Freedom Flame Burns in Iran

Iran has been ripe for revolution for a few years now. The chimes of freedom should have rung six-months ago after the election was rigged giving Ahmedinejad the "win" over the peoples choice Mousavi.

The subsequent uprising needed only the support of the United States and Obama voted "present" instead of giving his support. People died and one in particular will be the heroine of the revolt when it's all said and done:

Neda Soltan was not political. She did not vote in the Iranian presidential election on June 12. The young student was appalled, however, by the way that the regime shamelessly rigged the result and reinstalled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ignoring the pleas of her family, she went with her music teacher eight days later to join a huge opposition demonstration in Tehran.

“Even if a bullet goes through my heart it’s not important,” she told Caspian Makan, her fiancé. “What we’re fighting for is more important. When it comes to taking our stolen rights back we should not hesitate. Everyone is responsible. Each person leaves a footprint in this world.”

Ms Soltan, 26, had no idea just how big a footprint she would leave. Hours after leaving home, she was indeed shot, by a government militiaman, as she and other demonstrators chanted: “Death to the dictator.”

As an aside, note that Time's Person of the Year was Ben Bernanke while the Times (UK) chose Soltan. Telling indeed.

Anyway, the violence has flared up again and this time the results may be different. This is a continuation of the earlier protests but took on more fervor in wake of the death of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri who ran afoul of Ayatollah Khomeini but believed in a more relaxed theocracy than does the current leadership.

Things are getting bad as this video allegedly shows a child killed in the battles against regime forces:



This one shows the citizens beating said forces back:



The power of the digital world is on full display in this conflict as the ayatollahs have been trying to tamp down any news coming out but the young are using You Tube and Twitter to get the word out.

Let's hope that Obama can take time from his Hawaiian stay and support the people of Iran this time.

All breaking new reported here.

Saturday Night News & Notes

The word is it's going to be a nasty winter and based on the spring, summer and early fall we're seeing, I'm not betting against it. Should be a joy but hopefully the slopes open early this year.

Anyway, here's what's new in the world:

-This story made the rounds before and is probably being bandied about by his political rivals; Ahmadinejad is of Jewish stock. L'Chaim, Mahmoud.

-Unemployment is at 15-million. That's 9.8% or a number we've not seen since 1983 when Reagan was just beginning to pull us out of the mess created by four years of Jimmy Carter. The ACORN layoffs alone will put it over 10% by Christmas. BTW, taking into account real numbers, it's the highest since records were kept.

-Speaking of those out of work, remember when Obama said it woulkd never reach 8% if we passed the stimulus bill? Er...he was so way off:



-Alarmism: Ban Ki-Moon, Sec General of the UN instructs the world that we only have ten days to prevent climate doom. I'll take my chances. Moon should clean up his organization filled with rapists and thugs before he chastises us.

-Is Obama like Gorbachev? Now that's a funny one to ponder. The left remember Gorbi as the cool Soviet who would save the crumbling empire while the right remembers him as a dude who needed hi fat pulled out of the fire by a blithering Boris Yeltsin.

Iranian Regime Settles the Score

It only took the silence of a US president to signal the regime that they could start handling the protests in their own, special, hyper-violent way and face no ramifications.

Today the mullahs unleashed hell upon those who dared to stand up for freedom in the theocratic nation and the result will be untold dead and wounded.

Gateway Pundit has all the news plus video and pictures from the crackdown including this:



But wait, their will be serious ramifications on a scale like those levied by the UN: Obama rescinded his invitation to Iranian diplomats who were previously invited to the White House barbecue. It would have been awkward eating hamburgers with the blood of innocents all over their hands I guess. I'm sure Obama would have covered for them by saying it was only ketchup.

Iran Update

Here's what's going on in the (hopefully soon to be dead) mullahracy:

-The J-Post reports that Hamas thugs are cracking skulls in support of the regime. Didn't Jimmy Carter say that Hamas should be removed from the list of terror groups just yesterday? Yes, yes he did. The irony meter is pegged at eleven:

On Monday, he said, "my brother had his ribs beaten in by those Palestinian animals. Taking our people's money is not enough, they are thirsty for our blood too."

