Faster, Please!

By Michael Ledeen

Bio

Get Updates From Michael Ledeen

There’s always a certain fascination watching tyrannies coming unstuck, and the convulsions of the Iranian regime are more colorful than most, as you’d expect from such a rich and ancient culture, and from such clever and imaginative people,  who specialize in illusion.  Last Friday all these qualities were on display in Tehran, at a central mosque where Hashemi Rafsanjani was preaching to the faithful.  As you know by now, there were millions of people in and around the mosque, and at a certain point, in a scene that would have delighted Fellini, the two sides faced off in a chanting contest.  The pro-regime crowd shouted “Death to America!”  And the people responded, “Death to Russia!”  Then came “Death to Britain, Death to Israel!.”  And the reply:  “Death to China.”

Which pretty much sums up the contemporary strategic landscape, enacted in a Persian morality play in front of a mosque in Tehran.  I rather think the actors understand the stakes better than we do, for they know that the Russians and Chinese are encouraging the mullahs to emulate the repression in Chechnya and Sinjiang, while blaming the actions of pro-freedom dissidents on “outside forces,” most notably the United States.  The Iranians know that a victory by the regime will be understood as a terrible defeat of America, while the fall of the regime will likely reignite the democratic revolution that toppled Soviet Communism and other nasty dictatorships from the South Pole to Siberia.

It’s high drama, and the Iranians, on both sides, understand the stakes.  They know that it is now too late to “fix” the political situation.  There is no conceivable consensus to bind up the wounds caused by the regime’s brutality, mass repression, and slaughter of innocents.  And there is no way for the United States to avoid “meddling,” since the internal conflict is over our values and our vision.  As it has been for the past thirty years, we’re the target of a war declared and waged against us by the Islamic Republic.  We can win or lose, but we can’t opt out of it.

Advertisement

At the moment, our leaders are lamenting the “lost opportunity” for striking a glorious friendship with the butchers of Tehran, which perfectly encapsulates the American failure in Iran ever since 1979.  It’s just that no president before this one has been so pathetically obvious about his desire to get any sort of face-saving “bargain,” and then run away.

The crisis of the regime is luminously clear to anyone who looks past the nonsense on the evening news, and is best summarized in an eloquent declaration by Mir Hussein Mousavi, the leader of the revolutionary forces, to Supreme Leader Khamenei:  “You are facing something new: an awakened nation, a nation that has been born again and is here to defend its achievements.” Those words, taken along with the evening chants of “Death to the Dictator!” from the rooftops of the country, show that the regime has failed to crush the insurrection, and the only really serious question right now is what form the next challenge to the regime will take.  Mousavi himself moved to create a new political movement, but took care to say that it was not intended to replace the popular movement.  And then he permitted himself a remark that is downright Jeffersonian:  “power is always inclined to become absolute, and only people’s movements can put a hold on this inclination.”

PJ Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:

1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

2. Stay on topic.

3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that PJ Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. Please note that comments are reviewed by the editorial staff and may not be posted immediately. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pjmedia.com.

51 Comments, 51 Threads, 5 Trackbacks

  1. Thanks for finally confessing that you personally run Iran. 8)

    Even though the shadowy AEI still denies you work for them.

    Meanwhile, we wait for effective leadership in Iran’s freedom movement.

  2. 2. Alireza

    I hope your feeling better and soon will get back to normal walking.

    Re. Your question of: “serious question right now is what form the next challenge to the regime will take.”

    Iranians will win this battle just the way they won over the Arabs, Mongols and Alexander. Iranians ALWAYS did this by wearing down the enemies. This is now happening in the frequent demonstrations. I just read a very nice report about the demonstration that took place at Hafte-Tir Square, which basically showed how foot soldiers were running out of breath running after demonstrators from one side of the street to the other, while carrying heavy loads of tear gas and other protective gears.

    People must know and remember this: the very SAME MOUSAVI HAS CHANGED since the time he was the PM then. What changed him? Iranian people. Iranian people have been shafted and HATE these people so much for so many years, yet they’ve been working on these A. holes for so many years that got so many of them to this point.

    So I tell people: Iranian were ALWAYS in fight with this regime, since the time these dictators (including Mousavi and Rafsanjani) broke their promise to provide a fair referendum shortly after the revolution. They broke their promise and they are now paying for it.

