Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Solidarity

July 25th was the global day of action against the Iranian regime. My UK based fellow blogger Potkin Azarmehr was interviewed by Al-Jazeera English TV about the ongoing unrest in Iran:
    "People are not dying in the streets of Iran for the US and UK; they are making the ultimate sacrifice because they want to have a government that reflects their wishes, not a mafia clan of some 200 people who want to remain unaccountable..."
Azarmehr is absolutely right. This is no longer about the vote, nor about reform or election fraud. Protesters have targeted the heart of the mullahocracy. The Iranians are fed up with this disaster that has clouded our country for 30 yrs. We want change and we deserve a lot better.

Another interesting news story surfacing today was the release of a list by Amnesty International containing the names, ranks and units of the 24 detained regular Iranian army troops who wanted to attend Tehran's Friday prayer to show support for the opposition. I'm writing about this because I know that the regular military does not like the mullahs much. Even though I am a bit skeptical about the original source of the story being peiknet website. that is a far left news outlet. Moreover, my doubts about the list stems from my own experience in the military. There are little things that might be ignored by those who don't know enough about the Iranian military ranking system. So I've to say that the rank of 'Warrant Officer' which is on that list does no longer exist in the Iranian armed forces. It was abolished in late 1980s. when the whole military was re-structured after the war. Though the translator in Amnesty could have been mistaken or off. I'd like to see the original list in Persian language myself.

For all I know and personally witnessed, the regular armed forces do not like the regime very much. Clerics never cared about the regular military and they let them rot because they were deemed counter revolutionary from the get-go. And the hatred is mutual. The number of those opposing this regime within the military does not stand at 24 or 36. or 360. It's more than one could imagine. Maybe tens of thousands. I mean, the regime does not have the broad popular support any where. It never did. We just happened to see their unpopularity erupt like a volcano over the past few weeks in full view of the world because regime was foolish enough to steal the votes. True or not, the actual facts are clear: The Iranians from all walks of life do not want this regime and are willing to pay the price for their desire to be free & peaceful. Let's give them the support they deserve to get themselves rid of the Islamofascists.

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