IRAN'S ELECTION RESULT

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been elected for second term, what does this mean to America?

 

Wow. Hm.

 

The bigger question is - who rules over Ahmadinejad - that is the real problem.

* The president may be the most public face of the mullahs' regime but he is not the most powerful figure. The final say in all matters of state lies with the supreme mullah leader, Ali Khamenei, under Iran's system of clerical rule.

* The president can influence debate on policy because Khamenei tends to make his decisions based on consensus among the political elite although he usually sides with conservatives, analysts say.

* Mullahs' system has multiple checks and balances that mean that even a president with a big electoral mandate, as Khatami had after his 1997 and 2001 landslide wins, can have his reforms blocked. These bodies include:

-- a 290-seat parliament, or majlis, which debates and votes on legislation, and in which conservatives now have a majority

-- a conservative-mullah-dominated Guardian Council, made up of six senior mullahs and six Islamic jurists, that vets election candidates and laws to ensure they adhere to Islamic principles

-- an Expediency Council, now headed by influential mullah and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, which was set up to mediate in rows between parliament and the Guardian Council


-- an 86-member Assembly of Experts, a clerical body that supervises, appoints and can sack the supreme leader, although it has never knowingly intervened in policy. Rafsanjani is now the head

-- in addition there is a powerful military, conservative- controlled judiciary, a Supreme National Security Council that handles nuclear talks, and many individual clerics and politicians who wield influence behind the scenes.

* This web of influence and power tends to make for protracted decision-making, even if ultimate authority lies with Khamenei. But analysts say the guiding principle for the leadership is securing the future of Iran's Islamic system.

 

Status quo

 

It is fraud pure and simple. I don't like that government since its inception 30 years ago.

 

The Shah's regime was so much better !!!!!!!!!!!

 

I am amazed that nobody has made any comment on the recent European elections to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
It is the Parliament that represents over 500 million people in 27 countries. Also no comment on the rise of extreme right wing and anti immigrant candidates. For example 2 fascists were elected in the United Kingdom Also the extreme right wing did well in the Netherlands and in Greece.
Or does American news coverage not extend to Europe?

 

It was better when the Shah was in control but he was weak when it comes to giving power to one of his supporters. His sister was good but he would not let her. Plus, Pahlavi did not learn from the Turks. It is ironic that the Shah is buried in the same mosque like his former brother in law King Farouk in Cairo.

 

S23,it is hard to understand the EU Parliament in Brussels. They are now trying to get Ireland to pass that "treaty" of a constitution no MP can't explain.

 

RIP Neda

May you rest in peace..............

 

+10 rep to anyone that spelled the guy's last name RIGHT in this thread..

pounds all around homies

even to the shorty white jawns

 

No it wasn't that great under the Pahlavi family...that is why there was a revolution in the first place. Sure he was nice to the West but Westerners have a habit of being friendly with dictators as long as they give us whatever it is that we want. Then we harp about dictators that are not inclined to ride our jock strap. They elected a president and our intelligence agencies had him "removed", for a lack of a better term. One day we will learn to stop trying to implant leaders we like and our form of government on others....oh yeah and by the way...the Saudi Royal Family abuses and tortures dissenters and others alike but I haven't heard a peep from any Western government (on a consistent basis) about it...wonder why that is?????

 

That's what Ron Paul was talking about when he voted against the resolution condemning Iran.

 

Wow...I agree with Ron Paul...lemme check outside for those four horsemen...I feel an apocalypse coming on..LOL!

 

Well, thank you dear sir!!!

 

lol

I know many don't agree with his views, but I hope that at least some of what he says will strike a chord with people

 

I'm so worried for what's happening in Iran right now. Poor people. I admire them, they are so brave. I've heard they caught Neda's parents too. Who knows what they are gonna do to them....

 

Its horrible, I heard the attacks are getting worse today. Obama should not meet with them. I could see a black hand style group sprouting in that country.

 

American CIA will find a way to get the dude knocked off. I wouldn't be surprised if the last week's events were all part of their plan.

It could be that i over-actively consider conspiracy theory when it comes to american foreign affairs. It could be said that i'm slightly paranoid.

Ever heard of the Bay of Pigs? Anyone seen Syriana? The idea of that movie didn't just pop up out of thin air.:smt066

 

Somebody in the barbershop was saying that we're seeing what might have happened here in the U.S. on November 5th had Barack Obama "somehow" lost this past election. Maybe not as bad, or maybe worse.

It sounded like rubbish at the time but I kinda see his point.

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