Trust Iran’s Election Review?
Under questionable circumstances, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won reelection last week. Now, amid protests, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for an inquiry into the election. But seeing as how skewed the election results were (Ahmadinejad won an overwhelming victory over challenger Mir Hussein Moussavi, despite predictions of Ahmadinejad’s defeat), and how quickly the results were certified (immediately, rather than after the traditional 3 day waiting period), why should we trust this inquiry? Further, even if the inquiry finds that the election results were tainted, what will happen? Another election? That seems quite unlikely.
More and more, it seems that Ahmadinejad stole the election. This should come as a surprise to no one, as all aspiring dictators must start somewhere. The international community is surely disappointed, but only the most wide-eyed optimist would be incredulous. Iran is an Islamist state, and its respect for democracy is circumspect at best. Better to keep Ahmadinejad in power than to risk a “reformist” candidate who might challenge the religious rulers that have kept Iranians under their thumb since the so-called revolution (devolution is a more apt term).
The time has come for the people of Iran to remain restless. Protests have flared and continue despite threats (and reality) of brutal crackdowns, and repeated, mass nighttime arrests. As Ahmadinejad attempts to cause fear in the Iranian people, brave souls still organize protests. Even with blocks on social networking sites and text messaging networks, the word still gets out. A peaceful protest will always have its place, but now is not the time for peace. Ahmadinejad represents a threat to world stability. He brings no respect to the Iranian people; instead he makes the country look shameful. His likely theft of the election only further reduces the world’s respect for the Iranian people.
There is a time for peace and there is a time for revolution. Iranian people – the time for revolution is now.
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