171–180 of 269 posts
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That the Nobel Peace Prize is not a serious award should have been evident when Obama won it.
2 wars when he was sworn in, 7 when he left. I'm pretty sure he is the peace prize recipient who started the most wars.
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Wow, how did you come up with that Venn diagram? The people that hate the Iranian regime AND hate America AND admire Barack Obama ? Must be a small club
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Gandhi - whose name has become synonymous with peace and non-violence - was nominated 3 times but didn't win. The evidence strongly suggests that the Nobel committee doesn't like giving the prize against anti-western dissidents until they absolutely have to, i.e. when not giving the prize would raise more eyebrows and damage the Nobel's reputation. The two anti-western dissidents that come to mind are Nelson Mandela…
> The two anti-western dissidents that come to mind are Nelson Mandela and (arguably) Martin Luther King. Again, they received the prize after achieving global fame and recognition. Seems like a “no true Scotsman” argument. Naturally, the winners are going to often be prominent individuals. > Tawakkol Karman (2011) is another dissident against a non-western country. The previous poster specifically said “I don't see…
I would argue that the majority of recent Peace Laureates (including this years) became internationally prominent after winning the prize. Did you know of Narges Mohammadi before this announcement?
> The previous poster specifically said “I don't see the award ever going to a rights activist fighting against the Saudi, Pakistani, or any other American-allied regimes,”
I really wasn't defending the OP's assertion. In fact, I don't agree with it at all. These are largely transactional western alliances. While the Nobel Committee might want to avoid a confrontation with Saudi Arabia, I doubt it has too many qualms about awarding prizes to dissidents from Pakistan. You already mentioned Yousafzai. My point was really that the Nobel Prize is rarely awarded to western dissidents (including journalists or activists) and is almost exclusively awarded to dissidents in non-western countries.
> For most of the last year, the Bush administration had tried to block Dr. ElBaradei from assuming a third term as chief of the agency, a part of the United Nations, arguing that he would not be strong enough to face down Iran and the covert nuclear weapons program it is suspected of having. But the United States had no support from any of its allies, and ultimately had to withdraw its objections to Dr. ElBaradei's reappointment.
Your post already has my rebuttal. The United States was the sole objector to ElBaradei's appointment- with the rest of the west and in-fact the rest of the world backing him. The Iraq War was universally unpopular by 2005 ( with a case of mass amnesia by supporters from pre-2003) Hardly a controversial choice.
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Like Jan 06th in the US where a fairly significant chunk of voters still believe that the election was stolen ? I think there is liberal minority of young people but reckon the majority of Iranians were not happy with the Pahlavi regime either that the CIA engineered on them. And I did mention that the clerics needs to approve all election candidates btw.
Thanks for clarifying that you were only putting up a facade of being unbiased.
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The same could be said of Martin Luther King.
Martin Luther King won. Iran is still the same. Subtle difference.
I don't think "MLK won" is a complete story.
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Also Iran in 1953 had a prime Minister Mosaddegh, who wanted to nationalize Iran's oil. The UK (and US) sought the support of right-wing mullahs, then overthrew the prime minister and replaced him with a dictator. Then the CIA helped SAVAK kill off the secular left for the next few decades. Eventually even the right-wing clerics and bazaari grew tired of foreign interference and threw the western powers out.
Or Chile where they overthrew an elected communist govt and they got Pinochet and the disappeared. But I am grateful for them helping Ukraine even if it for their own geopolitical goals.
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> Do you think this is what the Iranians choose? Who knows but saying that a western liberal democracy is the yardstick for governing all people is very flawed - look at Afghanistan - it imploded overnight once the US pulled out. What about Saudi Arabia or the UAE ???. I don't see the West complaining about them because they do our bidding ???.
> Who knows but Just try to answer the question instead of the cheap whatabout pivot
Paid for by drug money ... selective morality indeed.
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Genuine question, doesn't the ultra-orthodox wing reflect the popular opinion of the country ? My understanding is that Iran has among the greatest Urban-Rural divides in the world, and that the rural population is large enough to democratically force their conservative views onto the urban population. Turkey seems to be in a similar position, but their proximity to NATO and Europe keeps them somewhat grounded. > sma…
I am only a little more informed than most people on the topic, but I think it's kind of like this: The conservative majority likes having an Islamic Republic, and has a lingering "memory" of the corruption and such of the Shah's regime, but that doesn't necessarily mean they like what the current regime has become. And as another poster said, the majority of the country, whatever their social/religious views, seems…
Moreover, this is a superficial view of the story if we think that what annoys people in Iran is mostly economic. This can be seen even in the slogan of the biggest anti-government demonstration that started last year, "Women, Life, Freedom", the three things that has been oppressed in the last four decades. Yes, economic issues have put a lot of pressure on the people, but people's wishes should not be reduced to it.
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> Think of what this woman and many other women trapped in these regimes are going through Iran had a parliament in 1953, when the US and UK launched operation Ajax after the prime Minister nationalized Iran's oil. The prime Minister was ousted, a dictator replaced him - who returned to Iran on a flight with Allen Dulles. The conservative mullahs were western allies in removing power from the parliament. Then this st…
Ok? Where's this going? We're not supposed to care now because the CIA did some shady stuff a million years ago?