Roger Cohen (NYT) is in Iran. His op-ed is a must read.

[tsuki]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21tehran.html?_r=1

...Khamenei has taken a radical risk. He has factionalized himself, so losing the arbiter’s lofty garb, by aligning himself with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against both Mir Hussein Moussavi, the opposition leader, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a founding father of the revolution.

He has taunted millions of Iranians by praising their unprecedented participation in an election many now view as a ballot-box putsch. He has ridiculed the notion that an official inquiry into the vote might yield a different result. He has tried pathos and he has tried pounding his lectern. In short, he has lost his aura.

The taboo-breaking response was unequivocal. It’s funny how people’s obsessions come back to bite them. I’ve been hearing about Khamenei’s fear of “velvet revolutions” for months now. There was nothing velvet about Saturday’s clashes. In fact, the initial quest to have Moussavi’s votes properly counted and Ahmadinejad unseated has shifted to a broader confrontation with the regime itself.

Garbage burned. Crowds bayed. Smoke from tear gas swirled. Hurled bricks sent phalanxes of police, some with automatic rifles, into retreat to the accompaniment of cheers. Early afternoon rumors that the rally for Moussavi had been canceled yielded to the reality of violent confrontation...

[Aloha Spirit]

1. Completely agree. "God is Great..."

" The same cry was heard in 1979, only for one form of absolutism to yield to another. Iran has waited long enough to be free."

[tsuki]

2. He states some of the police are waivering. From my understanding,

the police and the military do not like the Basij. The violence of the Basij may cause a backlash that will affect them.

[ClearPresentDanger]

3. K&R

K&R

[Gregorian]

4. Here's the thoughts of an Iranian friend I got an email from today-

This girl was once my girlfriend. Her dad delivered the Shah's babies. She now teaches in the states at a private school. I emailed her last night, and got this reply-

...I'm quite conflicted about the whole thing. On the one hand, I am bursting with pride that my compatriots are risking their lives to fight for their freedoms. I am especially thrilled that the average American "Joe Blow" type can finally see another image of Iranians besides the bearded, chador-clad, angry fanatics who are usually portrayed in the news. And, naturally, I'm quite hopeful that there can be some kind of "sea change" in Iran. The latest slogans being shouted are directed at the theocracy ("death to dictators!" and "death to Khamenei" are increasingly popular), so this is no longer about a contested election. Women are particularly rabid, and I know Iranian women -- there's no stopping them once they throw their weight behind something.

On the other hand, I'm worried. Like you, I am quite cynical about human nature in general, and my gut feeling is that the assholes/powers that be are not going to let the people have their way. There could be a lot more bloodshed, and then things could just return to the same state of repression we already had. Part of me thinks I'm dreaming if I think anything is going to really change.

[tsuki]

7. I was hoping that Khanenei had more sense than to issue a

confrontational message as he did. He has lost legitimacy. I am hoping that he is removed from office.

[Danascot]

17. "I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard.

For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

Another green-eyed woman, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “We want liberty!” accompanied her."

(Excerpt from the article.)

[Gregorian]

19. Americans didn't know what they had.

It's becoming clear just what happened. And I can't blame people for being lazy. We made an assumption. Now that we "won" the big war, and have all of this open land to live in, we have it made. What we didn't realize is that evil is always there. It didn't die with Hitler. There were Bush's hiding in the wings. Cheneys. Nixons. Iranians, along with most of the world, have suffered because of OUR intervention, along with their own problems. It's kind of ironic that we would be doing that while we had our farms and pastures over here.

Being that this conflict resulted from election fraud, and America now sees it's own reality fraught with fraud, it sends a message that the fight from evil is continuous and never ending.

They have a young population. I think their prognosis is better than ours. We're still lazy, while they appear to be mobilized. Not that they are guaranteed anything.

I think this all comes back to prosecution for the crimes that are committed. Let the common criminals out of the cells and put the Bushes and Cheneys in. I mean it. This is very serious. The biggest threat to society is the people who commit the crimes against the people. Otherwise, we leave the door wide open for the kind of chaos we see in Iran.

[robinlynne]

5. really worth reading!

[tsuki]

8. Thank you. I thought so. It is so much better thought out than the

sh*t for brains, pulled out of my ass commentary on TV.

