Fairly balanced video (via Pete Wallace); ignores the socialist/communist drive of the revolution though (see the likes of Persepolis which talks about that, and the ensuing brutal clampdown in the years after the 1979 revolution) and makes it out to be a purely Islamic revolution – isn’t that like saying Arab Spring was purely Islamic-focused since hey, the people were all Muslims? The truth is far more mixed, and yes I agree with the sign off that people under both systems want to be free, strangely it seems one lot are deluded about their ‘freedom’ – it apparently means ‘my freedom’, not yours. And actually isn’t real freedom, either.
Otherwise good stuff…interesting to note the 1952 was the year of the Egyptian revolution against the British rule…and then we have Suez and Algeria slightly later too, fall out post-war and the end of the British Empire and colonial influence. Some people mourn such loss, I don’t because it came with a whole lot of evil baggage (slavery? invasion? murder? genocide? spying? political instability?) and exhausting ‘bad cop’ military complex that isn’t sustainable for long – as the US is finding out. Good riddance, although the UK gets dragged into far too many wars.
The Arab Spring and Iran should be a warning note to the USA, though…been there, done that and as Obama fiddles Homs burns….and to invade Iran now is suicide for US or the UK if we get dragged into it again (sadly I think we will). I was looking at the pictures I took in 2003 on the Afghanistan protest march, at least a 1 million people marched that day. Many millions marched worldwide and still were ignored by the powers that be…I have that feeling now. I think the most appropriate song for that is The Clash’s Washington Bullets – which has the lines:
And if you can find a Afghan rebel
That the Moscow bullets missed
Ask him what he thinks of voting Communist…
…Ask the Dalai Lama in the hills of Tibet,
How many monks did the Chinese get?
In a war-torn swamp stop any mercenary,
And check the British bullets in his armory
And yes I never forgot Victor Jara.
Have you read any of Arthur Silber’s pieces on Iran? He’s been writing against the forthcoming war with Iran since 2007 and against the American empire in general for ages. He’s at http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/ but this is a nice post that compiles a lot of his earlier arguments along with a suggestion for action: http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-ad-who-are-nazis-now.html I think you’d find it interesting, especially the elements regarding what people willfully ignore and just how bad an idea war would be (as if it’s ever a good plan)