This ain't good - Iranian protesters battle police

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southwestforests
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07 Dec 2009, 2:55 pm

This ain't good. :? :(

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/07/ap/middleeast/main5920276.shtml

Quote:
Tens Of Thousands Protest In Iran, Battling Police
Nationwide Student Protests Bring Tens Of Thousands Into Iran's Streets, Clashing With Police

(AP) TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Security forces and militiamen clashed with thousands of protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University on Monday, beating them with batons and firing tear gas on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said.

The rallies were the largest in months, bringing tens of thousands out on more than a dozen campuses around the country and in several major squares in Tehran as university students - a bedrock of support for the pro-reform movement - energized the opposition. The anti-government movement has been reeling under a fierce crackdown since turmoil erupted over the disputed presidential election in June.

Thousands of riot police as well as forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard and their allied Basij militiamen flooded the area around Tehran University since the morning, trying to seal off the campus from the outside world and prevent unrest from spilling out into the streets.

Authorities covered the tall fence around the university with banners and signs bearing slogans from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hiding whatever took place inside. Cell phone networks around the universities were shut down, and police and Revolutionary Guard surrounded entrances, checking IDs of anyone entering to bar opposition activists, witnesses said.

"There's anxiety that there will be violence and shooting. I shout slogans and demonstrate but try not to provoke any clash with the security," Tehran University student Kouhyar Goudarzi told The Associated Press in Beirut by telephone. "We are worried."

The fiercest violence was on the streets outside Tehran University. Thousands or protesters massed in support of the students, some chanting "death to the dictator," witnesses said. Footage posted on YouTube showed some protesters burning pictures of Khamenei - breaking a major taboo against insulting the supreme leader, who stands at the pinnacle of Iran's clerical leadership.

Riot police fired tear gas and Basij militiamen, some on motorcycles, charged the crowds. The plainclothes Basijis beat protesters on their heads and shoulders as the crowd scattered. They regrouped on nearby street corners, setting tires and garbage on fire to ward off the stinging tear gas. Nearby, protesters and Basijis pelted each other with large stones, the witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.


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Llama874
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07 Dec 2009, 3:09 pm

On the contrary, I find this to be very good. The revolution is starting in Iran. I predict that within 20 years time Iran's current government will be overthrown. The Iranian people will create a new, and hopefully better government.


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Asterisp
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07 Dec 2009, 3:18 pm

The politics inside Iran are more difficult than it seems on the outside. I listened to some broadcasts on this subject.

It seems that the police is divided on the issue. Basij belongs to the hardline factions, police choose different sides. Sometimes the police are fighting with Basij members. Already new protests are announced for other special days in Iran.



Apple_in_my_Eye
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07 Dec 2009, 4:31 pm

Llama874 wrote:
On the contrary, I find this to be very good. The revolution is starting in Iran. I predict that within 20 years time Iran's current government will be overthrown. The Iranian people will create a new, and hopefully better government.

Though toppled governments aren't always replaced with something better. The 1979 revolution got rid of the Shaw, but gave them a theocratic government & a "supreme leader."

"Persepolis" is interesting movie about someone who grew up durng the '79 revolution, and describes what it was like before and after, and how it didn't turn out the way a lot of people had hoped (but some had (fundamentalists)).



cyberscan
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07 Dec 2009, 4:46 pm

This is one reason why guns in the hands of the average citizen is a good thing. These people are beaten, jailed, and murdered for simply speaking out for better conditions in their country. In order to rule with justice, a a man made government has to have at least some fear of the people.


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Aimless
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07 Dec 2009, 7:13 pm

cyberscan wrote:
This is one reason why guns in the hands of the average citizen is a good thing. These people are beaten, jailed, and murdered for simply speaking out for better conditions in their country. In order to rule with justice, a a man made government has to have at least some fear of the people.


I agree. It was both moving and painful to watch them after the election. I am not a Muslim but the calls of Allah Akbar from the rooftops brought tears to my eyes.


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ruveyn
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08 Dec 2009, 8:27 am

southwestforests wrote:
This ain't good. :? :(



Why do you say that? Any situation in which Muslim A kills Muslim B means fewer Muslims? Yes?

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phil777
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08 Dec 2009, 1:54 pm

I still fail to see how loss of human lives, regardless of nationality or religion, is good to your ears Ruveyn.



southwestforests
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09 Dec 2009, 5:07 pm

ruveyn wrote:
southwestforests wrote:
This ain't good. :? :(



Why do you say that? Any situation in which Muslim A kills Muslim B means fewer Muslims? Yes?

ruveyn


ruveyn, that's exactly why I say that.
Murder and destruction are not good.
Last year one of the doctors my wife saw was a gal over here from Iran: her family would very much like to be left alone by governments and revolutionaries both and quietly go about their family life and running their businesses.

They don't want family members killed or their property destroyed.

I see no way to get the Iranian people through this without chaos, death, and destruction being brought on by the government and revolutionaries both.

It seems a different view of things comes from encountering the just plain people from there.


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ruveyn
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09 Dec 2009, 8:13 pm

phil777 wrote:
I still fail to see how loss of human lives, regardless of nationality or religion, is good to your ears Ruveyn.


Schadenfreude. I rejoice over the destruction of my enemies.

Every August 6 and August 9 I celebrate the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I have never forgiven the attack on Pearl Harbor so I celebrate the downfall of the Japanese Empire.

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phil777
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10 Dec 2009, 12:27 pm

But what happens when your enemies are gone (from old age, illness or otherwise) and their ideology crumbles (ie : does not persist through their children or a third person)? <.< Do you still have a reason to rejoice for the death of your past enemies? <.<



Wombat
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10 Dec 2009, 11:38 pm

Imagine how little I care.

If I cared about Iran then perhaps I should care about Mongolia or Bolivia or North Korea or New Guinea or Zimbabwe or Chad or Tibet or Tonga.

I have more than enough problems in my own country.



southwestforests
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11 Dec 2009, 1:13 am

Wombat wrote:
Imagine how little I care.
I have more than enough problems in my own country.


Yeah, I hear ya, I don't have time to care about people with Aspergers, I have enough problems in my own life.


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ruveyn
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11 Dec 2009, 2:25 am

phil777 wrote:
But what happens when your enemies are gone (from old age, illness or otherwise) and their ideology crumbles (ie : does not persist through their children or a third person)? <.< Do you still have a reason to rejoice for the death of your past enemies? <.<


Silly fellow! Everything we experience is in our past. When you look in a mirror you see yourself as you were a fraction of a second prior to the look in the mirror.

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