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Re: Dr. Pipes, You Are Wrong On Three Points.

Reader comment on item: Assessing the Iranian Election

Submitted by Aymenn Jawad (United Kingdom), Jun 15, 2009 at 15:33

Dr. Pipes:

1. You claim that Khamenei "stole" the election for Ahmadinejad. Does it not occur to you that Ahmadinejad is actually very appealing to the rural and uneducated folk in Iran? If Mousavi's supporters are rioting, it is only because they are whining about the fact that their candidate, who promised "change" under a "Green" (not eco-friendly, but Islamic) Revolution, didn't win. That renders your wondering over why Khamenei would ensure that Ahmadinejad won null. There is no evidence that the election was rigged. All that said, I agree with you that it was better for him to win. He will hopefully force Naive-in-Chief (Obama) to wake up and smell the hummus of reality.

2. To claim that Ahmadinejad is the one responsible for "wrecking" the economy is untrue (though he certainly hasn't improved the economy). Iran's economy has long been in decline because its only major export is oil, on which it has become increasingly dependent since 1979 (interestingly, Iran was once an exporter of vodka). Have you not heard of peak oil? Iran reached it in 1974 and has been in exponential decline in terms of output ever since. Khatami did not improve the economy, nor have any of the "reformist" presidents. "Economy is for donkey," as Khomeini put it. Corruption has also been a pervasive problem since the days of the Shah.

3. Obama's foreign policies are not "pro-Islamist", they are simply naive.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Daniel Pipes replies:

1. Statistical analyses show that Ahmadinejad winning the election with 63 percent is a near-impossibility.

2. Ahmadinejad's populist policies have done severe damage to the economy.

3. They can be both at once - no contradiction there.

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Reader comments (35) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
#928, Rooting for Ahmedinejad [193 words]Suren SukhtankarJul 3, 2009 10:28158440
Interesting points Dr Pipes [201 words]VikramJun 21, 2009 12:57157724
Obama's "Whatever" diplomacy [172 words]Fay VoshellJun 18, 2009 09:14157577
Progress is the only concern [245 words]edmond daherJun 18, 2009 05:40157572
I Think I Might Have Khamenei Figured Out [282 words]AlexJun 16, 2009 16:30157489
Tactics of the shah and Ahmadinejad [117 words]cibberJun 16, 2009 09:51157470
Caroline Glick offers an interesting comment [176 words]BrendaJun 16, 2009 00:27157450
The mad Mullahs wanted a lunatic face of Iran...and they got it! [88 words]M.D'SouzaJun 15, 2009 19:52157434
Iranian Election [140 words]JACQUES HADIDAJun 15, 2009 17:28157425
Re: Dr. Pipes, You Are Wrong On Three Points. [237 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Aymenn JawadJun 15, 2009 15:33157417
Shows the position is more than just a figurehead [72 words]BernardzJun 15, 2009 14:24157414
Agree. Better to have A'mad in charge. [56 words]Manuel MatamorosJun 15, 2009 13:55157413
Blood of Tyrants [165 words]Lou from Queens, NYC, USAJun 15, 2009 13:09157411
Everything has a purpose. [48 words]white anneJun 14, 2009 18:18157362
Ahmadinejad's appeal to the "Muslim world" [139 words]Jean GranvilleJun 14, 2009 17:57157359
what "pro-Islamist" policies? [166 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JeffJun 14, 2009 17:18157354
Analysing Iran's election [114 words]Joel ShapiroJun 14, 2009 16:59157353
Blessed be Ahmadi Najad [141 words]Salah AliJun 14, 2009 16:02157351
Iran leaders deliberately slap USA [62 words]AngelJun 14, 2009 14:00157342
Reasoning [22 words]MNPunditJun 14, 2009 13:43157341
COUNTING [34 words]MannyJun 14, 2009 13:35157339
The Mystery Deepens [61 words]Seymour CharlesJun 14, 2009 13:04157337
Eventually the Iranian nation will rise against their oppressors [122 words]Michael KurtzigJun 14, 2009 12:49157336
Tyrannous Brothers of Faith [308 words]Fay VoshellJun 14, 2009 11:01157331
Here is an answer to the mystery! [155 words]Saied AssefJun 14, 2009 10:44157330
Cyrus the Great? [330 words]John W. McGinleyJun 14, 2009 10:07157328
So, again, no moderates [52 words]Peter HerzJun 15, 2009 22:08157328
Consideration [224 words]Murray OrbuchJun 14, 2009 08:44157325
Baffled? [73 words]RuthJun 14, 2009 07:31157323
The real leadership [294 words]hyman peskinJun 14, 2009 07:14157322
they love death [58 words]solemnmanJun 14, 2009 04:16157316
Khamene'i loves Ahmadinejad and Twitters from Iran [318 words]LindaKJun 14, 2009 02:25157314
Ahmadinejad also Slaps the face of Brazilian President and Alli Khamenei Unusual Move. [170 words]SvetlanahJun 14, 2009 02:05157313
Wasn't the establishment of a functioning democracy in Iraq supposed to [86 words]DaMavJun 14, 2009 01:32157310
No mistake [81 words]SergeJun 14, 2009 01:10157309

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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