A Tehran University student's computer, purportedly broken during a militia raid.
The discussions in the White House right now must be fascinating and maybe heated--should we openly side with the Iranian demonstrators or hold to the neutrality pose? Just now the President's spokesman said he hopes Twitter will continue to delay needed maintenance downtime so that direct news can be reported from the Iranian people. That's a positive step. After all, Western reporters are being ordered to stay in their offices and not to report from the street. So brave reports from Iranians are all there are to get the truth out. (Two top Twitter sites #IranElection and #CNNfail--a running reproach to CNN's less than helpful coverage.)
Right now there are a spate of Twitter messages saying that there are more deaths today and raids of homes and offices; also that the Army has entered Tehran to confront the demonstrators. If so, this escalation raises the prospect of rank and file Iranian soldiers being called upon to attack their fellow citizens. It is a different prospect from the actions of the Basij ("Mobilization") militia that are a kind of kind of palace guard for the theocrats and have been beating demonstrators with batons over several days. In many revolutions, a critical moment comes when ordinary citizens in Army service are asked to fire on other citizens. They may do it once, even twice. But eventually, they may refuse their orders and then, whether planning it or not, may switch sides. If that happens, the revolution reaches a new, more explosive stage. Remember, too, the soldiers are young, and so are most demonstrators. They are all Iranians.
An alternative scenario is that the supposed reformer Moussavi goes on TV (which the Twitterers also say he is trying to do) and essentially cools down the protests with minimum demands, whereafter the regime regains control.
Regardless, as Amir Fakhravar, the former head of the Iran Student Confederation and a prisoner tortured repeatedly in the infamous Iranian prisons, said today, the people of Iran have not had a chance to express their will about the main contours of the government. The real powers in the theocracy merely present them with pre-approved candidates they can choose among. Fakhravar spoke eloquently at Discovery Institute two years ago; today he pointed out on FOX News that the Iranians are expressing themselves in the street as never before. The demonstrators are an appealing lot, not hateful, but peaceful, almost too pleading. And they are braver than the demonstrators of 30 years ago who were standing up to forces that already were crumbling.
They need to know our moral support.
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