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Monday, 18 July 2005
They may have a point
They might even be correct, but in a manner that they do not even realise.

I got this exchange recently on an International

Discussion Board by an American of the Blue Flavour.
Quote: We are, in essense 'creating' a whole NEW generation of Muslims to HATE us, and that hate will spill over into our children's lives in ways we American's cannot image for now.

'Screw diplomacy' and bomb the crap out of the 'Muslims'! That's the mentality in the Capital now - is that what you want 'raining' down on your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews?


Here were my thoughts in responce.


There is a valid point in the above. But what is missed is that WE are not the ones coming into Iraq from outside and killing children on purpose and then trying to kill their grieving parents.

Yes there may be some who will hate us forever because we killed family or loved ones of theirs, there however are FAR MORE who will hate our common enemies forever for what THEY are doing!


I think an article on Chrenkoff's Blog illustrates this best.

Overdosing on death

Buried right at the very bottom of a "New York Times" piece - if terrorists in Iraq were digging, they would have already emerged on the other side of the globe (link requires registration):

On Saturday, during a funeral for children who died in the bombing on Wednesday, a unit of the Iraqi police stopped a suspicious-looking man approaching the funeral procession and discovered that he was wearing a suicide vest filled with explosives and ball bearings, the American command reported Sunday.

An explosives team disarmed the man, a Libyan, and no one was hurt, according to the American military.

"The bomber was high on drugs and is being treated for the potential overdose," said Col. Joseph DiSalvo, an American commander. The bomber, he said, "came here to kill the grieving parents of the children who were killed on Wednesday."

"I cannot imagine a worse crime."
Really, it's all about the American occupation of Iraq, which has inflamed feelings in Iraq itself and across the Muslim world. Which is why foreign Sunnis are coming to Iraq to join an organization led by a Jordanian so they can blow up children, and then blow-up their parents, while drugged up to their eyeballs. Clear?

The headline writer at UPI hasn't got it quite right when he or she writes that "Shiite leader says bombings are civil war". Cleric and member of parliament Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Saghir is saying that "what is truly happening, and what shall happen, is clear: a war against the (Shiites)." And it is a war alright, but not really a civil one, in that Shia are being targeted mostly by foreign jihadis, not Iraqi Sunnis.

You see, boys and girls, Al Qaeda doesn't like democracy, where majority elects their government, and they certainly don't like the Shia, who are heretics and apostates. But it's all America's fault.

Take a GOOD look at this photo.




Relatives of 9-year-old Ahmed wail over his
coffin after Wednesday's suicide car bombing.



THEN go drop Michael Moore a line, tell him how
you feel about his Minutemen.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 11:49 PM CDT
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Updated: Monday, 18 July 2005 11:52 PM CDT
Maybe that was not such a good idea?
Senior commander killed in Iran clashes

Last Sunday, agents of the State Security Forces opened fire on Shovan Qaderi and two of his friends in the town of Mahabad. The security forces then tied Qaderi’s body to a Toyota jeep and dragged him in the streets, according to eye-witnesses.

Since then, several hundred people in Mahabad have been arrested during numerous hit-and-run clashes and house-to-house raids.


Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jul. 17 – A senior paramilitary police commander was killed last night in the course of clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces in Iran’s Kurdish town of Mahabad, the state-run television reported on Sunday.

“In the wake of the unrest of the past few days, last night one of the commanders of the State Security Forces was stabbed to death in the town by an assailant”, Iran’s Channel 2 TV station reported this evening.

The report added that the provincial security council met today to study ways of bringing the situation under control.

“Government offices, homes and cars have been damaged in the course of the incidents that have occurred in Mahabad in the past few days”, the television said.

Labour discontent, protests spread across Iran

London, Jul. 18 – More than 50,000 workers took to the streets of cities across on Saturday to protest against the government’s labour policies.

The largest protest was in the western city of Ilam, where 17,000 workers took part in a rally.

At least 20,000 workers also rallied in two separate towns of Pakdasht and Varamin near Tehran.

Another 10,000 workers from the province of Golestan, northern Iran, 4,000 factory workers from the eastern province of Khorrasan Jonoubi, and at least 1,000 workers from Iran’s Pars Electric based in Tehran all went on strike.

