Quotes from ordinary Iranians… about the election

Check them out here at Hot Air.

These quotes should tell you that there is a boiling undercurrent among the Iranian population. On the outside, we know they voted, and we know that they knew they were participating in a farce. But, they did anyway. Such is the right of democracy in Iran, a country that has never known democracy in action in modern times, or long before we were around.

So… The government in Tehran can only hope to put this seething anger down through oppression as they always have. Meantime, one has to wonder if this will motivate the government to consolidate its grip on power and push harder and harder to get the nuclear material into a form that can be used. We have seen many times throughout history. When a government rules through fear, it often seeks to project a forceful and militant attitude abroad to show the local population that the world is afraid of the regime. Uhmmm… Let’s see.

1. North Korea
2. Lybia (circa 1990)
3. Congo
4. Somalia
5. Myanmar
6. Sudan

What do all these places have in common?  A regime that is hugely oppressive, and uses intimidation among the people combined with propaganda and threats to the outside world to get what they want.

The problem is the current administration has shown no inkling that they want to solve the problem.  Being nice to any of the governments listed above is going to be seen as a sign of weakness.  For most of these places, there’s not much going on there that impacts us directly.  Except in the case of immigration to the US and Europe.  But… North Korea and Iran will seek to get “legitimacy” in any way they can.  If not through diplomacy, through having weapons that make attacking them a fruitless exercise.