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Stench of massive election fraud...check.

Iran may be about to have another revolution.  

I hope they do.  Most Iranians are a far better breed of person than the insane mullahs that run the country.

CJ

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I've met a fair number of Iranians, mostly foreign students come to study at Florida Institute of Technology, in Melbourne, FL.

What I've picked up from them is that the "average" Iranian doesn't have anything against the "average" American.  Heck, they
come here to get an education.   Like most of us, they'll respond well to kind treatment and poorly to bad treatment.   They are
not the insane, fundamentalist radicals that their mullahs and leaders seem to be.   Iranians often practice a MODERATE form
of Islam,  with substantially greater women's rights than in any other "Islamic" country.   In Iran, women can be, and often ARE,
professionals, including doctors among many other highly skilled professions,  and prior to the Iranian revolution in 1979, the dress
code for Iranian women was pretty much "Chic Western fashion, if you can afford it".

Individually, I LIKE the Iranians.  It's their GOVERNMENT that concerns me.

Although the Shah certainly didn't have the full support of ALL of the Iranian people, I can't help but note that US-Iranian relations
were once warm enough that we were their major military supplier, at least as far as their Air Force is concerned.   They're the
only foreign country to have purchased the F-14 Tomcat,  which we didn't offer to less than REALLY GOOD allies.   The Iranians have
done a commendable job of keeping their Tomcat fleet serviceable, to this day, even though all spares have been embargoed since
1979.   It's strangely ironic that THEY still have Tomcats on active duty (but flown sparingly,  in an AWACS-type role due to the
capabilities of the radar system) after our own Navy has retired them all.

And...the Iranians have at least one aerial refueling tanker, based on a 747.  WE don't even operate one of those!


Ethnically speaking,  Iranians also aren't Arabic.  They're Aryan.  


I truly hope that the Iranians decide that NOW is the time to reverse the revolution and restore a lot of individual freedoms that
were lost with the 1979 revolution.    Iran could once again prove to be a strong and valuable ally,  in a part of the world where
such allies are hard to come by and also desperately needed.

CJ

This embargo was to have a especially severe long-term effect on the Tomcat fleet, since the embargo prevented the delivery of any spares. In addition, by August of 1979, all 79 of the F-14A Tomcats had supposedly been sabotaged so that they could no longer fire their Phoenix missiles. According to various accounts, this was done either by departing Grumman technicians, by Iranian Air Force personnel friendly to the US shortly after the fall of the Shah, or even by Iranian revolutionaries in an attempt to prevent operations by an Air Force perceived to be too pro-Western.

Today, the IRIAF still has some 50-55 F-14s, but only about 30 of them are probably active at any one time. The United States still seems to regard Iran's F-14 fleet as a potent threat in case hostilities ever break out, and has taken special pains to ensure that the Iranian government cannot obtain access to spare parts for their Tomcats. As US Navy Tomcats are retired from service, the boneyards at Davis Monthan AFB are deliberately destroying them as they arrive at the facility, just to ensure that no Tomcat spare parts end up on the black market.

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Thank you for that post.



One of the most considered and sensible responses I've read in a long time.



I get tired of seeing the "Nuke Iran from orbit" type posts......... people forget that there are families, young children and regular people the world over who just want to live and let live.



If the elections were fixed then it's time for Armouredinnerjacket to go...... The Iranians have got previous form for revolutions, maybe this is the start of another one.