Iran Crackdown, Violence Against Protesters: Ahmadinejad Blames Obama

The Earth has continued to rotate in the universe, even though the American media gives the impression that it might have stopped due to the not at all surprising death of an aging, sickly American pop star. While the death of Michael Jackson knocked pretty much everything else off the news, it didn’t stop the actual events that make the news. Case in point, the Iranian protests continue, even though they have lost steam due to the short attention span of the American public. They need the only support they had to maintain their momentum.

During the lull of attention, the Islamic Republic of Iran has perpetrated a flurry of enormous violence against protesters on the streets and those who have tried to escape the brutal, merciless retaliation of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Apparently, anyone who has questioned the highly questionable results of the recent Iranian election are now considered an enemy of the state and are being subjected to the Iran crackdown.

Actors, writers, professors and artists of every kind are being rounded up and are disappearing. The Iranian militia, the Basiji, are raiding houses, beating civilians, destroying their cars and creating an overall atmosphere of terror for anyone who is not considered a ‘good Iranian’ by the Islamic Republic. The Basiji are using axes, knives and even shooting into the crowds from helicopters to break up any gatherings of protesters.

Iranian leaders who supported any opposition to Ahmadinejad have either disappeared or had their family members arrested. Most are now calling on their own followers to support the Supreme Leader and his President. They are also now supporting the official Iranian stance that this is all the fault of the West, particularly the American President Barack Obama.

Both Ahmadinejad and Khamenei have appeared on Iranian television in a media blitz of propaganda. They have mocked Obama as ‘absurd and interfering’. Ahmadinejad blames Obama as ‘meddlesome’ and threatens a ‘crushing’ response should Obama continue to meddle in Iranian affairs.

Obama was conspicuously silent for the first 11 days of the Iranian riots. However, once there was enough public pressure, he finally made a semi-tough statement. Ahmadinejad hit back swiftly and defiantly to blame Obama. Once the Islamic Republic started making personal accusations towards Obama, Obama’s own rhetoric escalated. He took a firmer stance when it became personal to him. Now Ahmadinejad is threatening the West and the U.S. in particular.

“If you continue your meddlesome stance, the response of the Iranian nation will be crushing. The response will cause remorse.”

It seems that Obama’s desire for a friendly, sit down chat with Ahmadinejad is not working out very well. His speeches to the Iranian people, telling them that America wanted to support them in their desire to live out from under the oppression of the Islamic Republic, have not been followed up with any support from Obama’s administration. Apparently, it was just talk and now that the people have taken him up on his offer, he is calling the murder and mayhem that is going on in Iran a ‘debate’ that the Iranian people are having. An internal debate? What an odd thing to say. What an odd way to describe the violence and bloodshed we have been witness to as the Iranian people fight for freedom.

Below is a video about the violence against protesters that the Basiji are using in the Iran crackdown.