I AM UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE TO ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE SHAM ELECTION. THEY HAVE CUT ME OFF FROM ANY COMMUNICATION WITH PEOPLE AND AM UNDER SURVEILLANCE. I ASK THE PEOPLE TO STAY IN THE STREETS BUT AVOID VIOLENCE
Message from Iranian opposition leader Mousavi, Sunday, June 14. (The message and the picture of a Mousavi supporter are from Andrew Sullivan’s cite, The Daily Dish.)
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Prague 1968 (Wikipedia, “Prague Spring”)
I have that sinking feeling again. The one that I first had in 1968 when the Soviet Union suppressed the hopes of the Czechoslovakian people for liberalization by invading. Not exactly the same situation as today’s Iran, but similar in the way in which an authoritarian regime can use muscle to undermine democratic reforms.
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The reactionary leadership in Iran is seeking to employ the Big Lie. In this case, if you make yourself look like a really big winner, then you will be entitled to run the opposition out of town or into the ground.
However, even if the regime in Tehran is currently managing to promote its lie by cutting internet connections, they won’t be able to continue to do so forever. In the meantime, the world can keep watching and letting the Iranian regime know that no one believes Ahmadinejad is the legitimately elected president of Iran. Bloggers should post as much information as they can. There is no telling what may or may not circulate at this point, and where.
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P.S. Our hands are certainly not clean when it comes to Iran. In 1953 the United States undermined reforms in Iran by helping to dispose of the legitimately elected prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddeq. The CIA backed coup was know as Operation Ajax. We then supported the brutal Shah for 26 years.
UP@NIGHT 