Transportation facilities in the Iranian capital and the holy city of Qom, central Iran, also suffered a setback when employees joined fellow protesting workers.

Several thousand industrial workers from Bushehr, southwest Iran, Yazd, central Iran, and Shushahr, southern Iran also took part in the mass strikes.

Many protesters blamed the government for not ensuring that workers’ salaries were paid and for systematic deductions in insurance scheme benefits

Qods Force commander slain in Iran capital


Tehran, Iran, Jul. 18 – A colonel in the elite Qods (Jerusalem) Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was killed in a fashionable neighbourhood of Tehran on Thursday, according to the state-sponsored website Baztab.

Colonel Morteza Moinfar was a commander in the Qods Force, the extraterritorial arm of the Revolutionary Guards whose stated mission is to “export the Islamic revolution” to other Muslim countries.

The Qods Force has been responsible for some of the biggest terrorist attacks sponsored by Iran in the Middle East, Europe, and South America, including the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 Americans.

The force has been the lead agency of the Iranian regime’s clandestine activities in Iraq and has a large network of operators and informants across the country.

Moinfar had been repeatedly stabbed, the report said. Authorities have launched a massive manhunt to find his killers.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:16 PM CDT
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Sunday, 17 July 2005
Tehran online
Here lies the problem with blogs in Iran and other places behind the Quran Curtain.

A personal website,informs you of what's happening here in Tehran ,the capital of IRAN.This web log is updated weekly.I'm neither royalist nor .... . I just believe in freedom for my painful country

*** In the fight for Freedom,we need to be United.

Thursday, February 05, 2004
:)

// posted by Shahyad @ 11:32 AM
:)

// posted by Shahyad @ 11:32 AM
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Here I come again.

// posted by Shahyad @ 4:43 PM
Saturday, July 19, 2003
Back again
By the grace of god, I'm back again.(With so many unusual tricks and ......as you might know , I seemed to be hacked).
I'll pen down in the next few days.


// posted by Shahyad @ 10:01 PM
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Some facts about Iran
If you are living in a country out of Asia and middle east , you might find it necessary to know more about my country Iran.

My motherland Iran is a vast country located in the middle east ,surrounded by the Persian gulf in the south, Iraq and turkey in west, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east and former soviet union republics (Actually Azerbijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan) in the north. Iran used to have a monarchy system before 1979, governed by the Shah, but after the 1979 revolution the system changed into an Islamic republic ruled by the great faghih ( Islamic scholar ).This country has sufferd many different problems since that time ,from which I can mention the 8 year war with Iraq in which the country was badly destroyed and unfortunately after the war this destruction continued due to the mismanagement of the rulers .
Since 1979 the country is considered as an Islamic country which means ALL the rules are passed in regarding Islamic laws.Therefore, so many social rights that are considerd as basic human righs are thought to be a great sin here.
At the top of the system is the great Faghih who is a shiaati muslim scholar and is not elected by the people ( believe it or not but he is said to be the representative of God on earth ). Then is the President who is chosen directly by the people through a general election, but this is not as easy as what you might think !! The candidates are chosen beforehand by a 12-membered council who are missioned by the leader ( the official name for Faghih).So as you see the whole power is in the hands of ONE person: The leader.
The country has a parliamentary system too, but none of the laws can be passed in without the supervision of the leader.
This is a brief description of the govenmental system of Iran ;I'll try to tell you more in my next writings.


// posted by Shahyad @ 3:11 PM
Wow it's difficult!!!!!!!!!!!!
Preparing a web log Is not as easy as you imagine, especially for such a person like me who is terribly busy these days .
By the way this is my hobby and I try to do my best.


// posted by Shahyad @ 3:06 PM
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
What will happen?
I really don't know how much you are interested in the news of my country Iran but I can say it for sure that we are passing a very seriously important time now.
Today , it's the 6th day of anti-governmental demonstrations in Theran and some other cities in Iran and over 250 people including university students & ordinary people are arrested up to now.
Only god knows what's going to happen in the next few days as we reach to the anniversary of "July 9th 1999 ", in which the Hizbullah gorillas attacked the university student's campus in Theran,but i'm sure about one thing: THERE IS GOING TO BE A GREAT CHANGE SOON OR LATE.

