3
POPSTime To Man Up, Barry
The sentence for Kian Tajbakhsh was the longest prison term yet in a mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, activists and journalists in the post election turmoil. The longest sentence so far, yet news accounts offer no explanation as to what Mr. Tajbakhsh did to deserve arrest, let alone a 12 year sentence. Apparently he was arrested at his home, not at a demonstration. News of his sentence was coupled with reports of lenient treatment given to a Canadian citizen: At the same time, Iran allowed another defendant to leave the country--Canadian-Iranian Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek journalist arrested in the same crackdown who had been freed on bail over the weekend. Bahari joined his British wife, who is in the last days of her pregnancy, in London, Newsweek said on its Web site Tuesday. It could be a coincidence. But news accounts certainly raise a question whether the mullahs are publicly sticking their finger in the Obama administration's eye, letting a Canadian go . .
4
POPS Debacle in Moscow by Charles Krauthammer And what's come from Obama's single most dramatic foreign policy stroke -- the sudden abrogation of missile defense arrangements with Poland and the Czech Republic that Russia had virulently opposed? For the East Europeans it was a crushing blow, a gratuitous restoration of Russian influence over a region that thought it had regained independence under American protection. But maybe not gratuitous. Some brilliant secret trade-off to get strong Russian support for stopping Iran from going nuclear before it's too late? Just wait and see, said administration officials, who then gleefully played up an oblique statement by President Dmitry Medvedev a week later as vindication of the missile defense betrayal. The Russian statement was so equivocal that such a claim seemed a ridiculous stretch at the time. Well, Clinton went to Moscow this week to nail down the deal. What did she get? "Russia Not Budging On Iran Sanctions: Clinton Unable to Sway Counterpart."
5
POPSObama: From Savior to Leftist Windbag in Nine Months Hugo Chavez got a big round of American-hating applause when he said “it doesn’t smell like sulfur in here anymore” in reference to President Bush whom he had previously referred to as the devil. Words are cheap and Obama used a whole lot of them to promote his socialist-light agenda to the nation last year. There might not be much in the ways of original ideas floating around in his head - just a collection of discarded Democrat lost causes from the past half century or so - Obama has convinced himself that as a man of destiny he doesn’t have to bother with trivial matters like telling the truth or keeping his word. In an effort to sell healthcare reform to the nation that it doesn’t want, Obama habitually plays fast and loose with the truth. It’s gotten to the point where he can barely speak on the subject for longer than a few minutes without someone wanting to cough up the word “liar” in the background, just like Rep. Joe Wilson did last week.
3
POPSEvil Ahmadinejad in Denial as He Discusses 'democratic' Iran at UN Those who stayed had to all but stifle their laughter when Ahmadinejad heralded Iran's recent "glorious and fully democratic election" - a contest that sparked massive street protests, which ended only after Ahmadinejad's thugs brutally beat and killed opponents. "I don't think I have sever seen a walkout of this magnitude," Walter Russell Mead of the conservative Hudson Institute told CNN after Ahmadinejad finished playing to the half-empty General Assembly hall. "It was a speech Adolf Hitler could have given." Outside UN headquarters, hundreds of Iranians picketed the Iranian strongman for much of the day. "He is not our voice. He is not our representative. We want him out of the UN," said Masomeh Ataey, 52, who traveled from Virginia to join hundreds of flag-waving protesters at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. Ahmadinejad insisted his country is ready to shake all hands "that are honestly extended to us," which seemed to be an odd reversal on his comment Tuesday that he'd . . .