    As far as near term, the way I see it, and as other Ayatollahs coming out against this government, they have total credibility problem. Ahmadinejad has Z E R O balls now to attend any REAL Intl. forum and brag about Iran and other nations. He looks so worthless and PHONY for anyone to believe him. That is why he is not going anywhere, but places like visiting President of Russia!

    The baseej and the associates will wear down. Fear of going out and demonstrating will become more coordinated and these people will lose their edge. The so-called “Red Line” as it relates to Khamenei has been cross, spit on, pissed on and so much that such things no longer have their meaning. And that is why even Mousavi keep saying that we have to solve this problem under the current system. He knows people are willing and craving for the day to sink them. Situation is so bad that even Ahmadinejad that was told not to have Moshaei as his VP STILL he looks like he has hearing problems and not hearing what Khamenie has asked him!!! These are “Red Lines” that are now meaningless even among the oppressors.

  3. 3. Marie-Claude

    they are all characters of the master scenarist Rafsandjani
    one day they get the part of the “good”, the next day, of the “bad”

    I don’t trust any of them

    what I know, they killed american and french soldiers in Lebanon, they blow up Lokerbee and Tenere planes, they sponsored the ambush attack last year in Afghanistan, also they are linked to the rapt of the 2 french agents in Somalia, they keep in custody 1 yound innocent french girl…

    so where are the iranian moderate voices that apologize ?

    in the contrary, the expats greens in the US, still insult us, copying the ol discourse that was launched to subjugate France in 2003 (ie the gang Paul wolfovitch,Rumfeld… & Cie

    so for me they all can go to Hell, I am sorry for the innocent Iranians

  4. 4. J.J. Sefton

    In the words of Jack Hawkins to William Holden in “Bridge on the RIver Kwai,” “…there’s always the unexpected.” I had prayed for the take-down of the mullah-ocracy but never dreamed it might actually happen. The possibility of removing an existential threat to us, our alllies, the region and western civilization in general with minimal bloodshed (the victims of the past 30 years sadly notwithstanding) is a godsend.

    My concerns would be what sort of government will form after the revolution? What will its attitudes towards Israel be? Will it still pursue nuclear weapons? Will the White House support the rebels or will they act as they did towards Honduras?

    We are assuming that whatever the future holds, it will be a nuclear-free democratic Iran that no longer supports global jihadist terrorism. My earlier quote of “Kwai” fits here. I can’t really imagine anything worse than what’s there now, but sadly, history has a way of proving me wrong. I hope I’m right.

  5. A bloody revolution about to topple the government in Iran? It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people. I hope that when the government finally does fall, the people string Ahmadinezhad up in a public square, just like they did Mussolini towards the end of World War II. It just seems incredible that the Obama administration is still silent about supporting the anti-government movement. It makes us look very weak and indecisive, but I’m sure Hilary Clinton is loving this, as she eyes running against Obama in 2012. Hard to believe, but on a foreign policy level, Obama is starting to make Jimmy Carter look good. I think Obama had better start looking for a new home in Chicago in 2012.

  6. 6. Gary Ogletree

    Ledeen is head of a superpowerful cabal of falafel distributors whose existence is yet to be verified, but whose machinations have convulsed the Middle East for centuries.

  7. 7. Samizdat

    Michael Ledeen’s analysis of the Iranian civil conflict is something to anticipate. His insider knowledge of the interplay between the combating parties is second to no one I have seen writing on the subject in the western media. Pajamas Media out performs the mainstream media by a wide margin when it posts one of Mr. Ledeen’s pieces. I always learn something important when I read his writings. Michael Ledeen symbolizes why the New York Times, Time, Newsweek and the other old media bulls are in such deep trouble. They just don’t deliver this kind of quality anymore.

  8. 8. "progressive"watch

    Mousavi words might soon fit America: “You are facing something [renewed]: an awakened [America],an [America] that has been born again and is here to defend its achievements.”

  9. 9. Thomas L......

    Sadly, the POTUS and members of his administration appear to be the only ones disappointed in these events.

