'God is Great' echoes throughout Tehran

[Turborama]

Source: AP

Tehran residents are climbing to their roofs and crying "God is Great!" in open defiance of Iran's supreme leader.

The late-night cries of "Allahu Akbar!" and "Death to the Dictator!" throughout Tehran Friday are a direct challenge to the cleric who has ultimate authority under Iran's constitution. They come hours after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition supporters to stop protesting the June 12 election they say was rigged in favor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi borrowed the tactic from the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who asked Iranians to show unity against the U.S.-backed shah by shouting "Allahu Akbar" from their roofs.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_election

[peacetalksforall]

1. That's good news. I hope. My heart goes out to the justice seekers.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Sounds like the parishioners have taken over the church.

So to speak.

[Taverner]

3. "I'm mad as A'araf and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

IN all seriousness, Good on em!

[SkyDaddy7]

4. YES!!!!!!!!!!!

I was hoping to hear this news! Tomorrow at 7:30 am which is 4pm Tehran is the scheduled march. I think.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. big k & r

sending them all good energies

[plasticsundance]

24. Not to mention sending CIA funding and logistics

I guess one doesn't get as much bang for one's USD bucks these days, especially compared to the glory years of overthrowing Mossadegh of Iran & Arbenz of Guatemala. Now it's all the limp cheering of an Orange Revolution & Green Revolution. The Irish must be quite confused at this point. What happened to the revolution in Lebanon? How's that going?

I'm somewhat suspicious when I see signs of demonstrations with signs carrying messages aimed at the Ayatollahs in Iran that are written in English. I'm funny like that. And when your Iranian middle class students do succeed in toppling the government - they then face the Guardian & Expediency Council - and after that a rural populace that doesn't share the same tastes - let alone the money to buy - all the Mars bars and Pepsi one could possible inhale.

Hey, but you have a New Age solution. Cool. Good luck with that.

[bdamomma]

6. I am pulling for them, my thoughts are with them all.

we could never do what they are doing, could we learn something......sigh

[SkyDaddy7]

9. We the People are weak, spoiled and fat...

Politically speaking. Maybe not?

[EFerrari]

18. I'd argue, distracted. Since the mid-70s or so

just keeping your family together and surviving amid lagging wages has been a real challenge.

Those of you that are too young to remember, before then one decent income could take care of you. We had more vigorous unions and health care was more affordable. Real estate prices weren't so insane. Etc.

We're a different culture than we were then. We have less time with our families and with our neighbors. We work more hours and get less time off. The cost of living outstrips our earnings.

That's not about being weak or spoiled. That's just trying to keep up, imo.

[SkyDaddy7]

10. Dupe?

Posted twice?

[Warpy]

7. Thee was a film 2 nights ago of Isfahan

and the same shouts were ringing out all over the city.

I don't think anyone's getting a whole lot of sleep these days.

[tomm2thumbs]

8. Twitter: "I have one vote. I gave it to Moussavi. I have one life. I will give it for Freedom."

That was just posted - they sound very focused - I feel like we are somehow watching events as significant as the Alamo was to Texas history - in the sense that people were drawing a line in the sand to stand for something, and fear of a massive army at their doorstep did not sway them away from that determination. It is a patriot's call and it sounds like they are as patriotic as anyone for their right to be free.

[SkyDaddy7]

11. I share your feelings!!

There is one side of me that says, "This sooo COOL" and then reality hits me and I realize many will probably die tomorrow!

One thing is for sure this sets the precedent for internet revolutions!! China has to be really thinking about this one!!! As well as many other middle eastern nations.

Not trying to be mean but I doubt North Koreans even know what a Computer is?

[Turborama]

12. Talking of patriotism...

Have you seen this video of the crowd singing at the day of mourning? bkkyosemite kindly added the lyrics, too...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[tomm2thumbs]

13. that video is amazing -thanks

some words from the Alamo...

"Our fate is sealed," Travis said, according to one witness. "Within a very few days--perhaps a very few hours--we must all be in eternity. This is our destiny, and we cannot avoid it."

Colonel Travis's letter - "If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country--VICTORY OR DEATH."

