The more this situation unfolds, the more surreal it seems to get.
Now, everyone’s pretty much realized that Ahmadinejad is coming down with an iron fist, silencing dissent across the country. Cell phone signals jammed, the opposition arrested. All pretty standard practice for a dictatorial “presidency”, but now he’s almost becoming coy, which makes things even more worrisome.
There is rule of law in this country and all the people are equal before the law,” Ahmadinejad said when Amanpour asked if he would guarantee Moussavi’s safety. She also asked why opposition leaders had been arrested.
“In a soccer match, people may become excited and there may be confrontation between the people and the police force. People who violate traffic regulations will be fined by the police no matter who he is. These are not problems,” Ahmadinejad said.
When Amanpour asked a second time if Ahmadinejad would guarantee Moussavi’s safety, he said he had already answered the question.
Totally reassuring.
Back stateside, you’d imagine that in the hopes of patching things up with Iran the United States would avoid taking too hard a stance one way or the other. After all, that’s part and parcel of the whole “diplomacy” thing. No dice. Clinton won’t accept Ahmadinejad’s “victory”, and neither does Biden. Oh sure, no one’s saying “that’s a load-a bullshit” or anything, but by proclaiming their doubts and suspicions, that’s about as close as one could imagine an American official getting to siding with the challenger.
Oh and here comes some Bush legacy for ya:
“I think it’s going to make it incredibly difficult for the Obama administration to acquiesce on Iran’s enrichment of uranium when there is a president in Tehran who continues to deny the Holocaust, and continues to be belligerent toward Israel,” Sadjadpour said. “I don’t see the probability of Ahmadinejad taking a more moderate or conciliatory approach his second time around. Similar to what President Bush said when he was re-elected in 2004, he said, ‘I’ve earned political capital, and now I am going to use it.’”
I’ve defended Ahmadinejad in the past. Quite a few times. However, stealing an election is beyond the pale. That’s one of those things that can counterbalance almost anything else. It exhibits an unbelievable lack of concern for the will of your people. No matter how right you think you are, if the people disagree, you have to deal with it. That’s why elections happen.
By the way, speaking of uranium and such, here’s a weird poll. Four in five Israelis aren’t concerned that an Iran with nuclear weapons would bomb Israel. That just blew mah brain.