  10. 10. David W. Lincoln

    Michael, as both of us know, there are some things that never change. It made more sense for the countries who earned glory in the Second World War to deal with Konrad Adenauer after the war, than with Adolf Hitler before or during the war.

    The same logic applies today: it is better to deal with the Persian Adenauer (whomever that person is), rather than the current Persian approximation of Adolf Hitler.

  11. 11. BigPat

    For updated reporting from the People of Iran, may I suggest the web site: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/

    The Green Brief is a daily publication of confirmed, sort of confirmed activities all over Iran.

    I’ve been following rather closely since just before their ‘elections’, I started following persiankiwi on Twitter, until there was a need for that person to go underground.

    Many are in prison, many getting tortured in prison, and many have been killed. You have a large cloud of different agencies doing the dirty work for the government of Iran.

    I doubt we’ll ever hear an accurate death toll of this ‘people’s revolution’, but this ‘revolution’ is still going ‘full speed ahead’. And we may yet see a Democracy form in Iran.

    I’m quite respectful of the bravery the people have put on display.

    But we have enough revolution taking place, that there is turmoil even within the ruling cleric regime. We may just see the complete governmental meltdown in Iran that many of us would like to see, if the anti-people Iranian agencies aren’t able to get a grip on this soon.

    -Pat

  12. 12. Marie Claude

    er ummm

    they are all characters of the master scenarist Rafsandjani
    one day they get the part of the “good”, the next day, of the “bad”

    I don’t trust any of them

    what I know, they killed american and french soldiers in Lebanon, they blow up Lokerbee and Tenere planes, they sponsored the ambush attack last year in Afghanistan, also they are linked to the rapt of the 2 french agents in Somalia, they keep in custody 1 yound innocent french girl…

    so where are the iranian moderate voices that apologize ?

    in the contrary, the expats greens in the US, still insult us, copying the ol discourse that was launched to subjugate France in 2003 (ie the gang Paul wolfovitch,Rumfeld… & Cie

    so for me they all can go to Hell, I am sorry for the innocent Iranians

  13. 13. Tom Holsinger

    Congratulations!

  14. 14. tanstaafl

    The Death Spiral of the Islamic Republic

    Works for me. I read recently that Khamenei (aka the exalted one, supreme leader, who is “above politics”) has really blown his so called spiritual cover with machinations around the illicit election of his handpuppet, A’jad.

    The dude’s feet of clay have been exposed, exactly as when I saw those feet at Khamenei’s glee in a speech he gave just after September 11.

  15. 15. Amirza

    Dear Mr. Ledeen
    Here is an Iranian prespective
    As one who has been reading your articles over the years – I must say you have always been one of the very few western analysts who have never been fooled by the Islamistsin/Hezbollah Iran. Thanks for the article and thank you for always siding with the people of Iran – who are very different than what the mullahs stage on their Friday Prayers. On you next article maybe you can give us a brief rundown on who this Russian Character “Shamir Sultanov” is. From the reports we get – he is heading a team of 30 Russian special agents, helping the mullahs to break the demonstrations.

  16. 16. tanstaafl

    The repeated attempts of A’jad (& other Khamenei cohorts) to pin events in Iran on the United States really demonstrate how pathetically lame these individuals are.

    It’s like the Russians trying to pin assassinations of regime critics on “unknown assailants” or Barack Obama trying to convince the American people that he is reducing the deficit by printing money and ordering up the spending of another trillion.

  17. 17. Stephen in Afghanistan

    Don’t go getting a big head on us, Micheal. They will be singing your praises from the rooftops of Tehran soon.

    “Ledeen is great!”

  18. 18. Mark

    I just cannot contain my laughter another minute. The axis of evil will lose a founding member-Iran. However, all is not lost: the axis of evil has a new member-the USA.

  19. 19. Professor Guvinoff

    Dr. Ledeen, congratulations for your promotion to the rank of Supreme Foreign Agitator, and may your new hip measure up to the number of asses that have been so distressingly under-kicked for so long.

    I don’t know much about Persian matters, but not a lot of expertise seems required to sense that something of tectonic proportions is afoot in the underworld of squaring the circle islamic republicanism.

    Please, Honorable Cyberspace Ambassador of the Jeffersonian Hell, keep illuminating us. I promise to try to keep up with the accelerating velocity you have been advocating over the years.

