Video: Iranian protesters rout police; Rumor: Split in the Revolutionary Guard? Update: Neda’s fiance interviewed
posted at 12:47 pm on June 22, 2009 by Allahpundit
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A tasty leftover from the weekend on a day when it’s starting to seem like we’ve seen the last of mass confrontations. Be sure to watch to the end. The Iranian twitterers I follow sound increasingly frightened and paranoid this morning, and with good reason: Between the massive Basij presence in the streets, the new threats from the Revolutionary Guard, and the Journal’s report of how deeply the regime has penetrated Internet communications, there’s danger around every corner, real or virtual. It’s come to this:
One regular protester, 20-year-old student Behrooz, told the BBC that protesters were aware their electronic communications were being monitored.
“We know that some of them are tracking us on our phone,” he said. “When we say certain words… such as ’supreme leader’ or ‘demonstration’ our lines are cut.”
The way forward now, I presume, is the sort of mass strike Mousavi’s reportedly calling for followed by some type of dramatic gesture by the clerics to galvanize the people. Absent the latter, I think it’ll peter out. In fact, the only large-ish protest I know of today was a rally in Haft-e Tir Square to remember Neda and that was evidently broken up by Basij and riot police. More information is coming out about her on Twitter, incidentally, including new photos of her and her grave. And if you thought her story couldn’t get any worse, think again: According to HuffPo, citing a BBC Persia report, she was … engaged. Any Farsi speakers willing to follow that last link and translate for us?
Update: No verification on this, but it’s potentially so huge that I’m tossing it out there anyway.
According to unconfirmed reports in Balatarin [Farsi] , Gen. Ali Fazli, the head of revolutionary guards in Tehran, has been arrested after refusing to execute Khamenei’s order of using force against demonstrators in Tehran. He is a war veteran who lost an eye during the Iran-Iraq war.
Update: The regime counters Mousavi’s call for a strike by reportedly announcing that anyone who doesn’t come to work tomorrow is fired.
Update: HuffPo’s 1:03 update features an English translation of the BBC Persia interview with Neda’s fiance.
Kasamin Makan, Neda Agha-Setan’s fiancee, was interviewed by BBC Persia, noting that Neda would have turned 27 this year. “Neda’s goal was not Mousavi or Ahmadinejad, it was her country and was important for her to fight for this goal. She had said many times that if she had lost her life or been shot in the heart, which indeed what happened, it was important for her to continue in this path,” he said.
Considering her young age she has taught a lesson to us all.
Mr. Makan said regarding the day of the event: “When this happened Neda, was away from the front lines, in smaller alleys near Amir Abbad. She had been in the car with her music instructor for an hour in traffic. She got tired of the heat in the car and they decided to walk. However, based on the distributed pictures by people, there had been Basijis in civilian clothes present in the area and one of them had shot her in the heart.”
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Ann is not for indifference. Ann is for a blurring of the distinctions between good and evil, for an acceptance of moral relativism whose results are already well-known. She is a virus that finds few hosts elsewhere, but sees America as fertile ground. I think you, Lox, of all people, know who Ann is.
JiangxiDad on June 22, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Whaddaya wanna bet that Ann got straight As (or straight ASS?) in college for parroting her Churchillian prof’s America-bashing memes?
max1 on June 22, 2009 at 2:28 PM
Ann is too old for college to be the source of her infection.
JiangxiDad on June 22, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Oh, correction, I’m sure all Ann’s classes wre “pass/fail.” no As allowed, it might make the dummies feel like dummies. We couldn’t have that
max1 on June 22, 2009 at 2:31 PM
The unspoken ‘fear’ that I never heard mentioned is that can this be happening here after our future election (if not 2010, 2012)?
Sir Napsalot on June 22, 2009 at 2:31 PM
I believe the source is her womyn’s conscienousness raising meetings.
myrenovations on June 22, 2009 at 2:33 PM
Prayer is always good. But it doesn’t feed the hungry or protect the innocent from being brutalized or hold the hand of someone dying. That requires more than prayer. It requires words and actions.
