Iran
The situation is Iran is as depressing as it is hopeful. The hope that comes from the protests should be clear: it shows that a people care and that people are willing to stand up for what they care for. It shows that people are willing to risk their lives for something they believe in and that is an extremely powerful thing. It shows that maybe things can change in the Middle East and that, no matter how slowly, things are progressing and maybe one day we will see Iran be a truly democratic country. The depressing element of the demonstrations in Iran is that no matter how many millions of people turn out in those streets, and no matter how many Tweets are posted by students at Tehran University and no matter how many Youtube videos show the brutalities being committed in the streets. The bloggers as well as the mainstream news can show as much as they want how rigged the elections were. But none of that matters in the end. We will see, very soon, protesters be cut down by a rain of bullets, probably in Ishfan or some other city that’s outside of the protester produced CNN and BBC backed media zoo that exists in Tehran. There will be an international outcry and maybe, hopefully the more liberal and powerful Islamic clerics in Iran will express their outrage etc… etc… But none of that will matter. No, because it won’t bring democracy to Iran, but most importantly it won’t bring back the hundreds, if not thousands that will be murdered for standing up for something that they believe in.