// posted by Shahyad @ 6:01 PM
Here I come.!!!
These are the first words I'm typing now in the web log i've ever had.

// posted by Shahyad @ 5:32 PM
***************************************************

Whoever Shahyad was they started this blog during a period of great unrest and disturbance, they started it for a reason and then it just ends.

Now some of us, get bored, don't have time to post come up with a myriad of reasons to leave the ole blog on the shelf gathering dust, but behind the Quran Curtain a silent blog can be because of

Iran protestor dies in police detention - report

Tehran, Iran, Jul. 17 – An Iranian man arrested for taking part in an anti-government demonstration in Tehran on Tuesday died as he was trying to escape from his torturers at a police station, a government source in the Iranian capital told Iran Focus.

Ehsan Karavi was arrested during a protest by thousands of people in support of political prisoners outside Tehran University on Tuesday. Dozens of protesters, who called for the release of jailed journalist Akbar Ganji were arrested by the State Security Forces and undercover agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

Karavi was taken to Abbass-Abad police station, where police interrogators put a sack around his head, beat him with truncheons and administered electric shocks to him, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

Karavi used a pause in the interrogation and jumped from the second floor to escape, but he suffered from internal bleeding when he landed and died soon afterwards.

A police spokesman in Tehran, contacted by Iran Focus, said he was unaware of such an incident.

The death comes days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed a hard-line Revolutionary Guards commander as the country’s new police chief.

On Saturday, Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam told Iran’s policemen that they had to “deal decisively with those who seek to undermine the Islamic Republic’s security”, even if it meant “using bullets”.

Iranian journalists reported sighting Ahmadi Moghaddam last Tuesday outside Tehran University as he personally led the security forces’ harsh crackdown on demonstrators.




Blogger Mojtaba Saminejad gets two-year prison sentence

Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern today about the fate of 25-year-old blogger Mojtaba Saminejad, who has been sentenced to two years in prison by a Tehran revolutionary court for "insulting the Supreme Guide" and who is due to be tried soon on a separate charge of insulting the prophets, which carries a possible death penalty.

The press freedom organisation urged all bloggers to mobilise on behalf of the young blogger, who was arrested on 12 February.

"All blogosphere messages of solidarity are welcome," the organisation said. "We know that these message reach the prisoners and help put pressure on the Iranian authorities, especially in the run-up to the presidential election. It is vital for people to talk about Mojtaba."

Mojtaba's lawyer, Mohammad Saifzadeh, said the two-year sentence was handed down after a hearing on 23 May in which his client was not allowed to speak freely. To intimidate him, the authorities had him accompanied in court by the police officers who interrogated him in prison.

He will appear in court again on 22 June to be tried on a charge of "insulting the prophets and the holy imams." This extremely serious accusation could result in his being found guilty of apostasy, which carries the death penalty under article 512 of the Islamic criminal code.

Various initiatives are under way on the Iranian Internet in support of Mojtaba. Internet users have dedicated a blog to him in both English (http://mojtaba-samienejad.blogspot.com) and in Farsi (http://en-mojtaba-samienejad.blogspot.com). Some 50 Iranian bloggers are openly backing him. The Penlog bloggers group has also firmly condemned his conviction (see http://penlog.blogspot.com/2005/06/blog-post_05.html).


Emphasis added.

The next time you hear someone spouting about the Facist States of America, think about what it is like to live under REAL oppression. Those bigmouth fools don't have the slightest clue.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:52 PM CDT
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Saturday, 16 July 2005
Iran: Clashes erupt in Mahabad, SSF vehicle set on fire
Topic: Iran
Iran Focus


Mahabad, Iran, Jul. 16 – Unrest continued in the north-western town of Mahabad, Iranian Kurdistan province, last night, with clashes erupting between locals and State Security Forces, following a week of similar anti-government protests which flared up after news broke out of the brutal murder of a young Kurdish man by the SSF.

Yesterday evening, close to 1,000 people gathered in the main path leading to Independence Square and started to march forward. They were joined quickly by several thousand of the local population and together they started chanting anti-government slogans and burning tyres. As they crowded Independence square, chants of “Death to Khamenei” could be heard, referring to the clerical state’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Chants of “Shoan, we will continue your struggle” echoed in the square.

