President Ahmadinejad to be questioned by Iranian lawmakers

[Louis VI the Fat]

This is intriguing. If Ahmadinejad messed up so bad he even has some of the conservatives against him now, then perhaps there is a new wind blowing through Iran. It'll be interesting to see where this is going.

I don't see this going anywhere any time soon. Still, at the very least

'it was a reminder that Ahmadinejad, one of the most polarizing leaders on the international scene, also faces deep dissent within his own country and even within his own conservative political camp'.

It does count for something. Ahmadinejad is not going to remain in power indefinately. We'll see.

[Fragony]

I don't see this going anywhere any time soon. Still, at the very least

'it was a reminder that Ahmadinejad, one of the most polarizing leaders on the international scene, also faces deep dissent within his own country and even within his own conservative political camp'.

It does count for something. Ahmadinejad is not going to remain in power indefinately. We'll see.

Don't think this is all that insignificant even if it won't lead to anything very soon, fundaments are crumbling. The modernisation of Islam WILL start in Iran I'm sure of it.

[Husar]

I'm with Louis, don't think they suddenly make him go just like that, although it would be pretty cool.

But then I want to point out a small and completely unrelated thing that always irks me, I mean this is much nicer anyway.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Shi'a Islam is more disposed to being moderate than Sunni Islam, its strong hierarchy and sort of priestly caste means that there will always be a moderating influence to keep the would-be fanatics under control. It also makes Shi'aness less prone to modernisation/liberalisation. I guess its kind of like the Catholicism of Islam.

[gaelic cowboy]

Shi'a Islam is more disposed to being moderate than Sunni Islam, its strong hierarchy and sort of priestly caste means that there will always be a moderating influence to keep the would-be fanatics under control. It also makes Shi'aness less prone to modernisation/liberalisation. I guess its kind of like the Catholicism of Islam.

It is the wet dream of pentagon planners to have a moderate government in Iran who has less frosty relations with the West. The benfits geo-politically and blah blah blah are the nightmare of the even more repressive Sunni governments.

[Rhyfelwyr]

It is the wet dream of pentagon planners to have a moderate government in Iran who has less frosty relations with the West. The benfits geo-politically and blah blah blah are the nightmare of the even more repressive Sunni governments.

At the end of the day it doesn't really affect us how barbarous or backward the type of Islam they practise in some countries is. Even the strictest Saudi Wahhabists condemn Al-Qaeda's vision of jihad. Sure they are as backward as you can be and I wouldn't want to live there, but at least they aren't going to come here and try to blow me up. The hobted of the idea of global jihad is not the well consolidated backward regimes, but the unstable places like Yemen, Somalia etc.

They young Wabbabist of an Indonesian university is infinitely more dangerous to me than some old Wahhabist guy looking after some goats in the desert (or whatever they do).

[gaelic cowboy]

At the end of the day it doesn't really affect us how barbarous or backward the type of Islam they practise in some countries is. Even the strictest Saudi Wahhabists condemn Al-Qaeda's vision of jihad. Sure they are as backward as you can be and I wouldn't want to live there, but at least they aren't going to come here and try to blow me up. The hobted of the idea of global jihad is not the well consolidated backward regimes, but the unstable places like Yemen, Somalia etc.

They young Wabbabist of an Indonesian university is infinitely more dangerous to me than some old Wahhabist guy looking after some goats in the desert (or whatever they do).

True but then I was more thinking about how Saudi and the like would have to let there grip on power slip as the inevitable backlash came from there own people watching things like elections in Iran/Iraq on telly.

As long as unemployment of young men especially young graduates continues in the middle east an Central Asia then OBL will live on in some form. Notice how there tends to be a lot of engineering and technical people in the upper echelons of Al-Qaeda there is a book there if someone would write it.

[HoreTore]

Let's get the commies back in power in Iran.

An atheist, social democratic Iran.....