I disagree with your colleague on Obama's stance... I think he does get it, in that he's making a very concerted attempt to appear uninvolved - U.S. involvement or even the appearance of it would corrupt the movement. I think it's shrewd, although I can see why some think he should be more vocal... I just don't think that's particularly smart for the U.S. to do just now.
And ditto to what soulhawk said, if you are following any of the mainstream blogs the killings and kidnappings are being very widely reported; cable news on the other hand is not reporting this much at all - much to their own detriment.
On Obama???s reticence to comment on Iran, any American commentary on democracy in Iran is ludicrous without reference to the 1953 Iranian coup d'??tat, which is curiously absent from this thread. While not many US citizens know about this event, you can be sure that every Iranian knows about the US involvement in this catastrophic event. The Iranian view of the US cannot be understood without reference to the 1953 Coup.
News that the US Government has asked Twitter to postpone maintenance to help the current protesters would have caused Iranians with strong memories of 1953 Coup to question who is behind the demonstrations. One minor aspect of the 1953 coup involved the CIA paying for the fomenting of civil disturbances and street protests in Tehran.
One should always remain sceptical when the US government starts spouting pro-democratic language. They are of course behind most of the world???s anti-democratic coups. So I applaud Obama???s unwillingness to comment. He should really demand the same of his vice-president and secretary of state, but he hasn???t. He should also prepare an apology for the US involvement in the coup, but you can bet he won???t.
please report to the "post your picture" thread or else you get the BAN
The next 48 hours might be the worst yet. I have tried to keep all hopes to a minimum since before the election, but now I can't help but turn to the closest thing I know to praying that the powers in charge don't come down with an (openly sanctioned) iron-fist. They are keeping people from leaving the country and my Dad is supposed to fly out tomorrow.
It's not looking good. The Ayatollah Ali Khameneis' speech today was pretty damning. Looks like they've had enough, and are ready to quash any further protest with extreme measures.
Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.
Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.
In 50 Iranian cities the number of votes cast in this month presidential election exceeded the number of eligible voters, the state's election watchdog admitted today.
The surprising admission by the Guardian Council was, however, designed to undermine the claims of the defeated candidates that the vote was rigged.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main rival in the hotly-disputed election, and the other two losing candidates have claimed that the vote exceeded eligible voters in as many as 170 districts.
Abbasali Kadkhodai, a spokesman for the council of senior clerics, told the state television channel IRIB: "Our investigation shows that the number of districts they announced is not correct. Based on our preliminary report, 50 districts face this issue." Mr Kadkhodaei also argued that voter turnouts of more than 100 per cent were not unusual because Iranians can cast their ballots where they want. Although it is summer in Iran and some of the cities in question are in desert areas, he suggested some voters might have gone to them on holiday.
He also made clear that Mr Ahmadinejad's victory would not be affected even if the results in the 50 disputed districts were reversed as they account for three million votes and the official results show Mr Ahmadinejad won by a margin of 11 million.
Mr Mousavi and the other two candidates, Mehdi Karoubi and Mohsen Rezai, have all complained to the Guardian Council of electoral fraud and have reported 646 alleged irregularities.
The council has agreed to investigate those complaints but it is chaired by a close ally of Mr Ahmadinejad's and dominated by conservatives. The defeated candidates do not consider it impartial - especially after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, made clear in a speech on Friday that Mr Ahmadienjad's victory would stand.
Mr Mousavi and Mr Karoubi are demanding a fresh election. They refused an invitation to appear before the council to present their complaints on Saturday and Mr Mousavi has rejected its offer to recount a random ten per cent of the votes.
The regime also announced today that 457 people were arrested during Saturday's running battles on the streets of Tehran. It said they had "caused insecurity, disrupted public order and clashed with police".
At least 13 civilians died in those confrontations between pro-Mousavi demonstrators and the security forces. The prosecutor general's office in Tehran claimed that it was "unknown vandals", not the police, who opened fire on civilians. [/b]
Comments
See part of the speech here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jun/19/iran-khamenei
wow
Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmi-LePl894
don't click with kids nearyby
This was way too intense. I cried - no joke. Happy father's day, seeing a man watch his daughter die, bleeding out on the street
Kissing my daughter then going to bed. Some days I think we've got it too good.
That's the idea!
Meanwhile:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6553843.ece
Basijis shooting and killing students.
I need some fresh air.
The youtube of the young Iranian woman bleeding to death from a gunshot wound to the chest really fucked me up. Her eyes are haunting.
Photoshopped... But still a must!