I don’t know how reliable this report by Iran Focus is, but it’s certainly worth noting:
Tehran, Mar. 15 ‚Äì Tehran was left in a standstill this evening as the population poured into the streets to mark the national ‘fire’ festival of Chahar-shanbeh Souri despite intense pressures by the Iranian regime to prevent a possible uprising.
Eye-witnesses reported that full-size puppets of high-ranking officials, such as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the regime’s president Mohammad Khatami, were set on fire by youths at numerous locations throughout the Iranian capital. Trucks belonging to Iran’s security forces were also set ablaze.
“Guns, tanks, the Bassij (Para-military security forces) no longer have an affect”, large crowds shouted in central Tehran, as they took part in the traditional celebrations where Iranians jump over fires ablaze on the streets.
And…
“Khamenei resign! Get off your thrown”, youths shouted, as the government unleashed its Revolutionary Guards to crack down on the demonstrators.
Also in Isfahan:
…youths clashed with SSF and Bassij agents, as authorities tried to prevent protesters from lighting up bonfires. Hit-and-run clashes continued until midnight, eye-witnesses reported.
The Mullahs will have to get some antibiotic to stop this viral spread of democracy. [Maybe Flagyl will work.-ed. It's only so-so for anthrax.]
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21 Comments
1. Lola:Iran Focus . . . never heard of them. Checked the “About Me” page but there isn’t really any details identifying them or who they get the $$ from. I can understand leaving people unidentified, but I’d like to be confident that I can trust them.
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:32 am 2. Jamie Irons:Roger,
As your friend Michael Ledeen puts it in his trademark phrase,
Faster, please…
BTW, I think you and everyone here will be interested in this piece by Christopher Hitchens.
Jamie Irons
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:34 am 3. byrd:Holy crap people, settle down just a little bit!
Guns may not have an effect anymore, but the bullets that come out of them still do!
Teheran isn’t Beirut and the Mullahs are not an occupying force so there’s much less risk in going violent.
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:36 am 4. David C:About the big issues, I don’t know, but the big surprise to me is seeing giant puppets being enlisted in the defense of freedom instead of the opposite!
“Giant Puppets – they’re not just for Stalinists anymore!”
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:52 am 5. Matt Evans:Unfortunately, unlike in Lebanon, I have no doubt the mullahs will lose no sleep over putting down any potential rebellion with violence. These are dangerous men, making the courage of the Iranians craving freedom, that much more remarkable.
Is there any way we can support Iranians without direct conflict with Iran’s smacktard government ?
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:56 am 6. Bruce W.:Here’s my quick research results on “Iran Focus”:
It’s been around since at least Feb. 2000 (earliest reference that I found to an article of theirs)and they were the ones who broke the story on the hanging of the 16-year-old Iranian girl Atefeh Sahalehhad last August, which Iran initially denied but ultimately admitted.
Not much else I could find that adds any info; it seems they are rather secretive…which may be necessary to preserve their members’ health.
Mar 16, 2005 - 8:17 am 7. LouMinatti:I read that article in Iran Focus yesterday. I picked it up from f***france.com, a vile little site, yet one that appears to pick up breaking news faster than just about any site I’ve seen. (That’s what happens when a site has hundreds of extremely opinionated regulars with too much time on their hands scanning thousands of news sources.)
Perhaps it is exaggerated, but I think there is a great deal of truth to it. Photographs don’t lie. Unless they’re PhotoShopped, of course.
Keep in mind that these are Persians, not Arabs. They have a different history and a different way of looking at things. In many ways, Iran’s citizens are more “progressive” than surrounding countries. They’re just stuck with a corrupt, brutal and primitive virtual dictatorship.
I certainly hope this is true, and hope these uprisings continue to grow. It’s possible, considering what we’ve seen in Lebanon.
Mar 16, 2005 - 8:23 am 8. Rick Ballard:“Is there any way we can support Iranians without direct conflict with Iran’s smacktard government?”
Matt,
I’m not so sure that we will try and avoid direct conflict. We have a couple of divisions (plus adequate support) sitting in Iraq with the Iraqis assuming more responsibility for their internal security every day. Both the Syrians and the Iranians are well aware that our forces could turn over all security to the Iraqis tomorrow and be left with nothing really useful to do.
It appears to me that silly ole W has just been plumb lucky again. The soft words have been spoken and the big stick appears pretty limber. Three carrier groups will be on station n the ME within two weeks – fully provisioned and ready for action.
