Most Horrible Dictator In World History Loses Ground in Local Bi-Elections

Conservatives have convinced the modern press that every country outside of America doesn't have a legitimate democracy, and that every elected President has the supreme dictatorial powers that George Bush thinks he has. A perfect example is the Presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which has always been less powerful than warmongers suggest, and is subject to the same internal political struggles as any other country where voting takes place. This is especially true because, unlike in somewhere like Zimbabwe, the so-called "dictator" doesn't actually run the government or the military which could be used to suppress the vote:

Conservatives consolidated control of Iran's legislature in run-off elections but opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gained strength, according to final results Saturday.

The results indicate that the hard-line leader is growing increasingly vulnerable ahead of a bid for re-election next year.

The conservative majority in the 290-seat parliament is divided between supporters of Ahmadinejad and opponents who say he has mishandled a nuclear standoff with the West and concentrated too much on fiery, anti-U.S. rhetoric while neglecting the economy.

The Supreme Leader barred most of the reformists from running and they STILL won more seats than in the previous legislature. Ahmadinejad has no majority, and a crumbling economy. There are certainly concerns about Iran's electoral freedom, but that has nothing to do with Ahmadinejad. If anything, he's used as a shield for the Supreme Council's disqualification of the reformists.

Our Iran policy is predicated on this deliberate misinterpretation of Iranian politics. Perhaps for this reason the warhawks moved on to Syria this week, though that story appears to also be full of holes. Or maybe the change in emphasis is to divert away from the fact that Iran is backing the Iraqi government we practically installed as a way to consolidate their gains in the region.