It was ironic, this man said, that the victorious Ahmadinejad "tells us to pray for the young Palestinians, suffering at the hands of Israel." His hope, he added, was that Israel would "come to its senses" and ruthlessly deal with the Palestinians.

-Obama refused to vocalize support for those seeking freedom and justice because he didn't want to hurt the cause by allowing the Mullahs to blame the US. Surprise, they blame us anyway. You see, whenever anything bad happens in Iran, it's all the fault of the US. Kinda like when anything went bad in the US it was Bush's fault.

-New media has a coming out party. Michael Smerconish asked on his radio show this morning what would have been the outcome of other historic events had Twitter been around. It's an interesting question.

-Iranians in South Korea make their feelings known:

Iranian soccer players also wore a green armband to show support. I'd imagine their are going to be a good amount of requests for asylum in South Korea tonight.

-IAEA inspector Mohammed al-Baradei is now a firm believer that Iran wants nukes. The only one who doesn't see this with clarity is Barack Obama.

Finally, I just want to be clear that Mousavi is not a revolutionary but more of the same. This is not a support Mousavi action but it's a start at change. Mousavi knows that should he somehow come out the victor in this, he will have to live up to what the students expect and that's going to be a tough order to fill.

Pictures of Iranian Freedom Revolution

I wrote earlier that President Obama has been tight-lipped about the events in Iran after Ahmadinejad stole the election. Perhaps pictures will wake him up. Nothing like a little dose of reality to smack oneself into action:



Anyone who can sit back and say nothing when they have the power to sway events is not worthy of the title "American" let alone President. These people are fighting for freedom. Unfortunately, The One is only about political expedience and human rights have no place in the mix.

Shameful but not entirely unexpected.

Update: Perhaps video will light a fire under his ass:

Obama's Shameful Silence on Iran

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs are not pulling any punches in putting down the protests over the fraudulent "election" on Friday. Reports have surfaced that the regime is sanctioning--or supporting through proxies--shootings, maimings and beatings of those who are exercising their human right to freedom of speech.

As the Obama administration has so tactlessly made clear with their kid glove treatment of China's human rights policies, they seem to be taking the same approach to Iran. They've said nothing of consequence while muttering non sequiturs and the world is noticing:

Vice President Joe Biden, while expressing "some real doubt" about the election, summed up the administration's position on Sunday's Meet the Press - "we're going to withhold comment... I mean we're just waiting to see." Waiting to see what Mr. Biden? More savage beatings of opposition supporters including women? The further arrest of hundreds of opposition leaders? Even greater suppression of the press and free speech?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton basically said the same thing in a pathetic statement on Saturday, declaring "the United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran," while White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who thinks nothing of savaging domestic opponents, meekly noted the administration was "impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm this election generated."

As blood flows on the streets of Tehran, the United States government remains as silent as a Trappist Monk. It is highly embarrassing when even the German government is showing more backbone than the White House. In contrast, the Germans, who shamefully happen to be Europe's biggest exporters to Iran, strongly denounced the crackdown on protestors, as have a number of European governments. Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier condemned the "brutal actions" against demonstrators, and summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Berlin in protest.

Here we have a nation that has snubbed its nose at the US for three decades and has given the finger to Obama on numerous ocassions brutally repressing civilians who seek greater freedom. Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, FDR and yes, even George W. Bush would have been condemning the Iranian leadership at every opportunity. But they had what was once known as guts and an unwavering sense of American exceptionalism. Obama (and most liberals) on the other hand will find some way to blame this on the US while letting the Mullahs and Ahmadinejad off the hook with a few words akin to "we condemn..." or the more mealy-mouthed "we strongly condemn..."

Here we have people protesting and dying to gain some semblance of freedom, the very thing America stands as a beacon (and one the Iranians who are being oppresses are counting on) of and the President can't condemn a brutal theocracy who he had coddled since day one with overtures of talks with no conditions and expressions of peace through speeches.

