I'm certainly not reading CNN. This event in particular, their reporting has been Fox-newsie and very sensational. Nope, not CNN.

Look at these reports
http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ne...tehran+protests

Lots of human interest stories, Neda blah blah, analysis on the impact of technology, stuff officials are saying, this is all bread and butter. The real meat, and what you don't find is reporting on actual protests. That's the only thing that would keep this going.

Heres a different source on the protests CNN was raving about.

quote:

HUNDREDS of protesters clashed with riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1023288

So we've gone from hundreds of thousands last week to just a few hundred? Its dissipating, its over. If anything significant was going to happen, it would have happened by now.

quote:

"The choice is now between democracy and an authoritarian government," said Mohammed Javad Mozafar, a historian in the crowd at Milad Hall. "If Ahmadinejad wins, that means the end of this reformist dream for a while. Many of these young people will be depressed and even leave the country. http://www.newsweek.com/id/199150

oh well.

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Originally posted by josh4 So if I'm understanding the sparse news reports last day or two, the riots have pretty much dissipated. Aside from shouting of roof tops at night, this is over. Unless the public demonstrations continue, the government has won. Unfortunate, call me a cynic, but doesn't look like there will be any real reform there.

Well, one would get that idea by watching CNN, but that apparently has not been the case today at all. Today (yesterday over there) was quite possibly the most violent yet by some accounts.

edit: I should finish reading the thread before posting.

But yeah, the mainstream media really screwed the pooch on this one.

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Everyone beware. There is a lot of propaganda coming from both sides.

The seeds have been planted. People have tasted a sample of freedom. Regardless of whether the riots stop or not, things will never be the same again.

The death toll may be low, but I would imagine the injured count is quite high(a usual outcome of just using batons). People wont forget how ruthlessly the basij beat everyone from all walks of life.

On another note, its pretty funny how there are 72 people dead over in Baghdad after the urban pullout, and it is completely over shadowed. But then again, its Iraq, and this is the status quo, so it looses its shock factor no matter how many are slain.

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Originally posted by Fir3start3r What are they actually chanting there HT? Pure awesomeness! It's videos like this that give me great hope for the people of Iran to overturn 30 years of repression!

I think they're saying "Support, Support, You maniacs!" At the end they say "Thank you very much, you maniacs!" Or something in those lines.

They're doing what the opposition to the Shah did when Khomeini was brought in. Flowers were given to soldiers to win them over.

Last edited by Lemonad on Jun-25-2009 at 08:01

Maybe we should filter in weapons to give to the people to fight against the police and army... Let the rebellion begin in Iran...

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Kill 1 Person thats Murder, kill 100,000 People thats foriegn policy!

quote:

Originally posted by josh4 I'm certainly not reading CNN. This event in particular, their reporting has been Fox-newsie and very sensational. Nope, not CNN. Look at these reports http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ne...tehran+protests Lots of human interest stories, Neda blah blah, analysis on the impact of technology, stuff officials are saying, this is all bread and butter. The real meat, and what you don't find is reporting on actual protests. That's the only thing that would keep this going. Heres a different source on the protests CNN was raving about. So we've gone from hundreds of thousands last week to just a few hundred? Its dissipating, its over. If anything significant was going to happen, it would have happened by now. oh well.

Part of me wonders if we're only seeing what the media wants us to see. Part of me wonders if you're right and the rebellion has fizzled almost as quickly as it began--a question of the will of the people and the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Not sure if anyone read the Stratfor article I posted on a previous page--I really hoped he was incorrect in his assessment that this uprising is more like Tienanmen Square than a Russia or Romania type revolution, but perhaps he is right. I'm still hoping he's wrong and the reason we don't hear as much about Iran is because of everyone's short attention spans. Who knows--the Twitter is still quite active...

Well, there you go: Iran's Ahmadinejad demands Obama apology for meddling


Hilarious. One can only hope that this humiliation is enough to wake Mr. Obama up from his naive wonderland. Non-intervention hit back like a boomerang. The Iranian regime will emrge stronger, more determined and with tons of "Chuzpeh". Carrot and stick? Don't make them laugh.

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"Those are my principles, if you don't like them... well, I have others.”

Isn't that the wrong lesson? I think it proves Obama right - to have gotten involved would legitimate the claims we knew all along were forth-coming from the regime. Now they look silly and hollow, and can't really be used to gem up support. This is just an example of a regime refusing to face the music - that this popular dissent is indigenous. Nobody should be surprised that Ahmedinejad is casting around blindly for someone else to blame. I'm glad we didn't make it easy for him to do so successfully.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov Isn't that the wrong lesson? I think it proves Obama right - to have gotten involved would legitimate the claims we knew all along were forth-coming from the regime. Now they look silly and hollow, and can't really be used to gem up support. This is just an example of a regime refusing to face the music - that this popular dissent is indigenous. Nobody should be surprised that Ahmedinejad is casting around blindly for someone else to blame. I'm glad we didn't make it easy for him to do so successfully.

It doesn't matter how this (counter)attack on Obama is perceived, as ridiculous as it may sound. What matters is what they, the regime are sensing. I think it is rather shocking that the currently least popular human on earth has the guts to bitchslap the Messiah himself, especially after that festival of concilliation in Cairo. One could interpret this as an act of despair as you do. But from my point of view this just goes to show that in "this part of the world" (cliché, racism, you name it - but I'm still convinced about this) and with this kinds of regimes, soft words won't work. In a perfect world the soft speaker wins over the madman who admits failure. In this constellation the madman rubs his hands over "soft criticism" which only confirms what he suspected all along: Weakness. And with weakness dtected on the one side rises the self-confidence on the other side. The victims of this newly gained self confidence are currently 70 university scholars who have been arrested. Not to mention the hundreds of arrests, tortures and silent assasinations to be expected in the coming months, once the tweets become more and more silent.

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"Those are my principles, if you don't like them... well, I have others.”

quote:

Originally posted by TranceGiant It doesn't matter how this (counter)attack on Obama is perceived, as ridiculous as it may sound. What matters is what they, the regime are sensing.

It's hardly surprising that a regime that bases it's legitimacy on anti-West sentiments would conjure up the specter of Western meddling whenever dissent appears.

quote:

I think it is rather shocking that the currently least popular human on earth has the guts to bitchslap the Messiah himself, especially after that festival of concilliation in Cairo.

Ah, again with that sarcastic tone.

quote:

One could interpret this as an act of despair as you do.

I hardly think it's an act of despair. The regime doesn't seem too worried. Rather, this is standard operating procedure. Why should they suddenly stop blaming the West when that's worked so well for 30 years?

quote:

But from my point of view this just goes to show that in "this part of the world" (cliché, racism, you name it - but I'm still convinced about this) and with this kinds of regimes, soft words won't work. In a perfect world the soft speaker wins over the madman who admits failure. In this constellation the madman rubs his hands over "soft criticism" which only confirms what he suspected all along: Weakness.

How very neo-conservative of you.

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