Buck Naked Politics

Larry King Live: McCain Responds to Joe Klein, Calls Him "An Idiot"

by Damozel | McCain responds to Joe Klein's criticisms-- and Joe Klein's suggestion that he perhaps "be quiet" (for a change) about the Iranian elections-- with the subtlety and intelligence we've learned to expect from him.  McCain really doesn't have a clue about Iran, you know....

Missile Strike in Pakistan Kills 60 at a Funeral, Including Civilians and 45 Members of the Taliban

by Damozel |  From The Guardian:

A US drone aircraft killed at least 45 Pakistani Taliban militants in south Waziristan yesterday when it fired missiles at the funeral of an insurgent commander killed earlier in the day, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

"Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for Niaz Wali," one intelligence official said, referring to a Taliban commander who was one of six militants killed in an earlier drone attack...

Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, is part of Pakistan's lawless tribal area, where US forces have mounted about 60 drone attacks against suspected militants since early last year.

"But," says the article carefully, "bombing a funeral is unusual and may be unprecedented."  Yes, and we're not at war with Pakistan -- only with some of the people who have gone there. 

TPMtv "The Day in 100 Seconds" for June 23, 2009: Obama Responds to Critics of his Iran Policy

Pow! Bam! Obama responds to critics... owns McCain & other Congressional and talking heads.  "Only I am president of the United States...I know everybody here is on a 24 hour news cycle.  I'm not."  Word of the day:  "Testy."  After the jump...

Iranian Guardian Council Refuses to Annul Votes (News Round-Up with Video)

by Damozel | According to Iran's powerful council of 12 clerics, the more than 100% who voted in 50 cities isn't a problem because Iranians are allowed to vote in cities where they are visiting, and often do. (BN-Pol)  Never mind that, according to The New York Times' analysts, "many districts where the excess votes were recorded are small, remote places rarely visited by business travelers or tourists." "Fortunately" the Guardian Council didn't find "a major breach." (NYT)

On Press TV, the English-language state television satellite broadcaster, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, declared: “...Therefore, there is no possibility of an annulment taking place.” He was speaking late on Monday in Tehran and his remarks were posted early Tuesday, Tehran time....“Statistics provided by the candidates, who claim more than 100 percent of those eligible have cast their ballot in 80 to 170 cities are not accurate — the incident has happened in only 50 cities,” said Mr. Kadkhodaei said Monday...

The Guardian Council had offered a random 10 percent recount of the ballot but the opposition rejected it, saying it wanted a new election. (NYT)

Iran: The Crackdown Continues & Rifts Deepen; a Young Woman, Shot Through the Heart, Becomes a Martyr (with Disturbing Video Footage)

by Damozel | The New Yoirk Times reports on "the bitter rift" between Iran's clerics over this disputed election.  And the government has now arrested the daughter of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rahfsanjani.  (NYT)   Faezah Hashemi Rahfsanjani,the daughter, spoke at a pro-Mousavi rally.  (Juan Cole)  Four other members of the family were arrested as well.   Juan Cole says, "It is widely suspected that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a multi-billionaire who is well connected politically, is funding and aiding the reform movement's protests."   A Newsweek reporter, Maziar Bahari, has been arrested as well and his laptop and other files seized. (Newsweek)  Meanwhile, Mousavi is hanging tough, even as the government "lays the groundwork" for his arrest:

Bill Maher Interviews Hooman Majd on the Current Situation in Iran

by Damozel | Translator Hooman Majd explains why we shouldn't be holding our breath for a change in Iran's religious leadership and how "Death to America" doesn't mean what it says. After the jump....