“When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”
We have never been (and may never be again) as ready as we are today to provide this level of support for democractic movements in the ME. It would be nice if the MSM collective hive mind took notice and came out in support of freedom rather than tyranny but I won’t hold my breath.
Mar 16, 2005 - 8:30 am 9. Jamie Irons:Rick,
Good post. Where did you read about the three carrier battle groups? I missed that.
Jamie Irons
Mar 16, 2005 - 9:26 am 10. Godzilla:More Here
Mar 16, 2005 - 9:30 am 11. Old Grouch:Remember that a tyranny relies on a couple of things to keep its population in check:It must be seen to be in control.
It must keep the extent of dissent unknown.
Mass demonstrations attack both of these. They reveal the government’s impotence (otherwise the demonstration would have been supressed), and they reveal the extent of dissent (through sheer body count). They thus encourage the dissenting citizens while discouraging the government and its supporters, specifically the thugs (Revolutionary Guard, anyone) whose muscle is used to keep the people in line. If the situation continues, sooner or later a tipping point is reached: The individual thug sees it more in his interest to quietly fade into the background rather than continue to do his job and risk getting hanged from the nearest lamppost once the revolution comes. At that point the tyranny’s power disappears, and the government falls.The only way for a government to counter the trend is to supress it ruthlessly. Ruthlessness is best accomplished by outside forces that have no direct connection to the populace (c.f., use of Soviet forces to crush the Hungarian uprising in 1956). But the Mullahs have no outsiders to call on. They have to do it with the domestic forces they already have. The fact that they have not already done so is a measure of their weakness.
Mar 16, 2005 - 9:52 am 12. Rick Ballard:Jamie,
Gerard at American Digest has this post up. With a great picture that Americans will find heartwarming and mullahs will find nauseating.
I can’t find further confirmation (other than the Vinson left Singapore a few days ago).
Mar 16, 2005 - 9:56 am 13. Lola:Godzilla, thanks for the link. Gee, if some military elements are joining the people in defying the bans, the mullahs are going to be in for a shock if they think they can depend on the military to put down the people.
I’ve noticed that many successful revolutions are successful in part because the military could not be depended on to suppress the population. Looks like the tipping point is almost near.
Mar 16, 2005 - 10:13 am 14. alan:Here is a list of carrier groups that are deployed.
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html
Mar 16, 2005 - 10:30 am 15. latent:Why is there no news subsequent to the 15th about this demonstration? It is now the night of the 16th in Iran. What happened?
Mar 16, 2005 - 10:32 am 16. PeterArgus:Old Grouch:
The Tiannemen Square protests in Beijing were huge and lasted for several (?) weeks before being ruthlessly crushed by the government. Since then there has been no large scale democracy movement in China. I could see a similar action happening in Iran. One difference might be the degree of pressure from the outside that might be brought to bear on Iran either diplomatically or covertly. Such an option was simply not available towards China in 1989.
My favorite blog source for Iran updates is DoctorZin at Regime Change Iran . He has some updates on the current protests – although nothing past the last week appears to be going on. Adventures of Chester has a helpful review of recent news DoctorZin’s site. Scroll down to March 14.
Mar 16, 2005 - 11:00 am 17. OJ:I hope that the Iranian people can indeed rise up and overthrow the regime. The alternatives are not pretty.
Here is some interesting analysis of Israeli and US military options, practice-runs in Israel and US considerations to run the operations independently (should they be needed) to spare the Mid-East Peace Process…
http://www.rightviews.com/
Mar 16, 2005 - 11:02 am 18. SWLiP:Roger:
Everyone should know that antibiotics don’t work on viruses
Mar 16, 2005 - 11:02 am 19. Dishman:Tiannemen Square was put down by effectively outside troops, that is to say of a different ethnic background and having no great love for the people of Beijing. Those divides are cultivated within China.
Iran has a very different demographic, being far more divided along age lines. The students will likely bury the mullahs eventually.
Mar 16, 2005 - 11:44 am 20. Terrye:Dishman:
Not only that it was easier to hide things in the 80’s. The Iranians may not be able to establish that kind of control.
I hear they are burning French flags.
But the MSM is silent about this.
Mar 16, 2005 - 1:25 pm 21. PJ:“When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”
Rick, every time I hear that, I almost start crying.
Even JFK’s inaugural is not as effective as rhetoric. Bush is talking to people across the world today, now, in actual bondage or living life on autopilot, hoping the mukhabarat will not come for them. This is hope–they know, and I believe, Bush means it.
Affluence, comfort, are all wonderful byproducts of living as an American today, but this is a call to our destiny.
Mar 16, 2005 - 7:45 pm