Monday, August 03, 2009
Evo Morales
Gotta give it up for Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. He has given the right to vote for self governance to Bolivia indigent population. Whether this will pass and be implemented is yet to be seen. The vote will take place in December amid the elections. The Bolivian elite is not happy to say the least but I think it is high time for the colonialist to restore some power equilibrium to natives of the land. These poor people have been under the thumb of Spanish settlers for years and I wonder if the vote for power of autonomy, what will they accomplish?
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9 comments:
Morales has been under constant threat from right-wing paramilitary militias financed by the US and the white elites since he took office. Not that I condone how the Iranian government responded to the protest but I find it curious that you don't see the similarities between the West-backed protesters in Iran and the right-wing paramilitary militias backed by the US government in Bolivia trying to overthrow the democratically elected Morales administration through coups and assassination attempts. Ahmadinejad, for all his faults and hardcoreness, has a huge support among the population not living in Tehran and not tech/media savvy, which do make up over 70% of the Iranian population.
I give Obama for restraining himself for the most part because that was the right thing to do. I'm always amazed at how often right-wing fascists and liberals in the US agree on foreign affairs almost always.
Om,
Do you really believe that the Iranian protestors have no justified claims? They have not been any freedoms in Iran since the Iran-Iraq war. These people do not want to live in a corrupt , purpoted Islamic government system. They never have. It was a reactionary vote when they voted for it back in the 70's.
As for the West sticking its nose in Morales. It is expected. The West has forever been salivating for complete control in the Latin Americas. They have plauged that continent into chaos for almost have a century. I am hoping that Morales sticks around for a while.
As for Obama, we will see how long he holds out.
No I didn't say the Iranian protesters have no justified reasons to protest. I just think the Western media has exaggerated the scope of the protest to serve their own governments' hidden agenda - whether its the American, British, or French governments - while downplaying Ahmedinajad's large electoral support in Iran. By the way, when did Moussavi become a reformist? He was one of the guys behind the Iranian Revolution, which the West still considers to be an illegal act'. My point is the people protesting in Tehran do not represent the views of the majority in Iran. Remember Ahmedinajad's electoral victory was never in question in all of the pre election polling. Only did Moussavi started gaining traction in the last week and half with the help of social networking and Western media eager for Ahmedinajad's demise. People living outside of Tehran that elected Ahmedinajad and they are the majority.
If the Iranian government should be judged based on its corrupt, repressive unislamic system then why isn't anyone saying anything about the Saudis? The Egyptians? The Jordanians? The Moroccans? It is hypocritical to pick on Iran for its lack of freedoms when the Saudi and Egyptian dictators have committed far more human atrocities for decades with the full support of these same Western governments you're asking to 'do something about Ahmedinajad'. I'm not disputing or condoning the Iranian government's excessive use of force against the protesters (who by the way were wrecking havoc on people's property), but I do, however, understand where this "reactionary" attitude comes from. After all, the West installed the atrocious puppet Shah in the place of their democratically elected Prime Minister Mohamed Mossadegh, funded Saddam Hussein's illegal and brutal war on them.
Om,
I understand that Moussavi is definately not a reformist there is no good guy in this picture but the population has shifted in the past decade or so most of the older generation are dying out and the younger generation are the ones who are not for Ahmedinejad. And just to clarify I never ever support any interference by any western government when it comes to the solving any war.
As for why the other Islamic governments aren't having their masses protesting, maybe because in Saudi most of the elite masses are being bought off with the mass of oil. As for Jordan and Morocco they do not take away personal freedoms as they do in Iran. Some of these religious rules are bordering on ridiculous. Religion shouldn't be rammed down one's throat. I think the Iranian population that is disgruntled is the younger ones who want to have some personal freedoms and experience life. The mass exodus of the brilliant minds leaving Iran is sickening. All because they don't want to live under this oppressive/or they don't want to bring up their kids under this oppressive government.
There might not be an answer now but I don't think this is fabricated. The common Iranian who is protesting is not for Moussavi but is for freedom. Moussavi is known to be a puppet and is capitalizing on this but most Iranians know he is not any better than Ahmedinejad.