Oh yeah, Obama did take some action; he removed a major State Dept player who knows Iran well to appease the mullahs. Kind of like voting "present".

As an aside: George W. Bush labeled Iran, North Korea and Iraq the Axis of Evil. Not surprisingly, the one who has been given a new nation with a functioning democracy has learned to live as a free nation while the others have stepped up their level of rhetoric to heretofore unforeseen heights.

Hope and change baby, hope and change.

Update: Obama spoke after three, count 'em, thre days and said, well...nothing of consequence. People are dying and wanted a concrete statement and got rhetoric from The One:

The Worlds Bad Guys Give Obama the Finger

Yeah, the whole "we'll talk with them without preconditions" thing is working out awesome, isn't it?

Kim Jung-il told Obama in no uncertain terms what he thinks about him and his foreign policy initiatives by detonating a nuclear weapon on Memorial Day and then to make sure the point was taken launched some missiles. That is the diplomatic equivalent of punching him in the face, feeling up his his wife and flattening his tires.

Next we have Ahmadinejad making his intentions known by telling Obama thanks but no thanks on that whole nuclear weapon talk:

"The nuclear issue is a finished issue for us," Mr. Ahmadinejad told reporters Monday in Tehran. But he made an offer that Mr. Obama will find difficult to refuse, proposing to debate the president and his teleprompter at the U.N. "regarding the roots of world problems." But no talks about the Iranian bomb. "Our talks [with the major powers] will be only in the framework of cooperation for managing global issues, and nothing else.

All in all a pretty successful holiday weekend for The One. If we have many more of these we'll be about as respected a world power as Mali or Sri Lanka.

But hey, Obama is "gravely concerned" so that should get old Kim back in line.

Hope and change [TM] indeed.

Update: Maybe Obama should install John Bolton at the UN again. He's the only one who seems to foresee the error of his policies.

Saberi Gets Eight Years on Trumped Up Iranian Charges

An American who went to her ancestral country to try to help and encourage change for the country has been convicted on murky charges of spying:

The US has expressed dismay after a court in Iran jailed an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, for eight years on spying charges.

Ms Saberi, 31, was sentenced after a secret one-day trial in Tehran.

President Barack Obama "is deeply disappointed at this news," his spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Correspondents say the case will have serious implications for US-Iranian relations at a time when Mr Obama has reached out to the Tehran.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier expressed her disappointment at the sentence.

I for one am glad that both Obama and Clinton are "disappointed". Their disappointment should go far in making Ahmadinejad see the error of his ways and make the mad mullahs tremble in their turbans.

An American has been sentenced to 8-years in an Iranian prison on trumped up charges and was tried in a kangaroo court and all we hear is that it's disappointing from the President and SecState. My Lord, we have fallen farther and faster than even I dared to fear.

Update: Wait, he's now "gravely concerned". That's escalation, baby. But don't worry, we have Ahmadinejads assurance that her appeal will fair so that makes me feel better...or not.

Obama Gets a Taste of Iranian Diplomacy

Obama has this stunted view--a view most liberals share--that talk and negotiation will get other nations to like us. He sent some feel-good overtures to Iran and the Iranians have responded about how I'd expected:

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

The Iranians come from a part of the world where men are hard and have been for centuries. People in the region respect one thing: strength. Negotiating is for weaklings or for those who are losing.

Obama played right into that by his talk during the campaign of unconditional talks with Ahmadinejad and others. They look at him as a timid leader who doesn't have any heart and that's scary.

I expect an incident in the Straits of Hormuz in the next year in which the Iranian navy tries to get froggy with either a merchant ship headed toward the US or a US Navy vessel. The mullahs are going to want to test the backbone the unproven Obama.

Ayatollah's Son: Ahmedinejad is Jewish

It appears old Mahmoud has fallen out of favor with the Ayatollah's:

Mehdi Khazali, the son of the conservative Ayatollah Khazali, has written on his personal website that he recently learned that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots.

Khazali notes that Ahmadinejad changed his family name from Saburjian, and says that the origins of the Saburjian family in the town of Aradan should be investigated.

