Iran (Breaking news): "We request the people to stay calm"

[opus512]

Originally Posted by EG

Part of the problem is corruption in the government. The current president is in power because the Council figured he could be controlled easier than past candidates they had to put out to pasture. If not for that he would be a thug running some brigades. He has been handing out positions to his cronies in spite of promising reform.

It's not corruption in the government, it's the way the government is supposed to work there.

Anyway, it's over as far as I'm concerned. The hard liners aligned with Ahmadick will never lay down. They'll have to be beaten down, and they have the upper hand in that they control everything. With no central, guiding authority like the unified religious clerics they had in '79, it's just a matter of time before the ruling sect gets tired of playing patty-cake and just starts killing protesters outright. They've already laid the ground for this by starting to claim they're terrorists, as well as laying the groundwork to arrest Mousavi on similar charges.

It's over, except for cleaning up the blood in the streets.

[opus512]

Originally Posted by Babel-17

More at http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/06/21/76567.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistani

This just irritates me all the more when I think of how Bush utterly fucking blew it in Iraq by not sliding up to al-Sistani after the invasion. Even more important than not having enough troops or trying to stop the looting. Only the deBaathification of the government was a bigger fuck up than not getting Sistani on board.

[EG]

The video of Neda dying seems to be hitting a chord around the world.....

[Babel-17]

http://www.google.com/search?q=General+Ali+Fazli

[Mole]

I have relatives from Iran... Not blood relatives, but relatives. Luckily, her and her parents live in the US.

So, I just want to be sure I just got the entire story straight:

The election was stolen, mass protests and riots ensued.

What I'm not clear on:

At what point did fingers get pointed at the west?

[ItsNoot]

Originally Posted by Mole

At what point did fingers get pointed at the west?

About the point when the Iranian government said "Oh snap, we need to find someone to blame."

[opus512]

They started pointing at the west when fucking Congress started dictating foreign policy to the president. McCain, in particular, is pissing me off because he knows better. Up to that point Iran was really only pissing about England.

[Babel-17]

# I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war - #Iranelection12 minutes ago from web
#
just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals - #Iranelection RT RT RT13 minutes ago from web

http://twitter.com/persiankiwi

Payback is a bitch. Iran is going to have some serious changes. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[Wolfeman]

Opus' longtime quote really applies here, particularly in light of reports of some Clerics joining the marchers.

[Babel-17]

CNN massacre day June 24, 2009 tehran baharestan

YouTube Video

# Allah - you are the creator of all and all must return to you - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection Sea of Greenabout 4 hours ago from web
#
thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard - #Iranelection -about 4 hours ago from web
#
they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection RT RT RTabout 4 hours ago from web
#
reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbarabout 4 hours ago from web
#
rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net - #Iranelectionabout 4 hours ago from web
#
all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere #Iranelectionabout 5 hours ago from web
#
ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys #Iranelectionabout 5 hours ago from web
#
so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our groupabout 5 hours ago from web
#
saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is deadabout 5 hours ago from web
#
they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals #Iranelectionabout 5 hours ago from web

http://twitter.com/persiankiwi

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co...y-10.html#more

http://twitter.com/laraabcnews

http://twitter.com/IranRiggedElect

http://twitter.com/IranElection09

http://twitter.com/protesterhelp

[Trayal]

It really sucks to see all this shit going on, and not being able to do a damn thing to help.

Don't know if the following image is real or not, but it made an impression on me - the new tank 'man'?

[Babel-17]

Iran Tries to Pacify Protesters With Lord Of The Rings Marathon on Thursday June 25, @01:28PM

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday June 25, @01:28PM
from the chip-the-glasses-and-crack-the-plates-that's-what-Ahmadinejad-hates dept.
movies
Iranian state television's Channel Two is playing a Lord of the Rings marathon in an attempt to keep people inside watching hobbits and not protesting in the streets. Normally people in Tehran are treated to one or two Hollywood movies a week, but with recent events the government hopes that sitting through a nine hour trilogy will take the fight out of most. Perhaps this was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

http://idle.slashdot.org/story/09/06...thon?art_pos=3

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...ven/print.html

[Babel-17]

The Internet Helps Iran Silence Activists

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/06/...ists?art_pos=5

"Over the last couple of weeks, those who believe in the transformative power of technology to battle an oppressive state have pointed to Iran as a test case. However, as Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate, the real conclusion about news now coming out of Iran is that for regimes bent on survival, electronic dissent is easier to suppress than organizing methods of the past. Using a system installed last year, built in part by Nokia and Siemens, the government routes all digital traffic in the country through a single choke point, using the capabilities of deep packet inspection to monitor every e-mail, tweet, blog post, and possibly even every phone call placed in Iran. 'Compare that with East Germany, in which the Stasi managed to tap, at most, about 100,000 phone lines — a gargantuan task that required 2,000 full-time technicians to monitor the calls,' writes Manjoo. The effects of this control have been seen over the past couple days, with only a few harrowing pictures and videos getting through Iran's closed net. For most citizens, posting videos and even tweeting eyewitness accounts remains fraught with peril, and the same tools that activists use can be used by the government to spread disinformation. The government is also using crowdsourcing by posting pictures of protesters and asking citizens for help in identifying the activists. 'If you think about it, that's no surprise,' writes Manjoo. 'Who said that only the good guys get to use the power of the Web to their advantage?'"

