"What do you think?" would have been wonderful working magic if the PotUS had been sporting a green ribbon or tie and, in his way, pointed at it.
Why is POTUS cranky? It's because he's learning first hand that there is true evil in the world. This is not something he learned about in ivy league affirmative action universities, where the concept of 'evil' has been effectively purged from the lexicon. The closest thing to 'evil' that POTUS can conceive of is cranky opposition from misguided capitalists who might not feel comfortable with the tenets of Marxism. Neither is he able to blame the U. S. as being the source of this particular evil. All this has left him without the usual talking points without which POTUS' teleprompter finds itself outside its depth - cranky and confused.
Since there doesn't seem to be one concerning Iran, may I suggest a policy that has been the tried and true human response to abhorrent oppression throughout the ages.
EXODUS- A true Sea of Green movement to the Western border and into Iraq where the Shia world could welcome their own people of goodwill with healing faithfulness. Baghdad has been freed from a dictatorial rule and the new population influx could be instrumental in confronting the Sunni influence and aberration of extremism against the Shia interpretation of the Faith, forcing them ever Westward into the more secular realm and the influences which are found nearer the Med Sea and Europe.
In the struggle to find an entity that might represent the true Islamic world, decentralization of IRI and Teheran would devastate and set the theocracy reeling. Iraq should open their border to the oppressed brethren of the Faith doing all that is necessary to insure the safe movement of the masses escaping the repression. Surely, the Iraqis should understand, more than anyone, the importance of rendering the IRI even more isolated and impotent than they already are.
A GREEN EXODUS into the cradle of civilization to transfigure the Land.
McCotter offers lofty words, yet, none that relate a strategy for confronting the oppressors and transforming the irateness of the IRI.
Unfortunately, the IRI has the narrative. They prepared for this early on with the formulation of the protective core groups designed to prevent this very threat. How many words will disarm the forces lining the avenues and thoroughfares of the cities assigned to quell and dismantle the rioting of a dissatisfied populace? There are not many choices at this juncture in history other than to just offer our support. Unless we are willing to employ targeted assassinations, Cruise missiles, invasion forces, or a nether world view of annihilation without concern for innocents, IRI has the dictate in tyranny. We may wish troubles would go away, but, that doesn't make them do so.
A retro "Love Iran or Leave Iran" holds the answer. A GREEN EXODUS and open arms of acceptance to the brothers and sisters in the Faith movement into Iraq is the only solution to thwart the design of these fanatics.
Take the Nation away from them by Leaving the Nation and allow them to relish in their own desire for despair.
Bob Marley- EXODUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NHbOqmNVm8
Wrest control from the Mullahs- GREENS GO WEST!! Leave their destitution to themselves!
WILL KHAMENEI HAVE THE LAST LAUGH? B.RAMAN There have been no reports of any major street demonstration in Tehran on June 23,2009. Calls were sent out through Tweets to the protesters in Tehran to assemble at the Baharestan Sq at 4 PM Tehran time, but not many managed to reach there.
2.The Iranian intelligence agencies have been successful in identifying and arresting many Tweeters in Tehran. As a result, the number of Tweets coming out of Tehran is declining. However, the Jundullah, the Sunni organisation which has been fighting against the Iranian regime in the Iranian Balochistan (Sistan Balochistan), has started sending news of developments in Tehran and other cities of Iran through Pakistan for re-transmission to the rest of the world. Similarly, Iranian exiles abroad have been using the Jundullah elements in Pakistan for sending instructions and advice to the protesters in Iran.
3.On the night of June 23 too as on previous nights thousands of people got on to the balcony of their houses and indulged in well-synchronised shouting of Allah-o-Akbar. Many also reportedly shouted "Death to Khamenei" --- a reference to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tweets coming out of Tehran have claimed that in a response to a call from Mir Housain Mousavi, who has been spearheading the protest movement, many bazaris (shop-owners) observed a shutter-down strike on June 23.
