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Iran's Riveting Political Drama
“Ahmadinejad gave us 70,000 touman (about $7.20) last month. What have the other three given us? I think it’s pretty clear who I’m voting for.”
-Shireen, 25, Sabsevar. Single woman, lives with parents.
“I’m with Ahmadinejad. I’m a worker. I make 350,000 touman (about $36) per month. I’ve been to many places—Bangkok, Pattaya, Malaysia, Singapore—and no place will ever be as good as Iran. We are free to be Iranian here. I’d never want to live anywhere else.”
-Babak, 26, Tehran. Worker and former Basij member.
“Look at him. Ahmadinejad is one of us.”
-Mehran, 20, Shahr Rey (Shah Abdul Azim, Lower Tehran). Religion student and Basij member.
“Rezaie is more focused on his strategy for running the country than the other candidates. His ideas are reliable and attainable. That’s why I’m voting for him.”
-Rasoul, 26, Tehran. Cameraman.
“I haven’t decided yet if I’ll vote for Karroubi or Mousavi. They’re both religious, but not overly so. The respect those who are different than they are, and I don’t feel like they’re trying to show off. They’re more honest, and obviously foreign policy under either would be much better.”
-Naficey, 29, Mashhad. Unemployed.
“A vote for any of them is a vote for the system. No, thanks.”
-Mehrdad, 25, Tehran. Taxi driver.
“I’ve never voted, and I won’t vote now. I’m clean.”
-Saeed, 28, Tehran. Factory worker.
Xtra Insight: Plus, read more views on Iran's historic election from other Daily Beast writers.
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and the forthcoming How to Win a Cosmic War.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Amateur Hour at the White House
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Stiffing the Revolutionaries
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War.
Naive Obama Gets Iran Results
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War.
Obama's Last Iran Option
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War.
The quotes from people who are refusing to vote disturb me. I hear the same complaints from people who refuse to vote here in America.
Is it rigged? Is it flawed? Does it matter, when there's no easier way of influencing your country's politics?
America is not Iran.
There they are not voting for the most powerful person (that would be the supreme leader) they are voting for a candidate that was approved by the current government in the form of the Guardian Council. Your comparison to American voter apathy is not an appropriate one.
Reza,
I just watched you on Hardball. Please tell me that Chris Matthews is not that misinformed about the Iran/nuclear bomb issue. Please.
Please tell me that Chris Matthews is not so grossly misinformed that he doesn't know the difference between enrichment levels for nuclear power (3-5%) and that required for nuclear weapons (92-100%)....and that it took years for Iran to get to 3-5%. Please tell me the guy isn't that stupid, or his producers are that misinformed. Please.
I was mindblown to hear him say that Israel has never threatened pre-emptive war with Iran. I can't reach him. Send him some reading material. Help save his show; right now he's a blockhead who doesn't do his homework.
"What to do with Iran?" by Brigadier General (Res.) Oded Tira -- Dec 30, 2006
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3346275,00.html
We must clandestinely cooperate with Saudi Arabia so that it also persuades the US to strike Iran. For our part, we must prepare an independent military strike by coordinating flights in Iraqi airspace with the US. ... In addition, we must immediately start preparing for an Iranian response to an attack. The Americans must act. Yet if they don't, we'll do it ourselves
"Israel asked US for green light to bomb nuclear sites in Iran" -- Sept 25, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/25/iran.israelandthepalestinia ns1
"Officials: Iran does not have key nuclear material" -- March 10, 2009
http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/1077002.html
Iran does not yet have any highly enriched uranium, the fuel needed to make a nuclear warhead, two top U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday, disputing a claim by an Israeli official.
"Israel stands ready to bomb Iran's nuclear sites" -- April 18, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6115903. ece
Have him read the real IAEA June 5, 2009 report on Iran's nuclear capablity, not the BS the NYT tried to slip past us a week ago, stating that Iran now has the "centrifuge capacity for nuclear arms--see below. Tell him to read every page. There are only five of them.
http://isis-online.org/publications/iran/IAEA_Iran_Report_5June2009.pdf
Ari Fleischer during a WH Press Gaggle:
"The more uranium you have, the fewer centrifuges you need to produce a nuclear weapon."
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/07/200307 12-11.html
Reza, I've seen you on TV several times and think you do a great job. Watching you yesterday on Chris Mathews show, however, was extraordinary. You provided some real teaching moments to Mathews who sat back in stunned disbelief of your comments or utter respect for your speaking with authority about Iran-Israeli relations. I'm hoping he's hoping to engaging with you more on the air.
Thank you.
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