# Iranian mullahs want Bush to win **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496 "2004-10-27T17:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/1 "2004-10-27T17:48:29Z")
From the _Times_ of London – [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1325880,00.html:](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1325880,00.html:) > [@](#): > > Bush once branded the country part of an “axis of evil” threatening global security, but Iran’s mullahs last week expressed the wish that he be given four more years in the White House. > > Hasan Rowhani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, seemed confident Bush would not bow to pressure from members of his administration for military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “We haven’t seen anything good from Democrats,” he told state-run television. “We do not desire to see Democrats take over.” > > Rowhani reminded television viewers of the sanctions imposed when Bill Clinton was president and added: “We should not forget that during Bush’s era — despite his hardline and baseless rhetoric — he didn’t take, in practical terms, any dangerous action against Iran.” How – if at all – should undecided American voters be influenced by this? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/2 "2004-10-27T20:13:13Z")
I hope we can get this dealt with soon, so we can turn to the REAL significant question: who do these Iranian mullahs favor in the World Series? ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/3 "2004-10-27T20:19:12Z")
Basically I’ve heard so many of these ‘Insert name here wants Bush/Kerry to win’ that they’re basically meaningless and full of crap. It doesn’t matter who wins, we have two different paths in front of us, we’ll know what happens when we walk down one of them. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/4 "2004-10-27T20:21:08Z")
Sounds like they are trying to play the reverse psychology game here. Basically knowing that anything ‘Iranian mullahs’ want is bad for the US, my guess is their hope is that by coming out for Bush they will help Kerry win. Or, who the hell knows WHAT they think? Look at your own cite: "Hasan Rowhani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, **seemed confident Bush would not bow to pressure from members of his administration for military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.** “We haven’t seen anything good from Democrats,” he told state-run television. “We do not desire to see Democrats take over.” " Huh? He’d be the one PRESSURING for military strikes against Iran’s nuke facilities if Iran doesn’t toe the line…and they can’t be dense enough not to see that after Iraq for gods sake! > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I hope we can get this dealt with soon, so we can turn to the REAL significant question: who do these Iranian mullahs favor in the World Series? I hope we can clear this up soon then…I could win some serious money. After all, I’d think ‘Iranian mullahs’ would have god on THEIR side. 😉 -XT ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/5 "2004-10-27T20:28:30Z")
…but the Ba’athist dead-enders prefer Kerry. At least, that’s what [the Moonie Paper says](http://www.washtimes.com/world/20041027-121030-7792r.htm), so don’t go blaming this on the SCLM! > [@](#): > > Mowafaq Al-Tai, a London-educated architect and intellectual, said different types of resistance fighters have different views of the U.S. election. > > The most pro-Kerry, he said, are the former Saddam Hussein loyalists — Ba’ath Party members and others who think Washington might scale back its ambitions for Iraq if Mr. Kerry wins, allowing them to re-enter civic life. > > The most pro-Bush, he said, are the foreign extremists. “They prefer Bush, because he’s a provocative figure, and the more they can push people to the extreme, the better for their case.” ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/6 "2004-10-27T20:29:56Z")
I like this game of who can pin the most evil endorsement on the other candidate. Who do the terrorists want to win?, the N. Koreans. How about Charles Manson? Phone Solicitors? The annoying kid from the Dell computer commercials? I doubt anyone is going to base their vote on spite. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/7 "2004-10-27T20:33:31Z")
They are probably getting back at him for calling them “moo-lahs” in the debates. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/8 "2004-10-27T21:29:00Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > I doubt anyone is going to base their vote on spite. What country are you living in? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/9 "2004-10-27T21:31:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What country are you living in? lol, too true. Just look at all the folks voting ‘not Bush!’ this year. 😉 -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/10 "2004-10-27T21:49:02Z")
The same story linked in the OP notes that Russian President Vladimir Putin also has endorsed Bush – while Castro likes neither candidate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/11 "2004-10-27T22:21:36Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > lol, too true. Just look at all the folks voting ‘not Bush!’ this year. 😉 > > -XT That is not the same thing. Voting ‘not Bush’ is a reasonable reaction if you think that nearly any random person on the planet would do a better job than Bush is doing as President. It is completely unrelated to voting for or against someone just to spite some third party. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/12 "2004-10-27T22:30:30Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > That is not the same thing. Voting ‘not Bush’ is a reasonable reaction if you think that nearly any random person on the planet would do a better job than Bush is doing as President. It is completely unrelated to voting for or against someone just to spite some third party. Sheesh…you are really hammering me on technicalities this week. 🙂 I MEANT it as in Republicans/Independants who are holding their nose and voting Kerry (or Badnarik) to SPITE Bush. What this has to do with ‘third party’ spite I have no idea…this is a thread about Iranian mullah’s spurriously endorsing Bush, and I read Malodorous’s comment to mean voting for a candidate to counter the ‘endorsment’ of some odious group is ‘spite’. No? -XT ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/13 "2004-10-28T02:35:17Z")
Firstly, I doubt this endorsement will have any impact whatsoever on the U.S. elections. Second, this endorsement should not come as a huge surprise because the Islamic regime in Iran generally prefers the Republicans to the Democrats because Jimmy Carter was a Democratic President and he is still vilified to an extreme level in Iran. Also, both Bush and Cheney are oil men seen as beholden to the interests of the oil industry which the Iranians see as a positive since the oil industry has never been crazy about sanctions on Iran. Also, Bush was tepidly endorsed by Iran in the last election as well. This was aided in no small part by Gore’s choice of a Jew as his running mate. The Islamic Republic News Agency was so incensed by that move that they broke the normal protocol of referring to Jews as “zionists” and instead referred to Lieberman only as “the Jew.” The surprising thing about this endorsement is that it comes from Rowhani himself rather than an intermediary such as IRNA. Rowhani is the favorite to be appointed as the government approved (and perhaps the only) candidate for the Iranian presidency next year. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-mullahs-want-bush-to-win/271496/14 "2004-10-28T03:35:42Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > Firstly, I doubt this endorsement will have any impact whatsoever on the U.S. elections. Of course not. But it’s still a giggle! 🙂