4. The protesters seem to have realised that in view of the heavy deployment of the Basij militia and the Revolutionary Guards and their readiness to use lethal force to put down street demonstrations, huge processions of the kind witnessed every day last week are no longer possible. They are, therefore, holding discussions among themselves as to how to keep up the momentum of the protest movement. President Barack Obama and other Western leaders, who had maintained a discreet silence in the first few days of the protest lest their comments be projected by the Iranian authorities as proof of external orchestration of the protest movement, have become increasingly vocal in criticising the violent suppression of the protest movement. This probably indicates that the Western Governments have assessed that the protest movement has reached its apogee and that it cannot increase further without evidence of some external solidarity.
5. Moreover, despite the restraint exercised by the West in the initial days, the Iranian authorities, unnerved by the massive protests, started demonising the protesters by projecting them as "terrorists", members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, a terrorist organisation, and stooges of external powers. Even Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, has been accusing the protesters of acting at the behest of external powers.
6. One would have expected that their campaign against the "external satan" would have been mainly against the US, which has had a past history of supporting dissident movements in Iran and undertaking destabilisation operations there. Surprisingly, they have not done so. Instead, their anger has been directed more against the British. The correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Tehran has reportedly been expelled and two middle-level British diplomats posted in the British Embassy in Tehran have been declared persona-non-grata on charges of indulging in activities incompatible with their duties as diplomats. The British Government has retaliated by expelling two Iranian diplomats on similar charges.
7.The Iranian authorities have been telling their people that the plans for the protest movement had been masterminded by the British long before the elections. The virulent campaign against the British is surprising because the BBC was exercising considerable restraint in reporting on the events in Iran.It gave prominence to the views of the protesters as well as the Government. It did not play up the Tweets unlike the CNN, which has been disseminating the protesters' version of the events----almost blacking out the Government version.
8. For example, when the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards opened fire on the protesters on June 20 there were conflicting versions of the fatalities. The Government said that only 10 protesters were killed, but the protesters kept insisting in their Tweets that at least 20 were killed. Whereas the CNN accepted the version of the Tweeters, the BBC disseminated the Govt. claim.
9. The focussed attack on the British seems at least partly to reflect the discomfiture of the Iranian authorities over the large listenership of the Farsi language broadcasts of the BBC radio and their credibility in Iran. Of all the foreign broadcasts directed to the Iranian people, the BBC's Farsi service has the maximum listenership and credibility followed by those of the Voice of America. The CNN hardly has any credibility in Iran.
10. In their efforts to jam all foreign Farsi language broadcasts, the Iranian authorities are paying the maximum attention to the BBC and then to the VOA. Both these radio stations have already taken measures to circumvent the jamming by strengthening the power of their transmitters and by setting up new transmitters to supplement those which were already in place. The BBC has started using two extra satellites to broadcast its Farsi-language service. The U.S.Govt-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in central Europe, is also increasing the power and reach of its programmes meant for the Iranian people.
11.Iran's Guardian Council has already rejected the protesters' demand for a fresh Presidential poll. Khamenei has given a free hand to the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards to suppress the protest movement through lethal force. The Basij and the RG have been carrying out his orders without any reservations. Under these circumstances, it will be difficult for the dissenters to maintain the momentum of their street protests. They are hoping that the protests could be kept up through other actions such as strikes, shop closures etc. Till now, the maximum number of participants in the protests have been young students----boys and girls--- who have no livelihood to lose. The Bazaris, the entrepreneurs and the labour force may lose their livelihood if they respond to the strike call. If they don't, that could be the beginning of the end of the protest movement and Khamenei would have had the last laugh. ( 24-6-09)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
JB - Glad you mentioned the Peace Moratorium (October 1969). It brought back some memories. We drove down from Gettysburg College. There were six or seven of us, all crammed into a VW mini-bus lacking a starter motor. We’d always have to make sure to park it on a hill.
I’d be lying if I claimed to attribute anything lofty or cerebral to this exercise. It was envisioned as a ‘happening’ – no more; a reason to embark on a day trip, drop some acid, smoke a little dope and raise hell. ‘Vietnam’ simply provided the pretext.