On Sunday, agents of the SSF opened fire on Shoan Qaderi and two of his friends in an avenue near Independence Square. The security forces then proceeded with tying Qaderi’s body to a Toyota jeep and while driving dragged him in streets, according to eye-witnesses.

Witnesses said that the act was carried out because Qaderi was active in anti-government protests and authorities wanted to intimidate the local population to prevent further demonstrations in the volatile city.

Minutes after Qaderi’s body was dragged throughout the town, several hundred angry residents gathered in nearby streets and started to chant anti-government slogans.

Last night’s demonstration was met with swift and fierce retribution by anti-riot forces already stationed there to prevent a re-emergence of dissent. The SSF fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several protestors including a child were gravely wounded and were driven to a local hospital by fellow demonstrators. A number of SSF agents were also injured. At least a dozen people were detained and taken to unknown locations.

Gasoline was poured onto the ground and set alight at several locations surrounding the square to stop the sting of the tear gas.

As the violence escalated, protestors set an SSF vehicle and several nearby government buildings on fire. Clashes ensued until well after midnight.

Several hundred people have been arrested over the past week during numerous hit-and-run clashes and house-to-house raids.

Several other large anti-government demonstrations have rocked the town of Mahabad in recent month.




100 arrested, 60 buses damaged in Iran city protests



Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jul. 16 – At least 100 demonstrators were arrested and 60 buses damaged in clashes that erupted Saturday after a football match in Iran’s second largest city.

Security forces and young people clashed over a large area of the city of Mashad after a football match between Saba Battery and Abu-Moslem football clubs.

Clashes began as supporters of the Mashad-based Abu-Moslem booed the referee for what they said was an unfair penalty. As security forces moved in to put down the protest, protesters began throwing stones and using flagpoles to push back the truncheon-wielding policemen.

Skirmishes spilt out of the stadium and into the surrounding districts, as the protest took on a political hue with young people chanting, “guns, tanks and [the paramilitary] Bassijis are no longer effective”.

The clashes in Mashad mark the third large-scale confrontation between security forces and young people in Iranian cities in less than a week since the inauguration of a hard-line Revolutionary Guards commander as the chief of the police. Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam vowed upon assuming responsibility for Iran’s law enforcement forces that he would crack down on all “enemies of the Islamic Republic”.

Football matches often provide an arena for Iran’s frustrated youth to vent their anger at the Islamic regime. At least seven people were killed in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium when clashes erupted after a World Cup qualifier between Iran and Japan. An inquiry into the deaths blamed the security forces.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:26 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:03 AM CDT
Friday, 15 July 2005
Iran declares new crackdown on women, ?social vice
Topic: Iran
Iran Focus






Tehran, Iran, Jul. 11 - With the arrival of a top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as the country’s new police chief, Iran’s state-run media announced a new summer-long crackdown on “social vice” in Tehran targeting in particular young women and runaway girls.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed on Saturday Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, the number two in the paramilitary Bassij and commander of the force in Greater Tehran, as Iran’s new chief of police.

A senior security official told one of Iran’s state-run news agencies, ISNA, that “mal-veiled or unveiled individuals inside and outside of cars” would be the target of arrests by Iran’s State Security Forces, the paramilitary police force.

SSF in Tehran would also be on the lookout for “open examples of corruption in tourist and recreation resorts”.

The top official said the police would embark on a systematic clampdown on “shops and public places where public chastity and Islamic values are ignored”. Loud music will no longer be tolerated, he said.

Runaway girls and homeless young women would also be the target of arrests, and Tehran’s police force would also identify and crack down on places where “corrupt people gather”, the report added.

The appointment of Ahmadi Moghaddam, who is among the top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and a protege of IRGC Commandant General Rahim Safavi, brings the country’s police force under the complete domination of the Revolutionary Guards and signals a readiness to crack down harder on what the ultra-conservatives see as “deviation” from the country’s rigid religious laws.

Moghaddam was quoted by the state-run daily Kayhan as saying in November 2004, “A country where liberal ideas rule will get no where”.