I see that some of my most used twitter links have gone silent. I'm not sure if the others are even based in Iran.

[Babel-17]

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/2...rize-civilians

Courtesy of http://twitter.com/laraabcnews and http://twitter.com/hrw.

Iran: Night Raids Terrorize Civilians

Other Material:
Stark footage of what appear to be Basiji night raids
Human Rights Watch reporting on Iran

"While most of the world's attention is focused on the beatings in the streets of Iran during the day, the Basijis are carrying out brutal raids on people's apartments during the night. Witnesses are telling us that the Basijis are trashing entire streets and even neighborhoods as well as individual homes trying to stop the nightly rooftop protest chants."
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

Security Forces Wreck Homes, Destroy Property to Stop Protest Chants; News Access Curtailed
June 26, 2009

(New York) - Iran's paramilitary Basij arecarrying out brutal nighttime raids, destroying property in private homes and beating civilians in an attempt to stop nightly protest chants, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also said the Iranian authorities are confiscating satellite dishes from private homes to prevent citizens from seeing foreign news.

[Babel-17]

http://twitter.com/protesterhelp

http://twitter.com/IranRiggedElect

http://twitter.com/laraabcnews

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co...y-10.html#more

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...47315&page=103

Still useful links.

[Babel-17]

Alikhani's Speech in Majlis in Support of Mousavi (English Subs)

YouTube Video

courtesy of http://twitter.com/protesterhelp

Bonus link?: Mousavi's facebook video page? http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=109860917392

Bonus comments:

This guy has balls of steel!!

I like him! eventhough i am suprised he has not been beheaded yet lol


someone tell us about him?

he has no wiki even?

This video has been called a fake multiple times - yet it is not. Everyone points to the date at the bottom and says it's 21 years old. The date underneath is NOT March 03, 1988. It's 26 Khordad 1388, which coincides with Tuesday, June 16, 2009 when protesters were out on the streets demanding a reelection. The SAT with the date isn't for Saturday. For further authenticity, check out the speaker. It's Ali Larijani. He's only been speaker of the Majlis since May 2008. The MP in question is Hajsheikh Alikhani. The video speaks for itself. Read the subtitles for what's in it. I only certify its authenticity. This is further proof of the political divide and of the election illegitimacy. - NiteOwl

P.S. At the end, the speaker keeps saying, "You've run out of time. Please stop."

HUGE balls of steel

http://tweetmeme.com/bar.php?id=97804967

Edit: Can't find a bio for this guy but I did see these.

Alikhani, a parliamentarian, and a pragmatic conservative cleric who is close to Hashemi Rafsanjani, gives a speech at the Iranian parliament in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi and against the fraudulent elections.

The speech was given on 24th of June. The pro-Ahmdinejad MPs are barking at him throughout the speech. But he is an honest man who is not afraid to say what he thinks and believes. Even though, ideologically, he is actually closer to them than to the reformers , which makes this even more impressive. He is like the Chuck Hagel of the religious conservatives in Iran.

Both quotes from http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...47315&page=103

[Babel-17]

Mousavi's Facebook page appears to be compromised and is asking for protest photos and contact information. Attempts to post comments asking people not to post there are deleted almost automatically. Please do not post there!

http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-cu...tweets-17.html

Lots of good threads: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-current-events/

[opus512]

It's all over except for spraying the blood off the streets.

Nice how Nokia and Seimans <sp) helped the government shut the protesters down, go go fuckign capitalism. Same with Google censoring it's results in China, fucking money makes it all worthwhile.

[Babel-17]

I think their hands are tied by US regulations. /. had an explanation.

[opus512]

Originally Posted by Babel-17

I think their hands are tied by US regulations. /. had an explanation.

Doesn't matter, what should matter but doesn't is it's a matter of consciounse <sp), it's a matter of right and wrong, and helping pieces of shit governments like Iran and China continue to oppress their people is wrong. Nokia and Siemens helped Iran from fucking England, not the US. So, once again, blame England for continuing to fuck that area of the world all to hell. But hey, long as we can make money, shareholders make money, our governments make money, what the hell right? Yeah we all feel real bad, but at least we don't have to look at the people being beaten down, because now the Iranian government can shut the Internet and other communications down now at will, any time, for any reason, whenever it wants.

It's just a little ifuckingronic to me that freedom loving countries based on capitalism are helping despotic piles of crap based on hate and oppression like the government of Iran stay in power.

Anyway, the revolution will not be 'televised.' In fact, 'TV,' as an allegory in this instance, for all intents and purposes shut it down.