This is off topic, but I was wondering if you could tell us something about the shooting and arrest in Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr. There have been off and on protests in eastern KSA for quite some time. But since the arrest, there have been many more. Here is a youtube of one of them.
At this point it is clear that Iran's government enjoyed far more public support than that of Tunisia. To date there has not been any evidence of fraud other than the outcome was not what some expected. There have been numerous polls conducted by western agencies showing results essentially the same as the election.
Finally, Iran's government was able to to bring several million people to the streets in their support. And on multiple occasions. Those have been poopooed as "rent a crowds" by the west, but you will notice that Tunisia's former president was never able to do that. He might still be president if he could. You will see in the next several weeks that Mubarak in Egypt will not be able to do that.
Whether anyone cares to admit it or not, the Iranian government, while certainly hated by many in Iran, still enjoys ***far*** wider support among the public than anything Mubarak or Ben Ali had.
"The Obama administration is clearly trying to send signals to Iran during the General Assembly session of the United Nations that Washington is open to engagement and just wants Iran to be more transparent about its nuclear power research program. "
I think that is misleading. US policy is now and always has been to stop Iran from enriching any uranium at all. Zero. The policy is not and never has been, "Iran can enrich as long as it is transparent. The statement makes it seem like the US/EU/Israeli position is perfectly reasonable when in fact it is not.
Protests against NATO have been a fairly common occurrence for some time. Long before the media hyped this attention seeking clown. It may be that NATO, even amongst the non Pashtuns, isn't as popular as it thinks it is. Hating the Taliban isn't the same as liking NATO.
Professor Cole,
This is off topic, but I was wondering if you could tell us something about the shooting and arrest in Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al Nimr. There have been off and on protests in eastern KSA for quite some time. But since the arrest, there have been many more. Here is a youtube of one of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TvyqxGls3MQ
Any insight you could offer would be much appreciated.
At this point it is clear that Iran's government enjoyed far more public support than that of Tunisia. To date there has not been any evidence of fraud other than the outcome was not what some expected. There have been numerous polls conducted by western agencies showing results essentially the same as the election.
Finally, Iran's government was able to to bring several million people to the streets in their support. And on multiple occasions. Those have been poopooed as "rent a crowds" by the west, but you will notice that Tunisia's former president was never able to do that. He might still be president if he could. You will see in the next several weeks that Mubarak in Egypt will not be able to do that.
Whether anyone cares to admit it or not, the Iranian government, while certainly hated by many in Iran, still enjoys ***far*** wider support among the public than anything Mubarak or Ben Ali had.
"The Obama administration is clearly trying to send signals to Iran during the General Assembly session of the United Nations that Washington is open to engagement and just wants Iran to be more transparent about its nuclear power research program. "
I think that is misleading. US policy is now and always has been to stop Iran from enriching any uranium at all. Zero. The policy is not and never has been, "Iran can enrich as long as it is transparent. The statement makes it seem like the US/EU/Israeli position is perfectly reasonable when in fact it is not.
Protests against NATO have been a fairly common occurrence for some time. Long before the media hyped this attention seeking clown. It may be that NATO, even amongst the non Pashtuns, isn't as popular as it thinks it is. Hating the Taliban isn't the same as liking NATO.