  20. 20. ella

    Marie Claude, hello!

    You still do not understand that mullahs do not equal people.
    That Rafsanjani & Mousavi do not equal Green Sea.
    That this movement is bigger than any of the them.
    That people are protesting because they want a change and not because Rafsanjani or Mousavi or Khatami tell them to protest.
    You think that tail wags the cat, but you are wrong. It is the cat who wags the tail.

  21. 21. Marie Claude

    Ella

    I know what I am talking about, and I didn’t included the population that is paying for the mullahcraty manipulation and its relay through lobbies in the US (and or France…too)

    you have not the same clues (that I get via informed sites), I am afraid your”s are of the MSM

  22. 22. drellberg

    Welcome back from your surgery. I hope you are recuperating nicely.

  23. 23. john from cinncinatti

    i think it is the same spirit in Honduras. the same ol tired powers that be, want to keep the world status quo. the people are just tired of the poke in the eye and the excuse that they caused it. seems to be an universality to these words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

  24. 24. Lynn B.

    “Yes, “faster, please”.

  25. 25. ER White

    Respectfully disagree… I’d say organized resistance is slowly dissipating and getting more sporadic. The world’s media has moved on to the next news cycle… It’s Tiananmen, Persian style. It’s all about who has the monopoly of force…

    http://www.bloggybayou.com/2009/06/ya-say-you-want-revolution.html

  26. 26. Samizdat

    Gary Ogletree;

    Your ad hominem attack on the author offers nothing educational for him or the rest of us who took the time to read Mr Ledeen’s piece. If you have a criticism of the writer why don’t you save us all some time and lay it out in detail? You read like a complete horses behind when you reduce yourself to personal pot shots. It also makes me wonder if you are working for the dictator and his theocracy. Tell us what is missing in Ledeen’s analysis. Either that or stop wasting our time.

  27. 27. winston

    Another excellent piece. I’ve talked to so many pro-reform people in Iran over the past few weeks. None of them want reform any more. They want to get rid of the system. I think regime has lost his pro-reform wing supporters massively inside of the country and the clock is ticking for the system. It’s only a matter of time.

  28. 28. Alexis

    Marie Claude:

    I am concerned that if this present protest movement gets too close to Rafsanjani, his influence will cause it to wither and die. I strongly suspect there are many Iranians who voted against Musavi (and Khatami and Rafsanjani), seeing Ahmadinejad as the least bad among the candidates. I suspect that many of those who really did vote for Ahmadinejad like neither him nor the clerical regime. Ahmadinejad is probably loathed by many of his own supporters; they merely loathe Rafsanjani even more.

    If the alternative to Iran’s present regime were liberal democracy, I think most Iranians would want that alternative. If the alternative to Iran’s present regime were Rafsanjani – oh yuck. Hashemi Rafsanjani is the Hermann Goering of the so-called “Islamic Republic”.

  29. 29. Benson

    And what example to the Iranians have right next door. Most will ignore it now because it suites their politics but the Iraq equation was the tipping point in the middle east and the domino effect could continue if the Iranians are successful.

  30. 30. Brian

    Well i certainly hope so.And not a moment to soon for the Iranians.

  31. 31. Alireza

    Very FISHY and SUSPICIOUS news came out that allegedly states majority of Assembly Experts members are in support of Khamenei and his absolute power, as we get close to Ahmadinejad 2nd term swearing. HOWEVER this phony news release does not say which one of the Experts member signed this letter and supported such news release!

    This letter is FAKE and MADE UP by the same Shariatmadari gang in Tehran to portray that Assembly of Experts are 100% behind Khamenei!!!???? This fake news in REALITY proves the opposite by making such false claim!

    I bet Assembly of Experts majority are already pissed by learning about this false news release and for sure this make them more determined to take action.

    I think VERY SOON we’ll be at the point that EVERYONE will know that small minority is holding up to power without much base and zero room to land on solid ground, and they will sink the moment they look beyond their noses.

  32. 32. Marie Claude

    Alexis

    Président de la République, Président du Conseil, M. Mahmoud AHMADINEJAD (06.08.05)

    Vice-président chargé des Affaires Parlementaires et Judiciaires, M. Ahmad MOUSSAVI

    So Moussavi was responsible of the countless condamnations for hanging…

    precisely that is the man that is flattered by the western mobs suddenly converted to the green revolection !

