Ayatollah: Wall St. protests toppling capitalism

Demonstrators walk through the make-shift tent city as part of the Occupy D.C. demonstration at Freedom Plaza, in Washington on Oct. 11, 2011. / AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

NEW YORK - The Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spawned grass-roots activities around the U.S. and prompted comments from President Barack Obama, is now drawing political remarks from overseas.

Iran's top leader said Wednesday that the wave of protests reflects a serious crisis that will ultimately topple capitalism in America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the United States is now in a full-blown crisis because its "corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people."

"They (U.S. government) may crack down on this movement but cannot uproot it," Khamenei said. "Ultimately, it will grow so that it will bring down the capitalist system and the West."

The remarks came a day after U.S. officials said the Obama administration plans to leverage charges that Iran plotted to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador into a new global campaign to isolate the Islamic republic.

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For the past 3 1/2 weeks, the economic protesters have besieged a park in lower Manhattan near Wall Street. A march on Tuesday, past the homes of wealthy residents, marked the first time the movement has singled out individuals as part of the 1 percent they say are getting rich at the expense of the rest of America.

More activities were planned Wednesday. In Ohio, the group Occupy Cincinnati was staging a march.

Protesters in New York planned to gather at the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase, where they'll continue to decry the expiration of the state's 2 percent "millionaires' tax" in December.

Protesters target millionaires' N.Y.C. homes
Occupy Wall Street "isn't your average protest"

Meanwhile, the lawyer for a woman pepper sprayed during an action last month is demanding that the Manhattan district attorney prosecute an NYPD deputy inspector on an assault charge. Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the matter is being investigated by police internal affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Despite the onset of cold weather, protesters have indicated they're in it for the long haul.

Occupy Seattle demonstrators sent the mayor a list of demands, including approval for large tents to be used as a kitchen, infirmary, storage area and information center — and written approval of long-term occupancy.

90 Photos

Anti-Wall Street protests, coast-to-coast

In Washington, six people were arrested Tuesday for demonstrating inside a Senate office building. More than 125 protesters in Boston were arrested after they ignored warnings to move from a downtown green space, police said.

The New York state comptroller has issued a report showing that Wall Street is again losing jobs because of global economic woes. The job losses threaten tax revenue for a city and state heavily reliant on the financial industry.

The industry shed 4,100 jobs in the late spring and summer and could lose nearly 10,000 more by the end of 2012, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. That would bring the total industry loss to 32,000 positions since the financial meltdown of 2008.

The sector employed 166,600 people in investment banks, securities trading firms and hedge funds as of August.

Christopher Guerra, an artist and Occupy Wall Street protester from Newark, N.J., said the job losses aid the protesters' cause.

"That means more people on our side," Guerra said. "The companies are destroying this country by helping themselves, not the people, and pushing jobs out of America. If they get shafted, they will realize that what we are saying is true."

[Nikos_Retsos]

Ayatollah Khamenei's prediction that the Wall Street protesters will bring down capitalism is certainly wishful thinking. The Wall Street protests are inconsequential because they are akin to a bull stampede. A bull starts to run, and the herd fallows without any thinking of why are they running or where they are heading! The protesters have no agenda, no manifesto, no demands, and no idea what they want - other than just expressing their disgust against the American elite who treats them like honey bees that bring the honey to the Wall Street beehives! In another analogy, those protesters look like soccer fans in Europe fighting outside the stadium - the Wall Street here- trying to win with fists and kicks the match their team -the Democrats here- have lost inside the stadium - the Capitol Hill! Sorry, your Reverence, but capitalism won't fall by nuisance protests, and the protests are not like Mao Tse-tung's "Great March" or Fidel Castro's attack on the Moncada Barracks.

Ayatollah Khamenei, however, was correct on the statement: "They [the U.S.] try to isolate Iran, but they are isolated!" From Latin America, to Africa and Asia, most countries
hate the U.S, and their relationship with us is an antipathetic one. They just tolerate us because of trade, banking and financial exchanges and investments that are so interconnected that necessitate an "open door [relations] policy!. In other words, those states tolerate the U.S. as we have to tolerate a "bad neighbor!" And, if anything, the U.S. effort to isolate Iran forced it to become militarily "self-sufficient." Now it is constantly upgrading its weapons technology with new missiles, a new anti-aircraft batteries system copied from the Russian S-300 - the best such weapon in the world today, various other battlefield tactics and high explosives devices, and hundreds of top speed gunboats with well-trained and high morale personnel. And like a parent's "tough love" make children better and well-disciplined, the U.S. effort to isolate Iran has transformed it into the rising military power that it is today.

So far the U.S.- Iran sparring has been like a boxing match with no knock-downs or knock-out punches. The scoring card? It is a "draw!" Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[852derek852]

Ah hilarious cultural misunderstandings... See, in that part of the world, protests are the thing that happens because people are fed up with their brutal, oppressive, corrupt dictators. They usually continue untill the government is either overthrown, or murders every last one of them.

In our part of the world, protests are the thing that happen when people who like complaining get too much time on their hands. They usually continue untill the protesters either run out of weed, or get distracted by something shiny.

