Protests in Iran escalate
The protests in Iran this week that began over food prices and unemployment have now escalated into protests calling for the overthrow of the Islamic regime.
We shall see if these protests result in anything, or will be successfully squelched by the regime, as it did to similar protests in 2009. One difference between then and now is the American president. Obama spent most of his administration making nice to the Iranians, hoping that would make them less radical. He thus did nothing to support the protests, and if anything indicated his support for the regime at that time. Trump appears to think such an approach to be a waste of time, and has already indicated that he is sympathetic to the protesters, not the Iranian leadership.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
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The protests in Iran this week that began over food prices and unemployment have now escalated into protests calling for the overthrow of the Islamic regime.
We shall see if these protests result in anything, or will be successfully squelched by the regime, as it did to similar protests in 2009. One difference between then and now is the American president. Obama spent most of his administration making nice to the Iranians, hoping that would make them less radical. He thus did nothing to support the protests, and if anything indicated his support for the regime at that time. Trump appears to think such an approach to be a waste of time, and has already indicated that he is sympathetic to the protesters, not the Iranian leadership.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I feel sorry for the Persian people. May their horror end soon.
It must be difficult to decide just how vocal the US government should be in support of the protesters when we are treated as a bogeyman (Great Satan) by the Iranian government, and any appearance of connection between the protesters and the US will be used as additional justification to persecute them.
We had a much better chance of helping the Iranian people when Obama left them to twist in the wind. Fewer are left alive today to help. Hopefully we still have humint in place to give them some support?
Make America Great Satan Again!
Trump will pick Iran and Saudi like a boy picks up fallen fruits off the backyard lawn. There’s no resistance to speak of. Like Reagan won the cold war against socialism peacefully, so it is the challenge of our time to restore the Middle East to its pre-pedophilic state of high culture with learning and evolving. Islam has to be completely exterminated. And in order to to that one has to abolish the Arabic language. There is no good reason for anyone to ever say anything in Arabic. It has to go away one way or another. Islam and arabs are totally incompatible with anything else but their stone age tyranny. Arabs are horrible zombie people, we need to get rid of them if we want tot try to survive!
Local Fluff: Wow!
I was doin semi OK up until “we abolish” religion and languages…
Eliminate Arabic, but what of the Pashtun and the 40 or other languages in actual use in Iran (they are Persian by the way not Arabic). Or is the decree really a narrow one to eliminate Arabic in Iran – Iran may like that.
If we are talking eliminating all Arabic everywhere it might kind of go against all that progress we saw with President Trump in Saudi Arabia with the best call to unite against Iran I have seen. I’m kinda thinking they won’t want to cooperate with us even if it’s against a common enemy in Iran if we’re going to go eliminating their language … oh and eliminating their religion too.
Are we sending bibles and Dick and Jane books to help them with this transition?
LocalFluff, I feel your anger. I understand your frustration. I see the lack of resolve and progress we have had against terror and other world-wide intimidation emminating from Iran in the name of Islam as well as the (simpatico) Islamic terror, (both state and non-state sponsored). But if we are going to become the beast we want to eliminate then we achieve nothing.
We need to eliminate the hate. We need to remove the differences between us and learn to exist together if not thrive together. That’s not some squishy liberal “we all gotta get along and sing Kumbai ” goal; it is what we need to strive for. It is hard. It requires work and patience, resilience and determination. It doesn’t eliminate strong, very awe inspiring use of force and killing bad guys. But it does mean understanding and working and thinking before that use.
This is the harder way but the correct and right way.
We have lots of nukes. We could try bend the will of the world to us through intimidation and use of those nukes – for what? Forced capitulation?
“Read these Dick and Jane books and these bibles!!! Or Else!”
Maybe we all need to all think about what the God of Ibrahim/Abraham ( that’s all of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) will say when we meet Him and He asks why we have been killing and torturing each other over our limited human interpretations of Him. I’m thinking he’s kinda ticked off at that.
Fighting terrorism … actually fighting the terrorist and their sponsors getting killed …I’m with ya.
Slapping Iran really hard so it stops it’s predation… I’m with ya.
Helping to overthrow the corrupt theocracy of Iran… right there too.
Eliminating whole religions and languages … not so much – actually not at all.
Chris,
If we don’t exterminate arabism, no one can survive. Do you want to live?
Sure it is great that the the great Persian people is protesting, which is seriously very dangerous to do in Iran today, as it is in new islamic Western Europe, they are very brave. And it is great that Trump is pulling some Arab leaders towards westernization. The arab political elite mostly understand what they have to do in order to survive. And the arab middle class understands that islam is just [deleted]. Pessimistically I don’t think that will help. It hasn’t during the last 1400 years.
