tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post2773591339580818283..comments2024-01-03T18:00:06.854-06:00Comments on Webutante: Tea Party in TehranWebutantehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139954791621532194noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-46103890335838341732009-06-19T17:00:17.690-05:002009-06-19T17:00:17.690-05:00Great stuff, Paul, thanks.Great stuff, Paul, thanks.Webutantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02139954791621532194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-80887594570785176092009-06-19T16:09:30.620-05:002009-06-19T16:09:30.620-05:00On another blog, a commenter, on a post about &quo...On another blog, a commenter, on a post about "Freedom in Iran", observed...<br /><br /><i>I have to say right now that we should be very cautious about depicting the Iranians as liberal-thinking Westerners who want total freedom. This is a mistake that we make all the time.</i><br /><br />Perhaps, but…<br /><br />How many times have we partnered with, or dealt “pragmatically” with, some oppressive regime, using the justification that their people weren’t “READY” for freedom (as if they were sub-human or something). I really think this is an EXCUSE for preserving status quo.<br /><br />Can it be possible, just possible, that after recent events, there could be some Iranians wondering, “If the Iraqis and Afghans can pull off genuine elections, WHY THE HELL CAN’T WE?!!!”<br /><br />(Just saw, over at Gateway Pundit, an Iranian protester holding a sign that translated into, “DON’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO SADDAM!!!.)<br />-Paul Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-6048203396689690122009-06-17T14:54:10.988-05:002009-06-17T14:54:10.988-05:00Thank you Paul for these excellent links...great a...Thank you Paul for these excellent links...great addition to the conversation....it's no longer about an election...it's about mass tyranny of a people and a people who have been pushed to their limits...our government had best take note of this.Webutantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02139954791621532194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-4358373196369067472009-06-17T10:52:32.322-05:002009-06-17T10:52:32.322-05:00Besides Gateway Pundit and The Strata-Sphere, most...Besides <a href="http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"><b>Gateway Pundit</b></a> and <a href="http://strata-sphere.com/blog/" rel="nofollow"><b>The Strata-Sphere</b></a>, most of the reporting I've seen has come from <a href="http://www.michaeltotten.com/" rel="nofollow"><b>Michael J. Totten</b></a>, who is currently posting much of his Iran stuff at <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/category/contentions/contentions?author_name=totten" rel="nofollow"><b>Commentary</b></a>.<br /><br />Hope all the links came through, as he is well worth checking out.<br /><br />FYI.<br /><br />(P.S. - Someone griped about a floating ad on the Commentary site. It has a closing "X" at the upper right hand corner, and I had no problem making it go away. Please, DON'T blow off the site just because of that.)<br /><br />-Paul Gordonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-14677016592049998352009-06-16T05:05:32.839-05:002009-06-16T05:05:32.839-05:00Rita, perhaps Latin Americans are less inclined to...Rita, perhaps Latin Americans are less inclined to fight (after years under Roman Catholism??) At any rate it appears Chavez has sent some help to Ahmad who's also called in Hezbollah thugs and killers from Syria and Lebanon. Michael Ledeen writes today at Pajamas:<br /><br />"The young Islamic revolutionaries of the late 1970s are now middle aged, and do not wish to slaughter their neighbors. That is why the mullahs have imported killers from abroad: the five thousand or so Hezbollahis who, according to Der Spiegel, have been brought in from Lebanon and Syria. Dissidents on Twitter report clashes with security forces who do not speak Farsi, and there are even some rumors suggesting that Chavez has sent some of his toughs from Venezuela. Who knows?<br /><br />The other great threat to the regime comes from the upper reaches of the clergy. Do not be surprised to see some senior ayatollahs denounce the regime; many have done so in the past (Ayatollah Montazeri has been under house arrest for years, and Ayatollah Boroujerdi has been subjected to horrible torture for criticizing the lack of freedom in Iran). We are still quite early in this process.<br /><br />But the key element is the people. They are only just beginning to understand the reality of their situation. Virtually none of them imagined that they would be in a revolutionary confrontation with the regime just two days after the electoral circus, and few of them can realize, so soon, that they can actually change the world. I think the Mousavis now understand it (they know that they are either going to win or be destroyed). It remains to be seen if they can instruct and inspire the movement.<br /><br />Much will depend on their ability to communicate. The regime has been waging a cyberwar against the dissidents, shutting down websites, cell phones, Facebook, and the like. As most people have learned, the basic communiations tool is Twitter, which somehow continues to function. Bigtime Kudos to Twitter, by the way, for postponing its planned maintenance so that the Iranians can continue to Tweet. Would that Google were so solicitous of freedom.Webutantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02139954791621532194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7623438328827408121.post-45430909874786122742009-06-15T22:36:30.890-05:002009-06-15T22:36:30.890-05:00I trust they will be able to see this through. I m...I trust they will be able to see this through. I must confess that seeing the Iranians protest like this makes me upset that Venezuelans have not done more of this.Rita Locahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09961929692808138092noreply@blogger.com