The high voter turnout in Iran changed things and I have already posted I don’t see how Bush can do anything to affect this election to the point where his man is put in office, too little, too late. Yet this doesn’t change the fact that he wants his man installed in the future.
Trying to figure out how to invade Iran without invading Iran.
How’s this? If I were Bush I would use the Sunnis.
He has already armed the Sunnis in Iraq and he looks to be behind the Sunni uprising in Ahvaz. Iran claims to be under attack from its western border, that would be the United States and the Sunnis, sprinkle in some Kurds. #msg-6715484
Islam has two major branches: the Sunnis, with 940 million believers, and Shiites, with 120 million.
And the Sunnis will come to the aid of other Sunnis. All Bush has to do is promote the Sunni/Shiite ethnic tensions in Iran.
Some references:
"It has become clear that several counter-revolutionary groups in Iraq have been dispatched to Iran from the region where the Americans and the British are deployed," he said on Monday.
Gholamreza Shariati, the deputy provincial governor for security affairs, suggested that the reason for the attacks was the destruction of Iran's territorial integrity and the deterrence of voters from participating in the upcoming presidential elections. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2EA85595-A597-4786-85F6-2CF185776D7D.htm
"If they see the Sunnis getting beaten up by the Shiites, there will be extensive Arab support," agrees a U.S. Army officer. "There will be no holds barred."
Turning the Arabs against the Persians or using the Arabs to take out Iran is a strategy long used by Bush. A case in point is the Persian Gulf Island dispute. #msg-3136614
The Sunni Arabs know they have an education and experience advantage over the more numerous Shia Arabs. They know that powerful Sunni Arab nations in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, will back them in many ways. The fear of Islamic conservatism from Shia Iran can also be manipulated. #msg-6071457
Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with over one billion followers, and growing at a rate of about 20% per year.1The religion has two major branches: the Sunnis, with 940 million believers, and Shiites, with 120 million. These two sects also each have their own branches and divisions, including the well-known Wahhabi sect of the Sunnis. The major groups have some very important distinctions that continue to affect the history of the world.
On April 15, a letter, which was said to be written by Iran'sformer vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi to promote a coercive migration of Arabs in the southwestern province of Khuzestan,touched off riots in the provincial capital of Ahvaz.
Iran disclaimed the letter and reined in the unrest, claiming "some foreign agents" were behind the incident.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on April 11 that Washington had earmarked 3 million US dollars to "promote democracy in Iran," a move criticized by Tehran as "interfering in Iran's internal affairs." #msg-6489463
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Political veteran Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani will face Tehran's hard-line mayor in Iran's first runoff presidential election ever next week, officials said Saturday.
The contest, scheduled for next Friday offers distinct choices. Rafsanjani, 70, is a moderate who served as president from 1989-97. His rival, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, 49, is untested as a national political figure and has the backing of Iran's ruling clerics and their military guardians.
Rafsanjani, a pragmatist considered the favorite throughout the campaign, got 6.1 million votes cast Friday, or 21 percent, while Tehran's conservative mayor, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, took 5.7 million votes, or 19.48 percent, according to final results.
Friday's voting drew a turnout of 62.7 percent in a resounding rejection of a youth-led boycott _ with lines of voters forcing polling stations into four hours overtime. Iran's hard-line leaders crowed that President Bush helped fuel the turnout by sharply criticizing the elections as undemocratic and angering many Iranians.
Ahmedinejad's second-place finish was a surprise after a lackluster performance of reformist Mostafa Moin, who had been considered Rafsanjani's main rival in the nation's tightest presidential election since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
The 49-year-old mayor reportedly had the support of Iran's most hard-line factions, including the Revolutionary Guards.
Former Parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi, who was popular in rural areas and won 19.3 percent of the vote, accused the guards and their civilian vigilante wings of intimidating voters and appealed for an investigation.
Karroubi is a close ally of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who heads the non-elected theocracy that can overrule the president or parliament.
Iran has 46.7 million eligible voters, including millions of them living overseas.
Iranian-Americans trickled to polling places across the United States Friday, while protesters urged voters to boycott the polls, saying that regardless of who wins, the election only legitimizes a system in which Khamenei has the final word on every important issue.
During the campaign, Rafsanjani _ who was president between 1989 and 1997 _ portrayed himself as a steady hand at the helm, able to navigate Iran through the treacherous days ahead, fraught with uncertainty over the nuclear program, relations with the United States and neighboring Iraq.
The reformist Moin, a former culture minister, was among the lowest vote-getters, along with Bagher Qalibaf, a former head of the national police.
The other candidates were Ali Larijani, the former head of Iran's state radio and television, and former provincial governor Mohsen Mehralizadeh.
Outgoing President Mohammad Khatami was prevented from seeking a third term by the Iranian constitution.
A day before the election, Bush sharply denounced the vote, saying it was designed to keep power in the hands of the clerics. But some Iranians said they were motivated to vote to retaliate against Bush's denunciations.
"I picked Ahmadinejad to slap America in the face," said Mahdi Mirmalek after attending Friday prayers at Tehran University.
At Tehran University, the leader of Friday prayers, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, told worshippers that voting "strengthens the pillars of the ruling Islamic establishment." Followers then joined in with the common chant of "Death to America!"
The United States accuses Iran of using nuclear technology as a cover to develop atomic arms. Iran insists it aims only for electricity-producing reactors. Iran has suspended uranium-enrichment work during ongoing talks with European envoys.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Friday that regardless of the election's outcome, the U.S. will continue to try to make sure "that Iran does not use a peaceful nuclear program to pursue development of nuclear weapons. That's our goal."
Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic ties since 1979 when Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy and kept 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
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