Election Rigging in Iran

Source: www.nation.com.pk

Ahmadinejad and The West	24th July 2009
by Humera Niazi

Ahmadinejad's first victory after the presidential elections in 2005 was not taken well by the West. But it earned him tremendous fame. It was then that the Time included his name in the list of 100 most influential personalities. Today after Ahmadinejad's second victory in the 2009 election, there is a lot of talk in the US/West of an alleged poll rigging. There is also a focus on the ongoing street protests. Propaganda pundits are at work and for all the effort, the West has probably understood that Nejad is a 'survivor'. It does not look like the West's so-called quest for democracy in Iran and their concern for whatever is happening in the streets over there, can overcome the recent stating of an 'attack on Iran'. It does not fit in.

As earlier put forth by James C Moore in his article Why shouldn't Iran have nuclear arms? That: "...Bush might be willing to risk everything to mark his place in history, as the man who stopped Iran from getting nukes." On the contrary, Ahmadinejad is there and appears successful for now. Evident from the fact that Iran had not been attacked in the Bush tenure. And presently He could be opening a historical new chapter, if Iran and the Obama administration get tuned for diplomacy. Furthermore, while some in the West is creating hype about election rigging in Iran there also is some candid stating. That Ahmadinejad was in a very strong position to win. Ballen and Doherty's survey published in the Washington Post showed that Nejad was leading.

A write up captioned Behind Post-election Protests in Iran suggests that the propaganda of election rigging in Iran is an effort by Washington to discredit the Iranian government by portraying the government as an oppressor of the Iranian peoples will. This is how the US government is setting up Iran for a military attack. So this is a case in point, that the most crucial factor for the Iranian people is not a debate on an election result. But preventing any such military attack in the offing. And Ahmadinejad's name appears synonymous with Iran's nuclear programme, for he is the man who has adamantly and vehemently pushed Iran's case on the nuclear issue internationally and made the world ponder.