TPMtv's The Day in 100 Seconds (June 18, 2009) -- Iran'sTwitter-Driven Revolt

The Iranians march and grieve; meanwhile, the government sends out fake Twitter propaganda to try to cool things down...after the jump:

Iran Clerics Call for Pro-Mousavi Rally; Mousavi Calls for Day of Morning & Protest

by Damozel | In Iran, a reformist body made up of influential clerics has asked permission to hold a pro-Mousavi rally in Tehran on Saturday, during which Mousavi himself will address protesters.  (PressTV.Ir)  Meanwhile, Mousavi himself has called for a day of mourning for protesters killed by Iranian security forces. (Juan Cole)  Mousavi has asked for a peaceful protest and for the release of pro-reform activists who have been arrested. (BBC News)

Mr Mousavi's call for further action on Thursday is in open defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is due to deliver the sermon at Friday prayers and is expected to appeal for calm.(BBC News)

Juan Cole discusses the significance of today's protests.

Mike Madden: The Same GOPpers Who Wanted to Bomb Iran Now Want to Love Bomb It

by Damozel | Funnily enough, the GOP are now concerned that Obama isn't giving enough love to Iran.   

"We lead," McCain told NBC's David Gregory on the "Today" show when asked about a different vote altogether -- the one in Iran on Friday. "We condemn the sham, corrupt election. We do what we have done throughout the Cold War and afterwards ... We speak out forcefully, and we make sure that the world knows that America leads."...While President Obama and his advisors try to navigate the American response to a situation that's changing faster than anyone can Twitter about it, Republicans have decided the time is right for blunter rhetoric than anything coming out of the White House. And they're not shy about saying so....

[T]he notion that Republicans are suddenly the defenders of progressive Persia is a little hard to swallow. Just two years ago, McCain was joking -- and singing -- about bombing the very cities where the protests are now erupting. The neoconservative foreign policy establishment -- the folks who brought you such successful hits as the war in Iraq -- have been urging aggressive military action against Iran for years.  (Salon; more)

TPMtv's "The Day in 100 Seconds" (June 16, 2009 Video): Obama on Meddling in Iran

by Damozel | Obama has "deep concerns"-- but thinks that ultimately, it's up to the Iranian people.  Is it enough?  Is it?  I think it's enough.  But some people want more.  What do they want?  What?  Name-calling, apparently.  And this will help the Iranians...how?  Seriously, how will that help anything at all?

After the jump....

Iran Ironies: An Observation

by Teh Nutroots | You've got to love it that the same right-wingers who bought into the whole "axis of evil" thing and who thought war with Iran might be a good idea are now cheering on the moderates, as if the moderates too weren't always part of Iran.   The moderates have been there all along, guys; and -- once more for the record -- you can't go to war against Iran without going to war against its moderates as well as Ahmadinejad and other "evildoers."

We all hope the moderates prevail, but that may be wishful thinking.  If they don't, we need to remember that Ahmadinejad and the current repressive regime is not Iran. 

What this guy says.

Recount Scheduled in Iran, but Protests Continue; Seven Now Reported Dead

by Damozel | According to the BBC, the Guardian Council has apparently agreed to a recount.  Meanwhile, events in Iran seem to be taking a violent turn.  The BBC says that several protesters have been killed.   At Huff Post, Nico Pitney summarizes some of the reports coming out of Iran:

- The Wall Street Journal: "a student-run news service reported that five students -- two women and three men -- were killed Sunday night in dormitory raids by Basij forces at Tehran University. That report couldn't be independently verified."

-- The UK Guardian: "A Farsi website, Balatarin, carried an unconfirmed report that seven people had been killed in the southern city of Shiraz following confrontations with riot police at the local university. Five busloads of plainclothes officers had been sent to confront the demonstrators during Sunday's protests, but were said to have been unable to prevent them from being joined by members of the public and marching to one of the city's main squares. It is unclear whether all those said to have died were students."

TPMtv's "The Day in 100 Seconds" (June 14, 2009 Video): Was There Voter Fraud in Iran?

by Damozel |  We'd like to believe it, wouldn't we?  As this blogger says, we know nothing about Iran and even less about its election processes.  After the jump....

Ayatollah Ali Khameini Orders Probe into Question of Iranian Election Fraud

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Tehran Becomes a Battleground; "Defeated" Mousavi Refuses to Back Down as Supporters Arrested; Iranian Official Predicts, "There will be Blood (Video Included)

by Damozel | Picking up where Bill and Deb left off:  Supporters of Iran's defeated (or rather "defeated") moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi have taken to the streets in protest. Nahid Siamdust writes:

It's way past midnight in Tehran, but this city is not sleeping. Outside on the streets, people are honking their horns in protest and stretching their hands out of cars making peace signs — a sign of support for Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the opposition candidate apparently defeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's presidential election on Friday.

In neighborhoods across north and central Tehran, shouts of "Death to dictator!" fill the air, mostly in female voices, coming from house windows. There are also shouts of "Allah-o Akbar!" — reminiscent of the revolution — on the urging of a communique from Mousavi's office.

Cole on Iranian Election Fraud

by Bill Kavanagh: As a follow-up for readers of Deb’s earlier post on the Iranian (and American) election fraud story… Juan Cole’s post and Salon.com article on the fixed election in Iran are both worthwhile reading. There’s lot’s of good detail there on the probably hastily-organized and clumsy doctoring of the results— and why they are so improbable. He sees the “soft coup” holding and Moussavi probably backing down from sending his supporters into the streets.  The memories of the bloody civil strife of the 1980’s are key for his generation of reformers in shying away from direct conflict.

 Cole also notes his support for the Obama overtures to Iran, regardless of the real outcome.  

Election Irregularities in Iran: our Nation is Not Alone

 by Deb Cupples |  The New York Times reports:

"The Iranian government declared an outright election victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday morning, and riot police officers fought with supporters of the opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, who insisted that the election had been stolen.

"After a mostly quiet morning in Tehran, Moussavi supporters began filtering onto the streets. By early afternoon, thousands had come together, many of them wearing the trademark green of his campaign, chanting angrily that they would fight on as Mr. Moussavi had urged them to do on Friday night when he claimed that he had won and that there had been voting 'irregularities.'...

"He warned 'people won’t respect those who take power through fraud....'"

I beg to differ.  People have, in fact, been known to respect even a U.S. President whose taking of power seemed riddled with fraud.  I say this as a Florida resident now and back in 2000.

TPMtv's "The Day in 100 Seconds" (June 12, 2009 Video): Election Day in Iran

After the jump...a historic election: the adrenalin of change? The media on Ahmadinejad and Obama's excitement over a "robust debate" in Iran.

Fear Prevails Again in the Home of the Brave: Obama Gives Up on Resettling Cleared Guantanamo Detainees in US

by Damozel | So far, more than 50 detainees have been cleared for release based on individual review of their files.  (WaPo)  But where can they go?  Not here, it seems, even though these detainees -- confined at Gitmo for seven years -- never counted America as an enemy.  (BN Pol) 

The island of Palau has agreed to take 13 Uighurs (Chinese Muslim detainees) whom a federal judge ordered released.  Germany, where there is a large Uighur population, balked, asking -- reasonably, let it be said -- why, if the Uighurs aren't dangerous, they can't settle in the US?  The Chinese certainly wanted them back, calling them "terrorist suspects," but the Obama administration declined, fearing that they'd be tortured and executed. (WaPo) 

Four of the Chinese detainees will become guest workers in Bermuda (WaPo), though the British government ain't happy about this wanton display of independence by Bermuda. (Murdoch Times) 

Palau Will Take Chinese Muslims from Gitmo

by Maggie Temple-Smith | Palau, a "sparsley populated archipelago in the North Pacific," has agreed to accept the 17 Chinese now in prison at Guantanamo, The New York Times reports.  This is the first agreement reached since Obama took office -- so far, 100 countries have said, "No, thanks" when asked to accept Gitmo detainees.

[The agreement] gives Mr. Obama some relief on an issue that has become a political hot button among Congressional Republicans and even some Democrats, who have noisily protested against releasing what they call potentially dangerous extremists on American soil or transferring them to prisons in the United States.

The 17 Uighurs... have been in a state of limbo since fall, when a federal district court ordered that they be released in the United States and an appeals court overturned the ruling. The Bush administration said that it did not classify the men as enemy combatants.