong ...

I was kid when Mossavi was premier so what I know is what others know.

The impression that I have of him is the following: i know that he is widely respected for his integrity and the economic manamement that he brought while he was premier (during the war). I see him as an Zhou En-lai. Someone who is dedicated to his work, and did his very best, not for himself, but genuinly for the cause that he believed in. I dont really care if he was the premier under Islamic Republic. What I can with relate with him, is his personality.

I think Amir-Abbas Hoveida, Musavi, Zhou En-lai all have the same hard-working, dedicated personalities. Though, the regimes that they have served may have been a bit shaky.

[Castellano]

Iranian diaspora has managed to over load servers for all major state controlled news agencies and many Gov. branches websites.
Official websites of Supreme Tyrant and Al- President are also shut down.
Check:
Leader.ir
President.ir
Farsnews.com
IRNA.com
And many others.

I have seen the calls to DDoS those sites

CyberWar Against Ahmadinjead

However, what if the protester's bandwidth is choked as well? It's their only link to the outside world.

I'm not sure if it is a good thing to do.

[Guest]

I was just about to ask how Obama should react to this situation. He has always stated that we should engage in talks with our opponents/adversaries. The conservatives have always ridiculed that policy as legitimizing tyrants. My question is who he should talk to now? If Obama talks with Mahmoud, doesn't that legitimizes the election result? If he talks with the opposition, doesn't that mean he's NOT talking to our opponent?

I go with Aryajet, wait and see approach. Obama should not say anything.
My initial comment was my own knee-jerk reaction.

[Oscar]

I think Amir-Abbas Hoveida, Musavi, Zhou En-lai all have the same hard-working, dedicated personalities. Though, the regimes that they have served may have been a bit shaky.

Shaky? The Islamic Republic in the 80's executed and tortured opponents by the tens of thousands...

And Rafsandjani and his peers had more than a hand in these massacres.

[omon]

Thats not a colour revolution in any way, more like two sharks fighting for power by proxies...
.

that is what it looks to me as well

[zraver]

that is what it looks to me as well

If the people of Iran can force the Guards to back down and the Supreme leader to validate their will that is a huge victory for liberty in Iran. Who the figure heads won't matter near as much as the fact that an Iranian voice not controlled by the clerics or Guards (the peoples collective voice) had its say. The hardliners already do a delicate dance with the reformist on certain social issues. This will shift the balance more to the liberal side of the spectrum. It will also empower the same hardliners, but those of them who think the Guards have too much power in their efforts to reduce that organization. If A-jad is declared defeated the Guards and Basiji are going to stink like the brown stuff and the Supreme leader will have the mandate to reduce/reform them.

[Castellano]

If A-jad is declared defeated the Guards and Basiji are going to stink like the brown stuff and the Supreme leader will have the mandate to reduce/reform them.

But I don't see that happening. What's the regime gonna say now? "Oooops, sorry, we got it all mixed up, actually, it was Musavi who had 62% and A-jad 33%"

It is no longer a presidency "election". It is the legitimacy of the regime itself that is at stake.

And whatever they do now, they are screwed.

[Castellano]

I don't quite understand so much passion for Musavi.

Maybe, and I'm totally speculating here, for many Iranians Musavi was not Musavi, but rather an opportunity to say a big NO.

[Castellano]

The DDoS might backfire against protesters in Iran. Better don't do it.

Activists Launch Hack Attacks on Tehran Regime | Danger Room | Wired.com

In both Iran and abroad, the cyberstrikes are being praised as a way to hit back against a regime that so blatantly engaged in voter fraud. But some observers warn that the network strikes could backfire — hurting the very protesters they’re meant to assist. Michael Roston is concerned that “it helps to excuse the Iranian regime’s own cyberwarfare.” Text-messaging networks and key opposition websites mysteriously went dark just before the election. Morozov worries that it “gives [the] hard-line government another reason to suspect ‘foreign intervention‘ — albeit via computer networks — into Iranian politics.”

Iran has one of the world’s most vibrant social media communities. That’s helping those of us outside Iran follow along as this revolution is being YouTubed, blogged, and Tweeted. But Iran’s network infrastructure there is relatively centralized. Which makes Internet access there inherently unstable. Programmer Robert Synott worries that if outside protesters pour too much DDOS traffic into Iran, carriers there “will simply pull the plug to protect the rest of their network.”

[zraver]

But I don't see that happening. What's the regime gonna say now? "Oooops, sorry, we got it all mixed up, actually, it was Musavi who had 62% and A-jad 33%"

It is no longer a presidency "election". It is the legitimacy of the regime itself that is at stake.

And whatever they do now, they are screwed.

Step 1- scape goat the "culprits" probably elements of the IRGC to create distance between the clerical regime and the election results and jump infront of the reform movement to steer it towards reducing the Guards.

Step 2- new elections with the desired result of a reformist cleric as president.

Step 3- break the Guards and basiji.

[gabriel]

See many women, kids or elderly? These guys are all Guards or Basiji which means A-jad has tens of thousands of troops in Tehran who need only put on the uniform and pick up their guns.

Z

I have seen a staged rally before ( when i was 8 or 9 y.o. ), i don't think ALL of them are troops.