The best I can do...

[Baphnedia]

If you're on Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on.

I've done it, but many here in America might not even know what is happening in Iran. If this is inappropriate for The Pack, send me a warning and delete this message.

[Uniform Two Six]

I'll probably start a flame war or something by saying this, but oh well. I really couldn't care less about the political stuff going on in Iran right now. The Iranians made their choice 30 years ago about what form of government they wanted, and now they have to confront the ugly reality that the religious oligarchy that they put in place isn't the utopia they had envisioned, that clerical rule would be at least as bad as the Shah's government, if not worse. That's their problem, not ours. I can't help but get completely irate when I hear these Republican yahoos complaining that Obama isn't doing enough (sadly, my old favorite, John McCain among them). The biggest complaint that Iranians have about the United States has always been the fact that the CIA mounted a coup against the Mossadeq government back in the fifties. Okay, fine. Let's not interfere in any way, shape, or form, seeing as how we're the bad guys. Let them solve their own problems.

Oh, and by the way, the Mossadeq thing... Yeah, he was rabidly anti-British and as such he was looking for allies he could use against them, the Soviet Union being number one on his list. The CIA was being typically evil in staging a coup, but there was a real threat that the Soviets would have gotten bases from which they could harrass oil shipments through the Gulf. There was also a major concern that they would cut off the Brits' oil supply, which at the time before the North Sea fields came on line, all came from Iran. And the CIA's involvement? They spent a hundred grand buying people off, and basically bribing them to overthrow the guy. They didn't even supply weapons or anything. On the "evil stuff the spooks at Langley have done" scale, it's not real high. Personally, I'd say that the embassy takeover and hostage ordeal sort of made us even.

1. Don't fall into the trap of seeing this whole thing from an American perspective (my apologies to all packmates outside of the States). The real reason that there's as much opposition from the middle-class over there to the Ahmadinejad government has little to do with political freedom, or the integrity of elections, or any of that garbage. It's economics. Period. Ahmadinejad and his cronies aren't qualified to play SimCity, much less run a country, and the economy over there reflects this. Moreover, his systematic alienation of the West and the vilification of the United States, while quite popular with the religious fruitcakes and the less educated poorer types, has also had the effect of isolating Iran from the global marketplace and exacerbated an already grim economic situation. Mousavi has little ideological differences with Ahmadinejad. Mousavi was a major player during the revolution, was prime minister during the Iran-Iraq War, and was one of Khomeni's favorite hangers-on. The dude is big-time dirty.

2. It's irrelevant. The real power in Iran is the religious hierarchy, and they aren't going anywhere.

3. The Iranians don't really know what they want. They're dissatisfied with the status quo, so they're rioting. These are the guys they put in power in the first place (because religious people running the government and controlling every facet of life was obviously such a fabulous idea).

4. The Iranians felt that an appropriate form of protest against the government they had already overthrown was the sacking of an almost undefended foreign embassy and the taking of hostages, not to mention every attempt at negotiation was met by them extracting concessions and then changing their minds after they got what they wanted, drawing the whole nightmare out for over a year. I have trouble feeling any sympathy whatsoever.

5. Ahmadinejad may well have actually won the election after all. Yeah, it probably was rigged, but even the White House admits that he probably won the darn thing anyway. Don't forget that that obnoxious, lunatic gaytard is enormously popular. The religious zealots, "Persian superpower" advocates, and other assorted whack-jobs, absolutely adore the twit.

[Baphnedia]

Hmm...

The thing is, is that I've done my little bit (assuming changing the location of my Twitter account to Tehran actually bogs 'em down). While I was in the Army, I worked with one of the former pilots from Operation Eagle Claw (one of the failed rescue attempts for the U.S. Embassy in Iran). I've been able to bury a few friends thanks to Explosive Force Projectiles (that were smuggled into Iraq from Iran, that blew through anything we have like a hot knife through butter). Oh, and their celebrations of 9/11 made me rather sick (right along with Palestine, Syria and North Korea.

So, rioting in Iran. Two things I see happen: 1) Civil unrest, lets add to it a little bit and make Iran's gov't work a bit harder. 2) Would you not think that civil unrest in Iran would be a cause of celebration in the United States? We haven't had anyone on the ground (working for us) there since 1978.

Maybe its just me, but so far, since the whole mess in Iran, only two days (in my case), have I seen anything about it on the news. The first news story was about Obama's tepid response, and the second was about Ahmadinejad criticizing Obama's actions. Tianemen(sp?) Square made news after a college student was run over with a tank (iirc). Iran's level of violence against protesters is much greater, but I still haven't seen a news feature about it, except for obscure, transcribed news reports from radio stations dotted around the country, on Fark (or foreign news services).

As much as I liked Michael Jackson, this morning I've seen one headline story and three supporting stories. Whereas Iran got one AP article about the reaction in Iran to Obama's tepid stance. I see a problem with this. I have no problem if someone wants to throw out the Supreme Leader and his presidential puppet pet. Just like, 9/11 was cause for celebration there for attacks against the infidels, while I'm not happy about death, destruction and chaos, I am happy to give those who are rising up against the Supreme Leader a little leg up.

Even if the religious clerics who hold the power go nowhere, their ability to put who they want to in office (versus who is popular with the people) is at stake. Its sort of like Iraq in this regard; Hussein was known as being cut-throat and vicious, but after he ruined his country's economy with the Iraq-Iran war, he was barely able to keep his citizens 'in line', in the (no less than) four uprisings against him between 1992 and 2003.

Anyway, I hope that clarifies for you why I've done what I've done. Short of flying to Tehran myself (I lack the clothes, the weapons and the dialect), and personally involving myself, this is about as far as I've gone.

[Uniform Two Six]

As much as I liked Michael Jackson, this morning I've seen one headline story and three supporting stories.

Yeah, no argument from me there. The situation in Iran is a way bigger story. It just proves how generally screwed up most Americans' priorities are. Political instability in a country which may have a nuclear weapons program gets trumped by a singer/songwriter croaking. Or even better, how about a country that already has nuclear weapons fighting a hot insurrection and losing whole swaths of territory in the process? Anybody see anything in the news on Pakistan recently? I haven't.

So, rioting in Iran. Two things I see happen: 1) Civil unrest, lets add to it a little bit and make Iran's gov't work a bit harder. 2) Would you not think that civil unrest in Iran would be a cause of celebration in the United States?

That just plays into their hands. They would just love us to look like we're celebrating or gloating over their internal political problems. The easiest way to get people to ignore how incompetent you are at running their country is to find an outside enemy to blame all of your nation's ills upon. Just look at the Bush Administration (with a nod to the "Axis of Evil" bulls**t).

I am happy to give those who are rising up against the Supreme Leader a little leg up.

Watch out. These guys are functionally the same as the guys who overthrew the Shah in 1979. It was the "student" uprising populated by people who were looking to alter the status quo, and didn't really give much thought to the question of "replace it with what?". Yeah, I'm not going to shed any tears if the government in Tehran falls (or even just stumbles), but nobody knows exactly what will come after. More evil has entered this world through the vehicle of uncertainty and chaos than anything else. Sometimes it's better with the devil you know...

While I was in the Army

Sorry, I gotta ask. Active or reserve? What's your MOS? Any deployments?

[Baphnedia]

Oh, I was active for nearly ten years. Secretary then Satellite Communications. Invaded Iraq, and have a few unconfirmed kills. Beyond that, I'm on a medical retirement.