    “There’s nothing less true because Ahmadinejad is not the equivalent of the president of the Republic in France or in the United States and Khamenei is far from being the number one of the regime. The one who disposes of every power is the for life president of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Regime -of the Supreme Guide’s guardianship (EDC). Rafsanjani who is in control of this organization that was created for him by Khomeini -his half-brother- decides of each main lines of the Islamic Republic in every field.

    The EDC includes every founding members of the regime such as the so-called moderate Mussavi or even Jannati, the mullah in charge of validating the candidates for the several elections of this so-called republic. Everything is decided at the EDC : who can be a candidate, who will be declared as the winner.

    Whatever remains is a politically correct decorum in which the president, ministers and members of Parliament play to the democracy and give a popular and democratic aspect to the decisions that are taken in a collegial way by Rafsanjani and those who were considered in 1988 as worthy of being part of this discrete and fixed decision-makers’ club”

    http : // www .iran-resist.org/article5483 .html

    “By refusing to dismiss his first vice-president, Ahmadinejad has in fact broken the law! It is even doubly outlawed because he refused to submit to the advice of a religious Khamenei, the No 1 of a regime which is officially known as the Guardianship of the expert in Shariah.

    Normally, Ahmadinejad himself is liable to immediate dismissal without appeal or prosecution But it will not happen: they will leave do so because this is a scenario! This scenario is aimed at Westerners who know nothing of Iranian laws. In the absence of explanation of the law, that refusal is an expression of a simple misunderstanding between the president and his biggest fan displayed a misunderstanding which implies a loss of legitimacy of the president in his own camp.

    That is exactly what the regime wants to convey. This has a useful life for its future.

    The objective is to collect evidences against Ahmadinejad to dismiss him at a time deemed appropriate. This moment will come when Ahmadinejad accepts a compromise on nuclear power to turn off the sanctions against Iran. When the lifting of sanctions will be effective for not respecting its part of the contract, Tehran will dismiss Ahmadinejad to dismiss this kind of for insubordination

    Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad will have carte blanche to taunt the Guide and other major ayatollahs to the chagrin of the latter, very unhappy with the choice of political tactics embodied by the powerful Council of Discernment.”

  33. 33. Marie Claude

    It is the Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a veteran of the Islamist war against the Soviets, who claimed responsibility for the ambush of August 18 during which ten french soldiers were killed. It is a great friend of the mullahs!

    Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is even intermittently in Iran since 1996, when the fall (opposed to the Taliban) of Islamic government headed by Rabbani, Hekmatyar and Commander Massoud. Hekmatyar has lived continuously in Iran until 2003, sympathetically invited by Khatami !

    It is as drugs trafficant and aquainted with bin Laden that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has concerned the mullahs in 1990. These have benefited from the war chaos with the Soviets to finance a dozen paramilitary Islamic groups in the western regions of Afghanistan, including the Northern Alliance of Commander Massoud.

    During his stay in Iran, Hekmatyar rallyed the Taliban. He returned to Afghanistan and would always run off towards Tehran after the U.S. attack in 2001. This time he took with him 24 senior Al Qaeda who had found refuge in Iran (among them the son of Sayf Ben Laden and Al Adel, the Egyptian, that the mullahs wanted to impose as the general in Al Qaeda).

    These alliances between representatives of the Afghan Sunni Islam and Shiite mullahs are further evidence of the unfounded theory of a simple incompatibility between Islamist Shiites and Sunni Islamists.

  34. 34. Andre

    I would be interested to hear a realistic scenario from you, since you seem to have a lot of insight into the daily events of protests in Iran. My question to you is: What do you actually believe is going to happen with all the Iranians who have been in strong support of the regime and where will they go? I do have a hard time believing that the baseej and the members of the “revolutionary” guards are not ideologically schooled, which makes me doubt that people who were, are and most likely are still going to be convinced that the rule of a supreme leader as the absolute ruler of the entire country and its people is absolutely vital in order to ensure the survival of Islam in a society that quite openly yearns for secularization. As much as I applaud your enthusiasm to overthrow, topple, end this theocracy (or how ever you would like to call it), as much do I wonder how are these people to be convicted and by whom? Not to mention the question of who is going to replace the current political class of Iran? Everybody, who was working for the government, to a more or lesser extent, must have blood on their hands. Who do the Iranian people trust at all to hand their democratic sovereignty over in order to get a constitution, which is acceptable for every Iranian?