Terrorism is nothing political. Terrorism is the arapic way of everyday life. They torture and murder, it is not a war, that it how they find pleasure, violence is their sole purpose and activity. Terrorism is arapic culture. As long as there lives arapes there will be terrorism. Especially mass murders against girls in concerts, as we have become used to by now. It has never ever occurred in the west other than today by the arapes. There’s a one-to-one correlation there. Girls cannot survive where there are arapes.
Arapism is eternal violence, backwardness hate, intolerance, refusal to learn anything,. Why do you not see how the swift extermination of everything arapic is necessary for the survival of human kind and the creation of civilization? Do you find anything at all that is good with their stone age tyranny? Let’s just get rid of this regrettable mistake in human history. Heat up the oven, Helga!
LocalFluff: I have warned you before about my rules banning all obscenities on Behind the Black. I even suspended your posting rights here for a week because you couldn’t follow the rules. Do you want me to do it for good?
This is such a simple request. Use your brains and find thoughtful words to express your opinions. If you find you need to curse, then go somewhere else. You will not be welcome here.
We need to eliminate the hate.
Actually we have to understand the purpose of hate. It’s too simplistic (and therefore wrong) to just say eliminate it. “Hate what is bad” strongly suggests its purpose. Hate can motivate us to do what out compassion would prevent us from doing. “Make love not war” can be a very stupid decision when war very often is the answer. War should be violent, quick and over as soon as possible. The suffering happens when we drag it out or avoid it at all cost because the cost can be very high.
Hi Ken,
I understand your point but defend mine by noting that I am not going to the other extreme of “Make love not war” -ie no violence in my argument. As I state in my response to LocalFluff – we should use awe inspiring force and kill bad guys …etc in our fight against terrorism and bad actor states. We cannot allow our goals to be the elimination of whole groups of people nor their peaceful religions. (Is Islam truly peaceful – different argument for a different day and a few thousand lines in arguing) We cannot become the monster that they are.
On eliminating hate perhaps I need to refine: We need to hate the action and the others hate – not the people (as a whole). We cannot damn entire peoples. In eliminating the hate we can use force – awe inspiring force, but we need to keep our morals in place. We need to rebuild Europe and Japan after we defeat the hate that the Nazi and Imperial Japan represented. We did not wipe out the German nor Japanese people even though many marched lock-step behind their leaders.
Note that this way is hard – very hard. It is what we ask our soldiers to follow – tight targeting of just the known enemy and little allowance for collateral casualties. Others, Russia, Iran, …etc do not follow this right and correct course. This is hard.
We cannot allow these rules to get us killed (either as individual combatants nor as a country/society) but we need to strive for this. Israel faces this problem very day and will see more as Iran tries to militarize Syria using homes and schools and hospitals as weapon depots. It may be that these places need to be targets – after other ways are explored. Being righteous is not a suicide pact.
One your last point war should be violent, overwhelming and if possible quick – absolutely agree. It is the goal of the war that is the question. The goal is to eliminate the hate and those that cause the hate. But to also change the hater.
I think we’re in general agreement -no namby-pamby military use. My point is the reason for the military use.
Happy New Year.
CMcL
ken anthony said:
“….Actually we have to understand the purpose of hate. It’s too simplistic (and therefore wrong) to just say eliminate it. “Hate what is bad” strongly suggests its purpose. Hate can motivate us to do what out compassion would prevent us from doing. “Make love not war” can be a very stupid decision when war very often is the answer. War should be violent, quick and over as soon as possible. The suffering happens when we drag it out or avoid it at all cost because the cost can be very high….”
Agreed. With both points. Once war is declared you release your warriors to kill people and break things. Anything less is not truly War, it is politics…..
As far as Hate, well I have always had, if you’ll pardon the expression, a love-hate relationship with “Hate”…. LOL
Ever since so-called “Hate Crimes” were first talked about I have come to realize that we all have a “Right to Hate” whomever or whatever we like. To try and eliminate a basic human emotion (and as I noted, a right) is Idealistic at best, or just another Alinskyite Tactic of the Left at worst.
Steve Earle wrote: “we all have a “Right to Hate” whomever or whatever we like.”
This reminds me of the saying: hate the sin; love the sinner.
That is the unseen part of the First Amendment. If we are not allowed to express hatred, then we are not free to speak our minds. If we are allowed to express love, why should we not be allowed to express hate? Many artists express the opinion that art can be ugly, but I I think that I should also be allowed to express my opinion that I hate ugly art — which apparently is the emotion that most or all of these artists are trying to evoke.
Indeed, if I do not hate something, then why would I protest it? Do not the protesters in Iran hate either their current government or the actions of that government?
This reminds me of Isaiah 2:4
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.