A few days ago I received this video from a friend. She is Iranian and very passionately involved with the current situation in Iran. The video is a marketing master piece and makes a strong emotional call to action.
I was moved, and decided to contribute by doing some research and posting a Fresh News Blog. In my research I was amazed by the international support for the Iranian Green Revolution; from CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, to Amnesty International, and even the Dutch government.
Then I ended up asking myself the question, “who organizes and funds all these initiatives?”
In 1928, Edward Bernays presented his book Propaganda, the result of extensive scientific research in the techniques of shaping and manipulating public opinion. Reading this book is rather scary when considering how well it describes the mass-manipulative actions of governments and corporations. “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” – Edward Bernays, Propaganda
Why do I find this relevant?
All governments use techniques to manipulate the masses, the masses that stand to loose everything and gain very little in any regime change, the masses that carry most of the risk I believe.
Without passing judgment on the Iranian elections, the demonstrations, the way Iranian current government is handling the demonstrations, the rights and desires of the Iranian people, and without sharing my own belief of what would be good for the Iranian people, I would like to present some sources of information that will hopefully provide a DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE to the mass-media information about the Iranian Green Revolution than that we are being presented with.
- Overthrowing regimes is not a set of spontaneous actions organized from within a country. Non-violent overthrowing of regimes is a technique considered as an alternative to war and is consciously used by the western government. In documentary A Force More Powerful by Steven York you can watch how exactly this goes into effect. One example is the training and financing of students and protesters who lead the demonstrations.
- The Netherlands and the USA are the only countries in the world that actually have budgets assigned to stimulating political changes in Iran. E.g., take a look at this NRC Handelsblad article. How much money? It regards numbers such as 85 million USD from the USA and 15 million EUR from the Netherlands in one year. Check out Daan de Wit’s DeepJournal articles on The West and the Iranian Green Revolution 1 >>, 2 >>, and 3 >> for more on this funding of Iranian regime change.
- US intelligence agents are on the ground in Iran. Are they helping the protesters? Check out this video for an answer on that.
- Going back to Daan de Wit and his DeepJournal of which I’m a big fan, the subtitle of his Journal is “News Behind the News”. I believe it is exactly that, which we should be looking for in order to truly understand any situation or to at least escape the trickeries of propaganda manipulation that are being used on us. Daan has also written a book called The Next War, The Attack on Iran: A Prelude (translated from Dutch) about which you can find more information here >>.
I’m sure most of us will agree that going to war in order to change a regime shouldn’t be an option. There are of course exceptions, and strangely these exceptions are very often our “leaders” at the highest levels. However, considering the above information, how far do you think Western governments should go in order to change the regime in Iran?
And a better question yet, are there alternatives to their actions? Dare to ask yourself that before getting swooped up by propaganda in any shape or form.
I’d love to read your comments…
Warm regards,
Ajdin
Tags: deepjournal, fresh news, green revolution, iran, propaganda, regime change
The Global day of Action is a not affiliated with any partisan political agenda, and is aimed at securing the internationally recognized rights of the Iranian people.
25th of July 2009 is sponsored by:
Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate
Iranian League for Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI)
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
Human Rights Watch
Reporters Without Borders
AMnesty International
PeaceJam
FIDH
Nobel WOmen’s Initiative
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
The list looks impressive. And it also very much speaks to my moral beliefs. I too believe in international human rights of course.
I do however try to look one level deeper, without insinuating anything. In this case, other than perhaps Shirin Ebadi, who FUNDS the other organizations for their actions in regard to Iran and WHY?
Tough question I think. Not only can’t I answer it with any certainty, I would even go so far to presume that those organizations themselves could have a wrong idea about the answer..
[...] I posted some challenging information on the Green Revolution in Iran. As an addition to that I’d like you to take 15 minutes in order to view that same [...]