J.Says Online
  • Home
  • Entertainment
    • THE J. LIST
    • J.LIST BLOG
    • GENERAL HOSPITAL
  • Seriously Beyonce`, WTH?!?
  • Society/Culture
  • So This is Life?
    • J.Says Daily
    • J.Says & the "Quarter-Life Crisis"
  • Contact/ Info
  • Feedback

Obama and the Iranian Voting Protest

6/23/2009

0 Comments

 
President Obama held a media conference today at the White House addressing multiple issues; mainly health care and the political unrest in Iran. For those of you who don't know, the citizens of Tehran (the capital of Iran) have been actively and adamantly protesting the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declaring that the election was fixed. Since the election, protesters have been violently attacked by police and little has been done within Tehran to protect the peaceful protesters. Protesters have been using social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, to document the upheaval, as there has been a government-enforced filter of journalistic documentation. The Tehran government has also attempted to clog internet network access. The Iranians have made it more than clear that their choice for president was Mir Hossein Mousavi. They have been calling on "western government" as some have called it online, to intervene and assist them; particularly regards to the unjust violence. A major casualty was Neda Soltan, a young protester who was shot and killed in the street, dying in a pool of her own blood. Videos of her being murdered have been circulating on the internet. Some have called the mass video circulation disrespectful, but some hope that the circulation will bring attention to the cause and will ultimately result in a U.S. or a United Nations intervention. There are videos on YouTube link capturing Neda’s death. View it at your own discretion; it is very graphic. Click the “links” tab on the left for the link.
 
Over the last few days, President Obama has taken the stance that the U.S. government will not intervene in the protest. Today, his position seemed to change some, stating that he was "appalled and outraged" by the violence and implied that the Tehran government may suffer consequences if they continue with "the threats, the beatings and imprisonments". When asked by reporters what those consequences may be, Obama declined to detail them. When asked why any actions haven’t been taken yet, Obama said that “We don't know yet how this thing is going to play out…It is not too late for the Iranian government to recognize that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and legitimacy and prosperity for the Iranian people. We hope they take it”.

Do I think that we should intervene? I am honestly on the fence. Perhaps I missed it, but Obama did not clearly explain today why we SHOULDN’T get involved. If he feels somehow that intervening will cause a foreign affairs issue or harm to the U.S., I would like to know. Another question to be raised is “if the U.S. DOES intervene, HOW will we do it? What will be the repercussions, if any?” Many have insisted that he intervene, but few have actually proposed how he (or we) can. I have also heard the argument that it’s an internal issue we have nothing to do with. “We wouldn’t want another country interfering with our election.” “Haven’t we interfered with the affairs of other countries enough?”

To address the “Haven’t we interfered with the affairs of other countries enough?” question, I find it interesting when we DO choose to “interfere”. If you look at our history, we have “interfered” often, even when we are not wanted by the local citizens. Yet the Iranians are crying for our help and we have denied them. Are we making the right choice? Is Obama doing the right thing? I sure hope so.
j.says
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture

    Society/Culture

    My personal commentary on politics, race, gender, religion, social class, news media and several other things related to our society and culture.

    Note: Occasionally, other individuals will be writing posts and they will be marked as such. Want to be contributor for this section of the site? Click the "Contact/Info" tab and fill out the form to apply.

    Archives

    May 2014
    August 2013
    July 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    November 2009
    October 2009
    June 2009

    Picture
    Picture
    Click to support a cause

    Tags/Categories

    All
    18 20 Yr Olds
    18 20yr Olds
    50 Shades Of Grey
    Abortion
    Abstinence
    Abuse
    Activism
    Alexandra Wallace
    Arizona
    Bad Boys
    Barack Obama
    Beauty
    Birth Control
    Black Community
    Black Hair
    Books
    Bullying
    Bush
    C.Dyer
    C.G. Seymore
    Christianity
    Classism
    College Life
    Contributing Writers
    Corporate America
    Crime
    Cultural Egocentricism
    David Petraeus
    Debates
    Demi Lovato
    Depression
    Disabled Community
    Donald Sterling
    Education
    Employment
    Entertainment
    Evil
    Feminism
    Foreign Affairs
    Gender
    Gender Roles
    Hair
    Hate
    Healthcare
    Humanity
    Human Nature
    Immigration
    Independence
    Infidelity
    Iran
    Jersey Shore
    John Mayer
    Jordin Sparks
    Journalism
    Justin Bieber
    Lasheena Allgood
    Law Enforcement
    Lgbt
    Life Choices
    Marriage
    Media
    Men
    Morals
    NBA
    Oil Leak
    Parenting
    Partisanship
    Petraeus
    Political Cartoons
    Politics
    Politics On Facebook
    Pornography
    Race Relations
    Racism
    Rape
    Relationships
    Religion
    Reusable Coffee Cups
    Reusable Cold Beverage Cups
    Rihanna
    Rolling Stone
    Rush Limbaugh
    September 11th
    Sex
    Sexism
    Social Awareness
    Social Media
    Society & Culture On Twitter
    Suicide
    Taylor Swift
    Teens
    Teen Violence
    Terrorism
    Toxic Relationships
    Video Blogs
    Voting
    V. Stiviano
    War
    Workforce
    Youth

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.