Blame America, part 11,736,325,752,298

The Iranian ambassador to Mexico is speculating that the CIA may be responsible for the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

"This death of Neda is very suspicious," Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said. "My question is, how is it that this Miss Neda is shot from behind, got shot in front of several cameras, and is shot in an area where no significant demonstration was behind held?"

He suggested that the CIA or another intelligence service may have been responsible.

"Well, if the CIA wants to kill some people and attribute that to the government elements, then choosing women is an appropriate choice, because the death of a woman draws more sympathy," Ghadiri said.
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"I am not saying that now the CIA has done this. There are different groups. It could be the [work of another] intelligence service; it could be the CIA; it could be the terrorists. Anyway, there are people who employ these types of methods."
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In response, CIA spokesman George Little said, "Any suggestion that the CIA was responsible for the death of this young woman is wrong, absurd and offensive."

How offensive is it, Mr. Little?  Has Iran finally been offensive enough that America is going to do more than waggle its finger at Iran like a wayward two-year-old and assume that when it grows up its behavior will improve?  This is an insult to the CIA, to the American government, and it cheapens every peaceful demonstration that has happened on American soil and worldwide.  And that's outside of the damage to our stature within Iran, and in Mexico.  Why isn't America asking Mexico to toss this charlatan of an ambassador out on his ear?   Ambassador Ghadiri is maligning our country within the borders of a supposed ally, a country that we send billions of dollars to each year with no expectation of repayment, and Mexico sits still while Ghadiri spits at us across our southern border.

Iran is claiming that the bullet that killed Neda was not a type used in Iran - could it have come from the guns of the 5,000 Hezbollah troops that Iran has brought in to massacre its own people?  Is Iran going to imply next that America is responsible for the at least 19 and possibly hundreds of deaths of peaceful demonstrators?  Did we manage to slip in an entire military division while no one was looking, bent on creating chaos in Iran?

Maybe Iran is hoping that Pluggy Joe will offer another ginormous aid package to settle things down in light of the perception that America killed Neda Agha-Soltan.  I certainly wouldn't put that sort of diplomacy out of the reach of the Obama administration.

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FIFA has more balls than the American government

OK, yeah, they're going to have more balls anyway, being the international governing body for soccer and all, but still.  At least they're demanding an explanation regarding the punishments being handed out to the Iranian national team soccer players.
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Hezbollah fighters in Iran

Via ColorMeRed, an Israeli blogger is reporting that there are multiple confirmations of 5,000 Hezbollah fighters in Iran.  There's a letter at the link from an Iranian citizen, asking the Lebanese people to contact their Parliament and demand the recall of the troops. 

I have to reiterate, anyone who thinks that the liberation of Iraq was a bad idea should take a moment to consider what Saddam Hussein would be plotting right now.

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Banned for life from soccer

I know some of you will regard this as a bonus to the players rather than a punishment, but let's just pretend for a few moments that the rest of you regard soccer as a real sport and not something that only six-year-olds should play.

Four of the six Iranian soccer players who were brave enough to wear green armbands during the World Cup qualifier in Seoul a week ago have been forcibly retired from playing soccer. When they returned to Iran after the game, their passports were taken from them, and they have been banned from media interviews.

One of the players, Ali Karimi, is widely regarded as Iran's best footballer. Karimi refused to take off his green armband through the entire game, despite being ordered to do so. Karimi joined Persepolis FC in 2008 because of his love for Iran, despite international attempts to recruit him to more prestigious teams. Karimi previously played for Bayern Munich. He is an amazingly fast midfielder with a lightning foot.

Two of the other banned players currently play for other Bundesliga teams. The fourth plays for Leicester City, an English FC.

Bundesliga and The Football League should step up immediately and demand the release of these fine players. I normally wouldn't encourage sports leagues to get involved in government, but the government had to go and stick their noses into soccer. 

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Somehow, The Left No Longer Cares About "No Blood For Oil"

I guess since it's not one of those evil Amerikkkan corporations making money off of this deal, it's cool, right?

There has been a scramble for oil assets in Iraq's Kurdish region, which is more open to foreign investment than Baghdad. Heritage Oil, also a London listed explorer, agreed to buy Addax's partner in Kurdistan, Turkey's Genel Energy, for £1.5bn earlier this month.

Addax and Genel both produce oil at Taq Taq, with the intention of increasing its production from 40,000 barrels a day to a peak production of 180,000 barrels a day.

Sinopec's offer represents a 47pc premium to the closing price on June 5, the day before Addax announced it was in preliminary discussions with Sinopec and others about a potential deal. Its shares rose 282, or 12pc, to £26.50 in London

The offer from the cash-rich Sinopec, an abbreviation of the China Petrochemical Corporation, does not rely on outside financing. It will have to pay a termination fee of C$300m if it withdraws from the acquisition, which needs the approval of the Chinese government by the end of August.

Jean Claude Gandur, chief executive of Addax, said he hoped Sinopec would increase investment in the business and accelerate exploration plans.

"We are pleased that Sinopec has recognised the highly attractive asset portfolio and exceptional team that we have assembled at Addax Petroleum," he said.

 

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A question that has been floating around for a few days now has an answer

People were wondering if the monsters running Iran right now were going to charge the families of people they killed like the monsters running China have done, and the answer would be yes, to the tune of $3000 US.  Sick fucking bastards, may Ahmadinejad and the mullahs hang, and every last one of their goons too.

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Every time I think the mullahs can't sink lower

They do.  Now they're banning mosques from holding memorial services for Neda Agha Soltan.  h/t Jake Tapper's twitter.

