A disgusting vat of filth that no self-respecting intelligent person would wade into.

[Cletus Miller]

Originally posted by Spanky
Is it just me, or sometimes shouldn't the government just shut the hell up. If we are happy with the elections in Iran shouldn't we just keep it to ourselves. How does it help the guys that won when the US says we support them?

Ahmadinejad 'thwarted' in Iranian elections: US

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks to have been thwarted from keeping his ultra-conservative allies in control of key offices despite efforts to "cook the books" in weekend elections, the State Department said.

The elections for municipal councils and a powerful religious assembly saw Ahmadinejad loyalists suffer setbacks at the hands of more moderate candidates in a number of key races, including for seats on the Tehran city council.



"It would seem that they are not the results that President Ahmadinejad would have hoped for," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked to comment on the vote.

"I think, despite the regime's efforts to cook the books in terms of an outcome, they seem to have been thwarted in that regard," he said.

While noting the high voter turnout in Friday's election, McCormack said there had been "some fundamental flaws" in the polls, "in which there were numerous candidates that were excluded from even running."

"So the people didn't have that choice to make," he said.

The United States has declared Ahmadinejad's regime to be one of its principle international adversaries for its alleged plan to develop nuclear weapons and his frequent statements that Israel should be "wiped off the map".

Washington also accuses Tehran of supporting Islamic militants responsible for unrest in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

The voting for Iran's municipal councils and the Assembly of Experts -- the body which chooses the country's supreme leader -- was seen as the first popularity test for Ahmadinejad since he swept to power in 2005.

In one key race, centrist ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani overwhelmingly won a seat on the Assembly of Experts, thrashing a cleric seen as Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor.

Based only on what you quote, I don't see any statement that the US actually likes anyone who was elected, except relative to Ahmadinejad's allies. And noting Ahmadinejad lost face is actually kind of important.