NSN Daily Update: 7/21/09 Posted by The Editors

For today's complete Daily Update, click here.

What We’re Reading

Amidst the continued post-election strife, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has emerged as the driving force behind efforts to crush the still-defiant opposition movement. The extensive use of the military has led some commentators to call the election a military coup. Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei warned that continuing post-election divisions would lead to the collapse of Iran’s ruling elite, as ex-president Mohammad Khatami made a fresh call for a referendum on the countries legitimacy.

On the final day of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India, the US and India announced an agreement on a series of defense, space and civil nuclear deals and established a high-level dialogue designed to deepen relations between the two countries.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday announced a temporary increase in the size of the Army of up to 22,000 troops to meet what he called the “persistent pace” of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal of the increase is to ease the strain of deployment, as many troops have faced repeated lengthy rotations in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Commentary of the Day

Roger Cohen analyzes the divide between Iran’s proud sense of itself and its history and the recent conduct of the hard-line Khamenei-Ahmadinejad faction. Meanwhile, Robert Tait asserts that the imprisonment of the frail reformer Saeed Hajarian exposes the “illogical cruelty” of Iran’s leaders.

The LA Times writes that the current state of coalition operations in Afghanistan is beginning to resemble the chaos that gripped Iraq at the height of its insurgency several years ago.

Gregory Rodriguez discusses the importance of President Obama’s recent visit to Ghana and notes the unique history of Africa’s history and future that only he could provide.  

Comments

[Kaman]

Labor Day, September 7, 2009 as the International day of Unity with the Iranian people across the world.

The Opposition elite have taken an irreversible position that will put them face to face against the regime. They will be completely abandoned by the people, ignored by the rest of the world, and stamped as weak and backboneless by historians, if they back down from this position. If they don't back down and continue their rhetoric and support of demonstrations, given the posturing by the regime, they will soon be arrested starting with the least important of the bunch, Karrubi and continuing with Mussavi, Rafsanjani and then Khatami. I give them one more month. If things don't calm down, the regime will clamp down on the elite.

Similar to the opposition the regime has taken a position that they cannot back down from. If they show any flexibility or signs of weakness, then their demise is almost guaranteed. They might decide to give the Opposition small advantages while waiting for things to cool down, then rein on them at a later time. But that does not seem to be their method. They're not smart enough for that approach. They will wait another week or two and if things continue to unravel, they will resort to much fiercer brutality against people and they will arrest the elite of the Opposition as an attempt to distract the attention from themselves to those Elites by accusing them of treason. they will put them on revolutionary tribunals and will condemn them to death. They assume that while the internal events die down as a result of this action, they will attempt to appear civilized and kindhearted by pardoning the accused and giving them life in prison or home arrest instead of death.

The Iranian people however have found a hero in Musavi to root for (Clearly he is one of the elites of this regime. But he has an imagination, he is more open minded, and has less of a dark side). In Musavi, they see an individual that understands the demands of a modern life. Someone who has the ability to better people's lives. That versus the medieval, back warded mindset of the traditional conservative mullahs.

The Iranian people have tested the limits of their fears and know that they can overcome this regime. As long as the opposition elite stand, the people will support them. Whether they are free, in jail, or even killed. The uprising will continue. It will gain its momentum at its own pace (which most likely is within months but could be years) and they will topple the regime. This is regardless of what the conservatives do.

Foreign governments must stay out of this. The US and Western governments, specially, should remain quiet verbally. Do not give this brutal regime an excuse to tie peaceful opposition with treason. but the governments of the western world should refrain from recognizing the Iranian regime until this issue of election fraud has been addressed.

How can the world demonstrate its support for the Iranian people's quest for freedom? I propose to mark Labor Day, September 7, 2009 as the International day of Unity with the Iranian people across the world.