6
POPS Delegates Walk Out On Ahmadinejad Undeterred, Mr Ahmadinejad went on to accuse foreign troops of spreading "war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation" in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he also used his speech to brush off accusations that his re-election in June was a fraud, describing the polling day as "glorious and fully democratic". Notably absent from Mr Ahmadinejad's podium address was the subject of Tehran's stand-off with Western powers over its nuclear ambitions. As the Iranian leader prepared to address delegates, the UN Security Council members announced that they were expecting Iran to engage with them on the issue. "We expect a serious response from Iran and will decide, in the context of our dual track approach, as a result of the meeting, on our next steps," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Realtime results for #GreenNY http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23GreenNY
3
POPSNeda Agha-Soltan's Fiance Has Been Released From Evin Prison in Iran Amnesty International had been calling for Makan's release, claiming he had been ill treated in prison and subject to coercion and torture. The circumstances of his release and his imprisonment are not immediately clear, and Amnesty International has apparently suspended its appeal but is continuing to monitor Makan's situation. Others involved in the circumstances surrounding the now-famous videotaped death of the young Neda Agha-Soltan have fled Iran in fear for their own lives, including Dr. Arash Hejazi, who attended to Neda after she was shot, and the television journalist who interviewed Caspian Makan after Neda's untimely death.
2
POPSProtests Resume In Iran With The Government-Backed Quds Day Ceremony 11.57am: At least 10 protesters have been arrested, according to Reuters. "Supporters of Ahmadinejad are beating supporters of Mousavi near the Vali-ye Asr street. At least two protesters were injured," it quoted a witness as saying. 12.02pm: Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said the security forces were out in force, attempting to keep opposition demonstrators away from Tehran University where Ahmadinejad was speaking earlier. "I didn't expect the protests to be as big," he said Another video appears to confirm that thousands have been involved in the protests today. It also seems to show attempts to prevent filming taking place. 12.57pm: NBC has released more of its interview with Ahmadinejad. In the latest segment, he defended the detention of three Americans, who have been held for more than seven weeks. They "trampled the law, and in accordance with the laws, they need to be punished," he said. The full interview will be broadcast on Sunday.
1
POPSA ''Pariah'' President is Ignored How could Iran expect respectability after this debacle? They have tortured to death the activists arrested for protesting. Does this happen in any non-Muslim world ?
4
POPSBill Made Her Do It * No cruel remarks about how the Chicago native who spent most of her adult life in Arkansas got elected to the Senate from New York, please.
3
POPSMass Trial of Iranian Protesters Deepens Nation's Divides possibly more, in prison. Among the defendants are several prominent reformist opposition activists including former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, former vice speaker of parliament Behzad Nabavi, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh and leader of the biggest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Mohsen Mirdamadi. Pictures from the courtroom showed a thin-looking Mr. Abtahi and a grim Mr. Mirdamadi, both in prison uniforms, sitting in the front row. More than a hundred defendants could be seen sitting in the packed courtroom, many of them handcuffed but without prison uniforms. State media didn't provide further details about the trial, and there was no information on when it would end or when a verdict would be expected. Iran's former reformist President Mohammad Khatami criticized the country's first trial of activists and protesters following the disputed presidential election as a sham.
0
POPSAs a CIA spy, I saw in Iran what the West cannot ignore While the current Iranian president and his followers need to be removed and the people given freedom, I don't think the US making a move on its own can or should happen. First we are already stretched too thin on the military side of things. Economically we cannot afford to this. Politically, it has to be a total buy in for other major players (this probably won't happen). The current president is a sociopath and I feel terrible for those Iranians that have attempted to stand up for their freedom and for those that lost their lives doing so. The guy and his followers are nuts and dangerous to their own people and to the world.
3
POPSThe Obama opiate: Crisis deepens, crowds cheer
"The destabilization of Iran, a product of massive US covert operations (and overt political manipulation) continues unabated, built upon the pretext of “restoring democracy”—a “stolen election” hoax, and an aggressive “color revolution” spearheaded by Anglo-American surrogates, aspiring puppets, and hordes of intelligence assets and so-called “liberals” touting “democracy”. The Iranian corridor remains critical, for the control of Central Asian and Middle East energy, and the Anglo-American empire is intent upon controlling it. A blatant coup in Honduras has been carried out in the classic fashion, according to the same intelligence playbook that has been at the core of US-Latin America policy since the Iran-Contra era; the same destabilization tactics used in recent years to topple the governments of Venezuela and Haiti. Domestically, Obama has endorsed the continued surveillance of the American people, and an even more ironclad electronic police state. While the average Ameri
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update