At the very least, clearly spoken and written words of support, and words condemning brutality, could provide a sense to the Iranian people that they are not suffering and dying alone. The fecklessness of the US response so far has been appalling. The rationalizations of our official indifference are just as bad.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 2:35 PM
” . . . Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power . . . [emph. mine.]”
This is basic stuff, AnninCA. I’m amazed, no, I’m gobsmacked, no really I’m looking for my teeth all over the living room, at the obtuseness of liberals on this point. After years, decades, no centuries of liberals talking about how one must “call evil by its name,” “speak truth to power,” to “tell it like it is,” warning that “silence equals death”–here we have powerless people being slaughtered, people who are only asking for their basic human rights to be honored, and the liberals, because their candidate is in power, and he is a moral cipher–they can say nothing? You all ought to be so ashamed of yourselves, that a decade or so of wandering the world clothed in sackcloth and ashes ought to merely scratch the surface of your shame. Puh-freakin’–leeze! No lectures about morality from you. Sack-cloth! Ashes! That should be at the top of your to-do list.
smellthecoffee on June 22, 2009 at 2:39 PM
It is more than rare that evil presents itself nakedly to the eyes of men. No, evil will always seek to hide itself, be it under the cover of darkness, in a lie or behind a wall of silence. Always evil hides. It does so because it knows itself to be what it is: evil. It knows that if its nature were revealed all would recoil from it and it would have no power.
The value of the American Presidency in international affairs derives in no small measure from its power to adumbrate evil deeds in shadow, and so rob them of the tacit legitimacy that silence confers. Mr. Obama’s initial silence followed by a muted “Tut, tut, my good man!” speaks to, at best his own moral ambiguity, or more frankly, to his own predisposition to befriend the darkness.
By the way, there’s going to be a Tea Party Tax Protest / Independence Day Celebration on July 3rd from 3 to 7 pm in La Canada, details here. Admission $10 cash includes hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks and oodles of entertainment including AlfonZo Rachel and other personages of brilliance and renown.
tlrugit on June 22, 2009 at 2:43 PM
… and the United States did not even have to invade Iran… I hope Israel does something after one side or the other “wins”… Sure, it would probably p— them off, but, hey, why not?
GW_SS-Delta on June 22, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Barry and his acolytes don’t want to speak out, because that might interrupt the robust debate in Iran.
Niemöller’s words should be noted side by side with Obama and his trolls. Fascists, their sympathizers, and their apologists.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 2:49 PM
For those of you wishing to intervene, I strongly suggest you look at Haiti.
That’s OUR mess.
So, let’s really fix it.
AnninCA on June 22, 2009 at 3:00 PM
And I’d suggest that we watch what really happens in Iraq. I tend to agree. They are moving into “statelessness.”
Chaos.
60 people were blown up. Where’s your outrage?
AnninCA on June 22, 2009 at 3:01 PM
I can be slow, but I am not a wimp!
And if you suggest that again, I’ll cry.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:02 PM
No, just because we emerged from WWII victors, we really aren’t all that great at world leader.
Just recognize the reality. Let sovereign nations deal with their issues.
AnninCA on June 22, 2009 at 3:03 PM
To hell with the people who must be slaughtered for their power. It’s really only their business, just like the guy you see on the street beating his kid. Don’t say anything. It’s a family matter, and you’ll probably only make things worse. After all, foster care is notoriously bad.
Esthier on June 22, 2009 at 3:05 PM
lol
+10
def worth a tweet/RT
bluelightbrigade on June 22, 2009 at 3:06 PM
LOL. Excellent Ann impersonation. See how easy evil is? No yelling or screaming. Just quiet, even-toned, even-tempered, and vicious.
JiangxiDad on June 22, 2009 at 3:07 PM
You should stop listening to Haitians, then. Those people have no idea wtf is wrong with their thug-infested country.
