The country of Iran is on fire tonight. Tens of thousands of people who voted for the more moderate Mir Hussein Mousavi, only to find the election impossibly won by reigning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have taken to the streets and the Mullahs who rule Iran have sent forth their thugs to beat them into submission.
Did I say “submission”. I meant “to death”.
I don’t pretend to know everything that’s happening in Iran right now but I do know that the government reaction to the protests is both brutal and deplorable. Here’s the important thing to remember. Mousavi is not a true reformer. He could not have been a candidate without approval from the Mullahs, which means that he was never going to be the democratic reformer that so many inside Iran really want. He is a man of the establishment every bit as much as Mad Mahmoud.
The protests you are seeing are not necessarily in support of Mousavi (though some certainly are), but against the lying and cheating Mullah regime which has, by all indications, cheated Iran of even a semblance of self-determination.
In other words, the people of Iran are putting their lives at risk for the scraps of freedom they’re allowed to have by the rulers of their country.
The news from around Iran is changing so quickly that I can’t possibly keep up with it. I’ll link to some folks who are tracking parts of the protests, and the brutal response from the Mullahs so that you have a few places to go to get the most recent news.
Michael Totten has run a couple updates and will have another one coming after the weekend. His posts here and here are good places to start. Gateway Pundit is running a pretty comprehensive roundup of the government crackdown on the protesters, including videos from inside Iran.
Twitter is also a great place to get updates in short bursts. Several Iranians, and people outside the country who are communicating with family and friends inside Iran, are tweeting almost as soon as they have something to report. The hashtag #iranelection seems to be the best way to go.
UPDATE: Linked by Obi’s Sister. Thanks!
Tags: Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, No More Tyrants
[...] war that was Twittered: use #iranelection (thx, Jimmie) or search ‘near:Tehran within:15mi’ (thx, Gerard) at Twitter. Who needs media talking [...]