[ExI] left on iran

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Fri Jun 26 11:08:37 UTC 2009


On 6/26/09, spike wrote:
>  I am puzzled by the U.S. left's take on Iran.  The uprising has so much in
>  common with the student protests of the 1960s here, such as the riots at
>  Kent State U and Berkeley.  The current protests have it all: students,
>  gays, women, protesting peacefully, calling for human rights, free speech,
>  basic freedom.  They are being beaten and killed by the military, the
>  police, corrupt religious fundamentalist government, a blatantly rigged
>  election, oh this shameful scene really has it all, in black and white.
>
>  So why does the US left seem to have a strangely muted reaction, instead of
>  what I would have expected, raving apoplexy?
>


There have been protests around the world, but your specific query was
about the US left reaction.

The main problem is that the election was probably about as fair as
you can get in Iran. (Note that the US elections have problems as
well). There is a split in the Iran population. The faithful rural
population voted about 60% in favor of the status quo. The city
dwellers voted about 30% for the opposition. So all the protests don't
change the election. But there is a large minority that wants more
representation of their views.
That's fine and should be supported, but this is hardly a cause to die for.

>From the US POV of course, whoever wins, they are still Muslim, so who cares?

BillK



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