Tehran still smouldering

I was busy with personal stuff today so I'm off to a late start but the big buzz is still about Iran. The only thing that seems clear to me at this point is that you can't depend on the major media to get the story straight. For instance, the WaPo piece at the top of Memeorandum claiming to "prove" Ahmadinejad might have really won the election in a landslide has already been rather thoroughly debunked by Juan Cole.

Meanwhile, the best up to the minute aggregation is going on at HuffPo, where Nico Pitney has been liveblogging for the last couple of days. He's updating constantly with tips from observers at the scene, photos and some excellent videos. Also I haven't been following Sully myself, but I've heard that he's been doing extensive coverage and has a post aggregating all his links.

I remain impressed with the courage and conviction of the Iranian protesters who are now risking their lives to continue their civil actions. Of course, fascinating as it is, the real question is what does it all mean for US policy. The way I see it, it doesn't matter so much whether the Ahmadilooney remains in power. I've seen some headlines suggesting he'll come out stronger from this, but I don't see how. It looks to me like his credibility with the hardliners has been diminished by his awkward handling of the situation and it's going to be difficult to rouse the masses into an anti-American fervor because Obama has already established he's reaching out in friendship to the Islamic community and has rejected the Bush regime's focus on imperialism. Tim F expands on that theme with a post well worth reading.

On a different note, I hear that Americans who want to show their support for the protesters are being encouraged to wear something green.

Update: One last thought, I'm really glad Obama is president and not McCain. The last thing the Iranians need is for the US to meddle in this.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]