First up is the late President of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, who died earlier today. She was one of the most important women in the world in the last 25 years of the 20th century, shepherding a nation into democracy:
Excerpted from The New York Times this evening:
Corazon Aquino, Ex-Leader of Philippines, Is Dead
By SETH MYDANS
Published: July 31, 2009
Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines, who was swept into office on a wave of “people power” in 1986 and then faced down half a dozen coup attempts in six years as president, died Saturday in Manila, her son said. She was 76.
Demure but radiant in her familiar yellow dress, Mrs. Aquino brought hope to the Philippines as a presidential candidate, then led its difficult transition to democracy from 20 years of autocratic rule under her predecessor, Ferdinand E. Marcos.
That initial triumph of popular will — after a fraudulent election in which Mr. Marcos claimed victory, though most people believed that Mrs. Aquino had won — was a high point in modern Philippine history, and it offered a model for nonviolent uprisings that has been repeated often in other countries.
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Hmmmm, does that scenario sound familiar to you, Mr. Ahmadinejad?Speaking of Iran - these days, the Iranian propaganda machine is geared right to Americans nut cases, it seems. Those propagandists (I think there must be several groups of them, all working under different power factions who run things in Iran these days) have evidently taken a lesson right out of the book of the so-called "birthers" (they claim that President Obama is not a "natural born" U.S. citizen and therefore cannot legally be elected as President under the United States Constitution), and are directly appealing to every fringe element living here and elsewhere. I believe they operate under the "X Files" dictum that the crazier the claim seems, the more people will believe it is Allah's Truth...
On Wednesday Press TV, one of the "official" news outlets in Iran (there are several) claimed that martyred Neda Agha-Soltan, who was cut down by a bullet and died in front of dozens of witnesses on June 20, 2009 and whose gruesome death was caught on a cell phone video and subsequently viewed on You Tube by millions of people the world over, was actually killed by EVIL AGENTS - shot in the back - to enrage people against the current Shahs of Iran. Shades of a juiced-up Rush Limbaugh fantasy!
According to this report, Neda's death caught on cell-phone video was really an elaborate hoax staged by Mosavi operatives/Mosavi sympathizers/foreigners seeking to destablize the current Shahs in control of Iran/name your choice -- with the goal of destablizing the rulership of the current Shahs of Iran. This claim was also floated in official Iranian press reports shortly after Neda was killed - I remember reading it and laughing through my tears - but it didn't get much circulation then as far as I can tell. Probably there was no one in Iran who believed it then, or believes it now. But here the story is once again being floated, no doubt with the hope that it will "take" this time.
Here is the entry from The New York Times blog The Lede's coverage of events in Iran on July 30, 2009 regarding the false claims in Iranian press about Neda being shot in the back. Clicking on the links (which I hope will continue to work) will take you to the underlying stories that provide necessary background for my comments:
Update 8:30 a.m. Iran’s state-supported, English-language satellite channel, Press TV, published a report on Wednesday supporting the theory floated by other pro-government Iranian news sites, that Neda Agha-Soltan was not shot by a member of Iran’s security forces or the Basij militia. The Press TV report is based on recent statements the broadcaster says were made by Hamid Panahi, Ms. Agha-Soltan’s friend and music teacher, who was with her when she was shot.
Days after her killing, Mr. Panahi spoke to The Los Angeles Times in a much more defiant mood, after the Iranian governent had denied her family permission to bury or mourn her in accordance with Shiite tradition:
Panahi said witnesses at the scene said the shooter was not a police officer but among a group of plainclothes security officials or militiamen lurking in the area. [...]
Her loved ones were outraged by the authorities’ order not to eulogize her, to loudly sing her praises and mourn her loss. But they were too afraid and distraught to speak out, except for Panahi, who said he had nothing more to lose. “They know me,” he said. “They know where I am. They can come and get me whenever they want. My time has gone. We have to think about the young people.” [...]
“She couldn’t stand the injustice of it all,” Panahi said. “All she wanted was the proper vote of the people to be counted. “For pursuing her goals, she didn’t use rocks or clubs,” he said. “She wanted to show with her presence that ‘I’m here. I also voted. And my vote wasn’t counted.’ It was a very peaceful act of protest, without any violence.”
As to the person or persons responsible for her death, they will not be forgiven, he said. “When they kill an innocent child, this is not justice. This is not religion. In no way is this acceptable,” he said. “And I’m certain that the one who shot her will not get a pass from God.”
For those of you who have been following events in Iran since the June 12, 2009 election, please check out The Lede's excellent coverage of what happened all over Iran on July 30, 2009 (40 days after the death of martyr Neda Agha-Soltan). The Lede's crew has done an excellent job of rounding up press reports, photographs and posted videos of what happened in Iran yesterday.
Events on July 30, 2009 in Iran were also live-blogged at the Guardian.co.uk: Iran Protests to Honour the Dead
The Iranian government may have also floated reports on/in their official news outlets that Neda is actually alive and hiding away in Greece (or Switzerland?), and will return to Iran when the time is right. I wonder - does the Republican Guard envision Neda riding on a big white charger with veils flowing behind her, leading a multi-million person army of irate Iranian voters toward Tehran?
I know I read at least one "Neda is actually alive and living in ______" report on July 30th - but I don't remember where - at The Lede, the Guardian.co.uk., or somewhere else. I have checked several of the places I usually go to get news on the developing situation in Iran since the June 12, 2009 election but could not find the particular story - maybe I overlooked it (I'm very tired), so I have concluded I read it somewhere else, perhaps by following a link to a link to a link. I didn't imagine it! I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
I tried a few Google searches to see if I could track down the story, but the few links back to the original story I found (at various blogs) are no longer operating. I do not for an instant believe that Neda Soltan is alive, or that her death was faked. I think the July 30th (or maybe July 29th) report actually existed, and then was yanked by elements in the Iranian government after someone amongst them realized how absolutely foolish such a report made them look!
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Meanwhile, Hajar Rostami Motlagh, Neda Soltan's mother, mourns, and tells the world that while her family was coerced into not publicly mourning Neda's death and was prevented from visiting Neda's grave yesterday (on the 40th day after Neda's death), she takes some comfort from the fact that the world cried and continues to cry over her child's death.
