Iran is in a state of turmoil right now. The state media and Ahmadinejad have declared victory, but - well you see, it seems as those results are being highly disputed. It is heartbreaking to see what is happening over there right now.

At first sight, this reminded me of Tienanmen Square. But, after watching the goings on over the weekend, I would say it more reminds me of the Orange Revolution during the Ukraine elections of 2004. According to twitter reports I saw last night, the Iranian army has announced its neutrality. (That link has current tweets from Iran and around the world) The Army announcing its neutrality is a sign that this is not going away anytime soon, and this could go either way for the people of Iran. It is good news though for the entire country. Unlike the Ukraine it is not peaceful, and there is a revolution rumbling, but with the military standing down, it looks far less dictatorial for them. According to Reuters this morning the EU is calling for 'Iran to clarify the election outcome'. I concur.

One thing is for sure, this country is populated by a very young generation. According to this BBC Article, "About half its 71m people are under 25; nearly two-thirds under 30." The Shia Clerics must be freaking out right now. They are the ones who - for the most part - choose who gets to run for the office of President. They chose Mousavi as a more moderate alternative, and even as exit polls were showing him winning (Al Jazeera at one point declared him the winner), it was not what happened. As Clintster pointed out last Friday, there was something special and wonderful that seemed to be happening in Iran. Now it looks like chaos. There are far too many reports of bad butterfly ballots, vote tampering and even boxes of votes going missing, for anyone to have faith in this election outcome.

Something has to give. This could be the best thing that ever happened to Iran - or sadly the worst. One thing is for sure, the whole world is watching. Even if the country is trying to black out the media - we are watching. We know that you are marching and protesting and pleading with your government for fair and honest elections.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened here in America if we protested our elections with so much passion in the year 2000. Understand, I am glad we did not have the violence that we are seeing in Iran right now. I hope that Iran finds the correct and honest resolution to its woes. People are tired of politicians who rule by fear and ignorance instead of hope (hope being in whatever form they may find it). For the Ukraine it was orange, perhaps for Iran it is green. No matter what, a change is going come to Iran.







:peace: and
Raine