Saturday, June 03, 2006

Ahmadinejad: "A Man of the People's Needs and Wants"

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

So reads a front-page headline in the June 3, 2006 edition of the Washington Post. Excerpt:

"'I actually wrote him two letters,' said Reza Karimi, 41. 'One was about the problems we have in this neighborhood. The other was about my problems.

"'Of course,' Karimi added with a wave of the hand, 'I do not expect him to answer me individually. But I believe he would at least solve the problem of the neighborhood.

"'I believe if he really could, he would help us.'

"That belief, far more than anything Ahmadinejad has said about nuclear power or the Holocaust, defines Iran's energetic president for the people who elected him almost a year ago, as well as the legions he appears to have won over since taking office in August. If his image in the West is that of a banty radical dangerously out of touch with reality -- 'a psychopath of the worst kind,' in the words of Israel's prime minister -- the prevailing impression in Iran is precisely the opposite.

"Here, ordinary people marvel at how their president comes across as someone in touch, as populist candidate turned caring incumbent. In speeches, 17-hour workdays and biweekly trips like the one that brought him here to Central Province, Ahmadinejad showcases a relentless preoccupation with the health, housing and, most of all, money problems that may barely register on the global agenda but represent the most clear and present danger for most in this nation of 70 million.

"'It's good to have a very kind person near you, caring about your problems,' said Akram Rashidi, 34, at the counter of a stationery store where the run on envelopes outpaced the supply of change. 'The important thing is that the president and important people are caring about the people.'"

Here is the last portion of the above article:

"'People have high expectations,' said Rashidi, at the stationery shop. Her look was introspective as she told of accompanying her sister to see Ahmadinejad when he was still Tehran's mayor, to appeal a zoning issue. There was no result, but what she remembered, years later, was having his attention.

"In Khomein, Zabihollah Sarlak asked Ahmadinejad to see that his mentally disabled son is looked after if he should die. 'He promised everybody, but he also said it'll take some time,' said Sarlak, 50. 'He said if you buy a kilo of meat at the market and take it home and cook it, it takes time.

"'But he'll do what he says.'"

The interviewees in the article appear to be social utopians, a failed doctrine if ever there was one. But the larger question might be this: Is Ahmadinejad also a Mahdi-utopian?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

May we have here a Mahdified version of the old Nazi "Strength Through Joy" program? The Islamofascists can be counted on to take good care of their own -- as long as they toe the line, of course -- it's just the rest of us they want to kill.

Epaminondas said...

Ahmadi-nejad IS a hojatieh adherent. There is no doubt.

So is Hassan Abbasi his key strategic adviser.

So is Ayatollah Jannati, his personal imam dude.

They are now backed by Khameinei. Head of the Guardian Council.

Much like the prussian elite, perhaps Khameini has now been pushed aside, or not.

It makes no difference. Diplomats who were embarassed by thsi galactic twerp have been dismissed, and there is no resistance.

The Iranian govt for any and all purposes, and any criteria you wish to use IS the hojatieh

Always On Watch said...

Ahmadinejad's imam was once ostracized by the Ayatollah Kohmeini for being too radical. There's something to give one pause.

Always On Watch said...

Epa,
From this link, which I found in the index you provided:

Westerners often meet with assorted officials who, they are led to believe, run Islamist Iran. They don't....

At the center of the oligarchy stands the "Office of the Leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the "Supreme Guide." Under the Khomeinist Constitution, the "Supreme Guide" represents Allah's sovereignty on earth and has unlimited powers. The opening articles of the Khomeinist Constitution, approved in 1979, make it clear that the "Supreme Guide" is also the leader of all Muslims throughout the world, whether they like it or not. Thus, theoretically at least, the Khomeinist "Supreme Guide" can decide what Islam is and is not at any given time. But that is not all....

Teheran "revolutionary" oligarchy uses the Iranian state structures, including the parliament, as instruments for implementing policies that are decided by a small group of mullahs and their advisers behind closed doors and without the slightest accountability. This is one reason foreign, especially Western diplomats and politicians, are often led up the garden path by Iranian interlocutors playing the role of ministers or other senior officials....


And still the media yap on about talks with Iran. Yada, yada, yada; but not a word about the oligarchy led by the imam.

Pastorius said...

They say here that the people are impressed with Ahmaidnejad's caring. They say it isn't his anti-Semitism that is appealing to the people.

But, of course, any time us racist right-wingers point out his anti-Semitism, we are told that he doesn't mean it, but instead he is simply playing to his people.

Which is it, freaking stupid MSM?

By the way, this is the second time in the past week the Washing Post has run a glowing article of Ahmadinejad.

Epaminondas said...

Nevermind all that, let's get to the important stuff...

are the trains on time?

Anonymous said...

Erm. Who dat?

Always On Watch said...

Ahmadinejad,
What is worthy to notice here is that the Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, was honest enough to promulgate this information about Jesus.

Not according to my Bible. Believe what you wish.

Anonymous said...

Ahmadinejad,

Understand something. I do not care what Jesus did. I do not care what Muhammad did. I do not believe in Allah. I do not care what you think of my not caring and not believing. What I demand is that you leave me alone and do not attempt to harm me because I do not care about or believe in the doings of supernatural beings. What part of that do you not understand?