200 police conduct midnight raid in northwest Iran city park

Thu. 14 Jul 2005



Iran Focus

Tabriz, Iran, Jul. 14 – At least 200 agents of Iran’s State Security Forces on Monday conducted a midnight raid in the central park in Tabriz, northwest Iran, according to eye-witness accounts.

“At one in the morning, more than 200 of the regime’s security forces were brought to Baghe Golestan Park in their cars and they started arresting anyone in sight”, said one eye-witness, who requested anonymity.

Another eye-witness described seeing at least 70 SSF cars approach the vicinity of the area around the part. “Out of nowhere suddenly we saw at least 70 police cars close off the vicinity of the park”.

“They started to attack everyone there”, he added.

Local news on the state-controlled television later described the raid as part of “ongoing efforts to root out drug addicts”, but witnesses described the violent attacks on locals as part of a new wave of crackdown to suppress social decent.

The first witness went on to explain that he saw the SSF detain passers-by including someone taking out his trash.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 7:56 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:03 AM CDT
Iran executes teenage demonstrators in Ahwaz ? reports
Topic: Iran
Iran Focus

Ahwaz, Apr. 23 – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards executed a number of teenage demonstrators in the streets of Ahwaz, southern Iran, according to eye-witnesses.

Residents reported that Revolutionary Guards arrested demonstrators in the city streets and gunned them down to terrorise the local people and end a weeklong anti-government uprising that has spread throughout the oil-rich Khuzestan Province.

Helicopters were also seen opening fire on demonstrators.

A 5-year-old boy was killed when he was run over by a Revolutionary Guards’ armoured personnel carrier, eye-witnesses said.

Smoke from tear-gas that has been fired was so heavy that hospitals have been inundated with patients complaining of severe respiratory problems. A number of hospitals have also been raided by State Security Forces and large numbers of youth have been arrested on charges of taking part in the demonstrations.

Fierce fighting has brought the province to a complete stand-still since Friday, when State Security Forces (SSF) opened fire on a 3,000-strong anti-government demonstration in the city of Ahwaz.

Ahwaz was placed under a de facto martial law after anti-government demonstrations led to bloody clashes between local residents and security forces.

A government-orchestrated counter-demonstration on Friday was greeted with apathy by the local people. Even the non-Arab residents of Ahwaz stayed away from the march led by local clerics and officials of the Islamic Republic. State television showed scenes of the demonstration, with large banners blaming “the U.S., Israel and the Monafeqin” for the uprising. Monafeqin, or hypocrites, is the term Iranian state media and officials use to describe the People’s Mojahedin, Iran’s main opposition group.

The semi-official Jomhouri Islami daily wrote in its editorial today, “We must not ignore the seditious role being played by the Monafeqin in the events in Ahwaz”.

The Prosecutor-General of Ahwaz Amir Khani said today that five people had been detained by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, charged with being the primary instigators of the clashes that are still on going in a number of districts. He also announced the arrest of a further 59 people involved in the clashes in Ahwaz by the security and intelligence apparatus.





Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 7:43 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:02 AM CDT
Thursday, 14 July 2005
Photos of Kurdish man killed by security forces in northwest Iran
Topic: Iran
Iran Focus

London, Jul. 14 – Iran Focus has obtained several before-and-after photos of Shoan Qaderi, a young Iranian Kurd from the north-western town of Mahabad, who was gunned down by State Security Forces and then hung from the back of a Toyota jeep which was driven in nearby streets on Sunday.

According to witnesses the act was carried out because Qaderi was active in anti-government protests and authorities wanted to intimidate the local population to prevent further demonstrations in the volatile city.

Minutes after Qaderi’s body was dragged throughout the town, several hundred angry residents gathered in nearby streets and started to chant anti-government slogans.

Related Story

Iran security forces kill youth at point blank, drag body in town

Iran Focus

Mahabad, Iran, Jul. 12 – Iran’s State Security Forces on Sunday opened fire at youths in the north-western volatile Kurdish town of Mahabad, leaving one young man dead and several others injured.

A group of friends were walking at an avenue in Independence Square in Mahabad at 22:30, when they were approached and attacked by an SSF convoy, plain-clothed Islamic vigilantes, and a number of agents of Iran’s dreaded Ministry of Intelligence and Security (VEVAK), according to several eye-witnesses.

