http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ir00000_.html

or click on signature. The President has very limited powers, basically rubberstamping laws presented by the legislature - it doesn't seem he has veto power, and proposing the budget, appointing ambassadors, receiving ambassadors.

The real power lies with the leader:

Chapter VIII The Leader or Leadership Council

Article 107 [Religious Leader]

(1) After the demise of Imam Khumayni, the task of appointing the Leader shall be vested with the experts elected by the people. The experts will review and consult among themselves concerning all the religious men possessing the qualifications specified in Articles 5 and 109. In the event they find one of them better versed in Islamic regulations or in political and social issues, or possessing general popularity or special prominence for any of the qualifications mentioned in Article 109, they shall elect him as the Leader. Otherwise, in the absence of such a superiority, they shall elect and declare one of them as the Leader. The Leader thus elected by the Assembly of Experts shall assume all the powers of the religious leader and all the responsibilities arising therefrom.

(2) The Leader is equal with the rest of the people of the country in the eyes of law.

--

Article 110 [Leadership Duties and Powers]

(1) Following are the duties and powers of the Leadership:

1. Delineation of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran after consultation with the Nation's Exigency Council.

2. Supervision over the proper execution of the general policies of the system.

3. Issuing decrees for national referenda.

4. Assuming supreme command of the Armed Forces.

5. Declaration of war and peace and the mobilization of the Armed Forces.

6. Appointment, dismissal, and resignation of:

a. the religious men on the Guardian Council,

b. the supreme judicial authority of the country,

c. the head of the radio and television network of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

d. the chief of the joint staff,

e. the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and

f. the supreme commanders of the Armed Forces.

7. Resolving differences between the three wings of the Armed Forces and regulation of their relations.

8. Resolving the problems which cannot be solved by conventional methods, through the Nation's Exigency Council.

9. Signing the decree formalizing the election of the President of the Republic by the people. The suitability of candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, with respect to the qualifications specified in the Constitution, must be confirmed before elections take place by the Guardian Council, and, in the case of the first term of a President, by the Leadership. 10. Dismissal of the President of the Republic, with due regard for the interests of the country, after the Supreme Court holds him guilty of the violation of his constitutional duties, or after a vote of the Islamic Consultative Assembly testifying to his incompetence on the basis of Article 89.

11. Pardoning or reducing the sentences of convicts, within the framework of Islamic criteria, on a recommendation from the Head of judicial power.

(2) The Leader may delegate part of his duties and powers to another person.

According to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton - opposition to BO is racism.

Old Joe, you wrote that? How disappointing!

E.g., here is a summary from one of the cable channels. How does it support what you say?

"On Tuesday, Carter said Tuesday that Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," Carter told NBC’s Brian Williams in an interview Tuesday.

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders. He repeated his sentiments at a town hall held later at his presidential center in Atlanta.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said. "It's deeper than that." "

Fiery Young Lefty Stage == Trotskyite?

I heard some idiot on National Public Radio saying, no no I cannot be a neocon, I never was a Trotskyite.

The Iranian leadership is not any more or any less crazy than the Chinese leadership. If the Chinese leadership thought that the US was out to topple them they'd be acting pretty much like the Iranians.

We could hold our noses and bring China into the W.T.O. So why not Iran?

(Israel is not an acceptable answer to that last question.)

Old Joe,

I don't read Glenn Greenwald as saying - do nothing.

Rather:

1. Stop all this war rhetoric.

2. Recognize that Iran has little reason to trust the US of A. The mistrust is not a one-sided thing.

3. In particular, the US should stop its covert efforts to create trouble in Iran.

4. Approach negotiations seriously.

5. The negotiations cannot just be about nuclear materials, it has to be about all issues affecting security.

6. In particular, if Iran is ready for a nuclear-free Middle East, then don't cover for Israel. A nuclear-free Middle East is greatly in the US interest. To my mind, it overrides the value of any alliance with Israel, if that is the price Israel exacts. Of course, a nuclear-free Middle East has to be practically verifiable.

-Arun

If we go with your reasoning about Iran, then the only reason any nation would have to enter negotiations with the US of A is a collective insanity.

Let us remember that the greatest vicarious religio-mercenary movement in modern times was that assembled by the US in Afghanistan to use against the Soviet Union. And yes, just like Hamas and Hezbollah, once created, it did not conveniently disappear once the immediate purpose was served. As a result, Americans are still getting blown up in distant mountain places.