One of the things that surprised me the most about the uprisings in Egypt was that Iranians didn’t capitalize on the mood and take to the streets themselves. One of the most cowardly and shameful episodes ever was the way Obama refused to back the Iranian protests. His silence was deafening as the regime thugs murdered people in the streets. But when it came to Egypt he couldn’t wait to throw Mubarak overboard and get behind the protests. Very strange. Very hypocritical. Very sad.

Anyway, Iranians finally did wake up and tried to get a protest going today. Sadly, the Mullahs were ready and quickly crushed the rally before it got out of hand.

Iranian police used tear gas and electric prods to crack down on the country’s biggest antigovernment protests in at least a year, as demonstrators buoyed by activism across the Middle East returned to the country’s streets by the tens of thousands Monday.

The day of planned antigovernment rallies began largely peacefully, according to witnesses, with protesters marching silently or sitting and chanting. But as demonstrators’ ranks swelled, police and antiriot forces lined the streets, ordered shops to shut down and responded at times with force, according to witnesses and opposition websites, in a repeat of the official crackdown that helped snuff out months of spirited opposition rallies a year ago.

By day’s end, online videos showed garbage bins on fire, protesters throwing rocks at the police and crowds clashing with motorcycle-mounted members of the pro-regime Basij militia.

The situation in Iran is an important lesson. People can organize on Facebook and Twitter all they want, but if the regime is willing to use violence they can put down an uprising most of time. Iran has shown its willingness to use any and all means necessary to beat back an uprising. They don’t give a damn what the international community thinks. They don’t care how many sternly worded letters come out of the UN. If you protest they will shoot you.

One advantage the people of Egypt had was the military’s refusal to use violence. Once the military stood down Mubarak was finished. I don’t think you’ll see that in Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard are among the most radical and fervent supporters of the regime.

(hat tip Gateway Pundit)

This is absolutely shocking video. Regime thugs hang two men in the town square, but local citizens storm the area and cut down the men before they die. The barbaric regime then calls in reinforcements who open fire on the unarmed civilians killing five.

Gateway Pundit has all the details, but here’s the video:

Remember the young woman who was murdered during the election protests in Iran a few months back? Her name was Neda and her grizzly death was broadcast around the world on YouTube. She was shot in the neck by Iranian government thugs and bled to death on the streets of Tehran.

PBS Frontline has a new documentary about Neda that tells her story and how she came to be murdered. You hear from her friends, boyfriend, and the doctor who tried to save her at the scene.

Here’s the entire program:

Iranians have once again taken to the streets of Tehran to face down the brutal regime they’ve suffered under for 30 years. Today is the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, but instead of celebrating the crowd is protesting the regime.

The protesters are chanting “Obama, Obama are you with regime or with us?”

Sadly, I think most Americans already know the answer to that question.

Here’s even more protest footage. This time the crowd is chanting “die, die dictator!”

Here is some footage of the protesters stomping on a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei:

(hat tip Gateway Pundit & Planet Iran)

This from the AP:

Thousands of protesters streamed down avenues of the capital Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator" and defying security forces who fired tear gas and charged with batons, witnesses said. The first opposition foray into the streets in 11 days aimed to revive mass demonstrations that were crushed in Iran’s postelection turmoil.

Iranian authorities had promised tough action to prevent the marches, which supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been planning for days in Internet messages. Heavy police forces deployed at key points in the city ahead of the marches, and Tehran’s governor vowed to "smash" anyone who heeded the demonstration calls.

In some places, police struck hard. Security forces chased after protesters, beating them with clubs on Valiasr Street, Tehran’s biggest north-south avenue, witnesses said.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter had some inspiring words about the protests in Iran…

(hat tip Big Hollywood)

A man who certainly knows a thing or two about protesting for freedom is Russian chess champion Gary Kasparov.

Vladimir Putin has no greater foe in Russia than Kasparov. He’s been arrested too many times to count for leading marches in Russia against the authoritarian regime that Putin has created.

If Kasparov were not famous the world over, he would have been killed long ago. His fame is the only thing that has kept him alive under a regime that routinely murders journalists and jails people who speak out against the government.

Therefore, when Kasparov speaks out on issues like the protests in Iran he has a certain amount of credibility.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Kasparov has an excellent Op-Ed about the protests in Iran and offers an interesting perspective.

Mr. Putin has a great deal riding on the outcome in Iran. With the Russian economy teetering, he needs a steep increase in oil prices to stave off the collapse of his government. So he has been working to increase tension in the Middle East and now sees the Iranian crisis as potentially helpful — if Ahmadinejad comes out on top.

…For Mr. Putin, the unknown factor in all of this is how the West will respond to what’s happening in Iran. It could give him pause if Iran faces penalties of real significance for using lethal force against nonviolent protestors. Surprisingly, European leaders are showing unusual assertiveness in condemning the Iranian regime.

Kasparov goes on to say that president Obama is wrong to sit on the sidelines while everything plays out.

He says the president’s warning that “the world is watching” is meaningless, because the behavior of the Iranian regime over the last 30 years proves they don’t give a damn who’s watching.

Sen. Richard Lugar and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria are singled out by Kasparov as well for supporting president Obama’s timidity.

Kasparov concludes by saying there’s no reason for America to hold back if we can do something that would potentially tip the balance inside Iran.

There is no reason to withhold external pressure that can tip the balance inside Tehran. Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is not an ideal democrat. But should he and his supporters win power they will owe their authority to an abruptly empowered Iranian electorate. It is reasonable to expect that the people will hold a Mousavi government accountable for delivering the freedoms that they are now risking their lives to attain.

Millions of Iranians are fighting to join the Free World. The least we can do is let the valiant people of Iran know loud and clear that they will be welcomed with open arms.

Unlike many on the right, I actually thought president Obama’s statements at the beginning of this crisis were correct. I think his measured response in the beginning was appropriate.

However, as images and video of Iranian citizens being brutalized and killed by Iran’s Nazi brownshirts are being broadcast around the world, America has a moral responsibility to throw our support behind the protesters.

We should be condemning in the strongest possible language the treatment of protesters.

This is a chance for president Obama to go on national television and ask the Ayatollahs of Iran to let their people have freedom.

This from CNN:

Security forces wielding clubs and firing weapons beat back demonstrators who flocked to a Tehran square Wednesday to continue protests, with one witness saying security forces beat people like “animals.”

At least two trusted sources described wild and violent conditions at a part of Tehran where protesters had planned to demonstrate.

“They were waiting for us,” the source said. “They all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap.”

“I see many people with broken arms, legs, heads — blood everywhere — pepper gas like war,” the source said.

I hope the protesters have the courage to keep this up, because it’s only going to get worse.

***GRAPHIC VIDEO***

This is what happens to those who speak out against the murderous Mullah’s of Iran:

(hat tip Gateway Pundit)