When I looked at Huffington Post this evening, I was surprised to see several items dated 2009-07-31. The first one I read was an article written by Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of Iraq after the Islamic Revolution, "Iran at the Crossroads of History: Will This Regime Fall like the Shah's". Among his points are that George W. Bush with his bellicosity strengthened the Iranian regime and Barack Obama with his wait and see weakened the regime. Dictators often depend on real or imagined threats to hold on to power. Another point is that as long as some leaders do not recognize the legitimacy of the coup, the people will continue their resistance and ultimately triumph. The White House's use of "elected leader" to describe Ahmadinejad is not supportive of that.
Another is "Happy Inauguration Day, Dr. Ahmadinejad: Don't Count on Success" by Jasheed K. Choksky. Choksky thinks that the regime is in turmoil and may hang on for a year or two, but it is facing so many divisions that there could be another revolution towards more democracy in a couple of years.
About the only current item I found was The Lede Blog of the New York Times, "Despite Protests, Ahmadinejad Consolidates Grip on Power". Contrary to the title, he may be creating more opposition from the conservatives because of his usurpation of power not given in the Iranian Constitution.
According to Robert Mackey, the editor of The Lede, he will be posting items early on Aug. 5 as he receives them. Aug 5. is the day that Ahmadinejad is supposedly to be confirmed for a second term by the Iranian Parliament.
