Slashdot Mirror
Iran Moves To End "Facebook Revolution"
We've had a few readers send in updates on the chaotic post-election situation in Iran. Twitter is providing better coverage than CNN at the moment. There are both tech and humanitarian angles to the story, as the two samples below illustrate. First, Hugh Pickens writes with a report from The Times (UK) that "the Iranian government is mounting a campaign to disrupt independent media organizations and Web sites that air doubts about the validity of the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the nation's president. Reports from Tehran say that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter were taken down after Mr Ahmadinejad claimed victory. SMS text messaging, a preferred medium of communication for young Iranians, has also been disabled. 'The blocking of access to foreign news media has been stepped up, according to Reporters Without Borders. 'The Internet is now very slow, like the mobile phone network. YouTube and Facebook are hard to access and pro-reform sites... are completely inaccessible.'" And reader momen abdullah sends in one of the more disturbing Ask Slashdots you are likely to see. "People, we need your urgent help in Iran. We are under attack by the government. They stole the election. And now are arresting everybody. They also filtered every sensitive Web page. But our problem is that they also block the SMS network and are scrambling satellite TVs. Please, can you help us to set up some sort of network using our home wireless access points? Can anybody show us a link on how to install small TV/radio stations? Any suggestion for setting up a network? Please tell us what to do or we are going to die in the a nuclear war between Iran and US." Update: 06/14 18:32 GMT by KD : Jim Cowie contributes a blog post from Renesys taking a closer look at the state of Iranian Internet transit, as seen in the aggregated global routing tables, and concluding that the story may not be as clear-cut as has been reported.
Ok, how does that change the propaganda aspect? Suddenly we have people who absolutely n33dz teh Hax0r Sk!llz posting on slashdot?
Hurry, post some docs for an ad-hoc wireless mesh network before teh death star blows these people up!!
Seriously, in times of turmoil the last thing anyone should be doing is adding new skills - that is how you get busted on trumped up charges and executed as an enemy of the revolution.
I bought into this whole idea of helping out the dissident Iraqis who were trying to establish a democracy under Saddam. I supported President Bush's invasion of Iraq even though I knew the WMD was a crock because I thought the idea of kicking out a dictatorship and allowing a democracy to flourish was a good idea.
It turned out, after the invasion, that these people had little native support of their own and many people either liked Saddam or liked the Mullahs.
Having heard a bunch of leftists cry about how much better Saddam was for Iraq, and how wrong it was to actually try and get rid of a dictatorship, and seeing that the people on the ground really kinda liked their dictatorship, my ears for Iran are pretty deaf right now.
If the people of Iran want to get rid of their government, they can do it themselves. If the left wants to lament the death of democracy in Iraq, they can spare me the tears. They had no problem advocating tyranny in Iraq.
This is my sig.
After the Kremlin exited Eastern Europe, the peoples of each nation in Eastern Europe rapidly established a genuine democracy and a free market. Except for Romania (where its people killed their dictator), there was no violence.
In Iran (and many other failed states), no external force is imposing the current brutal government on the Iranians. The folks running the government are Iranian. The president is Iranian. The secret police are Iranian. The thugs who will torture and kill democracy advocates are Iranian.
If the democracy advocates attempt to establish a genuine democracy in Iran, violence will occur. Why? A large percentage of the population supports the brutal government and will kill the democracy advocates.
Let us not merely condemn the Iranian government. We must condemn Iranian culture. Its product is the authoritarian state.
We should not intervene in the current crisis in Iran. If the overwhelming majority of Iranians (like the overwhelming majority of Poles) truly support democracy, human rights, and peace with Israel, then a liberal Western democracy will arise -- without any violence. Right now, the overwhelming majority clearly oppose the creation of a liberal Western democracy. The Iranians love a brutal Islamic theocracy.
The Iranians created this horrible society. It is none of our business unless they attempt to develop nuclear weapons. We in the West are morally justified in destroying the nuclear-weapons facilities.
Note that, 40 years ago, Vietnam suffered a worse fate (than the Iranians) at the hands of the Americans. They doused large areas of Vietnam with agent orange, poisoning both the land and the people. Yet, the Vietnamese do not channel their energies into seeking revenge (by, e. g., building a nuclear bomb) against the West. Rather, the Vietnamese are diligently modernizing their society. They will reach 1st-world status long before the Iranians.