When you hear stories of how the French helped America against the King's British army, you wonder sometimes if America will ever step into a war that is 'just' and that would actually put us on the right side of history again.

[tomm2thumbs]

19. A letter from one of the young Iranian patriots... preparing to die

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstra...



"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."

[MissDeeds]

25. Incredibly moving

How desperately the people want freedom. It's heartbreaking, and inspiring.

I am absolutely riveted to the events taking place in Iran. Someone on NPR this afternoon mentioned that many of the signs are in English so that those in the US and England will hear their message and lend support.

I know it is a pitifully small gesture, but I am going to start wearing a green wrist band to show support. May the force be with them.

[Turborama]

26. It is, isn't it. It's a shame it didn't make it to the greatest - one more needed and an hour left

That's a great speech, thanks for sharing, man.

I'm reminded of the battle speech in The 300...

Dilios: "The enemy outnumber us a paltry 3 to 1, good odds for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine."

This is Sparta? The history behind the movie '300'

"Go tell the Spartans, passerby. That here, by Spartan law, we lie", read the ancient elegy on stone at Thermopylae, the ancient battle site where the Greeks, 300 Spartans and their allies, held off masses of invading Persians in 480 BC. Hollywood, our modern Mount Olympus that churns out fresh myths along with popcorn and soda pop, is taking on this historical battle that defined ancient Greece long ago.

Thermopylae was a narrow mountain pass, wide enough for one chariot, with cliffs on one side and the sea on the other, according to the historian Herodotus. There, a small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta met an invading army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers — perhaps 800,000, according to accounts from the time. After two days of the lightly-armored invaders being slaughtered by the spear-wielding and heavily armored Greeks, treachery enabled the forces of Persia's emperor, Xeres, to outflank the Greeks guarding the pass. Leonidas dismissed the bulk of his army, again according to legend, and his remaining force of 300 Spartans and allies fought a suicidal holding action against the invaders.

The battle ended up a costly victory for the Persians, sort of the Alamo of their invasion, giving the Greeks time, and inspiration, to regroup and defeat them later in the war. The example of the Spartans and their allies has lived on, inspiring military codes still alive today, as well as some of the best quotes in history, such as Leonidas' "Come take them," his reply to a Persian request to lay down his arms.

Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/...

[Indydem]

21. These governments have kept people poor and uneducated...

Hoping they could use them as cannon fodder in their wars and to support terrorism and other actions contrary to the actions of free people. The people have nothing to live for, living in poverty with no hope of escape.

Now, those people will turn that despair and hopelessness against the very people who have kept them that way. By making it so these people have nothing to lose, they have made it so they have everything to gain by revolution.

[Posteritatis]

22. Quite the opposite in Iran actually

The protests seem to be sparked and lead by the first generation of educated youth they've had in, well, ever. There's a certain line of hosedness that, if you're beneath it, you have too little to risk it on revolution since you're too focused on mere survival; when peoples' conditions get just good enough to see how bad they've had it lately...

[Bette Noir]

14. Best wishes to the rebels.

They may have learned from our experience-- it's not good to let a stolen election go by. The world would be a better place now if we had gone to the streets nine years ago.

[Raster]

15. I have read no truer words on DU today than yours. We should have taken to the streets in protest

of the travesty that was (S)election 2000. The world indeed would have been a far better place. Not to mention the two World Trade Center towers would still be standing and hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million, innocent Iraqi citizens would still be alive.

[Turborama]

16. Yahoo have changed the story somewhat, here's a link to the original version...

Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world...

[tomm2thumbs]

17. some great pictures in this thread

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/dubo...

I hadn't seen them earlier

[Algorem]

20. US policy is they must stay under the thumb,just as US peeons must.

[ohio2007]

23. LOL . Hey, not everyone is permitted to say alla ahkbar

Observe what happens when 'miscreants' taunt the mullahs personal gaurd with their own chants


"alla ahkbar"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWiSlVddLH8&feature=play ...


see
They don't like hearing that shit from non pure segments of society. They gotta kiss enough mullah ass as it is




http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...