The SSF fatally shot a young man by the name of Shoan Qaderi and critically injured two other individuals.

The security forces then proceeded with tying Qaderi’s body to a Toyota jeep and while driving dragged it in streets, according to the witnesses.

“This barbaric and inhumane act was carried out to scare everybody so that they stop their anti-government protests”, said one witness, who requested to remain anonymous.

“Shoan was always active in demonstrations against the regime. Whenever there was a protest, he was always on the frontlines”, said another witnessed, who claimed that he was a friend of Qaderi.

Minutes after Qaderi’s body was dragged throughout the town, several hundred local angry residents gathered in nearby streets and started to chant anti-government slogans.

Anti-riot police were brought in from the neighbouring towns of Miandoab and Naqadeh to stop the escalation of protests.

Several large anti-government demonstrations have rocked the town of Mahabad in recent month.

Residents believe that with the arrival of ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the new President of Iran, security forces will have a freer reign to suppress dissent.

Ahmadinejad recently rejected a request by Kurdish Members of Parliament to allow ethnic Kurds into his cabinet.


Oh I REALLY want these (epithet deleted)s to have Atomics.

PS the links will take you to the photos, they were pretty grim.


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:21 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:02 AM CDT
Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Iran Hopes
Topic: Iran
Today's Committee of Corespondence from behind the Quranic Wall is

Iran Hopes 2005

By Winsteed.

Here are his thoughts on the situation
Sunday, July 10, 2005


Yesterday, it was July the 9th. On this day in 1999, the first, but certainly not the last, popular movement, in the history of Islamic regime took place. It is known as the Student Uprsing of 18th Tir, which shook the foundations of the 'Mullahtarian' dictatorship in Iran. Students were attacked, killed, and wounded and many of their leaders were arrested. It was the end of the Republic for the Islamic regime, while at the same time, the beginning of the new era Mullahtarianism - whose offspring is the phenomenon of Ahmadinejad. July the 9th 1999 testified for the end of the so called 'Reformist' movement, when Khatami threatened the students to discontinue their uprising or get the stick.
I was present at one incident of clash between the students and Ansar which occured on Enghelab Avenue. It was Monday, July 12. Earlier in the morning Khamenei had addressed Ansar- his fanatic followers- to remain calm, even if protesters had torn of his photos. But in fact he was giving them the 'code': "Do not remain calm! tear them off!". I recall at 5pm, around a thousand people were marching down from east to west of Enghelab Avenue, chanting anti-regime and anti-Khamenei slogans. Then the Ansar came. Bearded men in white shirts, armed with thick sticks, chains, batons and tear gases. Some were on motorbikes. First they warned the people to go away, using offensive language. But demonstrators defied them. Then Ansar attacked, beating people with their sticks and chains. It was a dreadful scene. I still have in mind every moment of that day and all the days between the 18th and 23th of Tir. They remind me of a deeply divided Iranian nation: peacful vs violent, fanatics vs moderates. What I saw in those few days taught me of the huge diversity among the nation I belong to.
The 18th of Tir is remembered since. But every year in a different way. This year I had the opportuinty to be here on its anniversary. I wanted to see if people still remember those unforgettable days. Those who did were reluctant to express it openly. Maybe they asked what is the point in remembering those days when those who perpetuated the atrocities of 18th of Tir are now celebrating their 'victory'? What is the use of remembering the 18th of Tir when the 3rd of Tir (July 24 the day of the second round of the election) is celebrated by the aggressors of that day and the rulers of today, while all this is happening in front of our eyes, the nation's eyes - a nation who has been silenced and drugged to forget its real history as it happened?
There may be enough reasons to forget 18th of Tir. But there are many more reasons to believe, to have hope, to see, to learn, to teach, to celebrate, and to remember. The next '18th of Tir' will not be created by 'us' who went on the streets or used our vote in 1997 to make our voice heard, but by those who will talk to this deaf regime differently. Let the regime be happy for the moment that it has silenced the people.