So you were there too! I remember wandering around aimlessly and being suddenly confronted with a phalanx of helmeted cops. They were shooting tear gas in our direction. We all turned and ran. I stumbled and fell – blinded; my eyes burning. Maybe you were the one who lifted me up and carried me around the corner. …and my faith in humanity was restored.
This stumble and subsequent rescue, more than anything else of that day, remains etched in my mind. I realize now that I had decided to go only because I felt myself perfectly safe. Even from the police, ultimately under the command of a beleaguered president, I knew I had nothing of lasting consequence to fear. It’s way too easy to be brave under such circumstances – quite unlike those in so many other parts of the world who risk everything daily for freedom. I wonder how I could have looked myself in the mirror all these years.
I continue to be grateful for this forum that gives me a chance to redress some of my youthful indiscretions. I remain fearful for our nation. By helping to sound the alarm, I hope to help mitigate the worst of what might yet be in store for us.
JB-
My boss in 1969 contracted for those buses that ringed the White House.
Wuz there. Saw the bus circle, saw the cops: headed for the Smithsonian and had a great day looking at old crap.
This makes Obama's fatuous equivocating and his tardy expressions of outrage and his blindly stubborn persistence in pursuit of negotiations despite everything that has happened simply incredible. Stooge Gibbs says without a sense of irony that "we have not had any response to the letter." What do these moral dimwits think the shootings, beatings, and killings are?
Obama sent letter to Iran leader before election, sources say
From Christiane Amanpour CNN Chief International Correspondent
(CNN) -- U.S. President Obama sent a direct message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before this month's disputed election, Iranian sources said Wednesday.
The letter requested dialogue and engagement between the two nations, the sources said.
The sources said that Khamenei has yet to reply to the letter but that nonetheless it "had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election."
The White House refused to "get into the specifics of our different ways of communicating," a senior Obama administration official said.
"We have indicated a willingness to talk for a long time and have sought to communicate with the Iranians in a variety of ways," the official said.
Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter in his sermon on Friday at Tehran University.
"The U.S. president said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street," the Iranian leader said. "Some people attributed these remarks to Obama, and then they write letters to say we're ready to have ties, that we respect the Islamic Republic, and on the other hand, they make such comments. Which one should we believe?"
One Iranian source said, "We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmadinejad," and before the election, his senior advisers prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.
The Iranian source said the election dispute is wasting time on the issue of starting U.S.-Iranian negotiations. VideoWatch how the reported letter is part of a new policy of engagement »
"The longer it is delayed," the source said, "the less likely [U.S.-Iranian talks] will happen." *** http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/24/iran.obama.letter/?iref=hpmostpop
Suppose POTUS got his wish to sit down with Ahmadinejad, or with the 'Supreme Leader', for that matter. What (at this point) could he possibly say? Would he first bow to them (like anchorman Brian Williams bows to Obama; like Obama bows to the Saudi King)? It's likely that Obama has acquired a taste for it - bowing, that is. And what would come after? Idle chatter over tea and biscuits about the furniture? Next: "Can't we just all get all get along?"
SL:"You know the story about the 12th imam who lives down in a well?"
O: "No, can't say I do, Dear Leader."
SL: "It's 'Supreme'; you hear me, 'Supreme Leader'. 'Dear Leader' is the other guy, the one with the chink eyes. You must get that straight!"
O: "So sorry, D... Supreme Leader. You must understand, they wouldn't allow me to bring my teleprompter in here, and it's messing me up."
SL: "So what do you want to talk about, Uhh? What do they call you anyway?"
O: "You can call me Joe, or you can call me Moe, or you can call me 'O'; but most folks just call me 'Barry'."
You get my point? What could the (so-called) leader of the free world possibly find to say to these folks? What indeed!
"What could the (so-called) leader of the free world possibly find to say to these folks?"