I know that everyone is looking for the match to the tinder.  This may be it.  It reminds me of how the Chicoms supposedly bill families for the bullets used for executions.  It's so heartless.  It's so cruel.  It's so indicative of who and what the mullahs are.

God bless the people of Iran.

Further thoughts below the fold.
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This is what bravery looks like

Via Twitter (username redacted), members of the Iranian national soccer team wearing green arm bands to show solidarity with the protestors on live television.

I'm not sure we can fathom how tough their lives are about to get.

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Another Iran video

Again, purported to be but not verified that it is currently from Iran.

The vid claims that the Basiji are shooting at civilians. Basiji are Iranian volunteer paramilitary that are subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

In other words, they're a civilian corps.

Update: another vid, purportedly of nighttime home raids.

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Video reportedly out of Iran

The video below the fold is reportedly from the Iran protests. I do not have direct confirmation on this. Here's the note from the torrent:

VIDEO FROM IRAN
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A man is dragged across the ground in front of crowd, then beaten while the police yell into the croud to scare them.

brought to you by the ANONYMOUS IRAN PROTESTORS
http://iran.whyweprotest.net/

JOIN US IN HELPING THE IRANIANS TO ACHIEVE FREEDOM! 

Update: added another video, again, extremely graphic. more...

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Not that I would EVER advocate participating in a DDOS

Update: "Karroubi, Mousavi, get my vote back"

I would never ever ever advocate or suggest participation in a DDOS. Which is why I'm not going to tell you that there's a handy Firefox extension called ReloadEvery, which will allow you to refresh a page automatically every five seconds.

I also won't mention that some of the resistance in Iran has requested lots and lots and lots of visits to the following sites, at least until cell phone and internet service has been restored:
http://www.khamenei.ir/
http://www.iribnews.ir/
http://www.irib.ir/

Update: and here's another site you absolutely shouldn't leave open in your browser while you go have a cup of coffee, since DDOS attacks are wrong wrong wrong.

Another update: vid below the fold. Graphic content.
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A contrarian viewpoint on the Obama Administration's reaction to the Iran situation

Most conservatives are arguing Obama should be more aggressive in voicing opposition to Ahmadinejad and the state crackdown on protesters.  Muslihoon, and I respect his opinion on Mideast and Islam issues greatly, sees it differently, and suggests that Obama's squishy statements may actually be the best thing here.  Worth reading.  It has me rethinking going after Obama and his squishiness here.

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Please oh please let this *not* be true

The Guardian is reporting 12 dead students in Iran.  Five of the students have been named but were reportedly buried without the knowledge of their families.

In slightly more positive news, Twitter's hosting provider has agreed to postpone maintenance activities until the middle of the night in Iran. Iranian protesters are using Twitter as a means of communicating how to obtain medical care, as police have started arresting protesters who show up at hospitals.

In less positive news, Spiegel.de is reporting that 5,000 Lebanese troops have been dispatched to Iran, presumably to help with crowd control.  @IranElection09's take on the troop presence is that Iranians refuse to kill Iranians.

And in some worrisome news, twitterer @Change_for_Iran has not been heard from for fifteen hours.

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A few people in Iran are a little upset over the election

UPDATE: Um, wow.  Not that I would EVER suggest helping to DDOS the Iranian government's propaganda websites, because of course that would be immoral, right?

From IranElection09's twitterfeed, where you can find the latest updates on the Iranian election protests. Rodrigomx of BNONews is assembling a collection of photos from various sources. Excitable Andi has a post up saying that professors at the University of Tehran have resigned en masse to protest the militia raid of the boys' dorm. (Link is safe per douchebag policy, it's pictures of the dorm raid.)

Imagine how different this might all be if Saddam Hussein were in a position to send over troops to help support Ahmadinejad.

Even if Ahmadinejad succeeds in pulling off this farce of an election, he's been put on notice, and the rest of the world is now on notice to help insure that Iran has a truly fair election next time around. It's a shame we don't have a president in office right now who sees Ahmadinejad for the dictator that he is, and who is interested in truly helping democracy achieve a foothold in Iran, or we might be seeing a different election outcome.

Update: Rottengods has heard a rumor that eight people have been killed in the latest protests, but does not have confirmation.
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Things Turning In Pakistan?

I don't put too much stock in any of the organizations involved in this piece but the material itself is rather promising:

"No Taliban should go unharmed," agreed Asma Arshad, 23, a college student in the central city of Multan. "The killing of Taliban is good for Islam and it is good for Pakistan."

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This is what hope and change gets you

The polls are closing in Lebanon, where an election that could be seen as a referendum on Obama's Cairo speech is wrapping up. Hezbollah is currently predicted to win Lebanon's parliament from a pro-Western coalition by a narrow margin.

"I voted for reform and change," said Laure Khoury, a 32-year-old schoolteacher, after casting a ballot for Hezbollah's Christian allies in the Byblos district north of Beirut. "We tried the others for four years and we got nothing but promises and corruption. Enough is enough," the Christian woman said.

Despite the fact that I'd love to see Lebanon tell Obama, "Screw you and your fancy-pants brown-nosing condescension!", I'd rather not have a terrorist organization running the show in yet another Middle East country.

Update: Haaretz is reporting that Hezbollah is projected to lose.  Yay!

Update 2: NYT and WaPo are both reporting that the pro-US coalition is winning.

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IIF

Israel Is Fucked.  I'm guessing Obama is holding the mistaken lefty idea that if we just stick Uncle Sam's nose far enough up Muhammed's ass, radical Islam will quit wanting us dead.  And unsurprisingly, he's willing to throw an ally under the bus to do it.

I suppose the question is, is Obama behaving this way out of a love of Islam or out of a hatred of Israel?

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