June 24, 2005
Ahmadinejad vs. Khatami
Let me give an example of how an Ahmadinejad government can affect people like me, or more particularly, me.
If he comes to power, which seems to be very likely due to wide-spread middle-class apathy, he would bring back the partisan intelligence officials to the ministry of information, the same people who stopped from leaving Iran last week.
Then the friendly and knowledgeable officer who interviewed me in Tehran and asked me to write something, explaining my 'controversial' positions and posts, could easily be replaced by a violent, ignorant guy without any knowledge about blogs and Internet.
Then instead of a four hour of relaxed and reasonable conversation, he would detain me, beat me and keep me in an undisclosed location for at least a week, and would make me write hundreds of pages of forced confessions against my friends, family and myself.
Instead of letting me go, he would introduce me to Saeed Mortazavi, the beloved Tehran's chief prosecute and the person responsible for the death of Zahra Kazemi.
Basically, one of the greatest achievement by Khatami was a major change in goals and methods used by the intelligence community and Ahmadinejad's administration could simply reverse that.
Posted by hoder at June 24, 2005 9:48 AM
khatami or rafsanjani are like bill clinton...they are smooth and possess amazing PR expertise..where as ahmedinajad is like George.W.Bush...blunt and in-your-face!though both the camps dont offer anything but a specious choice.... i know historical parallels are never accurate...but i guess it will atleast stop us from asking who is better?!
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Nixon went to China. Could Ahmadinezhad be the one to open up Iran? Could he end up being the enlightened liberal who really is able to make changes>
Joe
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems more like a coup than an election. Information in other iranian blogs suggests the votes were not even counted. Although Amadinehjad's "anticorruption" rethoric might have had some real sucess among the poorer classes (although usually the most corrupt candidates are the ones who have the strongest anti-corruption rethoric, at least here in Latin America is like that). In any case, no real chenges, Khamenei is and was and will be the ruler.
The thought doesn't really give me much pleasure, but I'm beggining to think that nothing short of a "Great Satan" military intervention will change this regime. And with the problems in Iraq I don't think the US will step in any minute soon. And Iran then will have nuclear weapons. And then...?
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Well its a landslide for Arab-i-nejad and a legitimate election thanks to teh idiots who encouraged us to go out and vote. I wish I had never listened to teh advice you gave. Thanks to those who voted we will have more repression than ever before. I shoudl have listened to Ms Ebadi and others instead of you!
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You cannot simply assume that! Nor can you expect Iran to change overnight. If elected president, Mr. Ahmadinejad would clearly has other things to worry about, namely socioeconomic problems, than to worry about us lowly bloggers on the web.
Mr. Rafsanjani probably isn't much better or worse. Isn't it the Rafsanjani family that owns a fairly larged sized mall and investors in a highway there in Toronto?
How can we honestly expect people from a low socioeconomic class to support a reform movement that has in its current state, clearly failed? What has it brought them?
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Could you tell us why these "major change in goals and methods used by the intelligence community" applied to you but not to Zahra Kazemi, Emad Baghi, Akbar Ganji, Sina Motellebi, etc...?
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Greetings,
Zahara Kazemi was murdered under Mr. Khatami's stewardship. The so-called "Chain Murders" were under Mr. Rafsanjani's watch. Then what difference it makes who's the president?
Now you are opting/voting for expediency while you encourage us to stick to our principles. It's sad.
Regards
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It's not "Ahamdinejad vs Khatami" which makes these differences, it's "you" which can go, have a nice reasonable conversation and go back to your country, freely, god-knows-why-and-how. Cause in the same situation, there are lots of other bloggers who write much smoother than you and are still arrested or at least forbidden to leave the country. How you can come and go freely and easily and even so "respectfully", that's a very good question.
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Hoder, I'm delighted you are in London, and appreciated your posts from Tehran. Two questions:
1. Didn't Ms Ebadi come out for the boycott? Would you lump her in with the Tehrangeles Diaspora? And didn't Moin tell his supporters that he would not urge them to vote, let alone 'endorse' another candidate? Is he in that Diaspora too?
2. Please explain--I think it would be very helpful to lots of us--why you believe that the designation of the new president is so crucial, when it seems that Khamenei holds all meaningful power. Do you think that either Rafsanjani or Ahmadinezhad will hold any real power?
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Perhaps I am confused, but wasn't Zahra Kazemi was killed while the reformist Khatami was still in power. So what exactly did Khatami accomplish? Also, and correct me if I am wrong, Rasfanjani, the fellow you have been asking people to support now, was also complicit in countless murders, both inside and outside of Iran, during his last time in elected office. The system of government within Iran strikes me as broken. I fear what Iran needs is another revolution, not another election.
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Did you make it home safely? I was surprised that you did not report about your trip very much. I am sort of hoping to hear more about your observations and see the pictures. Good luck.
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