*Let the People Go*
"What do you think?" would have been wonderful working magic if the PotUS had been sporting a green ribbon or tie and, in his way, pointed at it.
Why is POTUS cranky? It's because he's learning first hand that there is true evil in the world. This is not something he learned about in ivy league affirmative action universities, where the concept of 'evil' has been effectively purged from the lexicon. The closest thing to 'evil' that POTUS can conceive of is cranky opposition from misguided capitalists who might not feel comfortable with the tenets of Marxism. Neither is he able to blame the U. S. as being the source of this particular evil. All this has left him without the usual talking points without which POTUS' teleprompter finds itself outside its depth - cranky and confused.
Since there doesn't seem to be one concerning Iran, may I suggest a policy that has been the tried and true human response to abhorrent oppression throughout the ages.
EXODUS- A true Sea of Green movement to the Western border and into Iraq where the Shia world could welcome their own people of goodwill with healing faithfulness. Baghdad has been freed from a dictatorial rule and the new population influx could be instrumental in confronting the Sunni influence and aberration of extremism against the Shia interpretation of the Faith, forcing them ever Westward into the more secular realm and the influences which are found nearer the Med Sea and Europe.
In the struggle to find an entity that might represent the true Islamic world, decentralization of IRI and Teheran would devastate and set the theocracy reeling. Iraq should open their border to the oppressed brethren of the Faith doing all that is necessary to insure the safe movement of the masses escaping the repression. Surely, the Iraqis should understand, more than anyone, the importance of rendering the IRI even more isolated and impotent than they already are.
A GREEN EXODUS into the cradle of civilization to transfigure the Land.
McCotter offers lofty words, yet, none that relate a strategy for confronting the oppressors and transforming the irateness of the IRI.
Unfortunately, the IRI has the narrative. They prepared for this early on with the formulation of the protective core groups designed to prevent this very threat. How many words will disarm the forces lining the avenues and thoroughfares of the cities assigned to quell and dismantle the rioting of a dissatisfied populace? There are not many choices at this juncture in history other than to just offer our support. Unless we are willing to employ targeted assassinations, Cruise missiles, invasion forces, or a nether world view of annihilation without concern for innocents, IRI has the dictate in tyranny. We may wish troubles would go away, but, that doesn't make them do so.
A retro "Love Iran or Leave Iran" holds the answer. A GREEN EXODUS and open arms of acceptance to the brothers and sisters in the Faith movement into Iraq is the only solution to thwart the design of these fanatics.
Take the Nation away from them by Leaving the Nation and allow them to relish in their own desire for despair.
Bob Marley- EXODUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NHbOqmNVm8
Wrest control from the Mullahs- GREENS GO WEST!! Leave their destitution to themselves!
WILL KHAMENEI HAVE THE LAST LAUGH?
B.RAMAN
There have been no reports of any major street demonstration in Tehran on June 23,2009. Calls were sent out through Tweets to the protesters in Tehran to assemble at the Baharestan Sq at 4 PM Tehran time, but not many managed to reach there.
2.The Iranian intelligence agencies have been successful in identifying and arresting many Tweeters in Tehran. As a result, the number of Tweets coming out of Tehran is declining. However, the Jundullah, the Sunni organisation which has been fighting against the Iranian regime in the Iranian Balochistan (Sistan Balochistan), has started sending news of developments in Tehran and other cities of Iran through Pakistan for re-transmission to the rest of the world. Similarly, Iranian exiles abroad have been using the Jundullah elements in Pakistan for sending instructions and advice to the protesters in Iran.
3.On the night of June 23 too as on previous nights thousands of people got on to the balcony of their houses and indulged in well-synchronised shouting of Allah-o-Akbar. Many also reportedly shouted "Death to Khamenei" --- a reference to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tweets coming out of Tehran have claimed that in a response to a call from Mir Housain Mousavi, who has been spearheading the protest movement, many bazaris (shop-owners) observed a shutter-down strike on June 23.