But it is only silence before the storm
emphasis added


Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 5:51 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 6:01 AM CDT
Tuesday, 12 July 2005
Everyone's heard of the events in Uzbekistan
Topic: Iran
Uzbekistan demonstrations report
Government forces in Uzbekistan have opened fire on demonstrators in the central square of the city of Andijan. The World's Matthew Bell has the latest.



BUT

How many saw ANYTHING about THIS on the news?

Opposition reports 62 killed, 1000 arrested in Iran clashes

Apr 2005



Iran Focus

London, Apr. 21 – At least 62 people have been killed and over 1,000 arrested in the week-long clashes between people and security forces in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, according to the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran.

Fierce fighting has brought the province to a complete stand-still since Friday, when State Security Forces (SSF) opened fire on a 3,000-strong anti-government demonstration in the city of Ahwaz.

The residents who were mainly ethnic Arabs were complaining of government plans to redefine the ethnic make-up of the province.

Ahwaz was placed under a de facto martial law after a number of SSF agents were killed by angry demonstrators.

Balal Mosque in Sepidar neighbourhood and similar places in Ahwaz are being used as temporary detention centres by MOIS agents and the Revolutionary Guards.

The PMOI said today, “Young people took control of Ahwaz highway to Abadan. Residents of Molashieh attacked the SSF base in the district and killed the base’s commander and his deputy”.

“The clerical regime cordoned off the city’s airport and cut off water, electricity and telephone lines in Lashgar-Abad and Dayereh to intimidate the people.

“Some 55 people have been killed and at least 400 wounded so far during clashes in Ahwaz. Most of those slain were between 18 and 22 years old. Hundreds of young people have been arrested and taken to Karoun Prison. Arrests are continuing in Mahshahr, Abadan, Shish and other cities in the province.

“To date, 1,000 people have been arrested and many transferred to undisclosed locations. The security forces continued dispersing the demonstrators by opening fire and using tear gas canisters.

“Despite brutal attacks by the suppressive forces, the chants of ‘down to the clerical regime’, ‘death to Khamenei, death to Khatami’ echoed throughout Ahwaz.

The PMOI said that clashes also occurred in Old-Mahshar, where residents engaged in armed clashes with anti-riot forces, and authorities dispatched reinforcements from other provinces to the city. It said that residents destroyed a large number of government buildings and set fire to government vehicles. Seven people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the clashes so far, according to the opposition group.

“Three of those slain were named Asgari, Ghargholi and Alboughobeish”, it said.

“The clashes spread to Masjid Soleiman, Dezful and Howeizeh. This morning, residents in Masjed Soleiman held a rally to voice support for demonstrators elsewhere in the province. They also changed anti-government slogans. All schools in the city were closed down and the security forces used tear gas and live fire to disperse the crowds.

“Clashes have been reported in Dezful and Howeizeh as well”, it added.





Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:26 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 5:59 AM CDT
What IF
Iraq turns out like Iran?

Topic: Iran
That is the doom and gloom scenario, that is propagated in some circles.

My question is well what if that happens, what does it really mean?

It is not like the Mainstream Media covers much of the action in Iran these days.

For real information, you have to go to the Free Iran networks.



Sometimes the websites are down. I don't see much play on internal Iranian events in the major blogsphere so I think I will be mirroring some bits and pieces here. When I can access the sites.

Dozens injured or arrested in Iran-Bahrain soccer riots

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jun 9, 2005

Dozens have been injured or arrested following the riots which rocked main Iranian cities, yesterday night, at the issue of Iran's win over Bahrain for the qualification of the 2006 World Cup soccer games.

The celebration gatherings turned, right after the end of the game, into massive shows of popular defiance and rejection of all symbols of the Islamic regime. The National exasperation is to the point that male demonstrators had in most occasions to create security belts around maverick females who persisted to stay and 'fight for freedom'.

Several demonstrators, including many females, have been injured due to the use of acid or knives while many other have been wounded by heavy clubs or chains. Many have been hospitalized due to the brutality used by Islamic regime's plainclothes men and members of the paramilitary Bassij force.

Some female demonstrators who had pulled off their veils or were dancing and chanting were beaten and injured. In Guisha, Shahrak e Gharb, Gohardasht and Tajrish areas of Tehran several women were seen bleeding from faces or arms. Same kind of brutality have been reported from several provincial cities.

