Iranian Election Fraud: Who was the Real Target & Why

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Iranian Election Fraud 2009 Who was the Real Target and Why?

Is this man the target of Iranian election fraud?
Hashemi Rafsanjani, former two term president
and Iranian power broker. Image


There most certainly was election fraud in Iran in this election and every previous election under the current electoral system. The question is not, did fraud take place in this most recent election? Of course it did. You just need to study the Iranian Constitution and recent Iranian elections understand that, a step skipped by the major media and some nay-saying bloggers in the United States.

The real questions are who or what was the target of the fraud and why?

SNIP

The most pressing current problem with Iran is posed by the nation's president who happens to be certifiably insane. He is a holocaust denier; not just once but every time he's asked. Ahmadinejad even hosted a world conference for other deniers. The existence on the holocaust is not a required issue for discussion by Iranian politicians. Ahmadinejad actually goes out of his way to showcase his break with reality.

SNIP

Structuring the 2005 elections to take legislative power from Iran's reform faction was the first step in moving on the reformers and their most powerful leader, Hashemi Rafsanjani and the entire reform movement. Stealing the 2009 Presidential election was the second of four steps to secure total control of Iran. The allegiance of the armed forces and the Supreme leader are the final two acts, it would appear, in Ahmadinejad's drama.

SNIP


Freedom

May the Iranian people have the right to express their will through elections open to all factions with voting, vote counting, and reporting that is transparent, verifiable, and accurate. Of all the elements in Iranian politics, the two that offer the most hope are citizens as indicated by earlier voting patterns, candidate Mousavi for his resistance to fraud, and those true reformers excluded from election system by the so called guardians of Iran's election process.

More: http://inteldaily.com/news/172/ARTICLE/11003/2009-06-15.html

And Buzz it at BuzzFlash.Net

[MADem]

1. That guy is a kingmaker. He's also one of the richest guys in the country. NT

[autorank]

3. Forbes says, in the world too

Their article is linked in my article but here it is. Amazing.

This guy didn't start out mega rich but he worked hard with some good resources to start.

Forbes - Millionaire Mullahs

The politics there are fascinating. I think that the people will win. The grandees had no idea
that the people were so adamant about electing their leader and improving their lot.

In the presidential debate, Mousavi asked Ahmadinejad if Iran had any friends in the region. There
was a silence. The current president is so strange, nobody can deal with him.

[MADem]

8. The current president is so strange, nobody can deal with him.

You got that right! He's like that oddball at the dinner party that NO ONE likes (Please, please, please don't seat me close to....HIM!!!! Why did you invite that guy, anyway? He makes EVERYONE feel uncomfortable!").

It used to be that it was his obstreperousness and racist, homophobic, and aggressive commentary that made people uncomfortable, but now, that it has become painfully apparent that Khameini has taken off the asshole's muzzle and does not appear to have a firm pair of hands on his reins, that he's become...dangerous. This IS a coup--it's as though he's got Khameini over a barrel.

It's obvious that power is shifting, incrementally or what have you, away from the Supreme Leader and the Guardians, but the problem is, it's not shifting to the people. The system is a closed loop now--the Supreme and Guardians decide who is allowed to run for office, and now it looks like the President, er, Dictator decides who will win those elections. Not a good situation.

[starroute]

10. So -- Iran's got its own deep state

From your link:

Iran has other lethal secrets besides its nuclear program, now the subject of prying international eyes. Dozens of interviews with businessmen, merchants, economists and former ministers and other top government officials reveal a picture of a dictatorship run by a shadow government that--the U.S. State Department suspects--finances terrorist groups abroad through a shadow foreign policy. Its economy is dominated by shadow business empires and its power is protected by a shadow army of enforcers.

This really raises the question of possibly complicity with the deluge of heroin moving from Afghanistan through Iran to the West -- and snaring some significant fraction of Iran's bored-to-death young people along the way.

It's one issue that never seems to get talked about -- except in the context of smuggling by Baluchi or Kurdish insurgents -- but I'll bet it's there.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Gee, a lengthy, thoughtful article on the subject

that didn't make a single reference to how this has all been cooked up by the CIA. I wonder why?

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4. Well, you know ...

...they do have their ways;) but I can't remember. That's how good they are (this is a joke!)

There was no outside interference needed to set the people off. While it's a "Green" revolution,
that's not at all like the <insert color here> revolutions in Eastern Europe. Frank Luntz and others
were there and the involvement of US folks was apparent.

But this time, it's certainly looks home grown and there are reasons galore.

The big league power struggle with Khameini (Supreme Leader) and Rafsanjani (ally of reformers) is
operating on one level and it's clearly a major fued. The people versus the government is the
more interesting battle. Hope they hang in there and carry the day.

