Iranian Revolution Day Celebrated with Burning Effigies of Obama, Burning US Flags — And Protesting Iranian Government, But Barely Being Covered by Media (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 11, 2010
While I’m no fan of Barack Obama’s, these anti-American, anti-Obama images coming from protests in Iran are troubling. They are clones of the anti-Bush protests from a few years ago. My gut-inspired guess, though, is that we’re not being allowed to see the full picture — yes, pun intended.
I thought that we were supposed to be loved now that The One was in charge, with his “hopenchange” global-citizen philosophy. If not all of us American infidels, then at least Obama would be loved.
It sure doesn’t look like it. At least, not from the looks of these images that the Iranian government has permitted (just a guess, but likely an accurate one) to be released on the Internet.
Today is February 11, the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and the day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised a few weeks back that something huge would happen to attack and topple the “global powers.” Is this it? Or is this just the soup course?
Gateway Pundit has many more photos in the post Iranian Regime Celebrates Revolution Day By Parading Effigy of Obama With Pi$$ Buckets In Azadi Square — these comprise just a sampling. Blogger Jim Hoft writes:
The Iranian regime celebrated Revolution Day today by torching American flags and parading effigies of Barack Obama down the streets of Tehran.
There is more to these Iranian protests than meets the eye. Here are some live-blogging excerpts from niacINsight, Bearing Witness: 22 Bahman:
NIAC is liveblogging the events of Feb. 11 in Iran, which marks the latest day of planned opposition protests as well as the anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic…
8:11 am: Via Twitter and other unconfirmed reports, security forces are supposedly firing paint bullets at opposition protesters, which is a tactic the security forces previously used to identify protesters after the fact in order to arrest them.
8:15 am: Indisputable. Via United4Iran, this video of protesters tearing down a photo of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and then trampling on it:
Remember that even in the heady days of protests this summer, it would have been unthinkable for protesters to deface an image of the Supreme Leader. In a short eight months, the demands of the demonstrators have evolved, and their tactics have advanced as well.
8:42 am: Josh Shahryar has catalogued most of the opposition rallies today, with his own figures for numbers arrested by police forces. By his account, thousands gathered in Esfahan at the See-o-Seh Bridge, where security forces tried to disperse the demonstators with tear gas. Also, protests occured in Ahvaz, Shiraz, Mashad, and of course, Tehran, with skirmishes involving security forces either arresting individuals, blocking protesters routes, or in some cases firing tear gas and beating anyone showing any sign of opposition activity.
Interestingly, many accounts we’ve been hearing involve protesters being hesitant to wear green, flash a V for victory sign, or even chant openly out of fear of backlash from security personnel. In some cases, particularly at Azadi Square where Ahmadinejad addressed the official government rally, security forces scanned the crowd watching for any signs of “green” activity, and quickly pulled people out of the group as soon as they were given cause.
9:02 am: It’s still very early to be drawing conclusions from today’s events, as people are still out in the streets. But one thing I’m struck by is just how much the government has been in control today. Sure, they chartered busses and lured tens of thousands to the official government rally with free food, but they have also managed to keep the opposition activities largely on their terms today.
The government’s strategy is to depict the protesters as a small group of rioting thugs, burning trash cans and disrupting order for their own radical, “foreign-backed” agenda. Toward that end, they have been very effective at keeping the demonstrations today dispersed and nervous — less of the “million man march” and more like Seattle WTO protesters. Above all else, the ruling elites know the danger of big crowds: strength in numbers takes over and individuals no longer feel like they will be held accountable for their actions, thus their demands get more radical and their tactics more extreme; this forces a harsher backlash from security forces, possibly including using lethal force. And then that’s the ball-game. That’s exactly what happened in 1979, and Khamenei learned that lesson well enough that he’ll do his utmost not to repeat it.
So today’s events (like previous ones) have seen security forces disrupt crowds before they can coalesce into a large group, arresting numerous individuals as a way of controlling the crowds before they get out of the police’s hands.
