May 2010
1 post
Editor's Note: Reboot
As you might have noticed, the title has changed. As has the theme. This is indicative of a new focus on this page; I hope you’ll find my new content, explained below, a bit more fulfilling (and frequently-posted) than before.
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“The Wire” refers to the security perimeter surrounding a military FOB, or Forward Operating Base. Military operations are conducted “outside...
June 2009
20 posts
September 29. FedEx Field (home of the Washington...
Is Iran Ripe for a Revolution? (from Slate... →
Best article I’ve read on the elections all day, and it’s much closer to the tenth or fifteenth than the first. Furthermore, Byman’s thoughts and opinions on the aftermath of the elections, and the continued viability of the protests, very closely mirror my own. +1 for Slate.
Timeline of Post-Election Events in Iran →
The Iranian Election and the Revolution Test
By George Friedman — 22 June, 2009 Successful revolutions have three phases. First, a strategically located single or limited segment of society begins vocally to express resentment, asserting itself in the streets of a major city, usually the capital. This segment is joined by other segments in the city and by segments elsewhere as the demonstration spreads to other cities and becomes more...
The Detrimental Effects of Political Parties on...
“If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” – Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Francis Hopkinson, 1789)
Multiple fundamental flaws are incorporated in the American Constitution. Many—States’ rights, the legality of slavery, the American tendency toward isolation—have been resolved through legislation, conflict and or political evolution. However, the dominance of two...
Dealing With A Resurgent Russia
As the Kremlin Plays Hardball, It’s Time for Washington to Play Chess
When Barack Obama entered the Oval Office last January, he was faced with a multitude of world problems, none of which were, are or will be easy to solve. Over the course of five months, he has spent billions of dollars to resurrect failing financial institutions and corporations; he has announced a tentative date for...
"Hope and Change -- but Not for Iran" by Charles... →
A concise and well-written article critisizing the Obama administration’s response to the ongoing protests and outrage in Iran. Despite your views on Obama’s mainstream policies, his handling of this crisis has done nothing to promote the Iranian efforts toward democracy, a move contrary to what the United States has stood for since Harry Truman occupied the Oval Office.
Mousavi's new revolutionary manifesto →
garysick:
Today, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the presidential candidate who has come to represent the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people, issued a formal statement. The text is available at the title link.
Although he denounces the “lies and fraud” of the leadership, particularly in the recent election, he views the fraudulent election as only as the symptom of something far more serious. He...
Please retweet: sign petition ‘Petition to let Mousavi’s speech be aired’ - http://301.to/2ju #Iranelection RT RT RT
“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn...”
– an Iranian blogger
8 Hours
To continue my “countdown” theme from yesterday, I write now as time is ticking away in Tehran. As the title of this indicates, in roughly eight hours’ time from now—0830 EDT, 1600 Tehran time—the “Sea of Green” protesters will almost certainly come face-to-face with an opposition vastly stronger and more formidible than anything they have seen thus far in their...
From Gary Sick, definitely worth Reading
garysick:
Khamenei: The Speech
Iran’s Leader, Ayatollah Khamene`i, gave everyone a piece of his mind in his Friday speech. Here are my reactions:
First, and perhaps more important than the words themselves, was the fact that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani did not attend. This is extraordinary. Khamene’i and Rafsanjani were fellow revolutionaries in 1978-79. They have been associates –...
6 tags
48 Hours
I, like many interested in the drama surrounding Iran’s June 11 elections, have barely been able to leave my computer for the past few days; instead I have eagerly watched as events that have the potential to literally recreate a nation have unfolded before my eyes. I have been stricken by the incredible persistence and nonviolence of the protesters—save, of course, for a few sporadic clashes...
Guardian Council agrees to investigate election complaints http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8107192.stm #iranelection
LIST OF POSSIBLE FAKE TWITTER ACCOUNTS LINKED TO IRAN GOV http://twitspam.org/?p=1403 #IranElection
“War is God’s way of teaching Americans Geography.”
– Ambrose Bierce
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhashemi/sets/72157619... →
The most recent photos I’ve seen of the ongoing protests against the Iranian election. Definitely something worth checking out.
“Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium.”
– Better Freedom with Danger than Peace with Slavery