Earlier and before the start of the game, several female protesters were seriously injured as Islamist militiamen attacked them in the parking areas of Tehran's Azadi ('Freedom') stadium. The demonstrators supported by tens of males were carrying placards condemning the official systematic Gender Apartheid policy and the ban of Iranian women from soccer games.

The anger of the group was raised as a 'selected' group of female were allowed in the stadium in order to help the regime showing a better and 'more' human face to some naive reporters who are in a delusional quest of seeing 'reforms' taking place in Iran. Iranians anger has also been increased as some of these reporters are more focused on the planned show offered by a group of hired young girls, including some well-known prostitutes who are promoting Hashemi Rafsanjani, than the real fight of Iranian women and men for ending tyranny and demagoguery.

It's to note that many Iranian women are intending to protest against the existing discrimination by gathering on Sunday June 12th in front of Tehran University. Ms. Bush's speech, in Amman, in favor of women of Middle east has energized many Iranian women and they believe that as the American Executive, President Bush, has stated: "America will stand by Iranian People when they will rise for freedom".

Finally and as expected, special sections of the security force's elite brigades started in cities, such as, Esfahan, Hamedan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Mahabad, Keramshah, Mashad, Sanandaj, Rasht, Mian-do-Ab, Abadan, Yazd, Kerman, Ghazvin and Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) their massive crackdown after midnight by attacking those maverick demonstrators who persisted to stay and denounce the Islamist dictatorship.

The repression forces were awaiting the diminution of the crowd and a more fluid traffic in order to start their usual work.

But in many cities angry demonstrators retaliated to the brutal attacks with pieces of stones, clubs, martial art and incendiary devices.

In the Greater Tehran's areas of Madar, Hafthose, Rey, Saadat Abad, Guisha, Sadeghie, Vali-e Asr, Eslamshahr, Tajrish and Azadi heavy damages were inflicted to public materials and buildings. Windows of tens of buses and offices or commercial entities affiliated to the Islamic regime were smashed by demonstrators. Some of the Capital's avenues, such as, Azadi or Enghelab were covered with pieces of broken glace.

Most of regime's propaganda devices, such as, its sham electoral propaganda were brought down or set on fire. Several militiamen were also injured in those clashes and several patrol vehicles or Militia's motorbikes were damaged or torched, such as, in Eslamshahr which is a poor suburb of Tehran.

Slogans calling for the overthrow of the Islamic regime and even execution of clerics were shouted, such as, "Toop, Tank, Feshfeshe, Akhoond bayad koshte she" (Guns, Tanks, Cleric must be killed). Other slogans, such as, "na roossari, natoosari" (no veil, no submission), "edalat, barabari" (justice, equality), "marg bar estebdad" (down with dictatorship), "marg bar taleban , tche kabol, tche tehran" (down with taleban, in Kabol and in Tehran, "Iran, Iran, Azadi!" (Iran, Iran, Freedom), "Marg bar Estebdad" (Down with dictatorship), "Akbar koosee, Iran Chili nemishe" (Akbar the Shark -meaning Hashemi Rafsanjani- Iran won't become another Chili), "Toop, Tank Feshfeshe, Bassiji bayad koshte she" (Guns, tanks, firearms, Bassijis -paramilitary force- should be killed) were shouted by many demonstrators.

A demagogue Islamist leadership had first tried to take the lead in order to calm the Iranians by offering celebration ceremonies but once again, Iranians turned them against it.

Four sound bombs exploded, earlier in the evening, rocking the religious City of Ghom. Several residents were injured by the sound waves created by such devices placed around the mausoleum of Fatemeh who's a symbol for shias. It's believed that these devices were installed by circles affiliated to the Islamic regime itself in order to undermine the nature of the unprecedented popular celebrations and demonstrations taking place in this ultra conservative city.

Such fabricated excuses are usually used by the regime in order to justify crackdown.

Already the explosion, few years, ago, of a bomb near Reza's shrine in Mashad is known to have been the work of the regime's intelligence but several opponents were executed for such masterminded crime.






Posted by ky/kentuckydan at 10:16 PM CDT
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Updated: Sunday, 3 June 2007 5:59 AM CDT

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