more from Iran

Once Qaddafi’s regime is finished off within the next few days (one hopes), there are several good candidates for the next regime overthrow, but Iran’s brutal group of ruling thugs might be my own first choice.

Who can we trust?
via TehranReview by shervin on 2/22/11

Feb 22, 2011 – N. Sayeh is a young woman in her twenties who took part in the Iranian street protests of February 20 (1st of Esfand). This is an eyewitness account of her day.

1st of Esfand. It is the seventh day after the death of two young martyrs of the Green Movement, Sane Jaleh and Mohammad Mokhtari. The Leaders of the Green Movement, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, are under house arrest.

The plan for the 1st of Esfand protest was first published by a group in the Green Movement and afterwards confirmed by Ardeshir Amir Arjmand, legal advisor of Mir-Hossein Mousavi. No specific path was announced, but on Facebook and other green sites, all main squares in Tehran were suggested. I chose Valiasr Sq. (second important square in Tehran after Azadi Sq.) to the Valiasr four-way, and then to Azadi Sq. This direction links two of the most well-known universities of Iran, Tehran University and Sharif University. On the way to Valiasr Sq., there were security forces in all the crowded and important parts of city and also at the entrance gate of fuel stations. When I arrived at Valiasr Sq., I saw a huge amount of government forces at four sides of the square. People were walking on the sidewalks.

As usual, plain clothes forces were moving in the bus line with their motorcycles. As we got closer to Valiasr four-way, people and also forces increased. In front of the Academy of Arts an elderly woman walked along with us. She thought we should manage the protest to Pastor Street where Mousavi’s house is located, and that maybe we could do something useful for our leaders under house arrest. But they closed the entrance way of the fuel station in Enghelab Street – it was full of basiji. One of them was standing on a stone, recording with a handy cam people walking on the sidewalks.

A basiji was recording with a handy cam people walking on the sidewalks

Everywhere on our way, forces were standing with batons in their hands on the sidewalks. Slightly ahead in front of the veterinary faculty, there were more and more people and the atmosphere became tense. They hit some people with batons and arrested some of them and took them to police vans. We ran away to the middle of street between the cars. On the other side of the street, some of the protesters began to shout the slogan “Death to dictator”. Forces on the other side attacked the protesters. The atmosphere on both sides of the street got very tense and at last, Revolutionary Guards fired tear gas and the crowd was dispersed.

Slightly ahead, people gathered anew. In bus line 4, basiji in shroud walked and chanted slogans with Khamenei’s picture and flags in their hands. We turned our heads toward them; the uproar increased so I couldn’t understand what those basijis were shouting. A traffic soldier who was standing in the middle of the four-way came toward us and said: ‘Don’t talk with people around you, do not trust anyone, the streets are full of intelligent service officers’. He lowered his voice and continued: ‘Light pink shirt- shiny black suit- tapered shoes.’ I looked around and saw two men with these clothes; I looked back to the soldier and he moved his head in approval. I felt terribly insecure.

I felt terribly insecure

We continued our way. It was raining and the weather got colder. As we got closer to Azadi Sq., the crowd became smaller. Forces who were standing on the sidewalks with Sepah uniforms were teenager boys with batons and shields. ‘It’s not serious’, they laughed and winked at us, and just as their chief came toward them they stood in rows again and the smile disappeared from their faces. The old Sepahi hit their arms with his batons and warned them to be careful about their behavior.

Near to Azadi Sq., in front of Meghdad Basij station, basiji formed a long tunnel on the sidewalk. On both sides basiji stood with their batons in their hands and shields in front of their faces. Everyone should pass this tunnel. People were silent, but there was anger in their eyes. When it seemed that someone said something, the basiji raised their batons and started to hit people. We arrived at Azadi Sq. at 7 o clock. It started raining heavier. I got in a taxi and called my friends.

Two of my friends were near Vanak Sq. and talked about what they had seen. Most of the stores were closed and those that were not yet were forced by police to close their stores. Again the guards attacked people, and they ran away toward taxi and bus stations and hid. All of the roads to Vanak Sq. were heavily in traffic and most of the cars were hooting. My friend got there about 6 and then she found a taxi.

Another friend of mine was in Haqani St. He went toward Vanak and saw the crowd silent but vibrant. It seemed that an hour before, repressive forces came to that area, shouting their specific slogans like ‘Heidar Heidar’, they formed a climate of fear. Plain clothes hid their faces behind masks, whereas last year the protesters hid their faces – but now the regime’s forces are doing it because of fear of detection by people!

At the end of the day, we get in a taxi together, and everyone was talking about politics, everyone, everywhere people were talking about discontent and suffocation, but who can we trust?

WikiLeaks cables on the Qaddafi family

WikiLeaks cables are the most fun thing to happen in years, and the Qaddafi cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli are hilarious. Here’s one small portion of the article:

“As for the 68-year-old Colonel Qaddafi, the cables provide an arresting portrait, describing him as a hypochondriac who fears flying over water and often fasts on Mondays and Thursdays. The cables said he was an avid fan of horse racing and flamenco dancing who once added ‘King of Culture’ to the long list of titles he had awarded himself. The memos also said he was accompanied everywhere by a ‘voluptuous blonde,’ the senior member of his posse of Ukrainian nurses.. ‘A self-styled intellectual and philosopher,’ the cable told [Condoleeza] Rice, ‘he has been eagerly anticipating for several years the opportunity to share with you his views on global affairs.'”

But this leaves out the funniest part from WikiLeaks. When Qaddafi needed a U.S. visa to address the UN in New York, he was told he needed to provide a photo for visa processing purposes. His response was that, since his face is on so many billboards throughout Tripoli, the US Embassy should simply photograph one of the billboards and shrink the photo down to passport size. Needless to say, the suggestion was refused, and Qaddafi had to give the U.S. a photo.

new rumor: two ships

It’s now being said that two Libyan ships have defected to Malta, though I can’t find a good source to link to yet.

Some people are also questioning whether the earlier “battleship” claim is even possible. Does the Libyan Navy have anything that big? Probably not.

But as one blog commenter aptly puts it: “If you are having to resort to naval bombardments for crowd control, it would suggest that Qaddafi hasn’t much support from the police or army. I’d say his chances are pretty slim.”

morning summary

I slept early last night, so am just getting caught up. The things that jump out at me about Libya news this morning are as follows:

*the Interior Minister resigned, urged the army to turn against the Colonel, and said it was a matter “of days or hours” before he is defeated

*150 executed soldiers were found in the East, presumably because they refused to fire on unarmed protestors

*Peru became the first nation to break diplomatic relations with Libya over the crackdown

*yesterday the Italian Navy had been monitoring a Libyan ship off the Maltese coast; rumor now has it that it’s a Libyan battleship defecting to Malta after refusing orders to shell Benghazi

*rumors abound that Qaddafi (I prefer this older English spelling, which seems correct to me, and the NY Times now uses it again) will sabotage oil facilities as he’s going down