Friday, June 19, 2009

Iran and Democracy

All week I have been following the Twitter feed on the Iranian Uprising over election fraud, as well as a really good continual tracking blog on The Huffington Post. (I don't know WHEN writer Nico Pitney gets any sleep - his blog posts are around the clock!)

Anyway, it's inspiring and exhilarating and deeply moving to read various tidbits from individuals in Iran who are resisting tyranny and the Khamenei government's efforts to block anyone from trying to write about the events online. See an example (from Huffington Post) below:

4:16 PM ET -- "Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed." A blog post in Persian, translated by the NIAC.

"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."
My God, what can we possibly say to that?! Can you imagine preparing yourself for possible death in this way? If this new revolution succeeds, then Iran will far surpass America in the sacrifices required for Democracy. We've not had to truly fight and sacrifice in a long, long time for Liberty (despite what current extremists might say to the contrary); we've become soft and complacent. But they will be heading out soon for an unsanctioned demonstration, where they have already been warned by the tyrants feigning a mandate that they will be prosecuted... which means, attacked and beaten and killed. All we can do here, really, is pray; there's no material assistance we can give like after a natural disaster. Money won't help with this sort of battle.

Friday, June 05, 2009