Noam Chomsky: season of travesties – freedom and democracy in mid-2009
isiria
22-Jul-2009 (5 comments)

 June 2009 was marked by a number of significant events, including two elections in the Middle East: in Lebanon, then Iran. The events are significant, and the reactions to them, highly instructive... In Iran, the electoral results issued by the Interior Ministry lacked credibility both by the manner in which they were released and by the figures themselves. An enormous popular protest followed, brutally suppressed by the armed forces of the ruling clerics. Perhaps Ahmadinejad might have won a majority if votes had been fairly counted, but it appears that the rulers were unwilling to take that chance. From the streets, correspondent Reese Erlich, who has had considerable experience with popular uprisings and bitter repression in US domains, writes that “It’s a genuine Iranian mass movement made up of students, workers, women, and middle class folks” – and possibly much of the rural population.  Eric Hooglund, a respected scholar who has studied rural Iran intensively, dismisses standard speculations about rural support for Ahmadinejad, describing “overwhelming” support for Mousavi in regions he has studied, and outrage over what the large majority there regard as a stolen election...It is highly unlikely that the protest will damage the clerical-military regime in the short term, but as Erlich observes, it “is sowing the seeds for future struggles.”... >>>

rosie is roxy is roshan

Any takers for this one on the pro-Mahmood left?

by rosie is roxy is roshan on Wed Jul 22, 2009 06:17 PM PDT

Actually, the article takes us to other places, too. It's not just Iran and Lebanon. But the section on Iran is highly significant. And it is notable that not only does Chomsky call fraud but he rejects the issue of foreign 'meddling, or at least its having any particular role in formenting the uprising. So what I'm wondering is: would anyone on our small but vocal pro-IRI 'left' care to explain what would cause someone like Chomsky--who is so stridently anti-Western interventions in developing countries, whether political, military or economic, as to be universally loathed and scorned by the center and right--to be mistaken in his stance on the Iranian elections and their aftermath?

Any takers on this one?



Balatarin
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David ET

Iran Accountability Act

by David ET on Thu Jul 23, 2009 07:28 PM PDT

//network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomme...

 Irwin Cotler, a Montreal MP:

"Before the election, there were those — such as New York Times columnist Roger Cohen — who praised Iran for its “old itch for representative government” and predicted the election would be “a genuine contest by the region’s admittedly low standards.” After witnessing first-hand the brutal repression wrought by the Iranian government after June’s elections, Cohen was forced to acknowledge: “I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness.”

The lesson is that those who seek to immunize the Iranian regime against critics, and who consistently play down the human-rights abuses that occur within its borders, are not helping Iranians. They are enabling their oppressors." [apologists]


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David ET

Chomsky arrived at hunger strike. Day 2

by David ET on Thu Jul 23, 2009 07:24 PM PDT


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Asghar_Massombagi

It's the usual

by Asghar_Massombagi on Thu Jul 23, 2009 09:35 AM PDT

clear-eyed, no nonsense, “speak truth to power” Chomsky, tearing the veil off ideological mystifications by both the right and the left. It's the best antidote to bullshit from the likes of Friedman and chicanery of neo-con hucksters like Elliot Abrams but also those lazy minds on the left who seem satisfied to fall back on cold war rhetoric and behavior.  It’s amazing how Chomsky has maintained this level of commitment to truth for so long. All power to him.


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IranFirst

Thanks Rosie

by IranFirst on Wed Jul 22, 2009 09:49 PM PDT

Wait, the "other left" WILL find something wrong with Chomsky or ignore his comments (most likely) and then come back and repeat their party line again.  Noam is on the right side of the history here 

 


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