[puebloknot]

7. Very heartening news that there is substantial popular resistance.

I had Iranian neighbors in California. They moved in next door shortly before 9/11, and after that they were afraid to go to the market alone. And they hastened to display the American flag and signs in their windows saying "United we Stand"!

Before 9/11, they invited us for tea, and as soon as the handshakes were over, the husband said, "We are *not* terrorists." I hastened to assure him that I knew that.

They were some of the most gracious people I've ever met.

Posting with thoughts of solidarity with the Iranians, and all the people who have been brave enough to hit the streets in protest against obvious and outrageous election tampering. No Chief Resident Agents with grocery sacks of American dollars needed in this particular show of popular ire. This one seems to be real.

And here in America .... our stolen elections are more dignified. We let the courts get by with pulling the wool over our collective eyes. The wool is thin, and anyone with eyes to see can look right through it, but it's not politically correct to get too strident and yell fire in a theater over the small matter of the end of a democratic republic.

[blindpig]

9. But auto, seriously,

what of the $400 million that our government has dedicated to 'regime change'?

No doubt that the president of Iran is a fuckwad but that doesn't mean that he can't have other fuckwads gunning for him. Corrupt election? Most likely. Yet 'we' got a history, as you well know.

k&r

[autorank]

15. It's all about the people in the streets n/t

Those Grandees can settle their own business. I'm in favor of the people protesting the charade
at great risk.

[ihavenobias]

5. What? There's gambling here?!

;)

But seriously, very interesting as always.

[autorank]

11. Life seems cheap lately but there's always gambling;) n/t

[Me.]

6. It Is My Understanding

That what the clerics and reformers alike fear most is a military dictatorship, a possibility presented by Ahmadinajad's control of the interior ministry and the military. In their defense of their position the clerics have made some serious mistakes recently which don't bode well for their continued supremacy and as for Ahmadinajad, he has become delusional in his arrogance. A smarter move would've been to hold announcing the results for 24 hours and have a much closer margin. The fact that none of the other candidates won their home regions and that one candidate only got 1% of the vote in his home region speaks to a mindset of thinking no one can stop him. His mistake was to push it in their faces in such an inept way. What makes these men so arrogantly stupid? Are they so delusional that they think no one will see or perhaps it's just the joy of being able to show people how helpless they are under his rule.

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12. My exchange with Robert Parry on SmirkingChimp.Com

Robert Parry wrote an article on SmirkingChimp.Com indicating that the Iranian election was probably a reflection of will of the Iranian electorate. I was stunned. He quoted a poll from a neocon association. After recovering, I responded. What a load of bull shit - "liberals" are now defending Iranian fascists.

Robert Parry's article:

What If Ahmadinejad Really Won? Robert Parry
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/22341

Michael Collins responds:


http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/22341#comment-161567

First Leahy comes back from Afghanistan and says he sees the need there for the Vermont National Guard. Now this!

You've done some of the best reporting ever on dangers posed by mindless militarism and the abuse of executive power.

Now this. First, there's no reason to give this poll much credence because we can see what happened by looking at election history.

1989 - reformer ally Rafsanjani wins, huge margin

1993 - reformer ally Rafsanjani gets re-elected, wipeout

1997 - real reformer Khatami wins - huge margin, huge turnout 80%

2001 - real reformer Khatami wins - huge margin, huge turnout 70%

2005 - many reformers boycott the election - Ahmadinejad wins, good margin, 48% turnout -

So what does that tell you will happen in 2009? A huge margin like this poll predicts for the fascists? Not likely.

The poll was sponsored by the New America Foundation, one of the many information on demand peddlers in DC

The New America Foundation

Who runs the foundation - 3 key board members:

Francis Fukuyama - neoconservative, Iraq war supporter
Christie Todd Whitman - allowed 911 first responders to be poisoned without telling them
Fareed Zakaria - journalist who pushed Iraq war

What kind of poll would we expect from anyone that they sponsored?

The real history of documented elections shows that the reform movement began gaining strength in t1989 and grew from there. Despite disqualifying their candidates and harassing them, the movement attracts the youth faction.

This poll is a shill operation for those who support military intervention a a primary feature of U.S. foreign policy.

They're about as reliable a polling source as polls sponsored by the Supreme Leader of Iran.

There are any number of reasons outlined here to show that this election was a total fraud. Lets support the people of Iran who have the courage to put it on the line when injury, prison, and death await their efforts.

[Me.]

13. Total BS

Surprised at him.

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14. Did you catch the link "Leahy"

That was a couple of weeks before Parry's odd article today.

Defending a fascist regime on the basis of tortured logic and poor sources makes no sense to me.

It's a contrarian move with no benefit for the citizens. It only clouds the air.

[maryf]

16. KIck

Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

[diva77]

17. Did IFES have a hand in running this election? Our corrupt former ROV in

LA County is a consultant for IFES (or was)

http://www.lavote.net/GENERAL/McCormack_Bio.cfm