Cultures are different. Vietnamese culture and Iranian culture are different. The Iranians bear 100% of the blame for the existence of a tyrannical government in Iran. We should condemn Iranian culture and its people.
The injustice (committed by the Americans) in Vietnam occurred 10 years after the injustice in Iran. The injustice in Vietnam occurred over a 10-year period.
The Americans doused large areas of Vietnam with agent orange, poisoning both the land and the people. Yet, the Vietnamese do not channel their energies into seeking revenge (by, e. g., building a nuclear bomb) against the West. Rather, the Vietnamese are diligently modernizing their society. They will reach 1st-world status (i. e., a prosperous liberal Western democracy) long before the Iranians.
Cultures are different. Vietnamese culture and Iranian culture are different. The Iranians bear 100% of the blame for the existence of a tyrannical government in Iran. We should condemn Iranian culture and its people.
Sorry to be so straight but your argument is bullshit and you look racist and pretty ignorant.
Iran had a dictatorship, supported by the United States, who killed everybody against the Sha, the US-fellow friend.
After the Islamists and Communists got sick of fucking US fucking their country (as most world does), they killed the Sha.
In this Kaos time, the Islamists took the control.
It's nothing about "their culture" it's about how the United States keeps on failing into making this world a safer place.
It's not only about culture, just read some history book before saying so stupid things.
Spain became a Socialist Republic in a democratic election, we had female vote, abort, and loads of other social benefits.After 3 years of war against Spanish, Italian and German fascists, we lost. We had 2 million volunteer soldiers, but we lost, because we had no external help at all against the fascists. UK and France said "oh, this is an internal affair, we can't do anything", that is translated into: we are so fucking terrified by the nazis that none of us is valiant enough to help you, guys.
We had 36 years of dictatorship without "external powers" after the Spanish Civil War finished, how did the fascists stand for so long?
Easy, jailing and killing people and not having External Pressure against it.
5% of population died in that war, 10% of population escaped from the country and another 5% was jailed for up to 20 years (most died in jail), just for being part of a union or simply for not going to the church.
Please, don't be so simplistic, the only dumb state I see around in the western world is the US, the only "democracy" where a president can stole an election (remember year 2000) and people just keeps on eating burgers.
At least Iranians strike on streets.
Who is more culturally democratic, then?
Learn a bit from the Iranians and try to help them, don't just say "the people has the government they deserve", or I'll keep on talking about Bushes.
The US just got done with one of the worst presidents in history, who was put in office TWICE (technicalities aside). Politicians talk a good game. Good politicians are masters at multitasking - that is, patting you on the back with one hand while stealing your money with the other. How do we know that Iran wasn't faced with a similar circumstance?
And guess what, nigger - it's you!
By taking out Saddam he destabilized the entire balance of power between Iraq and Iran. Saddam actually kept Iran in check and vice versa. The second Saddam was out of the picture Iran raised its head in defiance and started to chase them atoms... Saddam would not have let this happen. Bush Jr., aspiring to Bush Sr., thought it would be a good idea to do as Dad did and invade Iraq. And while we're at it, lets one up ol' Dad, and actually get rid of Saddam. Talk about family feuds...
Then, after the Kremlin exited Eastern Europe in 1989, the peoples of each nation in Eastern Europe rapidly established a genuine democracy and a free market. Except for Romania (where its people killed their dictator), there was no violence.
That is how people act when they want freedom and free markets.
In 1979, after the Iranian people overthrow the despot whom the Americans supported, the Iranians immediately established a brutal, authoritarian theocracy.
That is how people act when they reject both freedom and free markets.
Cultures are different. Eastern-European culture and Iranian culture are different. The Iranians bear 100% of the blame for the existence of a tyrannical government in Iran. We should condemn Iranian culture and its people.
Most of the slash dot users do not show sympathy to the guys in Iran. Only a few have answered his question, others show their ego and ignorance. That is why Bush was able to rule USA.
Good plan, I'll try it out right away. Where can I find an English/Nigger phrasebook?