  35. 35. David W. Lincoln

    Marie Claude, you would want to look at “The Blood of Lambs” by Kamal Saleem. Yes, Sunni and Shia co-operate, but those who do so are defiled. Therefore, they will do it, but at a high price.

    Kamal Saleem was a Lebanese citizen who got protection from other Muslims, and Armenians, from the Muslim Brotherhood. I don’t know if the book has been translated into French, but it would be worthwhile for that to be the case.

    Merci beaucoup,

  36. 36. Pete

    Michael Ledeem is on the right side of this issue but history will prove him wrong. Dictatorships can last a couple of generations.

  37. 37. Marie Claude

    I don’t think that this book was translated into french.
    Anyway, I suppose that our renseignments services know well Lebanon and HBZ fighters

  38. 38. heathermc

    just a historical note: keep in mind that none of this interesting confusion in Iran would be happening if Saddam were still running Iraq.

  39. 39. Chipgill

    Why not just fly a plane over Iran, push out Pelosi, Reid, King Hussein Obama, and Teddy Kennedy (all with parachutes, Teddy with a snorkel). The whole place will be in shambles in six weeks.

  40. 40. winston

    Did you see this list?

    http://www.amnesty.org/en/node/11522

  41. 41. Alireza

    Plot gets thicker every minute!

    Yesterday Ahmadinejad fired the Minister of Culture and according to BBC the minister of Intelligence was also let go today. Now here is the interesting part: According to BaHonar who is one of the right-winger leader parliament, given the firing of the two makes the total firing of the ministers over 50%, which by law Ahmadinejad must obtain a new confidence vote for his entire cabinet from the parliament. So according to him, all government decisions and orders are illegal, since he has nt seek confidence vote from parliament!!! And these things are said by his own supporter camp!

    Now comes the backfiring of the Assembly Experts members by coming out and denying such a letter in support of Khamenie was ever issued and one source mentioned maximum of 8 members might have signed such letter!!!!

    Now I wonder why Ahmadinejad decided to fire two of his most hated ministers just a week before his illegal 2nd term. Any ideas?

  42. 42. Alireza

    OK, now the news is that there was a big fight among ministers with Ahmadinejad in the cabinet meeting and many of the ministers were protesting his decision to have Moshaei as his next term first VP. So Ahmadinejad got so pissed and angry that he left the cabinet meeting and then he asked Moshaei to run the meeting!!!!! And that got many of the ministers so pissed that some of them left the meeting!!!

    So it looks like his firing of the two ministers might be result of his extreme anger and being upset for his lack of power to decide whom he wants to hire. And then again, this very POOR nature of his leadership proves how sloppy they decided to believe by easy fraudulent action to cover up serious vote fraud to their own favor!!!

  43. Thank goodness for Michael Ledeen who is quite right with “Faster, please!”

    I am basically an insignificant satirist, who happens to be concerned about the global spread of the Islamists and the half-black-half-white Neville Chamberlain, Jimmy Carter, or worse American president.

    Hence, businesses with courage should cut off Iran, first with gasoline. And help the people through sanctions to force the mullahs to give in or cave in on themselves.

    Iraq was a strong example… Iran will be different… a revolution… perhaps…
    http://onwardjames.blogspot.com/2009/06/iraq-was-strong-example-iran-will-be.html

  44. 44. pharmaguy

    I hope people’s relative optimism is warranted. I am not at all certain that those who hold power in Iran aren’t above slaughtering 1000s of their fellow citizens to maintain power. I think the world got lucky in Eastern Europe when the Soviet empire unraveled. Alas, those in power in Iran seem more like Stalin than Gorbachev.

    One can hope and pray.

  45. 45. David W. Lincoln

    Michael, would you tackle one of the newer postings over at Ryan Mauro’s website about the Revolutionary Guards and their dog in the fight that is taking place in Iran.

    For, this is something that had better not be ignored.

    Thanks.

