Iranian protests

Courageous truth-teller Robert Spencer writes in PJ Media,

Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have the vaguest idea of what’s happening in Iran these days; all she knows is that Donald Trump is for it so therefore she is against it. A new series of extraordinary videos, however, pulls back the curtain on the immense anger that ordinary Iranians are now expressing for the Islamic regime. If Pelosi saw them, she would learn a great deal, but there is no chance of that, as she would never risk doing anything so pro-Trump as challenging the brutal and bloody Iranian mullahs.

The Iran Liberation Congress, headed by the Los Angeles-based Dr. Iman Foroutan, presents the videos here, as part of its ongoing efforts at “creating the building blocks of a democratic government to guide Iran following the fall of the regime of the Islamic Republic.” The Congress explains that its “members include dissidents within Iran and pro-democracy activists throughout the various communities of Iranian exiles. We are dedicated to the peaceful and complete removal of the Islamic Republic in Iran through nonviolent means (unless we must act in self-defense).”

The goal of the Iranian Liberation Congress appears to be to return Iran to the more secular days of the Shahs, as well as the end of the Islamic regime’s genocidal bellicosity and nuclear adventurism: “We are dedicated to the abolition of any and all programs involved with creating or using weapons of mass destruction, including biological or nuclear weapons. We are dedicated to the preservation of Iran’s territories and their independence. We are dedicated to the separation of religion and state, and freedom of religion for all people. We have chosen to adopt the UN Human Rights Declaration and all of its amendments. After the removal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the people of Iran, through universal suffrage, will decide the nation’s future and political system through free and fair elections.”

The videos show that there is a great deal of support for these ideas within Iran itself. In one, protesters chant: “No honor! No honor! Soleimani is a murderer and his Supreme Leader is stupid!” In another, the chant is “We are ashamed of our stupid Supreme Leader!” And in a third, the protesters cry, “Death to the Dictator! Death to the Dictator! Sepah (Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps) does crimes! The Supreme Leader defends them! Khamenei is a murderer! His rule is void and invalid! Death to the liar! Death to the Liar!”

Iran Protesters Curse Soleimani, Chant 'Death to Khamenei!'
The forces of the regime, meanwhile, do not appear nearly as fearsome and formidable as they have in the recent past. In one video, the police plead with protesters, when not long ago they would have simply moved in and brutalized them. “This is the Police talking,” says an amplified voice to the protesters. “Please cooperate with the police. On behalf of myself and the Police Force, please accept our condolences. But this is not right that you’re blocking the roads. Please allow the cars to move. I beg you, those who hear my voice. This is the Police.”

I beg you. Can a regime that begs people who hate it to do its bidding be long for this world? Can a regime long survive when protesters against it cry out “We are the children of war. Want to war with us? Let’s do it!”

Meanwhile, demonstrating how extraordinarily out of touch she is, Pelosi downplayed the significance of the protests. On ABC’s This Week Sunday, George Stephanopoulos asked Pelosi: “We’re seeing now demonstrations in the streets of Iran against the regime. Do you support those protesters? And would it be a good thing if they brought the regime down?”

Pelosi’s response was typical of the barely coherent rambles she has been handing down to her hapless followers for some time now. “Well, the protesters are protesting, as I understand it, this brand of protesters, about the fact that that plane went down. And many students were on that plane. These are largely students in the street. I think the Iranians should have not had commercial flights going off there.”

Whatever all that meant, there was nothing in that muddle that could reasonably be interpreted as “Yes, I support these protesters, and yes, it would be a good thing if they brought the regime down.” The closest she came to that was a tepid tut-tutting of the Iranian regime for having “commercial flights going off there.”

Stephanopoulos broke out of his usual Democratic-Party-Publicist mode to persist with Pelosi, telling her: “They’re calling out the regime for lying. They’re saying ‘Death to Khamenei,’ as well.”

Pelosi waved that away. “Well whatever it is. But the fact is this: There were protesters in the street before against the regime. After the taking out of Soleimani, there were protesters in the street joined together, as you know, against us. It wasn’t good.”

The Iran Liberation Congress videos show otherwise. These protests aren’t against us. They’re against the Iranian Islamic regime that Barack Obama and John Kerry did so much to prop up. They’re getting support from Donald Trump. All that is more than enough for Nancy Pelosi to determine that she isn’t going to give them a syllable of support.