Iran, a country in the Middle East, is located just
between Iraq and Pakistan.
Mountainous area with 69 million Muslims. And yet, independent of what the rest
of the world may think of them, they are ready to surprise us. Last summer
(2004), during one month, 9 Iranian students decided to conduct a survey- a
survey whose results they could never publish in their own country. “If there
would be Presidential Election in IRAN right now, who would you vote for –
Khatami, Khamanehi, Rafsanjani or George W. Bush? “
Mr. Mohammed Khatami is the current President of Iran. Mr. Ali Khamanehi is the
supreme leader of the current regime, the actual leader of the country. Mr.
Hashemi-Rafsanjani is the former president, who served two terms in years
1989-1997. Man who considers himself the most able politician in the lines of
Islamic Republic and whoranks among the most influential politicians in
Iran.
All these three are strong opponents of the US-led Western policies. And George
W. Bush? I think you know the answer better than I do. He's probably the most
hated and at the same time the most loved president in the world.
The survey took place between July 10 - Aug 8 this year. The questioning was
conducted by 9 students in ages 24-34. I managed to talk to two of them. And
they have just unfolded the results of the survey to me. They interviewed 1000
people from 8 major cities of Iran:
Shiraz, Esfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz,
Ahwaz, Kerman, Rasht
and the capital Tehran.
The policy for the questionnaire was that 50% of the respondents had to be male
and 50% female, all in ages 20-50. People were selected randomly from streets
during regular business days – in taxis, schools, shopping centers and such.
They did not approach people who looked like they might be working for the Army
or the Police. They also didn't ask people they knew personally, such as family
members, relatives.
People who conduct such surveys in Iran are usually considered hostile
towards the regime, and finish in jail. So everything needs to be done with
caution, if at all, that is. This means that they couldn't do the survey in a
regular way by handing out the questionnaires for filling. Instead, they
started chatting with the person, letting him or her know that they were not
government agents of any sort and they were doing a simple survey.
Once both sides were comfortable, they asked - “Who would you vote to become
the next president of Iran?
Khatami, Khamanehi, Rafsanjani or G.W. Bush?” If the person said that he or she
didn't like ANY of them, the vote would not be recorded and the interviewer
would move on to the next randomly chosen person.
[BB]
None of the respondents had to reveal their names. Ahura Arya (name changed),
one of the organizers of this survey, said that the only information they wrote
down about each respondent was their vote, age and marital status. Nothing
else.
Who won? Bush, big time. He got 95% of the votes leaving all the other
candidates far behind. Why was Bush selected to be one of the candidates, you
may ask. I wondered about exactly the same thing. However, they wanted to know
how popular the current leaders of Iran are. And how much the people
like or dislike George W. Bush, president of the country that the current
leaders of Iran
hate the most.
Results of the survey
Khatami
Khamanehi
Rafsanjani
Bush
Male
21
9
14
456
Female
22
4
7
467
Total
43
13
21
923
I was also curious to know why the students of Iran conducted this survey. Don't
they know that they and the ones who answered their questions could be arrested
for a lot less? They do know it, they know it well. And their names remain
undisclosed. They are people who believe in democracy. Still they claim to have
conducted this survey without any personal opinion about the topic. “We just
did this for the good of our country.” they say. “This showed us how Bush is
popular among our people. Our people lived under a terrorist’s regime, that's
why they don’t like their terrorist leaders. ”
Is it all true or just fruits of imagination of a creative mind, I really don't
know. However, I personally do believe what the two Muslims told me. Call me a
fool, or better yet, don't. Two of the people involved with this survey are
currently in jail. Fortunately not because of the survey, but rather for the
pro-democracy demonstration in the streets of Tehran on 25th September 2004.
“The regime is so sensitive to these type of activities, the reason is that
they don’t like to be known as unpopular regime, but they are and very soon you
will hear some news coming out of Iran. People of Iran are the
only true friends of Americans in the war against terror. People of Europe may
not know what President Bush is saying, but people of Iran and Iraq
and Afghanistan
understand him as they live under the regime of dictators and mullahs. “
Editor's note: This article was originally written in October 2004, so the
two Iranians who were in jail at the time of writing the article, might have
been released.
This article has been written in good faith that I was told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It is impossible to prove these facts, as these results have never been published elsewhere.
This is also the reason why many other big publications refused to print this story claiming that "This article can't be published because of its originality".
They were right, it is *original* and we can't prove that the survey took place. Or if it took place, we can't be sure that the survey was conducted correctly and that the results weren't faked.
I do believe I was told the truth. However, we publish this article in Opinion section, thus keeping open the possibility that all this information might be just a fruit of a creative mind.
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Nice Article! It made me think, which is a rarity. Mrs. Bush won't let him do it.
Careful, The CIAmay be watching you!
More of this, please!
Marjo says on 2005-01-10 07:25:53 about
Clearly the rhetoric that is anti-Bush is overstated. At the very least in this country, and most likely abroad as well. This election left most with even less to complain about than before. Bush soundly beat Kerry.
anon. says on 2005-01-06 23:39:38 about
I think the whole democratic party is full of shit! They don't have any real ideas. Its pretty easy to play the Monday morning Quaterback and ridicule everything Bush does. The man has morals and is guided by them. WAKE UP dems and look through the anti-bush media and think for yourself!!!!!!
Herb says on 2005-01-05 11:39:43 about
Bush administration is just continuing the Ol' Bush admin policy. Their goal is in money an' control, they don't care 'bout people. Clinton admin did the most for the country and they should be praised.
toss up says on 2005-01-04 23:13:44 about better than the alternatives
Uh, Bush is liked by many. I'm not all keen on him but I was never blind to any politician. This man has done what no other leader in the last 20 years has. He has taken a stand against a way of life that's out to kill you, me, your kids and anyone who doesn't bow before some resident alien God known as Muhammad. If the Clinton administration wasn't too busy teaching kids how to whack off in school and teaching people how to hide their dislike about people who don't wish to acknowledge an "American Way Of Life" maybe they would've spent more on what's important namely - MAKING SURE WE DON'T GET ATTACKED BY A BUNCH OF CAMEL JOCKEYS.
Brenda says on 2005-01-03 18:40:49 about bush
Let Iran have him! Frankly Im tird of his lies and his "Holier than thou" attitude. Iraq is nothing but a vendetta to repay them for what they did to his dad. One girl at work remarked today she thinks he's wearing a wire so he can hear what people are telling Bush the Robot to do.
Idi Amin says on 2005-01-03 15:20:42 about bush
Not only is bush most hated president, but he is quite probably most hated man in history! The arithmetics is simple - in hitler's and stalin's time there were less people in earth and even less people who knew about world affaires.
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