Election Fraud in Iran?

As claims Ahmadinejad stole the election in Iran rages around the world, sadly the violence continues. But regardless of the final resolution the human and women rights violations under Iran’s oppressive government will probably remain the same. One of the most thought provoking articles I’ve read so far, and an excellent piece helping me to understand the complexity of Iran was written by Lila Ghobady, an exiled Iranian writer-journalist residing in Canada since 2002. It’s called ‘No Matter Who Is President of Iran, They Would Stone Me’, and it gives a blow-by-blow description of what alleged transgressions that would cause her, because she is a woman, to be stoned. One is adultery, as under Iranian laws women have no right to divorce their husband even if she separates from him for years, or becomes involved in a relationship with another man. Another way, which would cause her to be stoned to death, is for prostitution, or giving birth to a baby out of Islamic wedlock. She goes on to list 8 more, including openly opposing any Iranian regime for its human rights violations, and not conforming to the mandatory Islamic dress code. The gist of Ghobady’s message is Iran is a country that’s neither democratic, or with free elections, and haven’t been for 30 years. And Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s defeated presidential candidate despite all his rhetoric will not make changes, because he’s a fanatic supporter of the Ayotollah Khomeini’s ideologue, and just like the Ayotollah was, he has been part of the Iranian dictatorship system for decades.

I’ll admit there are plenty of oppressive countries out there, and for sure they’re not all Islamic by a long shot. Remember back in 1953, Iran’s duly elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddqu was ousted by a CIA backed coup due to his passionate opposition to foreign intervention in his country’s affairs, and after he nationalized the country’s oil industry. American took out democracy then, not any Islamic madmen. So in my mind, the cry of so many talking heads Ahmadinejad will rip apart his country, especially by our government officials have to be carefully measured against what many believe to be in the United State’s best interests. I’m not saying there aren’t plenty in the United States with good intentions, including many of our politicians, nor is America an oppressive country. It’s just that we’ve meddled an awful lot in the Middle East for many years now, and a lot of our efforts have resulted in not much change and a whole lot of deaths. Just take a look at the current wars.