The regime acts

Andrew Sullivan has a string of posts on the Iranian regime's brutal efforts to suppress the protests; based on these reports the death toll must already be high. NIAC paints a similar picture.

The role of modern communications technology, in which every-one transmits to everyone rather than a few easily-controlled central points (newspapers, TV/radio stations) broadcasting to an audience, is still unfolding, but clearly the ability of the Iranian regime (or any government) to control the flow of information has been drastically eroded.

Sadly No has a gripping BBC video report from Tehran, and some sensible observations:

At the end of the day, this is about the Iranians and not about us. But I would like my country to do whatever will best help the opposition succeed. Mostly, that means keeping our mouths shut and letting the Iranians fight for their own country. But just be-cause the United States should not be involved in actively helping the resistance, that doesn’t mean it should stamp a seal of appro-val on the really awful bullshit that’s going down right now.

I think that when this is over, the Iranians will long remember who sided with them and who sided with their oppressors.