So you're saying Ahmedinajad is worst than the Shah that the West installed? And how do you define personal freedoms in Iran compare to Jordan and Morocco? I would be curious to hear your answer. Also, it is quite inaccurate to describe Iran as a place where the government shoves religion on people's throat. But the government system is an Islamic Republic, for better or worse, and Islam forbids what you would call 'personal freedoms' like drinking, clubbing, etc. - things that "young people like to experience" in life.
But my point is that Ahmedinajad is a popular figure in Iran and no matter how much you dislike him or not, he has been democratically elected by the poor majority not living in Tehran and not media savvy. Btw, I thought you were chiding Obama for NOT interfering enough? Look, it is easy to get upset when you are being bombarded with 24hr coverage of the protest in Iran (many of them orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies - just like they did to overthrow Mossadegh) and the violence that ensued but many of those 'dying old people' remember what it was like to live under the Shah or gassed by Saddam Hussein, thanks to these same Western countries that continue to demonize Iran.
When you're fighting for survival and independence from foreign aggression like Iran is, personal freedoms hardly register on the scale of concerns. It is interesting to see how much you are in agreement with those neocon nutters that want to use this opportunity to invade Iran.
^^ Lmao at neocon nutters.
I guess I have a diff view from you about Iran because of personal friends who are from the region. I have met both spectrums of Iranians (those that r for Islamic state and those against).
When I say religion is forced down people's throat, I am talking about the masses of people forced to pray just because they live in an Islamic state. Last I checked prayers was a personal choice just like faith.
I have listened to my friends relatives on skype recounting tales of what going on. There is no excuse for torture, that goes for both the Shah and Ahmedinejad. People need to look upon their governments for help not to cringe everytime they see the moral police coming around the corner.
Islam after all is a religion of free will. All these corrupt government that purport to be Islamic state has failed miserably and personally I wish they would stop using Islam as an excuse to oppress people.
Ps:- If I sound like a neocon I apologize, I have a mesh of political ideas and sometimes I veer to the conservative side and other times to the liberal. I just call it like I see it and I hate to be pigeon holed.
I thought your post was about the validity of Ahmedinajad's re-election. My mistake.
I have never heard of people being forced to pray in Iran; this is news to me, and I would very much like to know about it if you have info that I can't seem to find on google.
Sorry if my arguments seem to pigeon hole you into one political system, or imply that. I'm apolitical myself. The truth is more important than subscribing to one political philosophy. Unfortunately the West has been great at propaganda and misinformation against countries and leaders it dislikes, not on a moral level but on a political or economical reasons. The big picture here isn't about some protesters being beaten up by police or personal freedoms - I still don't get why the Saudis get away with it, who DO have a moral police and force people to pray. If you really think the Iran outrage in the West is about that, then your interest should expand to the larger question of: why would the West give a damn about Iran at all? Does it have to do with its nuclear program or its vast oil deposit? Both perhaps?
I know you are not naive to believe that the Western establishment cares about those protesters one bit...
Oh I know better than expect the West to be interested in anything other than themselves. My post was about my feelings in regards to the Iranian protestors. I didn't ask for the West to but in but was pointing out how I haven't seen anyone speak of it socially. Most people just seem oblivious about it.
As to the whole praying thing, I am speaking from my friends' perspective not to mention I went to school with a couple Iranian girls (one who was liberal and one very conservative). They all speak about instances when people are taken from college and taken to political rallies against their will and the same goes for prayers.
I feel an affinity towards the Iranians and perhaps for me its a struggle of the people against a government that they don't want. All the other things are there, granted, but my focus is on the people.
Ps:- Apart from google what other sources do you use to ensure truth? Everything on the net as a bias of some sort.
I actually just tried to find anything about forced prayer in Iran by searching human rights group's reports and blogs on google. Nothing came up. If there are good sources that you know, please share.
The first friend I made in the US was an Iranian and he was perhaps too liberal. He never mentioned people being forced to pray - in fact he didn't know how to pray and he lived most of his life there.
If most Iranians hated their government, they would have brought it down long time ago, just like they did to the Shah.
I'm not surprised that most, if not all, Iranians in the diaspora hate the government but it is a stretch to make that conclusion on the majority of Iranians in Iran. Yet they're the ones that get the most airtime in the media, thus creating an unbalanced representation in public opinion - particularly in the West.
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