They need to pay more attention to the DR.
bluelightbrigade on June 22, 2009 at 3:08 PM
For those of you setting up straw men, look at AnninCA.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Not by intervening, though, I hope you mean.
smellthecoffee on June 22, 2009 at 3:08 PM
PS…I blame France.
I also blame France for Vietnam.
Actually…in terms of foreign policy…everything France touches turns to merd, doesn’t it?
bluelightbrigade on June 22, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Allow me to deepen your understanding of prayer. Prayer is not seeking God to fulfill your will on earth. Primarily, prayer is reporting for duty. The most critical aspect of prayer is listening.So, for example, if you are praying for/about the issues of hunger, peace, comfort to the dying then guess what your orders will be if you take the time to listen?
johnnybgood on June 22, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Oh no, certainly not a wimp. But Ann will approach you with religious terminology. Be sure of that.
btw, it’s about Iran, but so far we hear about incarceration rates in the US, WWII, Haiti, blah, blah, blah. Does Ann wander to deceive, divert, deflect, or because she’s weak-minded? What is she for? Who does she want running things?
JiangxiDad on June 22, 2009 at 3:14 PM
You say this and then set out examples that seem to imply that we are actually worse than everyone.
Please let me explain something very carefully. I do not think we are better than everyone. I think I am better than a lot of people, but I have no reason at all to include you in that assessment of excellence. I do not have a category into which I place myself that would include you, at least in terms of quality of thought or culture.
I do subscribe to the concept that all men are created equal. But that does not mean that all their ideas, actions and cultural dispositions are equal. We all have equal opportunity to decide if we will be producers, consumers or parasites, or some combination of those. I do not judge the people of Islamic nations for their genetic or anthropologic condition. But I am prepared to judge the validity of their ideas when there is an effort to export those ideas to my nation and to my family. And it is those ideas that are the root cause of a great deal of the trouble and suffering in the world today.
Some things cannot be explained away just by saying America has flaws.
MikeA on June 22, 2009 at 3:16 PM
France shouldn’t have meddled in the American Revolution.
/O-bots
Christien on June 22, 2009 at 3:20 PM
“Let’s learn to allow things to unfold.”
Manifest Destiny was allowing things to unfold. Yes, that has repercussions, allowing the popular will to monopolize policy.
TODAY, Conservatives promote the natural process allowing all to proceed in accordance within our Constitution. Leftists, however, meddle to say the least, and overtly corrupt our Constitutional Government as seen with Obama’s progressive and unconstitutional bail-outs of INTERNATIONAL banks, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, INTERNATIONAL insurance companies, GM and Chrysler, news corporations, our public education, coercion into government health care, unconstitutional national census (hasn’t been a decade since the last census), corruption of elections and voter registrations, and the riddance of our three respectable Inspector Generals.
There is no good reason to allow Obama’s corruption to simply run its course.
You are trying to topple the medical profession with regulations to destroy private practice, coercing all into Obama’s government mismanagement of health care for all or none.
Cutting off humanitarian aid that Congress already designated for the Iranian people (not the Iranian government) is meddling; Obama is guilty of causing further distress upon the victims of the Islamic authoritarians AND TERRORISTS. Obama has consistently endorsed these Islamic radical authoritarians by word and by deed. His responses and lack thereof are ALL noted by the world, whether or not anyone likes it. And to date, Obama has failed his allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, and his allegiance to our nation’s allies. He is selling the US to international interests whose disdain for our exceptional Constitution is rampant. There is no reason to acquiesce to Obama’s subversion of Liberty.
