Iran Election

Is anyone watching what is going on in Iran? In case you aren't, incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election is being disputed. I think he's pretty insane, personally. Anyway, his challenger's supporters are protesting the results, which I think are completely false. He may have won, but there is no way you can count 45 million votes by hand in 2 hours. This is almost as bad as Saddam Hussein claiming that his citizens voted for 100% for him (his ballots only had 1 name (his) and anyone who wrote something else wasn't heard from again.)


Now the Republican Guard is using violence to crack down on the protesters who are protesting all over Iran. Supposedly there is a media blackout, but the protesters are using the internet to get all the information out. To me this makes it obvious that the results were at least tampered with, if not completely fabricated. Why else would the regime order all foreign journalist removed and declare that the protesters are breaking the law? I don't think Iran could have handled the situation any worse. Now the whole world is watching them kill their own citizens, all because they want a re-count and are trying to let their voices be heard instead of having the ayatollah and some other old, conservative, hard-liners dictate what they can and cannot do.


The point of my post is this - I feel terrible for the Iranian people, especially those who are trying to stand up for their beliefs. It's one of those things we Americans are blessed to be able to do. I don't know how this is going to end, but it looks like chaos is erupting on the streets. The militia and the protesters are squaring off and people are being killed on both sides. I hope some sort of resolution will come out of it, but it looks like Iran is going through a political and cultural revolution. I hope they are able to gain some more social freedoms from this. This is one of those things you hear about in school but I never thought I'd be seeing this unfold before my eyes. I don't know what the American government will do, but if gets worse I imagine the UN will have to step in (of course, it will probably be too late.)


I'll keep watching what is going on. I'm on the side of the protesters. Whether their candidate won or not, they deserve to have an outside third-party committee validate the results. I can hear my political science professor going crazy right now. She traveled to other countries as part as one of those committees to watch elections and ensure that the people had a fair election. Hopefully the regime doesn't start a civil war. I don't think they will back down from their stance without intervention from other countries. Only time will tell how it will go, but the Iranians deserve some support from world powers who promote democracy. Let's hope they don't wait too long to get involved.