4. The protesters seem to have realised that in view of the heavy deployment of the Basij militia and the Revolutionary Guards and their readiness to use lethal force to put down street demonstrations, huge processions of the kind witnessed every day last week are no longer possible. They are, therefore, holding discussions among themselves as to how to keep up the momentum of the protest movement. President Barack Obama and other Western leaders, who had maintained a discreet silence in the first few days of the protest lest their comments be projected by the Iranian authorities as proof of external orchestration of the protest movement, have become increasingly vocal in criticising the violent suppression of the protest movement. This probably indicates that the Western Governments have assessed that the protest movement has reached its apogee and that it cannot increase further without evidence of some external solidarity.
5. Moreover, despite the restraint exercised by the West in the initial days, the Iranian authorities, unnerved by the massive protests, started demonising the protesters by projecting them as "terrorists", members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, a terrorist organisation, and stooges of external powers. Even Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, has been accusing the protesters of acting at the behest of external powers.
6. One would have expected that their campaign against the "external satan" would have been mainly against the US, which has had a past history of supporting dissident movements in Iran and undertaking destabilisation operations there. Surprisingly, they have not done so. Instead, their anger has been directed more against the British. The correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Tehran has reportedly been expelled and two middle-level British diplomats posted in the British Embassy in Tehran have been declared persona-non-grata on charges of indulging in activities incompatible with their duties as diplomats. The British Government has retaliated by expelling two Iranian diplomats on similar charges.
7.The Iranian authorities have been telling their people that the plans for the protest movement had been masterminded by the British long before the elections. The virulent campaign against the British is surprising because the BBC was exercising considerable restraint in reporting on the events in Iran.It gave prominence to the views of the protesters as well as the Government. It did not play up the Tweets unlike the CNN, which has been disseminating the protesters' version of the events----almost blacking out the Government version.
8. For example, when the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards opened fire on the protesters on June 20 there were conflicting versions of the fatalities. The Government said that only 10 protesters were killed, but the protesters kept insisting in their Tweets that at least 20 were killed. Whereas the CNN accepted the version of the Tweeters, the BBC disseminated the Govt. claim.
9. The focussed attack on the British seems at least partly to reflect the discomfiture of the Iranian authorities over the large listenership of the Farsi language broadcasts of the BBC radio and their credibility in Iran. Of all the foreign broadcasts directed to the Iranian people, the BBC's Farsi service has the maximum listenership and credibility followed by those of the Voice of America. The CNN hardly has any credibility in Iran.
10. In their efforts to jam all foreign Farsi language broadcasts, the Iranian authorities are paying the maximum attention to the BBC and then to the VOA. Both these radio stations have already taken measures to circumvent the jamming by strengthening the power of their transmitters and by setting up new transmitters to supplement those which were already in place. The BBC has started using two extra satellites to broadcast its Farsi-language service. The U.S.Govt-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in central Europe, is also increasing the power and reach of its programmes meant for the Iranian people.
11.Iran's Guardian Council has already rejected the protesters' demand for a fresh Presidential poll. Khamenei has given a free hand to the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards to suppress the protest movement through lethal force. The Basij and the RG have been carrying out his orders without any reservations. Under these circumstances, it will be difficult for the dissenters to maintain the momentum of their street protests. They are hoping that the protests could be kept up through other actions such as strikes, shop closures etc. Till now, the maximum number of participants in the protests have been young students----boys and girls--- who have no livelihood to lose. The Bazaris, the entrepreneurs and the labour force may lose their livelihood if they respond to the strike call. If they don't, that could be the beginning of the end of the protest movement and Khamenei would have had the last laugh. ( 24-6-09)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
JB - Glad you mentioned the Peace Moratorium (October 1969). It brought back some memories. We drove down from Gettysburg College. There were six or seven of us, all crammed into a VW mini-bus lacking a starter motor. We’d always have to make sure to park it on a hill.
I’d be lying if I claimed to attribute anything lofty or cerebral to this exercise. It was envisioned as a ‘happening’ – no more; a reason to embark on a day trip, drop some acid, smoke a little dope and raise hell. ‘Vietnam’ simply provided the pretext.
