Protestors are using the popular micro-blogging site Twitter to make an end run around the foreign press blackout in Iran, and getting help from the US. Here's a look at what they're saying. After the weekend's images of beaten demonstrators, and Monday's scenes of mass rallies, Iranian authorities clamped down on foreign press on Tuesday. Reporters from Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine were told not to leave their offices to report on the ongoing protests. US broadcaster CNN was forced to use pictures taken from Iranian state television, which showed only the pro-Ahmadinejad rally. The Islamic Republic's crippling of the mainstream media meant that so-called "citizen journalism" took on an increasingly important role. Ordinary Iranians sent pictures and videos they'd taken with digital cameras and mobile phones, showing both peaceful demonstrations and continued harassment and violence from authorities. Among the best ways available to get written communiqués out was through the website Twitter.
After the weekend's images of beaten demonstrators, and Monday's scenes of mass rallies, Iranian authorities clamped down on foreign press on Tuesday. Reporters from Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine were told not to leave their offices to report on the ongoing protests. US broadcaster CNN was forced to use pictures taken from Iranian state television, which showed only the pro-Ahmadinejad rally.
The Islamic Republic's crippling of the mainstream media meant that so-called "citizen journalism" took on an increasingly important role. Ordinary Iranians sent pictures and videos they'd taken with digital cameras and mobile phones, showing both peaceful demonstrations and continued harassment and violence from authorities. Among the best ways available to get written communiqués out was through the website Twitter.
Right-wing Israeli interests are engaged in an all out Twitter attack with hopes of delegitimizing the Iranian election and causing political instability within Iran. Anyone using Twitter over the past few days knows that the topic of the Iranian election has been the most popular. Thousands of tweets and retweets alleging that the election was a fraud, calling for protests in Iran, and even urging followers hack various Iranian news websites (which they did successfully). The Twitter popularity caught the eye of various blogs such as Mashable and TechCrunch and even made its way to mainstream news media sites. Were these legitimate Iranian people or the works of a propaganda machine? I became curious and decided to investigate the origins of the information. In doing so, I narrowed it down to a handful of people who have accounted for 30,000 Iran related tweets in the past few days. Each of them had some striking similarities -
Right-wing Israeli interests are engaged in an all out Twitter attack with hopes of delegitimizing the Iranian election and causing political instability within Iran.
Anyone using Twitter over the past few days knows that the topic of the Iranian election has been the most popular. Thousands of tweets and retweets alleging that the election was a fraud, calling for protests in Iran, and even urging followers hack various Iranian news websites (which they did successfully). The Twitter popularity caught the eye of various blogs such as Mashable and TechCrunch and even made its way to mainstream news media sites.
Were these legitimate Iranian people or the works of a propaganda machine? I became curious and decided to investigate the origins of the information. In doing so, I narrowed it down to a handful of people who have accounted for 30,000 Iran related tweets in the past few days. Each of them had some striking similarities -
The State Department asked social-networking site Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance earlier this week to avoid disrupting communications among tech-savvy Iranian citizens as they took to the streets to protest Friday's reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The move illustrates the growing influence of online social-networking services as a communications media. Foreign news coverage of the unfolding drama, meanwhile, was limited by Iranian government restrictions barring journalists from "unauthorized" demonstrations. "One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter," a senior State Department official said in a conversation with reporters, on condition of anonymity. "They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to."
The move illustrates the growing influence of online social-networking services as a communications media. Foreign news coverage of the unfolding drama, meanwhile, was limited by Iranian government restrictions barring journalists from "unauthorized" demonstrations.
"One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter," a senior State Department official said in a conversation with reporters, on condition of anonymity. "They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to."
When Fox News reported today based on unnamed sources in Gaza that former President Jimmy Carter plans to urge President Barack Obama to take the Palestinian militant group Hamas off the U.S. terrorist list in meetings later this week, Washington Democrats and the Obama administration collectively cringed. "The president has addressed Hamas questions, including in the Egypt speech," an administraton official said. "[We] won't have more to say about this.""Just like with President Clinton, Carter is becoming a huge problem and a growing concern for Obama," a Washington Middle East hand said. "They are very pissed with him."After observing Lebanon's elections, Carter visited Damascus last week and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, as well as exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal. This week, he met with Israeli settlers in the West Bank and toured Gaza with top Hamas leader Ismail Haniya as his guide. His trip to Damascus came a day ahead of that of Obama Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell.
When Fox News reported today based on unnamed sources in Gaza that former President Jimmy Carter plans to urge President Barack Obama to take the Palestinian militant group Hamas off the U.S. terrorist list in meetings later this week, Washington Democrats and the Obama administration collectively cringed.
"The president has addressed Hamas questions, including in the Egypt speech," an administraton official said. "[We] won't have more to say about this."
"Just like with President Clinton, Carter is becoming a huge problem and a growing concern for Obama," a Washington Middle East hand said. "They are very pissed with him."
