Iranian Alert -- February 9, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Prince Charles Meets Iran Quake Survivors
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer

Prince Charles met with earthquake survivors in the flattened city of Bam after talks with President Mohammed Khatami earlier Monday in the first visit to Iran by a member of the British royal family in 33 years.

The prince surveyed reconstruction work and spoke to survivors of the quake that struck Bam on Dec. 26, killing more than 41,000 people and injuring 15,000 others.

In Tehran, the prince met Khatami in his office and inquired about his recent back pain, which had confined him to his home for several days.

``It's due to old age,'' the 61-year-old president said with a smile, standing straight and with no visible signs of pain.

Khatami has been under pressure over Feb. 20 legislative elections that he says will be unfair because more than 2,000 pro-reform candidates have been banned from running by a hard-line council.

There was no immediate comment from Khatami's office about his hour-long private discussions with Prince Charles.

In Bam, Charles discussed efforts to restore irrigation canals after thousands of wells were damaged by the quake.

The prince later visited the site of the world's largest mud-brick fortress known as Arg-e-Bam, or Citadel of Bam. The quake destroyed the 2,500-year old citadel.

Charles' trip prompted speculation of political motives, perhaps to further improve relations strained after the 1979 Islamic revolution. But the British Embassy said the trip had no political implications.

Charles and Sir Nicholas Young, head of the British Red Cross, would assess how to help the survivors and try to resume agricultural life, said Andrew Dunn, first secretary at the British Embassy in Tehran.

The last time a member of the British royal family visited Iran was in 1971, when Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne attended celebrations marking 2,500 years of monarchy in Iran. They were hosted by pro-Western Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, who was toppled by the 1979 Islamic revolution, led by anti-American clerics.

Now, three decades later, Charles is visiting a completely different Iran, ruled by hard-line clerics who routinely have denounced British support of the former shah.

People on the streets of Tehran were surprised by the visit.

``I won't believe a British royal figure is in Iran unless I see it by my own eyes,'' said Hadi Taqipour, a store clerk.

After the revolution, bilateral ties were strained by a 1989 fatwa, or religious edict, issued by revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, against British author Salman Rushdie. The fatwa ordered Muslims to kill the novelist because he had allegedly insulted Islam in his best-selling novel, ``The Satanic Verses.''

In 1998, the Iranian government declared it would not support the fatwa, but said it could not rescind the edict as, under Islamic law, that could be done only by the person who issued it. Khomeini died in June 1989. The government declaration, however, paved the way for upgrading ties to ambassadorial level a few months later.

The prince arrived in Tehran late Sunday after visiting British troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. There, dressed in desert camouflage and boots, he sipped tea with soldiers and praised their role.

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V7096.AP-Iran-Prince-Cha.html

Maybe this will stimulate your mind, or someone else's.

What Say the Reeds at Runnymede?
A poem commemorating the signing of Magna Carta
Runnymede, Surrey, June 15, 1215

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
What say the reeds at Runnymede?
The lissom reeds that give and take,
That bend so far, but never break,
They keep the sleepy Thames awake
With tales of John at Runnymede.
At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Oh, hear the reeds at Runnymede:
'You musn't sell, delay, deny,
A freeman's right or liberty.
It wakes the stubborn Englishry,
We saw 'em roused at Runnymede!

When through our ranks the Barons came,
With little thought of praise or blame,
But resolute to play the game,
They lumbered up to Runnymede;
And there they launched in solid line
The first attack on Right Divine,
The curt uncompromising "Sign!'
They settled John at Runnymede.

At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Your rights were won at Runnymede!
No freeman shall be fined or bound,
Or dispossessed of freehold ground,
Except by lawful judgment found
And passed upon him by his peers.
Forget not, after all these years,
The Charter signed at Runnymede.'

And still when mob or Monarch lays
Too rude a hand on English ways,
The whisper wakes, the shudder plays,
Across the reeds at Runnymede.
And Thames, that knows the moods of kings,
And crowds and priests and suchlike things,
Rolls deep and dreadful as he brings
Their warning down from Runnymede!

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