So you were there too! I remember wandering around aimlessly and being suddenly confronted with a phalanx of helmeted cops. They were shooting tear gas in our direction. We all turned and ran. I stumbled and fell – blinded; my eyes burning. Maybe you were the one who lifted me up and carried me around the corner. …and my faith in humanity was restored.
This stumble and subsequent rescue, more than anything else of that day, remains etched in my mind. I realize now that I had decided to go only because I felt myself perfectly safe. Even from the police, ultimately under the command of a beleaguered president, I knew I had nothing of lasting consequence to fear. It’s way too easy to be brave under such circumstances – quite unlike those in so many other parts of the world who risk everything daily for freedom. I wonder how I could have looked myself in the mirror all these years.
I continue to be grateful for this forum that gives me a chance to redress some of my youthful indiscretions. I remain fearful for our nation. By helping to sound the alarm, I hope to help mitigate the worst of what might yet be in store for us.
JB-
My boss in 1969 contracted for those buses that ringed the White House.
Wuz there. Saw the bus circle, saw the cops:
headed for the Smithsonian and
had a great day looking at old crap.
This makes Obama's fatuous equivocating and his tardy expressions of outrage and his blindly stubborn persistence in pursuit of negotiations despite everything that has happened simply incredible. Stooge Gibbs says without a sense of irony that "we have not had any response to the letter." What do these moral dimwits think the shootings, beatings, and killings are?
Obama sent letter to Iran leader before election, sources say
From Christiane Amanpour
CNN Chief International Correspondent
(CNN) -- U.S. President Obama sent a direct message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before this month's disputed election, Iranian sources said Wednesday.
The letter requested dialogue and engagement between the two nations, the sources said.
The sources said that Khamenei has yet to reply to the letter but that nonetheless it "had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election."
The White House refused to "get into the specifics of our different ways of communicating," a senior Obama administration official said.
"We have indicated a willingness to talk for a long time and have sought to communicate with the Iranians in a variety of ways," the official said.
Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter in his sermon on Friday at Tehran University.
"The U.S. president said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street," the Iranian leader said. "Some people attributed these remarks to Obama, and then they write letters to say we're ready to have ties, that we respect the Islamic Republic, and on the other hand, they make such comments. Which one should we believe?"
One Iranian source said, "We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmadinejad," and before the election, his senior advisers prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.
The Iranian source said the election dispute is wasting time on the issue of starting U.S.-Iranian negotiations. VideoWatch how the reported letter is part of a new policy of engagement »
"The longer it is delayed," the source said, "the less likely [U.S.-Iranian talks] will happen."
***
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/24/iran.obama.letter/?iref=hpmostpop
Suppose POTUS got his wish to sit down with Ahmadinejad, or with the 'Supreme Leader', for that matter. What (at this point) could he possibly say? Would he first bow to them (like anchorman Brian Williams bows to Obama; like Obama bows to the Saudi King)? It's likely that Obama has acquired a taste for it - bowing, that is. And what would come after? Idle chatter over tea and biscuits about the furniture? Next: "Can't we just all get all get along?"
SL:"You know the story about the 12th imam who lives down in a well?"
O: "No, can't say I do, Dear Leader."
SL: "It's 'Supreme'; you hear me, 'Supreme Leader'. 'Dear Leader' is the other guy, the one with the chink eyes. You must get that straight!"
O: "So sorry, D... Supreme Leader. You must understand, they wouldn't allow me to bring my teleprompter in here, and it's messing me up."
SL: "So what do you want to talk about, Uhh? What do they call you anyway?"
O: "You can call me Joe, or you can call me Moe, or you can call me 'O'; but most folks just call me 'Barry'."
You get my point? What could the (so-called) leader of the free world possibly find to say to these folks? What indeed!
"What could the (so-called) leader of the free world possibly find to say to these folks?"
*Let the People Go*