We'll miss you, Neda Soltani

Neda Soltani is dead. She was killed by a single bullet during a protest in Tehran. By now, untold millions of people have seen the video clip of her dying moments on the internet. And many of them, like me, have watched that clip over and over.

I also read comments on-line, most of which ranged from sadness to outrage. But at least one guy thought Neda was intentionally set up by her companions to be killed by an anti-government sniper in order to make the Iranian government look bad. That's possible, I suppose. And it must be asked of bloggers who claim that a Basij militiaman killed her - "And how do you know this?"

My best guess is her death was accidental. For example, police might have been firing shots in the air attempting to disperse demonstrators but weren't mindful of: Whatever goes up, must come down - including bullets.

Who really killed Neda Soltani isn't as important as how the government reacted to that killing:

QUOTE:

The authorities are acutely aware of the threat posed to them by her killing. They only agreed to release her body on ­condition that her family agreed to a quick burial on Sunday in the ­sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on the outskirts of Tehran.

A memorial service planned for the Nilufar mosque in the capital's ­Abbasabad neighbourhood was called off after officials expressly forbade it. All other mosques in the Tehran area have been warned against holding ­services in her memory.

:UNQUOTE [

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/22/neda-soltani-death-iran ]

After things settle down a bit

Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as president and things will settle down - at least in terms of outside appearances. Some of his supporters will try to persuade their countrymen that Neda Soltani never really existed; that the video clips we saw were manufactured in Britain or Israel. They will claim that Western agents had infiltrated the demonstrations and were responsible for any deaths that occurred. And even though there were beatings - that much is undeniable - they will remind us that the US itself has had its share of riots, both racially and politically inspired.

However, as time marches on, the common people of Iran will sift through the wreckage and form their own opinion of what happened and why. Personally, I wonder how many of them will ask their local clerics for guidance in identifying those at fault. As for what they can do, should a majority of them decide that regime change is in order, is a good question to which the answer might be: "There's nothing you can do but hope for divine intervention."

Faced with that as an answer, I can understand why some people in search of options give up and become renunciates. Some will even deny any importance at all to whatever transpires in our daily lives - calling it illusion or that which is to be ignored or transcended. I understand this quite well as a US citizen who advocates for spiritual and political changes in my own country, but find avenues for meaningful change choked off or compromised - as if anybody really cares.

Yet, I urge the Iranians to keep the faith. One of my favorite expressions is: There's always a Plan B. If you think long enough, pray hard enough, and stay alert to possibilities, that Plan B will present itself. And it will have macro and micro features - and you will figure out what those are and then you will act accordingly.

Meanwhile, talk to your fellow citizens, even those you don't agree with - even if it's only about soccer. My sense of Iran is that a siege mentality is responsible for the overreaction on the part of the authorities. Part of that stems from the minority status of the Iranian form of Islam within the larger, worldwide Islamic community. Another part, as a result of past foreign intrigues against their country. And yet another part, the result of continuing US-inspired sanctions against Iran.

What Obammer* could have done...but didn't and won't

There were charges of a stolen election in Iran, and then ensuing protests. Obammer* could have made one of his glorious speeches, including these lines:

"I won't throw in my two cents concerning what's going on in Iran right now. But I will offer this: With no strings attached, this country will lift all forms of embargo and sanctions against Iran. This is not done in order to support one faction or another nor to encourage certain behaviors. It is done simply to welcome Iran into the family of nations with no more talk of Axis-of-Evil rogue nations."

Had I been elected US president instead of Obammer*, that is exactly what I would have said...and done. We gain nothing by shunning a nation and trying to gang up the world against it. We only end up radicalizing that nation. As for the level of extremism that already exists, there's a great deal we can do to soften that. And that has everything to do with removing ourselves from this area of the world so as to allow for self-determination.

And that includes telling Israel: "You are no longer under our military protection and will no longer receive our foreign aid. Make peace with your neighbors. You can do this. You must do this. You will do this."

Steven Searle (was) a candidate for U.S. President in 2008:

"Some of my countrymen worry about what a (so-called) crazed Islamo-Fascist state would to with a nuclear bomb. To them I say: "You should worry more about what we might do with one. After all, the United States was the first nuclear terrorist state" - Steve.

Founder of The Best Party Available

Contact me: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

* The following essay explains why I refer to him as "Blacque Obammer": http://bpa-cinc.gaia.com/blog/2008/12/why_blacque_obammer

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