[miami_don]

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the United States is now in a full-blown crisis because its "corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people."

===

What a strange statement coming from the person most responsible for the crackdown and murder of democratic protesters in his own country.

Religious fanatics have a total disconnect about anything that which doesn't fit into the stereotype they have built for everything. If an idea, a person, or even an event isn't a convenient verse out the Koran, Bible, or Torah their first impulse is to attack-and-destroy leaving the world perpetually flat. They are blind to their own hypocrisy and therefore incapable of understanding why our own revolutionary forefathers separated state and religion.

It appears the Wall Street protestor have the right idea about not allowing themselves to be tagged and pigeon holed by a singular political or religious dogma. They are expressing a message that is so clear that it confuses those people like Khamenei who see God or Satin; the atainment of unnecessary wealth; or political affiliation, as the only motivators of action.

Think about this: Religious leaders and Political leaders (with their pundits) who cannot understand that a movement can be sustained and grow based on a single thought that the greed of the few is destroying society.

It is sad that leaders, such as Khamenei, cannot see this as democracy at its best. That is to say when a concept is being expressed by unencumbered individuals without leadership. The implications are profound. Protesters who are not expressing any affiliation to religious, financial, political or power agenda's and only identifying themselves as a social movement.

A movement whose goal is the dismemberment of graft and the prosecution of unscrupulous few who are parasites on society draining 80% of the national wealth for their own use while returning nothing.

[Blackandtandog]

This ass**** is the last person on the planet who should be expressing an opinion. Brutal repression of his own countrymen, medieval treatment of women, rigged elections and a desire to develop nuclear weapons are his areas of expertise. Why doesn't he just shut up and go screw a camel?

[MagnaCartaUK]

Democracy doesn't always come in the form governments like. Neither do governments decide that a single vote each every 4 or 5 years is anyone can expect. Debates locally and nationally, along with referenda on important issues should be standard practice, though I suspect it's not on the agenda of those who feel whole populations should merely accept the fall-out from corporate greed, reckless bankers, and politicians from all parties who ignored and refused to regulate correctly. Regardless of that, this Ayatollah seems to be shouting at someone else's pan-fire, whilst his house in burning down around him. Still, in commenting he's probably just killing time in between killing his own people.

[FP1970]

Thank you Ayatolah(s) for reminding us that these protests might well be engineered by hostile foreign powers, in the same way that the Mexican gov't engineers protests against any attempt by America to defend its borders.
By the way, will the protesters also be picketing the homes and offices of pro-immigration politicians, since immigration is having a horribly destructive impact on the lives of working Americans in all occupation categories? The student protesters (except for trust fund radicals) better think about this because they will need to start careers in a few years.

[noloyalisti]

Just saw this below and it is sooooo accurate.

Shows you what the Ayatollah knows. The Wall Street protests are aimed at toppling corporate socialism, not capitalism.
by canislupus16

That is what the fat cats have been able to convince a lot of really stupid Americans: that capitalism is democracy and that we should privatize their profits while we socialize their losses.

[noloyalisti]

The Arab Spring and American Autumn are not against capitalism, just runaway, predatory, unregulated, crony Republicon style capitalism.

(American) capitalism HAS failed the 99%, now we need to try democracy. That is what the Arab and American revolutions are about: democracy.

[askagain]

The Democrats are equally as guilty as Republicans. The Democrats, too, failed to prevent and or fix problems before they turned into disasters. Blaming only Republicans may make you feel better but that doesn't make your perceptions factual.

[askagain]

Follow the money trail to see who is behind these protests. How many of us could camp out in New York Vity with no money in our pockets? These people have to eat if nothing else. It will be interesting to see who or what group(s) are funding the protesters.

[askagain]

Brokennews - Agrred that there are homeless people. The protesters are not in the same category. Many of them are educated and have families they can live with. So the question is still a valid one. Where is the money coming from to support the protesters day after day?

[credibility2]

Wishful thinking on the part of the likes of the Ayatollah and other enemies of our free market system. Look at what's occurring in Europe, where too much debt and social spending has crippled nations like Greece, Spain, Portugal, England, France, Italy, etc. Then a tightening of the belt begins and the low-life government program grabbers protest demanding more. That is history and it will repeat itself perhaps on our shores. Don't blame everything on Wall St. Blame also all non-Wall St. millionaire/billionaire types, including the sacred cows like athletes and their team owners, politicians, entertainers, etc.

[askagain]

Good points. How good can the standard of living be in Iran for most people. Perhaps the Ayatollah shouldn't be throwing stones until Iran's economy can provide a standard of living which equals or exceeds our own. As you point out, European countries find themselves instituting austerity programs because they can no longer to be so generous with benefits. Part of the blame for our problems belongs to people who bought homes they could not afford, spend every nickle they earn, and depended on the equity of their homes to aupplement their incomes or to make purchases they couldn't afford. For years people failed to put aside money for savings, emergencies, and for retirement. Of course it is hard to make ends meet when people spend more than they can afford.