After observing Lebanon's elections, Carter visited Damascus last week and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, as well as exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal. This week, he met with Israeli settlers in the West Bank and toured Gaza with top Hamas leader Ismail Haniya as his guide. His trip to Damascus came a day ahead of that of Obama Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell.
Carter increasingly looks 30 years ahead of his time and makes Obama's caution look like cowardice keep to the Fen Causeway
Carter's National Security Advisor was Brzezinski who was Obama's main foreign policy aide during the campaign.
If one wants to infer anything from Carter's actions in Palestine right now it would be more likely that he's acting on BEHALF of the Obama Admin in an under-the-radar fashion rather than in opposition to them.
This article demonstrates a point-of-view that is out of date. They simply do not understand that the Obama people are much craftier than it may appear on the surface. Anyone watching the Obama campaign, on the other hand, figured this one out a year ago.
Gitmo continues. Afghanistan has been expanded into Pakistan. No one will be prosecuted or even investigated for torture. Left-leaning senators and congresspeople are being bullied if they step too far out of line. Right-leaning decisions continue to be supported. Bankers continue to be supported. Ordinary people who are unemployed and about to lose their homes continue not to be supported. Detroit was allowed to tank when it could have been painted green. California is about to burst into flames. The public option on healthcare is looking increasingly unlikely.
He's a damn fine orator. But so far on policy, he's not as different from the previous bunch of losers as he might have been expected to be.
June 2007 folks. Read 'em and weep.
But it's different for Obama, they believe in him: And he can't deliver on those expectations; nobody really could, but he won't even try. Items already announced, such as a bigger military really will make things worse. And where do progressives go then ? It isn't despair that hurts; you can live without expectations. It's hope that will break you, every time.
China's Communist Party is cracking down on corruption. Wealthy businessmen and party officials are being targeted, and even the country's richest man is being held by authorities in an undisclosed location. The sun is setting over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor as the floating casinoNeptune lifts anchor and casts off. The white cruise ship slips past a backdrop of brightly lit skyscrapers and out into international waters, marking the beginning of a long night. The mood on board is exuberant. The passengers stream into the casino and crowd eagerly around the gambling tables. The Chinese gamblers on board the Neptune have the boat to themselves. Many of them have traveled to Hong Kong from the People's Republic, and they include fat cats and wealthy businessmen who have done well for themselves. Most are in the company of conspicuously young women. The players trade in thick wads of cash for chips.
China's Communist Party is cracking down on corruption. Wealthy businessmen and party officials are being targeted, and even the country's richest man is being held by authorities in an undisclosed location.
The sun is setting over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor as the floating casinoNeptune lifts anchor and casts off. The white cruise ship slips past a backdrop of brightly lit skyscrapers and out into international waters, marking the beginning of a long night.
The mood on board is exuberant. The passengers stream into the casino and crowd eagerly around the gambling tables. The Chinese gamblers on board the Neptune have the boat to themselves. Many of them have traveled to Hong Kong from the People's Republic, and they include fat cats and wealthy businessmen who have done well for themselves. Most are in the company of conspicuously young women. The players trade in thick wads of cash for chips.
TEHRAN - The presidential election results announced by the Interior Ministry must be confirmed by the Guardian Council, GC spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaii said on Tuesday. And the Guardian Council will declare the final results within the legal time period of 7 to 10 days, he added. In response to protests by the defeated candidates, the GC has agreed to recount certain ballot boxes, he explained. Representatives of three presidential candidates -- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mohsen Rezaii -- held discussions with Guardian Council experts on the election results on Tuesday. Mousavi, who finished in second in the presidential election, and Karroubi, who finished in last place in the four-way race, ave made allegations of election fraud.
In defiance of the ban on foreign reporters, The Independent's Middle East correspondent ventures out to witness an extraordinary stand-off on the streets of TehranThe fate of Iran rested last night in a grubby north Tehran highway interchange called Vanak Square where - after days of violence - supporters of the official President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at last confronted the screaming, angry Iranians who have decided that Mirhossein Mousavi should be the president of their country. Unbelievably - and I am a witness because I stood beside them - just 400 Iranian special forces police were keeping these two armies apart. There were stones and tear gas but for the first time in this epic crisis the cops promised to protect both sides. "Please, please, keep the Basiji from us," one middle-aged lady pleaded with a special forces officer in flak jacket and helmet as the Islamic Republic's thug-like militia appeared in their camouflage trousers and purity-white shirts only a few metres away. The cop smiled at her. "With God's help," he said. Two other policemen were lifted shoulder-high. "Tashakor, tashakor," - "thank you, thank you" - the crowd roared at them. This was phenomenal. The armed special forces of the Islamic Republic, hitherto always allies of the Basiji, were prepared for once, it seemed, to protect all Iranians, not just Ahmadinejad's henchmen. The precedent for this sudden neutrality is known to everyone - it was when the Shah's army refused to fire on the millions of demonstrators demanding his overthrow in 1979.
