Nathan Gonzalez, Iran Nuclear Program Part II: "Ahmadinejad and the Rise of the Revolutionary Guard"

February 25, 2010: Denver Council on Foreign Relations. Nathan Gonzalez, author of "The Sunni-Shia Conflict," discusses the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his backers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

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[VEVAK007]

I can say the same to u... By saying Iran is a dictatorship your also saying US is one too...

even without a revolution Iran will not be a theocracy 30 years from now witch is a good thing and we will have this gov to thank 4 that

[roromraman]

BY ACCEPTING THIS ONE, IT MEANS YOU ACCEPT THE OTHER ONE. YES THE ISLAMIC DICTATORSHIP WAS THREATENED, AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED ONLY THE TIMING OF ITS FALL HAS CHANGED, UNFORTUNATELY THE CHANGE WILL COME WITH MORE BLOOD.

[VEVAK007]

@VEVAK007

Are you claiming Arabs never invaded Iran some 1000 years ago?????

& it was called Arabia by the Greeks & the Khalifa

Mohammad lived in a country

Iran didn't alway look the way it does not that means nothing 

[VEVAK007]

@roromraman

Bush winning didn't threaten anyone

What Iran did to the Reformist is no that different than what the US did to the communist party

they even arrested simple actors that attended a communist meeting

Why? because some ppl felt threatened

[roromraman]

@VEVAK007 In the US we did not see, Al Gore supporters rounded up in Prisons and tortured.

[roromraman]

@VEVAK007 First: if banning all opposition parties and imprisoning all opposition voices is not dictatorship, then we have different definitions for democracy. Last year we saw millions opposing to this regime, what happened to them. they were crushed and silenced.

May be I missed part of the history, what is the name of Saudi Arabia before the British appointed Faisal as a Puppet ruler.

[VEVAK007]

That's because protests in the U.S. were minuscule compared to protests all over Iran & that scared the hell out of many powerful factions...

Just like how communists scared some powerful ppl in the U.S. back in the day witch also led to massive crackdowns....

If Arabia only has 100 years of history then Iran only has 30!!! they changed the name of their country, so what? Arabs R still Arabs

Iran changed to The Islamic Republic of Iran but in the end its Iran & that will never change

[roromraman]

@VEVAK007 Shit happens every where, but should we stay silent when it happens.

Let's not compare Iran to Saudi Arabia dictatorship, a country with less than 100 years of history.

[roromraman]

@VEVAK007 I would not have called Iran a dictatorship two years ago. But it is becoming one. Thanks God Ahmadinejad can not be re-elected, but lets see if we have a hand pick for next election also. How can we get rid of Khamenei, that is where the fear of dictatorship exits. 2000 US election was definitely stolen by Bush and his supporters, but there were not followed by arrests, torture and long prison terms for Gore supporters.

[VEVAK007]

@roromraman

A Dictatorship needs a Dictator & Iran has none

an Iranian President can only serve 2 consecutive terms & Ahmadinejad will B out of office by 2014

in '97 & '01 voter turnout was ~70% & ~70% voted 4 Khatami a person that wasn't supported or even liked by the Supreme leader

Iran's gov may be oppressive but it's no dictatorship

in '00 US elections Al Gore won but Bush became president... so is US a dictatorship? NO!

Shit happens & not just in Iran!

Now Saudi Arabia is a Dictatorship