Iran’s Rafsanjani hails Iraqi vote ‘victory’

[sabra]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayArticle.asp?col=§ion=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2005/December/middleeast_December431.xml

Iran’s Rafsanjani hails Iraqi vote ‘victory’
(AFP)


TEHERAN - Prominent Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday hailed the Iraqi election as a victory which Iran also shared because it was the “opposite of what the US sought.”


“We share this victory with the Iraqis and congratulate them on that,” said the influential former president in a Friday prayer sermon carried live on state radio.

“It is a victory because it is the opposite of what the US and its collaborators sought,” said Rafsanjani, who heads Iran’s top arbitration body the Expediency Council.

“The Americans were seeking to occupy the land and intimidate the people from their military bases and embassies by putting a puppet government in power,” he said.

[minyks]

1. what

is this guy smoking?

[bpilgrim]

2. The Iraq War is over... Iran Won (n/t)

peace

[rpannier]

4. Isn't it amazing

Iran's victory cost the country of Iran...zero dollars, zero lives and zero effort. It's amazing what happens when you let the Keystone Cops run American foreign policy -- another failure of the scrubbies.

[cliss]

24. How true.

And that's why I think we're seeing this whole degenerate regime (in Washington, that is) come down before our eyes.

The real heavy hitters, the power-wielding insiders have concluded that the war in Iraq is a mess. It's a liability.

It was a long shot, to begin with. Wolfowitz knew that. But they couldn't NOT grab Iraq. So we're left with -

a country which was supposed to be "democratic" which will ultimately be a close ally of Iran.

Happy, George?

[allemand]

3. Preliminary results: "Islamists are winning by a landslide"

Preliminary results being circulated among the Iraqi political class are showing a complete route by the United Iraqi Alliance of rival contenders in all Shia domains of Iraq. The Islamists (list no. ‘555’) are winning by a landslide in almost all precincts, and by landslide I mean over 80%.
http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2005/12/oops.html

[rpannier]

5. Is this group Muqtada's Party or is it another Islamist Group?

n/t

[allemand]

8. His parties are part of that coalition, yes.

The United Iraqi Alliance is a broad-based coalition of over 20 groups, but it is dominated by the two major Shia parties, Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's Islamic Daawa Party, and Abd al-Aziz Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The UIA won a narrow majority of 140 seats out of a total 275 seats in the Transitional National Assembly in January.

For December's poll, the alliance has been joined by parties supporting radical Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr.

The alliance's platform calls for national unity, the enforcement of the new constitution, the end of the US-led coalition's presence, the de-politicisation of government institutions, and the formation of regional governments.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4511450.stm#uia

[rpannier]

9. Thank you

n/t

[leftyladyfrommo]

17. Gosh, What a Surprise

The Iraqis are voting for what they are familiar with. And comfortable with.

So what happens when Iraq and iran become best friends?

Well, golly gee.

[daleo]

25. Yes, but those are only exit polls

And we know how reliable they are. I expect a dead heat between Allawi and Chalabi, with each getting 150% of the vote. Bush will flip a coin to break the tie. The U.S. Supreme Court will rule in the affirmative.

[earthside]

6. Well, He's Probably Correct

Rafsanjani is simply expressing what is the most likely outcome of this "election" held while Iraq is under foreign occupation.

So, if the Shi'ites win big, as expected, this is a big defeat for the Bushites and the neocons. It means that eventually, Iraq will move from being a puppet of the U.S. to becoming a client state of Iran.

Nothing good can come out of Bush's lies ... 'The Islamic Republic of Iraq' is the consequences of American deceit in the Middle East. For that we can all thank George W. Bush.

[Hyernel]

7. Bush won the Iran-Iraq war...for Iran.

I guess a sharia fundementalist Iraq fits in with PNAC's permanant war plans.

[grytpype]

10. Bush is the biggest moron in American History.

The Bushes have a history of being taken for a ride by the Iranians.

And Bush Junior really screwed the pooch this time. He handed the best part of Iraq to Iran. What a moron.

[bemildred]

12. Indeed. "What a moron".

[saigon68]

14. A CHIMPANZEE

"BRING EM ON" he SCREECHED

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. That picture is really awful. Really funny, but awful.

Have you no respect for your govt?

[knight_of_the_star]

22. I think

He is excercising his freedom of speech for one, for two Bush isn't Louis XIV.

[saigon68]

23. I have ZERO respect form this ASS-CLOWN

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. Did you hear him last nite on Lehrer?

First time I ever heard him actually talk. Instead of just stutter.

But I can't seem to get a feel for the guy. Nothing at all. Its like there is just no one home. No feeling, no emotion, no nothing.

[VegasWolf]

19. I thought it was "moran?" Really, I'm series. nt

:evilgrin:

[Inland]

11. It's not democracy, but Bush that lost Iraq

After all, it's Bush who is such a lying bellicose incompetent and inhumane piece of crap that he is losing a PR war to Osama. The reaction against the western democratic ideals that Bush trumpets and then betrays is going to cost generations of Iraqis freedom and democracy that might, MIGHT have occured if Bush hadn't fucked up each and every aspect of his handling of Iraq.

[grytpype]

13. And Chalabi is an Iranian agent don't forget...

... at one point he was accused of passing American secrets to the Iranians, I forget how that turned out. I think Bush just dropped it, probably too embarassing to him.

[almostradical]

15. Yeah, they just dropped it probably because it was too embarrassing

I thought you forgot how it turned out. That's how it turned out.

[rawnitro34]

16. Hello, I'm new

Hi

It doesnt really matter what Iran says, the fact is that their best interest is for Iraq to remain chaotic and unstable. This is because chaos in Iraq ties down US fighting power which could otherwise be directed at them- Iran's regime feels that they are in the crosshairs and have been since the 'axis of evil' was first mentioned, and only nuclear weapons can get them out of the crosshairs. So the mayhem in Iraq is buying them time. Which means that they may like seeing parties come to power that are aligned with their government to some degree, but they do not want the insurgency to end and a large scale US withdrawal to commence.

Also, I think its important to remember that Iran and Iraq's shias are not exactly the same, nor do they think the same way or have the same political philosophy.

Finally, I would warn against all the panic regarding a shia theocracy in Iraq- it isnt going to happen. First of all, the Iraqi constitution makes it impossible, secondly the Shia islamist coalition will NOT have enough parliamentary representation to form a government on their own- they will be forced to form a coalition with the sunnis, kurds, or secularists which means they will have to make concessions. So yeah, we may see Iraq adopt more sharia law in their civil and family law, like most Arab countries, but its unlikely that this upcoming government will form a theocracy.

[bemildred]

27. Welcome to DU.

And well said, too.
:hi:

[leftyladyfrommo]

21. Oh, just because he spent time in Iran doesn't

mean anything.

He was on Lehrer one night explaining that away.

That guy is just such a loser. And such a liar. But he is back in good graces with Condi and Rummy.

[VegasWolf]

18. Congrats Bush! What a uniter! Theocrats are winning, only one problem,

it's not your god that is winning! Fool!

:evilgrin: