IRAN UNRAVELING?

"The Voice of America is not in the business of persuading Iranians to overthrow their government," declared VOA Director David Jackson in Washington the other day.  He said this with a wink as he then noted the "amazing number" of e-mails his office receives daily now begging America:  "Please invade Iran!"

Things have not been going well for Ahmadinejad the Persian Midget and his sour band of terrorist mullahs this week.  This is thanks to Porter Goss giving Michael Hayden a lesson in how to run psy-ops at the CIA before his departure tomorrow (Friday, 5/26).

The day after Alberto Fernandez, the State Department head of public diplomacy for the Middle East, announced a distinction between "official Iran" (the regime) and "eternal Iran" (the people) and said support for the Iranian people called for "creativity" – reports were leaked to the Western press that Iran had a new law requiring Jews and Christians to wear distinctive colored badges.

The story was made up – but it rattled the mullahs’ cages, as it made headlines around the world.

Then came the riots in Tabriz and other Azeri-populated cities in northwest Iran.

Recall from Nigerian Persia that over 1/3 of Iranians are ethnic Azeri (just like their brethren across the border in Azerbaijan) who despise Persians.  On May 23, a government newspaper in Tehran published a cartoon depicting an Azeri-speaking cockroach.  Oops.

That very day, Azeri demonstrators marched on government offices in Tabriz, riots broke out in a number of Azeri towns, the Tabriz main bazaar was shut down with shopkeepers joining the demonstrators, who had to be dispersed with teargas.

The National Revival Movement of Southern Azerbaijan ("Southern" meaning "Iranian") and Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency reported over 20 protestors were killed, dozens injured, and hundreds arrested.

The irony of the mullahs having cartoon riots directed at them is just too delicious.  I wonder how such a cartoon slipped into a government newspaper?  "No comment" from Porter.

Was it just a coincidence that on this same day, May 23 – known as the Second of Khordad (the day of the Persian month when reformer Mohammed Khatami was elected president in 1997) – that riots broke out on the campus of Tehran University?

They started in protest of a purge of popular faculty.  Quickly, thousands of students joined in chanting anti-regime slogans.  Believe it or not, the two most-chanted slogans were:

We Don’t Want Nuclear Energy and Forget Palestine – Think Of Us.

Some 3,000 police and Basij (Iranian Gestapo) thugs entered the campus with helmets, shields, clubs, and guns.  They beat up protestors unmercifully, and fired live bullets at them, killing several.  One student reported:

"The university campus is on fire, raids are being conducted throughout the campus, and the students are in fear and anxiety… Gunfire is heard from all directions… There is blood everywhere."

Ahmadinejad reacted by accusing "the US and its allies of hatching plots to provoke ethnic tensions and destabilize Iran."

His nervousness is enhanced by knowing that Bush and Tony Blair are meeting at the White House tonight (5/25) to do just that. 

Thanks, Porter.  We’re praying that your successor learns his lessons well from you.