America needs to stand up for Iranian freedom

Michael Totten and Twitter are major sources of news on the violent aftermath of the Iranian election, with links, videos, and photos galore. The videos Totten has posted of streets filled with thousands of protesters are impressive. He writes:

Oppressive governments that face ferocious resistance in the streets often don't last very long. The Islamic Republic regime has been durable so far, and reports of its imminent demise have been premature, but there is only so much it can withstand.

Oremus.

Tehran looks like a "war zone."

Gateway Pundit calls this the picture of the year:


Totten provides election background here. Excerpt:

Iran’s presidential election isn’t real. The four candidates were hand-picked by the “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei. It’s turning into something more than he bargained for, though, even if his regime is rigging the outcome for Mahmoud Admadinejad.

Thanks be to God for Twitter, which proves to be so much more than a trivial social network. It has remained alive and is an essential source of news coming out of Iran. Not so CNN:

Even as Twitter became the best source for rapid-fire news developments from the front lines of the riots in Tehran, a growing number of users of the microblogging service were incredulous at the near total lack of coverage of the story on CNN, a network that cut its teeth with on-the-spot reporting from the Middle East.

Read on.

Michelle Malkin has more links and a powerful BBC video of police beating protesters and protesters shouting "We Want Freedom."

NTCNews has done a fine job of aggregating Iran stories.

William Jacobson urges Obama to do the right thing:

Do not embrace Ahmadinejad and those who empower him. Do not sacrifice the chance of a lifetime for the Iranian people for short term political gain. No Chavez-style hugs to help rescue the Iranian regime.

Voice unequivocal support for the Iranian people. Withhold recognition of the election without international verification. Getting "out of the way" is not enough; widespread international support could be the key to whether the nascent Iranian revolution goes the way of Poland, the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Georgia .... or goes the way of Venezuela.

Be the leader of the Free World, not the Accomodator-in-Chief.

Yes please, President Obama. Surprise us and stand up for freedom as others have done before you.

*Update: White House Worries About Stability While Iranians Plead for Help

The NIAC blog reports:

According to our private phone conversations with people in Tehran, hundreds of parents have gathered by a police station in Yousef Abad, now known as Seyyed Jamal Aldin Asad Abadi, with their hands raised to the sky saying “Obama, please help us, they are killing our young children.” They were gathering there because their kids are missing and they were trying to find out where they are.

[WS:] But wasn't Obama's election supposed to restore America's moral authority precisely so that the United States government could use soft power and diplomacy in a situation like this? What is Obama doing to help those who are seeking change in Iran? Or has opposition to regime change morphed into support for stability, even if that means support for Ahmadinejad?

Linked by Michelle Malkin (buzzworthy)

Most recent posts here.