[BlooInBloo]

6. Good to have confirmation of the general storyline we had a week ago.

[struggle4progress]

9. Are foreign journalists currently confined to their hotels or not?

Jun 20, 2009 22:21 | Updated Jun 20, 2009 22:24
My Word: The technological revolution

... AT PRESENT, it's not easy to get an accurate picture of the situation in Iran. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the Iranian authorities' intimidation of reporters trying to cover the street demonstrations. Local and foreign media have come under fire and a number of Iranian reporters have been detained or arrested. But it is the foreign press that is now under pressure, said the IFJ in a statement issued June 17. Acts of harassment include confiscating material and prohibiting journalists from filming street protests.

"In some cases officials have been 'inviting journalists' to leave the country. There have also been reports that BBC radio and television services have suffered 'heavy electronic jamming,'" said the statement.

A correspondent for al-Arabiya's TV news channel was reportedly told to keep his office closed for a week. Journalists from Netherlands and Belgium public broadcasting services were briefly detained and correspondents from German ARD and ZDF received warnings not to report on anything and were not allowed to leave their hotel.

Many foreign journalists are concerned that they will be forced to leave Iran this week when their visas expire. They had expected to be finished with the election coverage, but now demonstrators carrying placards with the post-electoral question "Where is my vote?" are the story ...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184881361&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[tsuki]

10. It is my understanding that they have been, but the listening to

BBC Radio and reading some of the journalists, I believe they are defying the authorities.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I think they're finding it difficult to get TV pictures

it doesn't seem that they've got people stopping them exiting the hotels, but TV cameras seem to get detained if they go to the trouble spots.

[jeanpalmer]

11. I think it all comes down to the election tally

If Ahmadinejad really won the election by 2 to 1, everything Cohen says goes out the door. Naturally, Khamanei would back the winner. How do you "taunt" someone by acknowledging the real winner in an election? "He has ridiculed the notion that an official inquiry into the vote might yeld a different result." That's not true. The Guardian Committee that oversees the election has offered to recount a randomly sampled 10% of the ballot boxes, but Mousavi failed to show up for the meeting where a recount would be discussed. Seems like he might not be interested in a recount.

There have been reports of plans for a velvet revolution in Iran. And so far, it has followed the velvet script: take to the streets, whether you win or lose, and try to overthrow the government. The truth is, the violence was initiated by the protestors, that's clear from the photos and from the reports, and the police have been just responding to it.

"In fact, the initial quest to have Moussavi’s votes properly counted and Ahmadinejad unseated has shifted to a broader confrontation with the regime itself." Of course, if you lose, you have to ignore the votes, and refuse to meet with the people doing the recount.

Cohen has allowed himself to get caught up in this thing to the point of losing any objectivity.

[sufrommich]

12. "The truth is, the violence was initiated by the protestors"

That's what Nixon said.

[tsuki]

13. In Ohio. Yes.

[tsuki]

15. "Mousavi failed to show up for a meeting where a recount would

be discussed." Source? "Seem like he might not be interested in a recount." He is not according to all reports that I have read. He wants a new election.

From Reuters

...Mousavi, focus of the biggest protests since the Islamic Revolution ousted the U.S.-backed Shah in 1979, said June 12 elections that delivered an overwhelming victory to hardline anti-Western President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were fraudulent and must be annulled. He said the fraud was months in the planning...

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55F54520090620?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Kamil Zawadzki writes

...Iran's Guardian Council, the body of clerics and jurists overseeing national elections, had reportedly met with Mousavi and two other candidates that stood for election and agreed to recount ballots in areas they questioned. The move is an about-face by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the country's most powerful figure, who initially endorsed Ahmadinejad's victory but by Monday he backed down to allow a 10-day inquiry into the reported election irregularities.

Mousavi, however, is demanding a completely new election, distrustful of the validity of a recount at this stage. An official close to Mousavi's inner circle, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN said Mousavi suspects a recount would only provide another opportunity for manipulation of the votes. He said the Guardian Council ordered 53 million ballots printed, but only 39 million were used, leaving 14 million unaccounted for...

http://www.examiner.com/x-12370-Chicago-Foreign-Policy-Examiner~y2009m6d16-Mousavi-recount-is-not-enough-amid-growing-violence-in-after-disputed-Iranian-election

[Neecy]

16. Thanks for posting

K&R

[Party Person]

18. Cohen

is one of the shock troops of the corporatist New York Times. He has an agenda.