A 21-second homemade video that was embedded earlier on the niacINsight blog, reportedly showing brutality of, I’m guessing, the government’s security forces, has been removed from YouTube. Here’s a screen capture graphic of it, giving just a glimpse of what the video may have revealed:
Screenshot of Iranian video showing brutality - video has been removed from YouTube
More on the protest event:
11:05 am: Recap. Most reports indicate that people are heading home right about now. The day was characterized by the contrasting styles of the one large government-sponsored rally in the morning with tens of thousands of people, versus the numerous smaller and nimbler gatherings by the opposition forces. There have been no confirmed cases of protesters being killed, (though rumors abound), and most likely the number of arrests is in the low hundreds. Protests occurred in most of the major cities, but the heaviest presence was felt by far in Tehran.
Many commenters are calling the presence of governmental security forces “stifling,” using violence and intimidation to prevent demonstrations from growing beyond relatively small numbers. With over a month to prepare, the government’s security forces were out in full force today, immediately reacting when opposition leaders like Karroubi, Khatami, and Mousavi appeared among the people. For much of this week, Internet service was spotty and Gmail has been taken down completely, all in preparation for today’s expected events. (Compare this to Ashura, when the government had hardly any time at all to prepare, and the reaction by Basij and police was much more careless and led to more bloodshed). Family members of opposition leaders were beaten or detained, and there was never an opportunity to rally supporters around the green movement’s figureheads.
Related:
National Security: Obama’s Weakened Position: What Does It Mean For U.S. Foreign Policy?
HillBuzz: Question: It’s one week until Iran has promised to “show the world something”. What is that something?
Paul Kengor, American Thinker, A Candle for Iran?
UPI: Iranian threats
VotingFemale Speaks!: Iran’s Feb 11 surprise? perhaps a test of a NOKO supplied nuke
Mcnorman’s Blog: Krauthammer Rips Obama’s “Flacid, Meaningless” Words On Iranian Revolution
The Lonely Conservative: The Same Media that Bashed Bush for Vacations Makes Excuses for Obama
Bell County Blog: Freedom Fighters Die in Iran – Obama Vacations in Hawaii
Radio Vice Online: Iran’s normal rhetoric continues: annihilation for Israel, God willing
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Historic, Bloody Revolution in Iran: Clueless Barack Obama Just Doesn’t Get It, But Is Enjoying Hawaiian Vacation… Should Learn from Reagan’s Example (video) and Obama’s on Vacation, So Iranian Civilian Deaths & Terrorist Airplane Attacks Will Just Have to Wait (video) and More Bloodshed in Iran, Missing Photographer | Weapon X – Time for a Change (music video to Iranian people) and Breaking News: Iranian Protesters Rout Police; Rumor: Split in the Revolutionary Guard? Update: Neda’s Fiancé Interviewed
Andrew Marcus, Big Government: A Path to Jihad: From Gitmo, To Saudi Arabis, To IRAN, To Yemen
Gateway Pundit: Iranian Regime Mocks Obama At Combat Chopper Debut Celebration and Thousands of Muslims Protest Norwegian Newspaper for Posting Mohammad Pig Cartoon and Iranian Supreme Leader “Very Optimistic” That Zionist Regime Will Soon Face Annihilation and Iranian Cartoonists Mock Obama’s Weak Stand Against Killer Regime and Krauthammer Rips Obama’s “Flaccid, Meaningless” Words On Iranian Freedom Protests (Video) and Iranian Protesters Are Dying For Freedom – Where Is Barack Obama??? and Angela Merkel Speaks Out In Support of Iranian Freedom Protesters… Obama Heads to the Beach
Nice Deb: Is Iran’s Government Getting Ready To Collapse? and Video: Krauthammer Not Impressed With Obama’s Statement On Iran
Neoavatara: Iran Protests: The Regime Fights Back and Obama’s Hypocrisy On Iran
The Wide Awake Cafe: Brave Souls in Iran
Legal Insurrection: Remember “Ahmadinejad Won. Get Over It.”
RFD America: Iraqi Order 81 Enforced on American Family Farms
Founding Bloggers: Dear Obamabots: This Is What The Demand For Change Looks Like
SMH.com.au: Iran pays homage to Khomeini
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