Not to screw up the attack-Iran push, but most Iranians want democracy, nuclear inspections

WilliamPitt

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Mon Jul-16-07 05:46 PM
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Not to screw up the attack-Iran push, but most Iranians want democracy, nuclear inspections

Edited on Mon Jul-16-07 05:48 PM by WilliamPitt

My quick analysis, fwiw...

1. Iranians are Persians, not Arabs. The majority of Iranians practice a Shi'ite version of Islam unique in the Mideast, as it was formed by multiple invasions of armies carrying different faiths and cultures, plus an underpinning of Zoroastrianism, i.e. ancient populist faith, that predates Allah by centuries. Iran is sort of the Poland of the Mideast; they got conqured over and over by armies that had to pass through their land to get where they were going (Jerusalem, Baghdad, Constantinople, etc), and those conquering armies left their mark

In short, most of the people there don't fit the "mad Arab" mold.

2. Iran is the only Mideast nation that had a democratic, republican, parlimentary system of government almost become the main deal. Mohammed Mossadeq became Prime Minister in the 50s, had a parliament, liberal reforms, free speech and basic Western governing principles.

But he nationalized the oil and threw out the US/British oil companies. British MI5 joined with CIA, per Eisenhower's order, and had his government overthrown (in, I think, 1953). We installed the Shah, who brutalized the populace but let the oil flow. This planted the wacky seeds that led to 1979, the Ayatollah, the hostages, and the takeover of the current nutbag Mullahs.

They had democracy, though. They wanted it. We killed it. This isn't conspiracy shit. It's black-letter history. Quick reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Mossadegh

There are shelves of books on the topic.

3. 75% of Iranian citizens are under 30, love the West, love TV, and hate the God-screaming Mullah elites. Iran is the world capital of the drug Ectasy. The most popular TV shows in Tehran are illegal satellite programs beamed in from Britain by expatriates, said shows being uniformly dedicated to pissing on the Mullahs. Most homes in Tehran have secret satellite dishes on their roofs to catch these shows.

4. There are two reasons Iran is run by the current nutbag Ahmadinejad. A) The Mullahs control the voting, and B) We invaded Iraq, which gave the nutbags a platform.

Iran wants to be Western, by huge majorities, and tried to be Western until we fucked with them. It is a gross irony of the 20th century that Iran is an enemy, while Saudi Arabia is an "ally."

Half the Sunni foreign fighters are Saudi. Virtually all of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi. Most terror funding is Saudi. The shoulder-fired missiles used to shoot down our choppers in Iraq were/are bought with Saudi money.

Iran should be a friend. But we overthrew their democracy, installed a dictator, lost control of him...and then made friends with Saddam Hussein to try and contain our mess.

The mess continues. Anyone think bombs and bullets will help this majority regain the democracy they tried to create 50 years ago?

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Poll: Iranians want democracy, nuclear inspections

(CNN) -- Most Iranians support nuclear inspections, a democratic government and normal relations with the United States, a poll by a U.S.-based organization has found. Terror Free Tomorrow found 80 percent of Iranians support full inspections and a guarantee not to develop nuclear weapons in return for aid from other countries.

Slightly more than half, however, said they still favor the development of nuclear weapons and think the country would be safer with them. Developing the weapons is considered a "very important" priority for just 29 percent of those polled. But when presented with an option to give up nuclear weapons development in return for outside aid, only 17 percent still supported nuclear weapons development.

The economy is more important to Iranians than developing nuclear weapons. Eighty-eight percent said they want economic improvement to be the government's top priority. The poll also found 56 percent think President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has failed to keep his campaign promise to "put oil money on the table of the people themselves."

Additionally, 61 percent of those interviewed "were willing to tell our pollsters over the phone that they oppose the current Iranian system of government, where the Supreme Leader rules according to religious principles and cannot be chosen or replaced by direct vote of the people."

Instead, 79 percent support a democratic system in which leaders are elected through free, direct elections. And while nearly two-thirds support financial assistance for opposition groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, 55 percent of Iranians support recognizing Israel and Palestine as independent states in exchange for normal relations with the United States.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/16/iran.poll/index.html