Tehran Calling, Day 9

Some pretty disturbing footage here. And I still haven't seen any arguments as to why Obama should interfere, and what that interference should be.

It is out of our hands. Mousavi's camp is reporting he has been silenced by the regime and "is prepared for martyrdom" if necessary.

So why do the Iranian people not want Ahmadinejad as their leader? Because he is nothing but a loudspeaker for Khamenei. Under Ahmadinejad, economic problems have grown worse, despite $280bn of oil revenue. Social and literary freedom is much more restricted than under his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami. The world views us as a terrorist nation on the lookout for war. When Khatami was president of Iran, Bush was president of the US. Now the Americans have Obama and we have our version of Bush. We need an Obama who can find solutions for Iran's problems. Although power would remain in the hands of Khamenei, a president like Mousavi could weaken the supreme leader.

Who is Iran's Obama? Will they find the way to settle this? What if Mousavi is Bush as well? We don't know...and that is why caution is needed.

[UPDATE] As BooMan says: (Caution, pretty graphic):

The Iranian regime is now creating martyrs on film for everyone to watch.



This is the same mistake that the Shah made. The surest way to make sure that the protests continue is to kill people. The opposition will come out in the streets to mourn the dead. And the cycle of violence will continue and escalate.

Looks like it will indeed be Option 3.

[UPDATE 2] The President weighs in on Iran, and continues to play his cards close to his vest.

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

At what point does the Islamic world weigh in on this, seeing dozens killed in Allah's name? Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia...they will have to say something and soon.