Keep your eye on Iran this Thursday. Tomorrow, February 11th, marks the thirty first anniversary of the fall of the Shah in 1979, paving the way for the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It is also the day when Iran's Green protesters have called for tens of thousands to turn out in the streets all over the country to protest the current government and call for its overthrow. Sympathy protests are planned in cities around the world, organizers keeping in touch via cell phone and twitter. It is going to be a big deal.
Thursday in Iran will be bloody, no question about it. The Islamic Republic will come down hard once again on dissent. The protesters simply do not have the critical mass to unseat an entrenched, repressive theocracy, unless the military and paramilitary join them, which is not likely.
The Government, fighting for it's life, controls the army and the instruments of power and is not about to give up. After eight months, it looks like things are at a stalemate. But you never can tell.
The Iranian government continues to wave it's nuclear sabre at the rest of the world, unsettling the neighbors and angering the West. Its bellicose posturing is on the increase. Economic sanctions are almost inevitable. The Iranian people are not happy and they keep protesting. In spite of arrests, torture, assassination, beatings, and harassment, martyrs to the Green Revolution keep being made which fuels more protests and more martyrs. Momentum is surely building.
Keep your eye on Iran tomorrow and say a prayer for the protesters. It takes time and sacrifice, but in the end light will always triumph over darkness.
8 comments:
although i dont support that government, i hate your orientalist tone.
orientalist???
Packrat, you don't put apostrophes in the possessive "its." When you put in the apostrophe, it becomes a contraction for "it is" (it's.) Just a little helpful hint: none of the possessive pronouns have apostrophes. The dog lost its collar
Is this book yours?
No, it's ours.
I thought it was theirs.
My parents just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
And so on.
I know the rules of English grammar, probably better than you do-- I at least know that "I" is always written with a capital "I" and never lower case ( unless you are e.e. cummings which you certainly are not.
Why are trolls always anonymous? Go away. I will delete future anonymous comments.
Yes, orientalist. Because:
USA and other Western countries have nuclear power but trying to prevent other countries from possessing it. They want to keep the nuclear privilege to themselves. Do you really think it's about non-proliferation? Why does USA still have it then? This is double standard, and you support it. Also it is mainly Israel who's scared of Iran and making USA act the way this way. It is also convenient for USA trying to get Iran into the capitalist system and make it be open market. You know, money does not like closed doors and capitalism likes money.
Thank you, Anonymous, for leaving a cogent comment which I welcome. Let's talk about the issues and not attack each other.
Thank you also for explaining the word Orientalist. I had never heard it before. I am looking at this situation totally from an American not an Iranian perspective. So I suppose the term fits. Seems to me we can learn something from each other if we stop insulting one another:-)
You bet the West does not want nuclear proliferation and of course it is about power politics among other things--Personally, I would like to see total nuclear dis-armament but that is not about to happen ( as you correctly point out) because of balance of power issues.
And of course the West does not want to see a nuclear Iran-- and may I point out that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and a bunch of other nearby nations also do not want to see it--not just Israel-- but Israel is most scared and most trigger happy I agree and I am not happy about that either.
So will a theocratic, repressive, cruel, corrupt and brutal regeme in Iran use the atomic bomb if it gets it? That is the big question. That's what the West is afraid of.
But you are right-- it is also about money--that handmaiden of power. It is the old golden rule--" he who has the gold makes the rule"
Lastly, I must say that until recently I only thought of Iranian people as enemies-- burning my flag, kidnapping my fellow citizens, attacking my embassy for no good reason.( I am old enough to remember your revolution and the Iran Iraq war) I have never personally even known an Iranian, but I stand in awe of the courage the people of the green revolution are showing and my heart is with them.
Thank you again, Anonymous,for reading and commenting. I welcome discussion. It is ad hominum attacks that bother me.
I am at least kind enough to post a reply, but forgot to check back actually. Thanks for your long response, there are points which I would like to disagree with you, but I need some comfortable time to put these into writing. Hope to see you soon.
Thank you for your reply, Anon.... I too had almost forgotten this exchange. But it is very kind of you to reply. I don't usually accept or reply to anonymous comments because most of them are spam-- but you clearly are not so I am happy to see you again. Funny, I have been assuming that you are Iranian, and young but of course, I may be completely wrong about that--now I am picturing you as a learned European intellectual :-) In any case I am sure there is much we don't agree on and some things that we have in common. Thank you for taking the time to come and read and comment in my little corner of the internet:-)
Post a Comment