Ann, your assumptions are based upon your own biases against allowing our Constitution to remain the Supreme Law of our nation. Our government has made restitution to our nation’s great indigenous tribes whose own contributions to our national identity are treasured by any who study our American heritage. Our American citizens, by virtue of patriot blood shed in the Civil War, and our government by financial remuneration via welfare projects and funding for educational opportunities for minorities, together we have made restitution to the progeny of the former slave population. Don’t forget that the African tribes lived according to slavery IN Africa before Europeans ever bought into the trade. And there is the gist, too, that the Europeans established slavery throughout the American Western Hemispheres. There is no monetary or material set value per human life; and demands for anything beyond EQUAL RIGHTS under our American exceptional Constitutional Law are illicit. If you want to give some poor soul gifts to ease your own conscience, no one is stopping you from divulging your own property to whomever you wish. But that’s as far as your “rights” to preach go–put your own money where your own mouth is.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:20 PM
I confess that I do hear instructions. Oddly, I’ve never heard, “Be self disciplined and learn to allow things to unfold.” But then, I pray to God. So, I don’t hear the talking points of those who worship Obama.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:21 PM
If you mean mismanaging things, or running things into the ground, or running to get a small cup of ice cream, I think I know.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:23 PM
MikeA on June 22, 2009 at 3:16 PM
brilliant and succinct post MikeA
/applause
max1 on June 22, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Therein, you presume yourself so much better than “us” or everyone.
Conservatives are not alone in the belief that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and Bill of Rights are exceptional. Every person and cause for human rights also substantiate the virtues of our founding documents.
As a people, Americans are not perfect. But we are as generous towards the needy as people have ever been. And our military has sacrificed more on behalf of OTHER peoples beyond our own than ANY nation in history.
If you feel yourself undeserving of such a legacy, then find your own way to contribute without degrading our heritage because you see a flaw.
Ann, you claim to be a nurse. Yet you throw the baby out with the bath water. Twisted.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Yes.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Ah, then supposedly you support the sovereignty of the USA and you support our nation abiding by our Constitutional laws rather than obeying the EU or Socialist doctrines or international mandates or UN majority votes. And you would never force Al Gore’s legislative efforts upon our nation or any state, as we each have our sovereign status.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:35 PM
What’s that saying? For evil to persist the good must do nothing? Or something similar.
I believe the Golden Rule is a call to action, not inaction. I believe I would want others to help me, even if that means harming those who mean me harm.
Esthier on June 22, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Can you imagine kids coming home from their piano lessons being shot by government sponsored terrorists?
Gateway Pundit had an interview posted wherein an Iranian Policeman said that most of his peers would not fire into civilian crowds, though under command.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:38 PM
That could be the turning point.
Esthier on June 22, 2009 at 3:40 PM
After my struggles with logging in, someone beat me to it. Nevertheless, kudos to MikeA for his post. This was spot on:
anglee99 on June 22, 2009 at 3:45 PM
So you think that Pres. Obama and Sec. of State Clinton are wrong to be interfering with Israeli policies regarding settlements? Let the sovereign Israelis deal with the Palestinians as they think is appropriate for their own security.
Apparently, the Object of prayer disagrees with you:
Exodus 14:15:
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
As God teaches in the Torah, sometimes prayer is inappropriate when it delays needed action.
rokemronnie on June 22, 2009 at 3:45 PM
I was hoping that residents would have the foresight to monitor rooftops of their neighborhood to secure a locale from rooftop snipers.
Neda was just on her way home from a music lesson. She wasn’t part of a “demonstration” when she was murdered by her government. The Iranian government is terrorizing civilians as they conduct their day to day regular affairs of life; work, shop, school.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Good point.
DO unto others as you would have them DO unto you.
maverick muse on June 22, 2009 at 3:47 PM
It’s not like people are busting down the gates to get into Iran, Ann.
People are capitalists. Period. If the grass is greener on the other side, you can tell because there will be more people trying to get there.
Basic economics.
bluelightbrigade on June 22, 2009 at 3:48 PM
Funny how that wasn’t the liberal mantra with regard to, oh, South Africa.
Erich66 on June 22, 2009 at 3:49 PM
There are things in life worse than death. People can be far more cruel than any wild animal. But worse than the physical pain and emotional terror caused by human animals, is the cold, dark, lonely grave of hopelessness caused by indifference.
Loxodonta on June 22, 2009 at 3:49 PM
+1
bluelightbrigade on June 22, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Thank you. But I was just telling the truth.
