Ahmadinejad stifles pro-Democracy students with 'star system'

[democratic]

-Nazis anyone?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/17/wiran17.xml

University authorities in Iran have adopted a "star rating" system for politically-active students as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's crackdown on dissent within the academic elite.

The diktat, under which regime critics are given between one and three stars according to the perceived threat they pose, was among the main catalysts for last week's unprecedented student demonstrations against Ahmadinejad in Teheran.

At the protests - the first public display of defiance against the president's hard-line clerical rule since he took office last year -students burned his picture and branded him a "fascist" who had no place in an institute of learning.

[democratic]

1. Pic

[originalpckelly]

3. Poor people...

I guess when you don't think there was a Holocaust, you don't try to avoid things that resemble the Nazi's labeling of Jews during the Holocaust.

[ShockediSay]

5. What??? nt

[originalpckelly]

6. Sorry...

it's been corrected now.

[seriousstan]

2. No, he is only being misinterpreted. He hates Bush so he must be OK.

Besides, those protesters are only CIA moles.

[originalpckelly]

4. I know...

He's not a bad guy. He's just giving them something to be proud of. People get stars as a reward. :sarcasm:

We all know sane people would be rioting against this if it happened here. I'm saddened that more people haven't protested more.

[Lerkfish]

7. and the difference between this and Bush's watch list is......?

you know, where he puts quakers and anyone else who protests for peace so they can be tracked by the NSA?

[geek tragedy]

8. People here don't argue that Bush has been

mistranslated.

[originalpckelly]

9. Well, he was, but that still doesn't mean he's any better than Bush...

Ahmadinejad is obviously a lot worse.

[BR_Parkway]

12. Bush has killed how many compared to Ahmadinejad?

Not to say that I like either one of them, but if we're going to compare apples to apples -

Iranian president takes Iran a little further down the path to dictator/fascism than they were before. Totalitarian, theocratic rule has been pretty much in place for ages

American president takes US a LOT further down the path to dictator/fascism, breaking the law and destroying the democratic principles our nation was founded on.

No wonder they can't stand each other, they're too much alike

[democratic]

10. Yup

Was not Ahmadinejad at all he is a wonderful guy and the students are all CIA agents, i mean how dare they protest a vast religious fundamentalists? Only we as Americans can do that those Iranians NEVER! <sarcasm at the sheer stupidity of the stupid>

[peacetalksforall]

11. A. Fear of dissent. Q. What do China, the U.S. and Iran have in

common.

[ButterflyBlood]

13. Damn those CIA mole students for protesting fundie nutjobs!

n/t

[w4rma]

14. The neo-con war put this nut into power. He rode the wave of hate to get in.

And he is working to try to keep from never leaving power.

[rollopollo]

15. Monitoring

Can you imagine the abuses under this system? Or the possibilities for entrapment? If Iran wanted to seriously crack down on all dissenters, not just activists, they could create events or polls that would invite participation by people who disagree with their rulers. Based on their attendance or response to these questions, they could instantly designate them as a "threat" and deal with them appropriately. I imagine some of these people would never be heard from again.

I think the real dilemma with this program, even more than the invasiveness, is the degree it will stifle free expression and independent thought. You can have elections, but if people fear that espousing certain viewpoints will make life difficult for them, you don't have even a quasi-democratic system.

[Heidi]

16. Welcome to DU, rollopollo!

:hi:

[rollopollo]

20. Thanks

Looking forward to exchanging ideas.

[Superman Returns]

17. but...but...he criticized Bush

think I'll just ignore his diametrically opposed views toward liberalism, progression, and fundamental freedoms.

[leesa]

18. Sounds like something Lieberman and Lynn Cheney would approve of.

[treestar]

19. I thought his role was just symbolic?

Does he just carry out someone else's plans or does he have the power to carry out hard-line clerical rule?

Either way, it's evil.

Most of them are going to end up living over here as political asylees.