Word: key
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...What do we do with the government claim that a suicide bomber attacked the sacrosanct mausoleum of the Imam Khomeini? And of the claim that demonstrators were breaking the ultimate Iranian political taboo, shouting "Death to the Supreme Leader"? Reports echoed on both new and old media said several key protest organizers had been arrested. But did the government succeeded in retaking the streets? Or will there be more resistance today, as Mousavi has apparently requested...
...notion that American action is unhelpful to reformers, this simply contradicts historical experience. Successful movements to alter authoritarian and totalitarian regimes almost always depend on internal dissent backed by strong international support. Those key factors are often required to get a regime's enablers - including domestic security forces - to lose confidence and eventually succumb...
...first thing to bend in the face of this new realization is the accelerated, ambitious schedule that key committees have set for themselves. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, who had breezily told reporters as recently as June 16 that he would have a bill ready by the end of the week, suddenly announced on June 17 that he had decided to "slow things down" and that his committee may not begin the formal process of drafting its bill until after the July Fourth congressional recess. If that's the case, it is hard to see how he can meet...
...deterred the demonstrators, and Mousavi is showing no inclination to back down just yet. Khamenei appears to be scrambling for a compromise that will persuade Mousavi to end the demonstrations while keeping Ahmadinejad in the presidency. But the outcome of the battle of wills may depend on how the key players read the balance of forces on the street and in the councils of the regime. The situation is delicately poised; what follows are four scenarios that could resolve...
...Republic's political establishment, whose members stand to lose a great deal if the regime is brought down and thus have to calibrate their dissent. More important, an unarmed popular movement can topple an authoritarian regime only if the security forces switch sides or stay neutral. But Iran's key security forces - the élite Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Basij militia - are bastions of support for Ahmadinejad. And they have used hardly a fraction of their repressive power. Also, while the opposition draws far larger crowds, there are still millions of Iranians strongly backing Ahmadinejad. So even...