It sounds like today was a day of horrific violence in Tehran (WARNING: graphic photo on linked page). Excerpt:
An Iranian blogger (whose URL I will not publish) live blogging from Baharestan Square in central Tehran today captures but brief glimpses of the unimaginable horror that took place today. Bus loads of protesters were stopped and unloaded from their buses by “black-clad police” and literally herded. When the massing was sufficient, as the barely controllably distraught Tehran caller to CNN described first hand, hundreds of the regime’s Basij thugs poured out of an adjoining mosque and commenced a massacre with axes, clubs, guns and gas.
(Hat tip: InstaPundit.) Much more from Nico Pitney, including these accounts:
“just in from Baharestan Sq – situation today is terrible – they beat the ppls like animals”
“In Baharestan Sq. in the Police shooting, A girl is shot and the police is not allowing to let them help!”
“In Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat – blood everywhere – like butcher . . . Fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq – now . .”
“I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads – blood everywhere – pepper gas like war… ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting – from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys… saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground – she had no defense nothing -… so many ppl arrested – young & old – they take ppl away”
That last quote is from @persiankiwi, a protester who has been one of the better sources of real-time information on Twitter. Now it seems she is in trouble, if not arrested or, Allah forbid, dead already. After witnessing and recounting the Baharestan Square massacre, she then proceeded to tweet a final series of updates that sounds a bit like the last entries of the dwarves’ journal in Moria (“drums in the deep … we cannot get out … they are coming”). Except this is real life:
they catch ppl with mobile – so many killed today – so many injured – Allah Akbar – they take one of us
they pull away the dead into trucks – like factory – no human can do this – we beg Allah for save us –
Everybody is under arrest & cant move – Mousavi – Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard
we must go – dont know when we can get internet – they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names – now we must move fast –
thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green – pls remember always our martyrs – Allah Akbar – Allah Akbar – Allah Akbar
Allah – you are the creator of all and all must return to you – Allah Akbar –
That was ten hours ago. Since then, her Twitter feed has fallen silent.
UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan quotes a contradictory report about what happened at Baharestan Square:
I was there from 5:15 to 7:30. It was very tense. Being out in Baharstan was an act of defiance. No one said anything, there were only a few chants coming from outside the square. Although the police were a lot nicer, the Basij continued to be brutal. No one was allowed to stand in one place, we had to keep on moving. The moment we stood in one place, they would break us up. I saw many people get blindfolded and arrested, however it wasn’t a massacre. I heard that someone was killed, however I didn’t see it.
That’s from a “trusted source” per the National Iranian American Council’s blog. Not sure what to make of it. If the source is correct, are @persiankiwi and the others lying then? Or did different people simply see different things in different parts of the square, and/or at different times?
I am so confused. This was a CNN report, and right now they are broadcasting a rerun of Larry King Live from earlier tonight about Gov. Sanford. Is this report out of Iran true? And, if so, is America really this self-centered?.
Drums in the deep seems really appropriate, since the Iranian authorities are showing a Lord of the Rings Marathon as part of showing a ton of movies to keep people entertained instead of protesting. However, some protestors seem to be reading themselves into the story.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1906740,00.html
In terms of news coverage, the United States has always been massively and ridiculously self centered. I don’t see much likelihood of that ever really changing.
In terms of the United States acting to help the situation in Iran, we are on a tight rope. Anything we do to help or try and protect the protestors risks delegitimizing the protests, and hurting the cause of freedom and justice in Iran. And anything we say that could be taken as implying that the US is willing get involved on the ground in Iran risks total massacre (especially if we loose the stomach for the action like the first George Bush did with Iraq).
I’m hopeful that the protestors will ultimately prevail, I’m hopeful that the security forces in Iran will be brought to justice, and that “I was just following orders” no longer counts as an excuse for crimes against humanity. Perhaps making clear to the security forces that “I was following orders” won’t cut it when they come before the court, and that just being on the security force is enough to be found complicit in the murder of innocent civilians will help reduce their number? Sadly I doubt it, they have been convinced by evil men that a god desires them to kill.
When will Man outgrown the disaster that is organized religion? That question has nothing to do with god (God or Gods) but the man made and specious construct that is organized religion all of which have, at some time or another, been directly responsible and supportive of or complicit in the subjection and slaughter of innocent civilians and the destruction and cloistering of knowledge and freedom.