  46. 46. David W. Lincoln

    heathermc, you might want to check with Fouad Ajami as to the impact of getting rid of Sadly Insane (my favourite moniker dating from 1991 Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, of the mustachioed one).

    It will take time, and there is no silver bullet, to deal with the gap between what happened at the Gates of Vienna, and the invasion of Afghanistan by Coalition members.

  47. 47. ella

    Hmm. I have heard that people who shout “allah o akbar” are going to pay steep penalty. But that’s not the best thing. Because many Iranians together powered their home appliances during the Ahmadinejad speech there was an electricity blackout at that time. Revolutionary Guard did not forgot that. And I could not stop laughing when I have read that general Seyed Mohammad Hejazi has announced, “The plugging in of irons at 9 pm every night is an act of subversive sabotage.”
    It seems that Ahmadinejad and others are ……………worried.

  48. 48. Alireza

    I think MEK people in Iraq are at the top of the most traitor and anti Iranian people one can know and find. I think their leadership must face fair and independent trial for their crimes against people of Iran. Since my time in Iran after revolution, I came to believe that they are truly a cult than a political organization. If I want to compare the oppressive regime in Tehran that is currently fighting and torturing my countrymen, I still prefer to see this oppressive regime in power than a SATANIC group like MEK in power in Iran.

    Having said all these things, I still think what happened yesterday to these MEK people at Ashraf camp in Iraq was indeed a criminal act against defenseless MEK people in Iraq. While I view them as traitors, I still believe when people take a refuge in a country, that country MUST DO all it can to protect those lives. Yet, I watched the Maleki government hand-in-hand with the Badr group going after these people who are growing old with no place to go.

    SHAME ON THE IRAQI government for kissing the asses in Tehran to attack these people. SHAME SHAME.

    Maryam Rajavi the leader of this cult asked a fair request from Iranian regime, and I think if they can guaranty their safety in Iran, as they stated by guarantees of Intl. bodies and as well as 4 recognized and respected Ayatollahs in Iran to guaranty their safety, some of these people want to go back to their families.

    I know some of the old members that long time ago got out of prison, after months of torture and hearing many executions taking place at Evin. Tey promissed not to get involve with the MEK, and since that time they have lived a very successful lives both in Iran and U.S.

  49. 49. Alireza

    While Dr. Ledeen is resting, I have somewhat of good news! It appears in the last 24 hours of protests across Tehran and other cities, one EXCELLENT new pattern of demonstration began to take shape. I’ve been proposing this new way—of course many others also brought up this approach also—for a long time, and now we are seeing it happening.

    Basically, the idea is to have MULTIPLE demonstrations AT THE SAME TIME in different parts of the city. This way the thugs have limited resources and this makes them to spread too thin to cover different locations. So I hope the same approach will expand further in the coming days.

  50. 50. Alireza

    I just watched Khamenei and his mentally sick president put together the most sick and most gross abortion of justice by showing the first VP of former president Khatami as one of the anti regime on Iranian TV. Khatami was/is a very popular president and now showing his VP looking like being tortured and lost weight on TV will INDEED BACK FIRE and makes Khamenei and Ahmadinejad much more hated than they are already.

    This is indeed an EXCELLENT new phase for these people to lose power much faster, as more people will see how such respectful people are tortured and then they sing like crazy!!!!

    They did the same circus show with Maziar Bahari and Tojbaksh on the same day, but I think the major media outlets decided not to cover them given their FALSE message they intend to do.

    In Tojbaksh case, it was easy to ask him to sing and show step by step how he can bend and kisses Khamenei’s ass! He did not need any more convincing, since this poor guy was arrested before and went through the torture before, so I guess all he asked was how much he needed to bend and how deep should he kiss Khamenei’s ass.

    This is BIG NEWS! And this will make Khamenei and his Mafia much much much more hated that what they do to these people in prison. These mother f..kers don’t know what is waiting for them, as Iranians start to buildup their hate for these mother f..kers.

  51. Yes you are totally correct.

Leave a Reply

We know you're busy. Sign up for our Daily Digest email to get a quick look each day at our editors' picks and readers' favorite stories. (You will receive an email asking you to verify your email address. If you have previously subscribed, no verification email will be sent.)