Thoughts On The Iranian "Election"

Iran recently had a presidential election. Leading up to the election, it looked like Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Moussavi, had a chance to either win the election or at least make it into a runoff with Ahmadinejad. But it was not to be. When the Iranian government announced the election results, Ahmadinejad was declared the winner with 62% of the vote.

Since the election, there have been demonstrations by Moussavi supporters, and accusations of fraud by the government. I can understand the disappointment of many Iranian voters. It is extremely disheartening to believe your candidate had an election stolen from him (remember the year 2000 in the U.S.?). There was also the possibility that Moussavi could have made life minimally better for Iranian citizens.

But there has also been a reaction to the election in this country. Many bloggers have become upset and also are accusing the Iranian government of rigging the outcome of the election. A good example of this is Juan Cole's post at Informed Comment.

Cole goes to great lengths to prove it was a fradulent vote. He examines the vote total in several cities and provinces and questions why the totals are so different from expectations and from past elections. He presents a good case, and may well even be right. My only question to him, and others claiming the election was fradulent, is just what difference do you think it would have made?

Does anyone really think Ahmadinejad's defeat would have made any difference in Iran's dealings with the rest of the world? Surely those upset with the so-called "election" in Iran aren't silly enough to believe that Iran actually has a democracy. They don't! Iran is ruled as a THEOCRACY!

The Iranian president has only the power given to him by the Ayatollah, and as easily as that power is given, it can be taken back. All real power in Iran rests with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured above). The election was simply to choose which toadie would be designated to carry out the wishes of the Ayatollah.

As much as people may have wanted it to be true, the election was not about changing the direction or policies of Iran. I even heard some say that Moussavi was more "Western-orientated" and wanted closer ties with Western countries. Even if that was true, it doesn't matter.

Iran's policies will not change even a little bit, unless and until the Ayatollah wants them to be changed. And Iran will not establish closer ties with the West, unless and until the Ayatollah wants closer ties with the West. It simply does not matter who the president of Iran is, because that president will do nothing except what the Ayatollah wants him to do.

Get upset if you want to, but it really doesn't matter whether the Iranian election was fraudulent or not.