MikeA on June 22, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Two of the most clear and concise arguments in favor of American exceptionalism I’ve ever read, and posted within four minutes of each other. Well done.
holygoat on June 22, 2009 at 4:51 PM
That is what makes the whole thing so sad. The protestors knew exactly what they were in for when they started and many prepared for their martyrdom. This woman was just stuck in traffic and wanted to get to her lesson. The thugs shot her indiscriminately.
Illinidiva on June 22, 2009 at 4:58 PM
…or Darfur, or Sudan, or…
LEBA on June 22, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Or anywhere our national securities interests aren’t. They only want us to help people in wars that could never possibly reach our shores and to stay away from the ones that could even slightly pose a threat to us.
Esthier on June 22, 2009 at 5:32 PM
This whole thing is so awful. You have to wonder why the mullahs allowed all this to happen. Why not just let Mousavi win? Killing this young woman for no reason just makes it plain to all the world that they really are part of the Axis of Evil.
Terrye on June 22, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Ann:
A couple of things, this particular foreign nation has been chanting Death to America for 30 years.
And…what exactly did we have to with Serbia? My understanding was that we were involved because of the human rights violations of the Serbs. Well, the mullahs have been perpetrating such violations for years.
Terrye on June 22, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Sorry to dump on you more Ann, but you really just seem to ask for it. And labels really get my goat!
One of the things I dislike about apologists/liberals/whatever is that there seems to be such a powerful class distinction between the we/us and the them/they, ie. “We are real people, and we should think better of them because they are like real people. And we have been so mean in the past, and they are so underpriveledged and and repressed and innocent, we should do all we can to make them just as real as us.”
It’s just enough to make me puke. No healthy individual is raised learning that they are more special than their friends or that everyone should be just like them, that because they’ve sinned in the past that they must atone for it for the rest of their lives, and that the circumstances of their lives should be blamed on others.
Which brings me to the parenting rules in my house:
1. You are special. We all are. We’re just different colors and flavors, no better and no worse.
2. Acknowledge the sins of the past, then try not to repeat them in the future. Then get over it.
3. You may have had poor luck, or just poor relations, but you are in charge of your life. Quit blaming others, unless you blame them for your successes as well as your failures.(Plus, I have noticed that those who are the most materially poor are the most spiritually rich – there is a trade-off, you know.)
My thoughts and prayers are with the Iranian people. I don’t know what else I can do at this point…
gobblemom on June 22, 2009 at 6:16 PM
That one is easy. The Mullahs are bat sh*t crazy. Logic is not and never has been their forte.
MikeA on June 22, 2009 at 6:32 PM
AnninCA on June 22, 2009 at 2:24 PM
“Faith without works is dead.” ~ Holy Bible, Book of James
You might want to read to help with your prayers.
Sultry Beauty on June 22, 2009 at 6:34 PM
Seriously people, do you really think that our current political path, is leading us to a different eventuality?
The only shocking revelation is how quickly we’re letting it happen here.
Hope and Change = Crash and Burn.
realitycheck on June 22, 2009 at 11:20 PM
You’ve got to get rid of your well-worn Communist Manifesto and find another book to read. You are very confused about the difference between pride which comes from achievement and contempt which comes from elite statists.
A remedial citizenship course would be in order.
landlines on June 22, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Take that strawman and shove it, AnninCa. Please don’t KYjelly it first. Like all of your ilk you twist ‘they’ to insinuate that we just want heads on the floor. Nothing could be further from the truth. The monsters that shredded that poor girl’s heart would shread yours without batting an eye and all you can do is include them in ‘they’. Frak-Ewe. I’m done playing your college grab-ass games, with you and your hedionist pals.
Limerick on June 23, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Very naive . When one gets “arrested” in Iran it is NOT like getting arrested in the USA. In Iran (and many other places) you are lucky if you only get beaten and starved, some will “disappear”.
jsunrise on June 23, 2009 at 10:31 AM
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