On Jun 27, 2009, at 6:56 PM, Peter Ward wrote:
> On the other hand, one could mention any number of US clients where
> savagely violent (as well nonviolent, of course) mechanisms are an
> integral feature of the political system: Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
> Israel, Colombia, etc. A more relevant discussion would be: why is all
> our righteous indignation directed again Iran? Perhaps, because the US
> has an imperial objective in creating a by no means democratic puppet
> government there?
I don't give a fuck what the U.S. government thinks. I care what Iranians are thinking and doing, and whether the nature of the Iranian regime squares at all with my ideas of justice. Yeah, Saudi Arabia is worse. So what?
> If one wants to talk about US democracy one needs look at the whole
> of our empire, and the picture is not remotely attractive.
> The incumbent regime in Iran may not be great, but in terms of lesser
> evils way better than just about any the US "supports". And it is
> apparent a large sector of the rural population--the majority of
> Iranians living in the country--perhaps all of them, support the
> current
> polity, theocratic or otherwise.
Well, that's not really clear. But since you're not interested in reading any empirical studies of the matter, you can go on believing this.