Iran (06/15/2009)

I first posted this on my personal journal on June 15, 2009.

One of the times that I greatly miss cable tv is in moments like this when I want up to minute news from cable news programs such as CNN, BBC and MSNBC.

Right now, I'm getting my up to the minute news from Twitter hashtag #IranElection (which is now being infiltrated by Iran's govt to hunt down the protesters) and HuffPo's Iran Election Page.

There was a protest today in Tehran that numbered in the hundreds of thousands, it was reported to have been five miles long and all was peaceful until pro-government paramilitary groups opened fire and one is confirmed dead and many others are injured.

The Ayatollah, who at first supported Ahmadinejad, is now coming out and calling for a look into allegations of voter fraud. But people feel that nothing will change.

It seems that Mousavi is calling for a shared power type of arrangement instead of a full revolution but the people are angry and with shouts of "Allah Akbar" and "Death to the dictator" I'm not sure that will quell the rage.

As an American who wants talks with Iran to dissuade them from nuclear weapons...it seems that I should be supporting the current government since it is stable. The hawks of the GOP and Israel certainly already are.

But as an American who lived with freedom and the ability to choose her leaders...I feel myself falling more into line with the Green Party. All they want is more civil rights, women's rights and better relations with the west (they want us to stop referring to them as a 'terrorist' state).

Democracy, the ability to choose how one's government is run and the rights that they wish to have...I think is one of the most vital and important rights a person can have in this world. We need this ability to feel free.

Even if, this makes Iran a more volatile country and will impede my country's wishes and ambitions of relations in the middle east, I think it is worth it to have these people know freedom without fear of reprisal.

I wish I was better able to support them. For now all I can do is hope and pray for their victory over the corrupt government.

persiankiwi is a citizen journalist group that was part of the Mousavi movement, as of now they are the ones who are giving us the most informed information about the happenings inside of Tehran. As of now, they report of gunfire in the streets, ambulance and police sirens.

I know that the President cannot come out and state that he is supporting the protests or that election is rigged...but I do wish people were more vocal about their support. I heard on cnn.com that protests were happening in the states. I think we need more protests from our side of things. We need to support our fellow brothers and sisters as they fight, peacefully through demonstrations, for their rights.

FYI, Twitter was scheduled to go down for 90 minutes for maintenance and they worked it out with their network host to postpone it to tomorrow 2pm Pacific time (1:30am Iran).

Change is happening - a company listening to it's customers and working to help them?