yes, we have (cia) been very active in Iran.

@osusev said:

In case you thought so I have no problem with that.

When faced with a choice of two scumbags pick the one that you can better get along with.

WSS

BY CAROL E. LEE

The White House has rescinded its invitation for Iranian diplomats to attend its July 4 festivities, White House Press Secretary ...... Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday.

None of them RSVP’d, Gibbs said. But, he added: "I don’t think it’s surprising that nobody’s signed up to come given the events of the past days…Those invitations will no longer be extended."

Iran's Children of Tomorrow

@ballpeen said:

good lord no !

There are many among the cities ... and the upcoming youth population that crave our way of life .. our independence ! But that country has many who oppress the freedom and are still living in denial with regards to freedom and womens rights. We need to make sure that the extremists do not get all too dominating .... there are a lot of people waiting to be freed.

IMHO it was Iran we should have attacked and not Iraq.

The entire thing's about an hour long, but it's broken up into mini-subjects over at the bloggingheads site.

@heckofajobbrownie said:

Something you don't hear much in the media.

In the US political arena, we call those "the Primaries." Over there, you don't get on the ballot playing grab-ass with everyone.

@osusev said:

One thing that doesn't get mentioned: the clerics also wanted Mosaddeq overthrown. Not that it affects the morality of our actions; it just shows the hypocrisy of Ahmadinejad & co. throwing it back at us.

@heckofajobbrownie said:

She was quick to point out how Mousavi hardly fits into this good guys vs. bad guys scenario that has unfolded here, and that he's a been a butcher in the past in his own right.

Something you don't hear much in the media.

Good point. Besides the mostly positive press Mousavi has been getting, there seems to be a curious nostalgia about President Khatami's tenure in office. Despite the few steps he made in the right direction, he still is this guy.

Today, President Obama said that the substantive policy differences between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi may not be all that significant. I guess that's what happens when the only way you can get on the ballot is if the mullahs declare you kosher.

The more interesting reports are the ones about Rafsanjani possibly attempting to unseat Khamenei as Supreme Leader, but I have no idea whether those are accurate.

Buford T Bush was so masterful in his diplomacy with N.Korea.

************************************************

You mean Jimmy "peanuthead" Carter, who even admitted he was made a fool of by N. Korea.

Billy Carter wouldn't have been nearly so naive.

@kosar_for_president said:

My Dr. friends tell me that Dentists couldn't get into Medical School.

On another point, Heck has major cajones going to a 'driller' that has such bad experiences in her past. For his sake, I hope she doesn't have any flashbacks while he is in the chair.

@heckofajobbrownie said:

She was quick to point out how Mousavi hardly fits into this good guys vs. bad guys scenario that has unfolded here, and that he's a been a butcher in the past in his own right.

Something you don't hear much in the media.

That is crazy, women can't be doctors.

@heckofajobbrownie said:

You are right about that, Heck.

On the other hand I heard - either on NPR or Jim Leher's show - a senior fellow from a Middle East 'think tank' - himself an Arab - and a former government official both noted that this uprising has distinct characteristics than other protests.

First, they said there are fissures among the 'rulers', something that has not been the case before. They always had a united front.

Second, this appears to be a pent up reaction to the 'Islamic Republic' model where the power still resides at the Ayatolla level.

Third, perhaps like folks here who voted for 'anybody but Bush' are reacting to their economic peril under President A and believe his incessant saber rattling has played a big part in their financial malaise.

Perhaps the mainstream media is missing the fundamental point - this is a complex issue among a variety of conflicting and mobilizing issues - and a case where the 'least worse' becomes the man wearing the white turban.

@danamal said:

Buford T Bush was so masterful in his diplomacy with N.Korea.

Uh yeah, Dan.

It looks a lot better now.

WSS

@heckofajobbrownie said:

Actually anybody who pays even a little attention to it heard he was a scumbag too.

But you're correct that you don't hear much about it.

And Sev:

As long as they have the power to enforce it, the civilized world has the right to tell the shitbag dictators of the third world what they can and can't have in the nuclear weapons arena.

Which is why the US, even under Obama, should never willingly give up that power.

WSS

She was quick to point out how Mousavi hardly fits into this good guys vs. bad guys scenario that has unfolded here, and that he's a been a butcher in the past in his own right.

Something you don't hear much in the media.

Iran is an extremely complicated problem...

WE backed a dictatorship and tried to topple their democratic movement..... which wel does not really help us in the moral category.

I think we take a cold war stance on containment with open lines of communication like we did with the Soviet Union. Economics eventually is the most powerful variable on how things can be influenced internally.... well like the collapse of the Soviet Union.

We dont need antogonistic speeches or statements, not even "judgmental statements on foggy issues of "soveriegn rights" or whatever. Economic influence by directed our energies and economy to sell non oil based transportation is really the key to dismantling their nuclear aspirations or even if they achieve it the cost to sustain storage and creation. We hurt their oil income we hurt them in the best way possible... THE POCKET BOOK and the ayatollahs better find other ways to pay their military to keep unhappy poor people in check who want some sort of free market and freedoms we have.

Stating that no one has a right to tell them they can't have nukes was not.

WSS

The US has nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose by, even making statements about what is going on. This is an internal issue, albeit one that could have a very positive impact on the rest of the world.

It is the type of government the Islam part of Islamic Republic that really runs the show. Ayotolla still runs the show and he runs the committee charged with 'reviewing' the election results.

Let's hope the flames continue to roar in Iran.