The fate of Iran rested last night in a grubby north Tehran highway interchange called Vanak Square where - after days of violence - supporters of the official President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at last confronted the screaming, angry Iranians who have decided that Mirhossein Mousavi should be the president of their country. Unbelievably - and I am a witness because I stood beside them - just 400 Iranian special forces police were keeping these two armies apart. There were stones and tear gas but for the first time in this epic crisis the cops promised to protect both sides.
"Please, please, keep the Basiji from us," one middle-aged lady pleaded with a special forces officer in flak jacket and helmet as the Islamic Republic's thug-like militia appeared in their camouflage trousers and purity-white shirts only a few metres away. The cop smiled at her. "With God's help," he said. Two other policemen were lifted shoulder-high. "Tashakor, tashakor," - "thank you, thank you" - the crowd roared at them.
This was phenomenal. The armed special forces of the Islamic Republic, hitherto always allies of the Basiji, were prepared for once, it seemed, to protect all Iranians, not just Ahmadinejad's henchmen. The precedent for this sudden neutrality is known to everyone - it was when the Shah's army refused to fire on the millions of demonstrators demanding his overthrow in 1979.
Do reform forces in Iran really stand a chance of new elections, and can the West help in any way? Mehran Barati, a prominent member of the Iranian opposition in exile, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE about the allegations of election fraud, the protests in Tehran and Europe's problematic strategy for dealing with the regime. SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Barati, 19 million votes for Mir Hossein Mousavi, 13 million votes for Mehdi Karroubi: Those are figures you cite as a member of the Iranian opposition to claim that the reform camp clearly defeated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Where are you getting those figures from? A demonstrator shows a picture of Mir Hossein Mousavi during a rally in support of the former presidential candidate in Tehran on Monday. Barati: They come from religious people inside the Interior Ministry who also believe in the truth. And they were also passed on in the same way to Mousavi after the election. I also know that he told Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who is known in the West and has direct contact with Mousavi, on the night of the election that he wouldn't immediately go public with his election victory. Shortly afterwards, 20 thugs occupied his office, and a short time later it was totally surrounded. Eventually, the Interior Ministry declared Ahmadinejad the election victor. Apparently after the votes were counted, the Revolutionary Guard and spiritual leader Ali Khamenei intervened.
Do reform forces in Iran really stand a chance of new elections, and can the West help in any way? Mehran Barati, a prominent member of the Iranian opposition in exile, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE about the allegations of election fraud, the protests in Tehran and Europe's problematic strategy for dealing with the regime.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Barati, 19 million votes for Mir Hossein Mousavi, 13 million votes for Mehdi Karroubi: Those are figures you cite as a member of the Iranian opposition to claim that the reform camp clearly defeated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Where are you getting those figures from?
A demonstrator shows a picture of Mir Hossein Mousavi during a rally in support of the former presidential candidate in Tehran on Monday.
Barati: They come from religious people inside the Interior Ministry who also believe in the truth. And they were also passed on in the same way to Mousavi after the election. I also know that he told Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who is known in the West and has direct contact with Mousavi, on the night of the election that he wouldn't immediately go public with his election victory. Shortly afterwards, 20 thugs occupied his office, and a short time later it was totally surrounded. Eventually, the Interior Ministry declared Ahmadinejad the election victor. Apparently after the votes were counted, the Revolutionary Guard and spiritual leader Ali Khamenei intervened.
Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the transfer of four Guantanamo Bay inmates to Bermuda branded their prime minister Ewert Brown a "dictator" and demanded he step down after negotiating a secret deal witht he United States. About 600 people gathered outside Parliament in Hamilton, the island's capital, chanting "Brown must go" and waving banners as they marched to the Cabinet office.But Mr Brown was defiant. "As some of you might know, I grew up in the protest era," he shouted at the booing crowd. "This is nothing new to me. I have seen them larger and longer," he said.
About 600 people gathered outside Parliament in Hamilton, the island's capital, chanting "Brown must go" and waving banners as they marched to the Cabinet office.
But Mr Brown was defiant. "As some of you might know, I grew up in the protest era," he shouted at the booing crowd. "This is nothing new to me. I have seen them larger and longer," he said.
On June 12, 2009, 1,503 communities chose their representatives in orderly, transparent elections, according to Ahmed Herzenni, chairman of Morocco's human rights watchdog, CCDH. His opinion was shared by more than 150 foreign observers, including the International Strategic Studies Association from Washington, D.C., and the New York-based American Center for Democracy (ACD). Unlike the Soviet-style election in April that led to the reelection of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria, Morocco's eastern neighbor, or the controversial and violent presidential election in Iran, Morocco's election was "fair and free."
On June 12, 2009, 1,503 communities chose their representatives in orderly, transparent elections, according to Ahmed Herzenni, chairman of Morocco's human rights watchdog, CCDH. His opinion was shared by more than 150 foreign observers, including the International Strategic Studies Association from Washington, D.C., and the New York-based American Center for Democracy (ACD).
Unlike the Soviet-style election in April that led to the reelection of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria, Morocco's eastern neighbor, or the controversial and violent presidential election in Iran, Morocco's election was "fair and free."
