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   From: siegfried@lebednoyehozero.ru   
      
   This does not solve anything for Iran. It only puts a lid on a pot that is   
   already boiling under the surface. It puts Iran on the path to violent   
   revolution and civil war.   
      
   Advanced Islamic state is an oxymoron. You can not have repressive religion   
   and be an advanced country at the same time.   
      
   Look at Afghanistan. Afghanistan was scammed by the Taleban and under them   
   became a very primitive nation. Now the Taleban are mostly gone and   
   advancement and prosperity are returning.   
      
   Come back in a year or two and we will watch the flames engulfing Iran.   
      
   Print off this post and hang it on your wall. Write "6/25/2007" on it.   
      
      
   "PM"  wrote in message   
   news:UOWdnQkUT8EXwCDfRVn-qg@look.ca...   
   Iran hardliner sweeps to victory   
      
   Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented himself as a humble alternative   
   The ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won a   
   landslide victory in Iran's presidential poll.   
   Mr Ahmadinejad won 62% of votes, defying predictions of a close race, to   
   defeat the more moderate ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.   
   After his win, Mr Ahmadinejad said he planned to create a "modern, advanced   
   and Islamic" role model for the world.   
   His victory means all the organs of the Iranian state are now in the hands   
   of conservative hardliners.   
   Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, who campaigned on a conservative Islamic platform, had   
   surprised observers by beating five other candidates in the first round to   
   reach the run-off.   
   The BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says his taped statement, broadcast on   
   state radio after the result was announced, was aimed at easing worries   
   about his conservative views.   
   Some 22 million people voted in this run-off poll - a turnout of 60%, down   
   from 63% in the first round a week ago.   
   Our correspondent says it was Mr Ahmadinejad's appeal to the poor that seems   
   to be the secret to his success. Despite Iran's huge oil wealth the country   
   has high unemployment and a big gap between rich and poor.   
   'Flawed' election   
   Mr Ahmadinejad has also pledged to tackle corruption and resist Western   
   "decadence".   
   OFFICIAL RESULTS   
      
   Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 61.6%   
   Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: 35.9%   
   Turnout: 60%   
   Source: Iranian interior ministry   
      
      
   Vote against the status quo   
   Profile: Ahmadinejad   
   Profile: Rafsanjani   
   His defeated rival Mr Rafsanjani, 70, was president from 1989-97. He was the   
   favourite going into the election and had re-cast himself as a liberal who   
   was more willing to engage with the West.   
   The US said the election was "flawed" and described it as "out of step" with   
   regional trends towards democracy.   
   In Washington, a state department official said the US would judge Iran   
   under Mr Ahmadinejad by its actions.   
   "In light of the way these elections were conducted, however, we remain   
   sceptical that the Iranian regime is interested in addressing either the   
   legitimate desires of its own people, or the concerns of the broader   
   international community," the spokeswoman said.   
   UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said there were "serious deficiencies" in   
   the election, noting that many reformists, and all women candidates, had   
   been barred from standing.   
   "I hope that under Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran will take early steps   
   to address international concerns about its nuclear programme" as well as   
   its policies toward terrorism, human rights and the Middle East peace   
   process, Mr Straw said in a statement.   
   'Profound humiliation'   
   Supporters of Mr Rafsanjani said before the result that victory for Mr   
   Ahmadinejad would signal voting fraud.   
   Reformist candidates accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Basij security   
   services of orchestrating a plot to boost Mr Ahmadinejad.   
   Interior ministry officials monitoring polling stations received some 300   
   complaints of electoral violations in Tehran alone, the Associated Press   
   news agency reports.   
    The Islamic regime that has lost popular support is now seeking to renew   
   itself by playing a new trick   
      
   M A Abdulqadir, Irbil, Iraq   
      
      
   Iranian election: Your views   
   The Guardian Council, which ran the poll, has dismissed allegations of   
   election fraud.   
   Mr Ahmadinejad will be Iran's first non-cleric president for 24 years when   
   he takes office in August.   
   Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banned both camps   
   from celebrating victory and urged people to keep off the streets.   
   He said the election result was a "profound humiliation" for the US.   
      
      
      
      
   --   
   "If ye love wealth greater than liberty,   
   the tranquility of servitude   
    better than the animating contest for freedom,   
    go home and leave us in peace.   
    We seek not your council nor your arms.   
    Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you,   
   and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."   
      --Samuel Adams   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)