There’s something happening in Iran. It’s not just the protests, the shootings, evidence of election fraud, but something a bit more sinister.
Maybe the sickening idea of an Iranian republic, a democracy, a form of government that receives its powers from a people that bequeath it to a chosen few who wish to represent, was a fraud, a lie, a sham – and was so since the beginning.
When the Shah was given the boot in 1979 by revolutionary forces fighting against an oppressive regime, few would imagine another, more oppressive regime would take its place. But that’s just what happened. Somewhere along the twists, turns, back alleys, and back-handed deals, something went wrong, and the wrong people rose to power.
Now, the voters have recognized the political/religious frauds and have risen against them; only to be beaten, gassed, shocked, and shot.
Perhaps the sickening scene in Iran – seeing the youths being gunned down next to their parents, or friends such as Neda Agha Soltan.
Neda, according to her fiancé Caspian Makan, was a university student at a protest with her music teacher. They were stuck in traffic. With the heat getting to her she decided to step out of the car.
What happened next happened in a matter of minutes. Neda was targeted and shot. A cameraman captured video of her death as protesters tried to help her. The video has become a viral phenomenon cementing Neda as an Iranian martyr.
Now, three days after her death, she has been buried. In an interview with the BBC, Makan describes what happened:
Mourners did come to Neda’s funeral – and so did the Basji, the Guard, and the tear gas. The New York Time’s “The Lede” reports:
blockquote>The witness said that members of the security forces then attacked the homes of people living nearby who were spotted filming these events and arrested those observers as well.
blockquote>The same witness also went to a second location where protesters assembled in Tehran on Monday and reported that in both places there were more riot police than protesters. Opposition supporters were also beaten and arrested at this second location, in front of a mosque.”
Neda’s name could become an omen for the Iranian government. It translates to “the calling” and that’s what she’s become, the calling for thousands of Iranians – an Iranian version of the Alamo.
The damage of the protests, the twitters, and the iron-fisted authoritarian responses has already been done. Few, if any countries take the word of the Iranian government as legitimate anymore, among those who ever did. Ahmadinejad has been exposed as a pretender, controlled by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
But even he is limited. A post at RedState.com has a nice write up:
There is no evidence that the Assembly of Experts has ever challenged any opinion or position of the Supreme Leader – though since it meets only in secret, no such evidence would be likely to come to light, even if it had been a very boisterous organization. But this crisis is one that has no precedent. At the very summit of the state, revolutionary loyalists who served with Khomeini are deeply divided.”
Khamenei has ordered the protest to stop. They did not. The Revolutionary Guard warned the protestors to “be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces.” However, the protests continue.
And as they continue the Iranian government sees fit to blame everyone but themselves. Iran still blames America for meddling in its affairs, despite the almost blackout silence from the Obama administration. Alleged protesters have even testified to America’s meddling:
And that’s what’s happening in Iran. A government that claimed to speak the mind of the people remains in a pitched fight against the people. Protestors have been shot and all that’s been done 6,340 miles west, is people just sit, watch, and wait.
