Apolitical Perspective
While we eat our lunch or do our work, we all here (on door64 and in the United States) have the right to express our opinions and to disagree (even to the extent that I have butted heads with SWJ and "vicey versey").
But people are dying in the streets of Tehran today, as they have since the election. This is only one example of the reported carnage in the streets. One report (not media but from a reliable and trusted source) has government forces literally hacking into the crowds of protesters with axes. Another report estimates 10,000 Basij militia in the Baharestan Square where the protest turned violent.
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I think it is hard for most
I think it is hard for most Americans to imagine living in a society as oppressive as an Islamic Republic or a military dictatorship can be.
We're one of the few places in the world where we still have a modicum of freedom of speech, and for that we should be thankful. However we have to always remain vigilant, because there are people at work here in this country and even this state to restrict it further than it already has been.
We should carefully try to help and encourage the Iranian people, unfortunately its tricky and you can see how hard Obama has had it in trying to position himself. I'm no Obama fan, and while I'd favor a little more hard lined position in regards to Iran, he's actually done a little better than I would have expected so far. Time will tell.
Many of the people I know
Many of the people I know who are closer than casual observers of what's going on would disagree with "done a little better than expected" and would wonder, as I do, how we can stand by and watch people dying in the streets. Indeed, time will tell, yet the blood will flow before it is over.
Well, you have to realize my
Well, you have to realize my expectations were pretty low.
Yes, I suspected so.
Yes, I suspected so. :)
Weep, yes weep for the Iranian people as there was Unimaginable Horror in Tehran Today
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Yikes. That is worse than I
Yikes. That is worse than I thought. Glad my relatives (by marriage) of Persian (they don't say Iranian) origin are safely in the US.
Its not pretty and it makes
Its not pretty and it makes me sick.
Your reaction is what I hoped to accomplish by sharing this and other articles and research by my colleagues and others. It makes us understand how lucky we are to even be able to celebrate our differences.
And yet, we stand mum.
It's appalling. But we saw
It's appalling.
But we saw appalling violence in the US during the civil war. Also in the labor union movement and civil rights movement. I suspect many would say examples like Alabama State Troopers under George Wallace, implicit support for the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan in many states, response to Haymarket Square and other labor/union incidents, the riots in Watts, and murders at Kent State are indications that it has and could still happen here.
The ignorant violence of religious zealots and theocrats in every time and place is disgusting and some of the worst violent episodes in our past have religious overtones. For some, "god" tells them to kill and they do. We have seen it here on US soil.
We may be "lucky" but we are not entirely innocent.
Yes, it was a bloody day in Tehran and other parts of Iran. Women are targets, beaten until unrecognizable. A brutal regime is becoming ever more brutal by the day. They will kill and maim and torture until there are none left standing.
This is an overwhelming atrocity -- a sickness. It's difficult to grasp, difficult to talk about but talk we must... and more.
William W. (Woody) Williams
Project Management Consultant
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w3src Consulting
Yes, but. We stand quietly.
Yes, but. We stand quietly. There are and have been other atrocities going back before Saddam. And still, we watch and stand quietly.
Horrible. Absolutely
Horrible. Absolutely despicable.
We learned late yesterday
We learned late yesterday that the hatchet man pix was not from yesterday but from Saturday. That doesn't change the enormous tragedy that is unfolding. The newest is the arrest and detention of 70 university professors after they met with an "opposition leader."
It remains to be seen if the Mousavi-Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani alliance will be able to reverse supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decision to ignore requests for a revote. At this point, the sensitivities of our Administration to the accusations by Khamenei of meddling and media interference is leading to extreme waffling on the human rights and atrocities issues.
In other news, North Korea is rattling its nucler sword again, this time in what some people are describing as the greatest provocation since the "Korean Conflict" (Hawkeye Pierce was always right on this one), in review of papers, it appears that Judge Sotomayor believes that the death penalty is racist and that the 2nd Amendment does not apply directly to the states.
Finally, in other news, behind the scenes negotiations to send a new official envoy to Iran to attempt to defuse anti-American sentiment went awry when Governor Mark Sanford boarded a plane to Iraq instead of Iran.
In Iran, the theocratic
In Iran, the theocratic leadership proves its brutality, ignorance, and disdain for humanity through daily atrocities. However, in North Korea there seems to be actual, clinical insanity at work. It's been known to run in families like that.
Technology is helping in both places although in North Korea technology -- the sale and spread of weapons to terrorists or rogue states and their nuclear capability -- is one of the problems. In Iran, the technology of communication, collaboration, and social media makes it possible for people to organize and inform the world. Against Korea we have surveillance and deterrence technologies in place.
In China, the state wants total control of technology -- especially the communicate/collaborate sort. In China, they silently take people away and hold them without charges for months and years. In China, the silence is deafening. What must it be like for the people in North Korea?
So... where is diplomacy and consensus, or common sense in any of this?
The North Korean scenario is playing out with the United Nations and the "six part" or "five part" negotiations that never seem to go anywhere. On the bright side however, China shows some signs of really being fed up with the North Korean leadership.
Where is the United Nations on Iran?
Where are the other leaders in the Arab world on Iran?
Where is the pressure, the condemnation... what are the consequences when governments turn against their people?
No one seems to be willing to take up the mantle of leadership. It would be perfect if that mantle were taken by an Arab leader of group of Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Syria, or Egypt. Pressure from other Muslims would go a long way.
Two problems with that scenario.
One: Most Muslim countries in the region are Sunni; Irag is Shi'a. The other Shi'a countries are Lebanon and Bahrain. Iran's isolation -- even among its Arab neighbors -- is an issue.
Two: Most of the other Muslim countries in the region are authoritarian regimes. They may be treating their own people in the same manner as Iran next week... or next year. A popular uprising leading to regime change is not something in which they want a vested interest.
That said, they may be forced into action. If Arab leaders wish to be taken seriously in the world; have any respect at all, then action should be taken and pressure brought to (at least) curb the excesses in Iran.
NATO is not talking about it, at least not publicly. There is a Russian card in the Iran game as well. Britain is talking about it - forcefully. Perhaps the Brits will form some consensus group and take it on.
One thing we (as a tech community) can and should do is facilitate communication. Proxy servers are needed, for example, to bypass government restrictions on communications. If you are technically inclined, you know what I'm talking about. Go ahead; do it.
Oh... in other news: Rumor has it the woman Governor Sanford hooked up with in Argentina might be Sarah Palin ;~)
William W. (Woody) Williams
Project Management Consultant
| Blog | Twitter |
w3src Consulting
Now that would be quite the
Now that would be quite the ticket.
"This really fanatic
"This really fanatic extremist regime is still in power, and the young people who are ready to fight and die for change are not getting any real support from the West.The fact that this regime continues to be an acceptable partner for dialogue is really a bad message. It shows the bad guys are winners."
~Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Foreign Minister in an interview with Time
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1907071,00.html
William W. (Woody) Williams
Project Management Consultant
| Blog | Twitter |
w3src Consulting