Ahmedinejad Wins Surprise Landslide Victory in Iran

wrest power...

If people loose democraticaly, they generaly takes up violence as means to rest power (Direct Action day etc...). Looking at the nature of protest ( peaceful), it looks like there is real problem in Iran...
Let us see, where it leads to....

Re: # 49
Khyber...
When US tries to screw someone, it is very difficult to leave...At least EyeRun( Iran) is surviving the onslaught....Thanks to powerful China and non-committal India...

Iran: Four Ways the Crisis May Resolve...CHK OUT FOLLOWING ARTICLE


http://thepathans.blogspot.com/
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Time Tempers a Challenger Forged in Revolution
NEW YORK TIMES



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/world/middleeast/18moussavi.html
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Re: # 51
Then most of the $1.5b a year is not aid. Most of it is loans.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

"US aid to Pakistan is overblown"

spin it any way you want Murli, doesn't stop Pakistan from rattling the can does it? BTW, a loan is not aid.

Re: # 46...I don't think,I getting too excited but I can't ignore millions of people protesting on Iranian streets.
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

For a country that boasts the world's third-largest reserves of oil, and the second-largest reserves of gas, Iran's economy is in a pretty sorry state. Inflation is still at double-digit levels, though it declined slightly to 15% in May. The jobless rate lifted above 12% in the winter season, according to an official cited by Iran's news agency in April. The International Monetary Fund expects Iran's economy to grow 3.2% this year, down from 4.5% last year.

None of this has much to do with the fluctuating price of oil, which took a big hit last fall but is now trading above $72 per barrel--or 60% higher than January levels. Black gold is still proving its worth for Iran: Oil revenues in the first quarter of this year alone were $9 billion, according to the Energy Information Administration.
many frustrated Iranians have pointed the finger of blame at the policies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Re: # 45
I have shown repeatedly through my articles and comments that US aid to Pakistan is overblown. In the overall context of various inflows including remittances, trade and aid from various sources, the US aid is a very small percentage of the total...no more than $8 per Pakistani even after the tripling of aid to $1.5b a year. And it comes with all sorts of unwelcome strings attached.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 46... I know Pahlavi was a dictator and let foreign countries exploit Iran, but what about the human rights violations of the Islamic Republic? Making women second-class citizens? Studies show the economy had a much worse GDP for at least two decades after the revolution. Pahlavi had his bad points, but these pale in comparison to the reign of the ayatollahs, which has been a disaster.
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Khyber sahib,

I think you are getting too excited, for nothing. There is going to be no revolution...ie the mullahs will still remain in power.

Are Iranians better off today, than they were under the Shah? I guess only Iranians who live in Iran could tell us.

Riaz mian, do something constructive for a change. Please google some stats...I must say you are very good at it.

Its not a question of "self-respect". I think its realism.

Firstly, Iran has oil & gas. That earns them a heck of a lot of income & protects them against US sanctions. To their credit, the Islamic regime has done good job of providing services to the common man.

Pakistan doesn't have that luxury. Its economy has grown every time the US has made it a strategic ally. Riaz can spin it all he wants, but no other country has shaken the tin can more than Pakistan. Now if Pakistan was oil rich, it would have more "self respect" & tell the Americans to take a hike.

These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.

We in the West must support these revolutions."

Martin Luther King Jr. April 4, 1967
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Re: # 41..Thanks Tahmed32..well said...I think the Iranian protesters are far more urban, more educated and more interested in creating their own indigenous secularism than ever in the past,its natural when regimes like Iran's or Saudi Arabia use religion for their political adventures,young generation picks up secularism and that is what happening in Iran as we speak.These hard-line mullahs are responsible for Iran's isolation. I applaud the Iranian 'Dissenters' for standing up to the current regime, 'People Power'. is all. I hope they get a new election and hopefully one that is independently supervised because that is what is required. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the Fly in The Ointment, get rid of him and the way isclear
http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

Re: # 41
I grant you that successive Pak governments refused to yield to pressure and sanctions from the West in its nuclear program. They knew it would be political suicide and the military would not let them do it anyway, even if they wanted to to. Just imagine how impossible the task would be if Pak was trying to develop nukes now in post-911 world, as Iran is trying to do?

And what do you say to the current US drone attacks that clearly violate Pak sovereignty? Why don't they stop these attacks by refusing to let them fly from Pak soil?

And why don't the Pak leaders have the courage to tell the US to shut up about the US govt-inspired media campaign against Pak military and ISI? Or the daily negative stories planted by US officials in the media about growing danger to Pak nukes?
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide