Iran's presidental elections - Page 3

sugarpop · 06-16-2009, 10:35 PM

Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is a columnist at the Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com). Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors for both the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues, Abraham's Vision, an interfaith peace organization, and PEN USA. AslanÕs first book is the New York Times Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into thirteen languages, short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award in the UK, and nominated for a PEN USA award for research Non-Fiction. His most recent book is How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror, followed by an edited anthology, Words Without Borders: Writings from the Middle East, which we will be published by Norton in 2010. Aslan is Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, a hub for creative content from and about the Middle East, as well as Editorial Executive of Mecca.com. Born in Iran, he now lives in Los Angeles where he is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.

...It is the Pasdaran that controls Ahmadinejad, not the mullahs. Indeed, it was precisely fear of the Pasdaran’s rising political and economic influence that led to the “anybody but Ahmadinejad” coalition we saw in this election, wherein young, leftist students and popular reformists like Mohammad Khatami joined together with conservative mullahs and "centrists" like Rafsanjani to push back against what they consider to be the rampant militarization of Iranian politics. There is a genuine fear among these groups that Iran is beginning to resemble Egypt or Pakistan, countries in which the military controls the apparatus of government...

...What is abundantly clear, however, is that the days in which power in Iran rested in the hands of a single individual (the supreme leader) or a single group (the mullahs) are over. For better or worse, the new power base in Iran is the Pasdaran.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...military-coup/

classicman · 06-16-2009, 10:41 PM

the daily beast - HA!

sugarpop · 06-16-2009, 10:59 PM

So what? Did you read the rest of it? He is very well respected.

classicman · 06-16-2009, 11:03 PM

My point is that there is disagreement on who is in power. I cited a few samples for you. historically speaking, it is the clerics. Until that actually changes...

sugarpop · 06-16-2009, 11:06 PM

Exactly. Historically speaking. He believes that has changed. I'm not saying he's right. But I do respect him and his opinion. He is Persian. He knows the politics and religion of the country.

classicman · 06-16-2009, 11:08 PM

Oh, he is Persian? Well that makes all the difference then. Sorry I must have missed that the first read through.

classicman · 06-16-2009, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarpop

He is very well respected.

I guess the sources I cited aren't well respected then?

sugarpop · 06-16-2009, 11:12 PM

I didn't mean to imply they weren't. And I also cited other writers, one of which is also Iranian.

morethanpretty · 06-17-2009, 09:30 AM

I got my link from DailyBeast. <3 them!
The actually story is BBC tho.

Quote:

Mass rallies are expected to take place on Wednesday afternoon following raids on several university dormitories and the arrest of two pro-reform figures.
....

Protests have grown since his re-election was confirmed on Saturday, with huge demonstrations in Tehran and clashes between protesters and security forces. Eight people have been killed.

...

Two pro-reform figures, newspaper editor Saeed Laylaz and Hamid Reza Jalaipour, an activist and journalist, were arrested on Wednesday morning, reports said. Mr Laylaz is a political and economic analyst who is often critical of Mr Ahmadinejad and who has often been interviewed by foreign media.

For the whole:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8104466.stm

06-16-2009, 10:41 PM	#32
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	the daily beast - HA! __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

06-16-2009, 11:03 PM	#34
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	My point is that there is disagreement on who is in power. I cited a few samples for you. historically speaking, it is the clerics. Until that actually changes... __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

06-16-2009, 11:08 PM	#36
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	Oh, he is Persian? Well that makes all the difference then. Sorry I must have missed that the first read through. __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

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06-16-2009, 10:35 PM	#31
sugarpop Professor Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: the edge of the abyss Posts: 1,947	Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is a columnist at the Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com). Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors for both the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues, Abraham's Vision, an interfaith peace organization, and PEN USA. AslanÕs first book is the New York Times Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into thirteen languages, short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award in the UK, and nominated for a PEN USA award for research Non-Fiction. His most recent book is How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror, followed by an edited anthology, Words Without Borders: Writings from the Middle East, which we will be published by Norton in 2010. Aslan is Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, a hub for creative content from and about the Middle East, as well as Editorial Executive of Mecca.com. Born in Iran, he now lives in Los Angeles where he is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. ...It is the Pasdaran that controls Ahmadinejad, not the mullahs. Indeed, it was precisely fear of the Pasdaran’s rising political and economic influence that led to the “anybody but Ahmadinejad” coalition we saw in this election, wherein young, leftist students and popular reformists like Mohammad Khatami joined together with conservative mullahs and "centrists" like Rafsanjani to push back against what they consider to be the rampant militarization of Iranian politics. There is a genuine fear among these groups that Iran is beginning to resemble Egypt or Pakistan, countries in which the military controls the apparatus of government... ...What is abundantly clear, however, is that the days in which power in Iran rested in the hands of a single individual (the supreme leader) or a single group (the mullahs) are over. For better or worse, the new power base in Iran is the Pasdaran. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-a...military-coup/

06-16-2009, 10:59 PM	#33
sugarpop Professor Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: the edge of the abyss Posts: 1,947	So what? Did you read the rest of it? He is very well respected.

06-16-2009, 11:06 PM	#35
sugarpop Professor Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: the edge of the abyss Posts: 1,947	Exactly. Historically speaking. He believes that has changed. I'm not saying he's right. But I do respect him and his opinion. He is Persian. He knows the politics and religion of the country.

06-16-2009, 11:12 PM	#38
sugarpop Professor Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: the edge of the abyss Posts: 1,947	I didn't mean to imply they weren't. And I also cited other writers, one of which is also Iranian.

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