Still watching Iran...
Jun. 15th, 2009 09:35 amI was watching the live feed from BBC Tehran of the huge demonstrations that have been done in Mousavi's name. Mousavi himself made an appearance at one of them, and despite widespread reports that most of Iran's Internet and other network subsystems are down, word is still getting out. And as I watched the crowd walking chanting his name and cheering him, you could see that he was punching something to a smartphone, and he and a young man next to him are exchanging views of text messages they've both gotten.
If this is a revolution, it's not being televised. It's not even being YouTubed. It's being Tweeted.
Von at Obsidian Wings, always the wet blanket, points out that Ahmedinejad enjoyed widespread rural support, and while the lopsided vote was absurd on the face of it, it is entirely possible that he did win, and his victory, if legit, is the Iranian people's response to Obama's speech in Cairo. That would be disheartening, especially for the generation of under-30s in the urban areas who desperately want rapprochement with the economic powerhouses, who want more freedom, and who want peace with their neighbors rather than bellicose invitations to the most warlike institutions.
The funny thing is, despite Commentary magazine's editorial stance that we are and always have been at war with Iran, Fareed Zakaria's nuanced article Everything You Know about Iran is Wrong seems closer to the mark as to what's happening now: Mousavi isn't that much different from Ahmedinejad, but for Iran's cosmopolitan young people who want to enter the 21st Century, he's the best hope they've got, and moving one step away from an eternal war footing is better than not moving at all, Max Boot's relentless bloodlust notwithstanding.
If this is a revolution, it's not being televised. It's not even being YouTubed. It's being Tweeted.
Von at Obsidian Wings, always the wet blanket, points out that Ahmedinejad enjoyed widespread rural support, and while the lopsided vote was absurd on the face of it, it is entirely possible that he did win, and his victory, if legit, is the Iranian people's response to Obama's speech in Cairo. That would be disheartening, especially for the generation of under-30s in the urban areas who desperately want rapprochement with the economic powerhouses, who want more freedom, and who want peace with their neighbors rather than bellicose invitations to the most warlike institutions.
The funny thing is, despite Commentary magazine's editorial stance that we are and always have been at war with Iran, Fareed Zakaria's nuanced article Everything You Know about Iran is Wrong seems closer to the mark as to what's happening now: Mousavi isn't that much different from Ahmedinejad, but for Iran's cosmopolitan young people who want to enter the 21st Century, he's the best hope they've got, and moving one step away from an eternal war footing is better than not moving at all, Max Boot's relentless bloodlust notwithstanding.
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