Iranian democracy in action: watch this video of a presumed Basij getting lynched by a “freedom-loving” mob:
There is a reason for the hate that this crowed feels for the putative Basij. The Basij are a voluntary force, nominally subordinated to the Pasdaran, but in reality pretty much autonomous. It is a paramilitary force really composed of low-level supporters of the regime. The Basij did play a key role in suppressing the pro-Mousavi demonstrations in 2009. I can’t say that it breaks my heart to see a Basij getting a taste of the kind of treatment they themselves are used to give the opponents of the regime. My point in posting this video here is to show that the Iranian democrats are no different in their own methods from the Basij they hate so much.
That poor fellow appeared to have no weapons, no club etc … just a pro-government supporter, maybe even a counter demonstrator, getting attacked by a mob. What evidence do you have that he is a basiji?
Apparently at least one — maybe both –of the two reported deaths were of a pro-government person shot by opposition people. I hope you’re not going soft on these reactionaries, Saker ;-)
@Anonymous: What evidence do you have that he is a basiji?
That is how several sources have described him, including the Russian TV channel НТВ which usually does a halfway decent job.
Also, if you look at the beginning of the video, the guy seems to be taking down a poster. So if he is not a Basij, then at least he is some kind of counter-demonstrator.
But, of course, I am not really sure. Maybe he was a peace-loving Mousavi supporter lynched by a hateful gang of Ahmadinejad supporters :-)
I’d have more sympathy with these Greens if their candidate Mousavi wasn’t a mass murderer who killed hundreds of leftists and trade unionists in the early Eighties. His sponosor, Rafsanjani, also has blood on his hands. For all his faults Ahmedinejad is preferable to either of these two.
Plus I’m not convinced that Ahmedinejad lost the election. He was standing on a economic populist program and was promising to crackdown on corruption, both of which may have angered Rafsanjani but may have gone down well with the working class. Iran is not north Teheran; it has thirty provinces full of people who are poor and religious. Western journalists tend to talk to Anglophone middle class types in the capital who tell them what they want to hear.
Is it okay when Egyptian democrats lynch government supporters?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354818/Egypt-Hosni-Mubaraks-men-lynched-protestors-vow-reignite-revolution.html