Battle of the Bilge

Tuesday Update – The Uprising Turns Violent

A few quick updates:

• There is a total blackout of images and video coming from foreign news organizations on the streets of Tehran
• Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Vice President of Iran under former president Khatami, has been placed under arrest.
• Among other reports of violence, Seven protesters were reportedly killed when attempting to storm a military post
• President Ahmadinejad attended a meeting of the SCO and made no mention of the riots and unrest, but did call the decline of capitalism and the global economic crisis the end of the era of empires
• Mousavi supporters continued to fill the streets of Tehran and signs are starting to appear that show an unwillingness of the police to crack down on demonstrations
• A ‘Counter-Protest‘ was launched by Ahmadinejad to call for punishment of the rioters, with busloads of supporters brought in
• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Mousavi to separate himself from the ‘anarchists’
• The Guardian Council will review the voting results and complaints, but this has not satisfied the protesters as they believe the same people that rigged the election will be the ones doing the review
• Iranian state television has accused the U.S. and Israel of fomenting the crisis and called on demonstrators to resist foreign pressures

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A military coup needs a sacrifice and courage that you can’t find in an army without morale. – Jalal Talabani

Coup, Unrest after Iranian Election

Friday was supposed to be a day to celebrate in Iran. The Presidential race had been fought with vigorous debates, Western style campaigning and a record number of young citizens voting for the first time. The opposition was hopeful and energized, and by all accounts the beginning of the voting was pointing toward a serious challenge for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Then chaos took over, and now we are witnessing in real time (although the supreme powers that be in Iran are doing their best to keep the world in the dark).

Here’s the time line of events that can be generally accepted as reality (defined here as multiple source confirmations sprinkled with some common sense):

• The election had such a high turnout that it had to be extended for 6 hours
• Projections had challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi winning decisively and Ahmadinejad finishing in last place
• The Interior Ministry announces an ‘official’ victory for Ahmadinejad with 63% of the vote
• An announcement from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, congratulated Ahmadinejad and told the nation to support his presidency and not fall prey to foreign propaganda
• An election council created by representatives from all three major presidential candidates reject the ‘official’ results and call for a new election
• Massive protests break out all across Iran, with Mousavi’s supporters dressed in Green
• Protesters are suppressed with a heavy hand by Revolutionary Guard forces loyal to the Mullahs
• A leaked report from the Iranian Interior Ministry gives Mousavi’s true vote count at just under 20 million, in comparison to Ahmadinejad’s 5.7 million
• A rumor spread for all of Mousavi’s supporters to gather at his campaign HQ for a rally. Speculation was ripe that it was a trap.
• It was. Hundreds of supporters are arrested, including the Ayatollah’s own daughter
• Universities across Iran have been attacked by members of the Revolutionary Guard
• Professors at Sharif University have resigned their posts in protest
• Rumors abound that Mousavi, as well as outspoken critic of the Ayatollah and former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is also a member of the ruling clerical high council, have been placed under house arrest
• UPDATE:  Grand Ayatollah Sanei in Iran has declared Ahmadinejad’s presidency illegitimate and cooperating with his government against Islam (as translated by a Farsi language reader of The Atlantic)

Let’s take a look at how the historic events have been reported around the world…

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Now you can follow Battle of the Bilge via your Twitter account. Just go to http://twitter.com/MOAABotB and sign up as a follower (after registering your account if you don’t have one of course).

Twitter is fast becoming the digital equivelance of the ‘man on the street’ interview whenever events occur, and a lot of news outlets (especially cable news) use Twitter entries to follow stories as they unfold. This is a good and a bad thing in terms of news accuracy. Obviously the access to eyewitnesses is wonderful but their reliability can be questionable.

But that’s the same dynamic we find in researching history and events. The only difference is the instant nature of medium. The elections in Iran would be a great one to watch from the ground level, if internet use was not so controlled in that nation.

Nothing new here, not a gun grab

BotB Verdict

Average Number of Times Received Daily at MOAA: 8

“I’ve discovered that the less I say, the more rumors I start.” – Bobby Clarke

Summary

An email sent from the Assistant Adjutant for the Department of Texas of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to post commanders in that state requested that all posts and individuals provide an inventory report of firearms and weapons. The request came to him from U.S. Army TACOM (Tactical Army Command), and although weapons inventory checks at VFW posts have been SOP for decades, the email was taken up as a lightning rod for gun rights advocates. But there’s nothing new here except the political environment and the internet.

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BotB Verdict

Average Number of Times Received Daily at MOAA: 5

“Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.” - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Summary

Another viral email about President Obama taking away your guns, this time focused on veterans and VA screening. The story is probably a shadow of an anecdote that was altered for political purposes, but there is no truth to the statement attributed to the nurse in the email below. The volume in this email is rivaling another that we’re working on for a later article regarding a $50 tax penalty for gun owners (which is also clever bilge).

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