Reuters – Excerpt: “Iran’s supreme leader called on the opposition Tuesday to distance itself from the Islamic Republic’s Western enemies, in a warning ahead of possible new anti-government protests next month. Tension has risen in Iran after eight people were killed in clashes between the security forces and opposition supporters on Ashura, the ritual day of Shi’ite mourning that fell on December 27. It was the worst violence in the major oil producer since the aftermath of last year’s disputed presidential election and was followed by the arrests of scores of pro-reform figures in a fresh crackdown by the authorities. Despite intensifying pressure, opposition backers are expected to try to take to the streets again on February 11, when Iran marks the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.” Read on here.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2010/01/201011813576958385.html
January 20, 2010
“Israeli Superman” fuels protests in Iran?
Reportedly, an editorial in the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper lauds the Israeli intelligence cheif Meir Dagan as an “Israeli Superman” who has “dealt painful blows to the Iranian nuclear program, diplomatic action to embarrass the Islamic republic, action to fuel opposition protests, assassinations and covert attacks against nuclear facilities.”
Great. I’m sure the protesters in Iran will love how the Mossad is taking credit for their actions, according to the Egyptians.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147903876&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Obama has been effusive in his support for US puppet dictatorships. Far more than any US president before him had ever been. He refuses to apply a label like authoritarian dictator to Hosni Mubarak because Hosni Mubarak, at US direction, maintains peace with Israel. Most recently by assisting with the calculated near-starvation of the Palestinians of Gaza.
Until now, I’ve assumed that while Obama is likely heading toward failure in Middle East foreign policy, he will be successful in domestic policy and domestic policy success would be enough for him to win re-election. Beyond that, possibly given more time, he might develop his own voice and actually be able to align US foreign policy with US interests. The basis for that hope is that George Bush, by the end of his second term, made key decisions, not breaking up Iraq, de-escalating hostility with Iran that reflected an ability to emphasize US needs over Israel’s.
http://mideastreality.blogspot.com/2010/01/domestic-setback-for-barack-obama.html
If this is our Arash, then he may have grown a brain cell, although it wasn’t one to help with his grammar. Bravo:
“31. How much did mossad pay Al-ahram to write this article? Lets spread crap through 3rd party newspaper to make it believeble! where is the evidence?…
giving credit when credit is not due, this is not helping iranian opposition ,this will make mullahs to crack down on opposition and decimate democratic movement.there better ways of isolating regime .
arash – usa (01/17/2010 06:29)”
Although it is far more likely Al-Ahram wasnt “paid” by Mossad, but rather that Egypt is very much trying to serve its role as a US/Israeli client state.
The Egyptian regime may be more despicable than the Iranian regime. Or maybe the other way around. Its not clear.
Yesterday, the Egyptians reportedly claimed that the Mossad was fueling demonstrations in Iran, and today James Glassman writes in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the US should try to co-opt the “green movement” in Iran to serve US interests:
We should, for instance, publicize reports on what worked in Ukraine or Georgia, spread testimony by leaders like the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Havel, and distribute, in Farsi, guides to nonviolent change like Gene Sharp’s “From Dictatorship to Democracy” and Peter Ackerman’s “A Force More Powerful.” It’s time to dub into Farsi documentaries on the fall of Ceausescu, Milosevic and Pinochet; the transitions in South Africa and Poland; and the achievements of the U.S. civil-rights movement.
The reference to Gene Sharp is sort of ironic because not so long ago we were told that Iran’s warnings to its population about these sorts of tactics are simply the regime’s “self-fulfilling paranoia” and should not be taken seriously…and yet here is Glassman extolling the same. If the Iranians were seen as paranoid, they won’t be when the US does really step in with the sort of tactics that Glassman endorses.
http://www.iranaffairs.com/iran_affairs/2010/01/turning-greens-into-pawns-through-marketing.html
http://joujebasiji.blogfa.com/post-27.aspx