Ahmadinejad's relatives had told Britain's "The Guardian" following his election that the family had changed its name for "a mixture of religious and economic reasons."

Poor Mahmoud, the Iranians won't want him if he's a Jew and the Jews would probably not offer him a place of refuge, what with that whole "wipe Israel off the map" rhetoric.

I would say this is a sign that Ahmadinejad is probably not long for the leadership position.

Pic borrowed from Naked Loon who proves that the line between fact and satire is thin indeed.

Cuba, Korea and Iran Warm up to Obama

Two thirds of the Axis of Evil seem to like the new man we have in the White House:

In his inaugural address, President Obama signaled conciliation to America's foes by promising an outstretched hand if they unclench their fists.
Already, there are signs that some of those foes were listening, sensing an opening for improved relations after eight combative years with George W. Bush as president. Fidel Castro is said to like the new U.S. leader, and North Korea and Iran sounded open to new ideas to defuse nuclear tensions.

Unclear is what they will demand in return from Obama, and whether they will agree to the compromises that the United States is likely to require in exchange for warmer relations.

Are the Castro brothers really willing to move toward democracy? Can Russia and the West heal their widening estrangement? Will Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stop being a thorn in America's side?

Oh, I bet every nation in the world that wishes us harm is very willing to talk with us, some without preconditions or so Obama said. Ahmadinejad, Castro and Kim Jung Il are probably busy putting out the red carpet for Hillary as we speak.

Kudos to the Inqy for following suit and buying into the Obama hype, they've chose to run the latest AP piece that's so over the top in support of Obama as to be nauseating to anyone that has a shred of pride left in the newspaper industry.

North Korea continued building nukes even though they "befriended" Clinton, Carter and Madeline Aldull. Hugo Chavez abhors the US and has been sowing discord throughout South America countering our aims and Iran has been building centrifuges and looks to become friends so they can continue to do so without having to worrying about us prying.

Friends? I leave you with one picture of their ideas of friendship:

Ahmadinejad Goes Back to His Roots

It seems that the Iranian leadership, in a bid to gain support for Hamas, is pulling out that old standby--the embassy break-in:

Iran's official news agency says dozens of hardline students have broken into the British Embassy residence in Tehran.

The IRNA agency says the students accuse Britain of supporting Israel's air assault on the Gaza Strip.

According to the agency, the students stormed the compound Tuesday evening and pulled down the British flag.

IRNA says the students then hoisted a Palestinian flag at compound's entrance before police forced them to leave.

The news agency says the break-in lasted about an hour and that the area is now calm. No injuries were reported.

Nothing like a little intrusion on another nations sovereign territory to gain support for your cause. Royal Marines (or whomever the Brits use for security) would have been within their rights to shoot the intruders on the spot.

It must have felt like reliving the past to old Mahmoud.

In other regional news involving the Mullocracy, the Saudi's, Egyptians and Jordanians seem to have no dog in the Hamas fight while Iranian proxies such as Syria and Hezbollah are pissed at them for not speaking up. Just politics in the Mideast.

Sarkozy: Obama Position on Iran "Utterly Immature"

This is hearsay but it does seem absolutely plausible that a center-right European politician would find Obama's positions vis-a-vis the Middle east infantile at best:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government.

Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content."

Granted, this could be Ha'aretz running an unfounded story because they--as I'm sure most Israeli's--an Obama administration. But it does sound genuine.

It goes without saying that if an ally found him to be "empty of all content" that so will Ahmadinejad, Hamas leadership, Nasrallah and the Pakistani leadership.

We are treading on dangerous ground at this point in our history and it isn't all that encouraging to hear that a valuable friend thinks the front-runner is a joke. I imagine that the inept Gordon Brown of Britain and the even more inept Kevin "I eat my own earwax" Rudd of Australia will find a certain kinship with Obama however.

Palin Continues to Hammer Obama

The job of a VP candidate is to hammer the opposition. I do believe it's gone to a new level. Pure. Red. Meat, y'all:



The 'Cuda is relentless and the hammer is continuous. A good strategy? My guess is...affirmative.