From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   Rhino  wrote:   
   >On 2026-01-08 10:35 p.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   >>Rhino  wrote:   
      
   >>>Protests in Iran have gone into a 12th day with Reza Pahlavi, the Crown   
   >>>Prince (son of the last Shah of Iran) is calling for his supporters -   
   >>>which appears to be nearly everyone - to go to the streets to take back   
   >>>their country. . . .   
      
   >>Oh. Will restoration lead to liberty? I suspect not.   
      
   >The Crown Prince has promised that he will let them have a monarchy or   
   >republic and be involved as much or as little as they want him. His name   
   >and instructions to the protesters seem to have a LOT of impact with   
   >them. The two primary themes of the protesters chants are "Death to   
   >Khamenei" (or overthrowing the Islamist regime) and "Bring back the   
   >King" (meaning the Crown Prince). They see the pre-1979 period in a very   
   >positive way and want to go back to that.   
      
   He has the advantage of not having done anything evil in the last 4 and   
   a 1/2 decades.   
      
   >Is support for the Shah universal? Probably not but apparently it is   
   >very strong right now and they're seeing him as a symbol of the   
   >direction they want to go in.   
      
   >Some pundits have said that the fall of the Islamists will lead to the   
   >balkanization of Iran with each of the many ethnic groups splitting off   
   >into separate countries but the host of Tousi TV, an Iranian expat   
   >living in the UK who has strong contacts in Iran (via Skylink), says the   
   >various groups are pulling together against the regime, not jockeying   
   >for position to have their own separate areas. He knows a lot more about   
   >this than I do so I have to defer to his assessment until I know better.   
      
   >Whatever follows this regime probably won't be perfect; that's the   
   >nature of government. How free will people be? I just don't know. It's   
   >hard to imagine things being worse but maybe my imagination just isn't   
   >trying hard enough.   
      
   They can't overthrow the Islamic regime soon enough. But I don't see the   
   Revolutionary Guard going quietly.   
      
   >>Can they put Mosaddegh back into the government?   
      
   >Unless they have the power of resurrection, I don't see how. He died in   
   >1967.   
      
   Just thinking how long it's been since they had a government that was   
   popularly elected.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)