In 2003 the Jazzman proposed a March of Silence to protest the war on terror in an essay entitled Code of Silence (The Jazzman Chronicles, Volume 2: The War Chronicles). More recently I posted a fictional account of a March of Silence in a political novella posted on Buzzle.com (A Patriot Dirge by Jack Random). I was fascinated to see that the Iranian election protests adopted that tactic to great effect.
The following is an exchange in response to "Something Happening Here: Iranian Elections and Funding the War" posted on Bela Ciao and the National Free Press - World Edition:
The truth is the US is funding the Iranian unrest.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1543798/US-funds-terror-groups-to-sow-chaos-in-Iran.html
The truth is there is not a dimes worth of difference between the parties in DC and anyone who still believe there are two parties is foolish. And if you still don’t believe that, ask Jonathan Turley.
The truth is Obama is just another puppet for the powers that be- the powers who controlled bush2, Clinton and bush 1.
The truth is the US Congress is subservient to israel and AIPAC.
While all this ’new awakening’ sounds nice on the surface, the truth is people are deeper in sleep than they were during the bush crime spree in the last 8 years. Anon.
---
While I am sympathetic to your general point of view I think you’ll need better documentation to support your assertions. The source you cite in support of your view that the US is funding Iranian unrest is dated February 2007. There is widespread recognition that the Bush administration had secret operations in Iran (such as funding fringe militants as cited here) but we do not have documentation that those ill-conceived operations (reminiscent of our backing jihadists in Afghanistan) were continued under Obama. I would not be shocked if they were continued but documentation to that effect would be powerful. I would hope that Obama is smarter, wiser and more scrupulous than the Bush Neocons.
On the "dimes worth of difference" (a citation of the Counterpunch book?) I am again sympathetic. My hope is that the dime makes a difference and that Obama will eventually prove transformational in the FDR sense. I would be interested in reading Turley’s comments on this point. The hope here is that the Turleys of the world will engage the system as independents or third party candidates — not in the traditional symbolic run for the White House but in a realistic targeted run for congress. (If Ventura can win a governorship, why not Turley for the Senate?)
On AIPAC’s influence in congress, it is a powerful lobby but my own opinion would fall well short of the assertion that congress is subservient. There is a progressive movement in Israel and in the Jewish American community. We need to support them and work toward defeating politicians who place the demands of the Jewish right over the needs of their constituents. Jazz.
---
Okay how about this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/17/obama-iran-twitter
The Obama administration, while insisting it is not meddling in Iran, yesterday confirmed it had asked Twitter to remain open to help anti-government protesters.
The company had planned a temporary shutdown to overhaul its service in the middle of the night on Monday but the US state department put in a request to postpone this.
Many protesters have being using Twitter to spread information about rallies and to share news.
or this:
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/proof-israeli-effort-to-destabilize-iran-via-twitter/
"....Anyone using Twitter over the past few days knows that the topic of the Iranian election has been the most popular. Thousands of tweets and retweets alleging that the election was a fraud, calling for protests in Iran, and even urging followers hack various Iranian news websites (which they did successfully). The Twitter popularity caught the eye of various blogs such as Mashable and TechCrunch and even made its way to mainstream news media sites....."
....article continues.
People have been whipped up into froths before to bring about social change. One only need look to Russia, China and Cuba to see what ’popular revolution’ can really mean beneath the rhetoric. People protesting is nice and all, but let’s look at the source of the instigators.
What troubles me most is all the US has the gall to be ranting about election fraud in Iran. Where were these "election vigilantes" in 2000 and 2004 when the presidential election was given to the loser? Hmmm?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has taken a hard line against Israel, its incessant meddling and it’s self-proclaimed ’right to defend itself’ by slaughtering others in obscene disproportionate measure, particularly Palestinians. Israel’s constant and tiresome insistence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon has been proven to be false numerous times. And we haven’t even touched upon the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons which it will not allow UN Inspectors to verify. Israel is not even a signatory to the NNPT. Hypocrisy is their hallmark in this matter.
That Israel and the US are meddling in the affairs of Iran is about as obvious as it can get and particularly because of the timing (an election). I don’t recall seeing any mass protests prior to the election. one would think if the people were really so dissatisfied, they would have been out in throngs at any time, not just during an election.
What the world really needs to wake up to is the fact that destabilization is the order of the day. It’s been this way with Iraq and Afghanistan. it was never "weapons of mass BS" nor nuclear quest, nor ’democracy’, nor anything else. It is and has always been destabilization of the region in order to destroy the countries so as to exploit the resources, namely OIL and GAS and for the benefit of the US/ISRAEL.
Regarding the dimes worth or difference. I have little faith in the power of a dime these days. I believe with my eyes. It’s safer that way. Anon.
---
Once again we are largely in agreement on the greater picture but we disagree on the finer points of the situation in Iran.
I am aware of the "Twitter Revolution" and the fact that the US State Department requested that Twitter remain open to facilitate its use in Iran. In my judgment that is meddling and it was a mistake but it is a far cry from sponsoring Black Ops and instigating violence as the Bush administration did.
I am no defender of the Israeli government. They will do everything in their power (without risking US sponsorship) to destabilize Iran. Ultimately however anything that has the mark of Israel or America will backfire because in the age of information technology it will become known and the people of Iran (like the people of any nation) will recognize and reject it.
The question remains who/what is behind the mass electoral protests in Iran? You believe it is foreign intervention (Israel, Britain, the US). I believe that while there is certainly some level of foreign meddling the uprising has its roots in the will of the people.
We are in agreement on the hypocrisy of America crying "election fraud" after the elections of 2000 and 2004. We are largely in agreement on Iraq and Afghanistan. We are in agreement on the hypocrisy of Israel (and the US) on nuclear policy. We are in agreement that Israel’s actions against the Palestinians are criminal. We may not however be in agreement on our assessment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. From my perspective, he is no friend to the Palestinian cause. He is a front man for hardline Islamists who use anti-western and anti-Israeli rhetoric (however justified) to manipulate public sentiment. Though he is only a figurehead, Iran and Palestine and the cause of peace in the Middle East would better served without him. He is a holocaust denier, a political opportunist and a firebrand. Enough of Ahmadinejad! The Supreme Ayatollah may save his "presidency" but he has lost the people and his credibility on the world stage. Jazz.
