Iranian Theocracy Unable to Censor New-Media Journalists and Election Protests
Jeff Lewis
I have been observing the Iranian election and subsequent eruption of events occurring there for the past week. Several astonishing things are happening on the world stage, currently centered in Tehran, the most significant of which is the world’s first, “Cyber Revolution”, a term I first saw coined on CNN’s coverage. At the initial outbreak of massive voter dissent on Sunday, the ruling theocracy of Iran wasted no time in shutting down all of the traditional media outlets, rounded up all the foreign press and media agents, unplugged and jammed as many venues to cyberspace as they could, but the world’s front row seat is still being viewed on every TV screen and monitor on the planet. The mullahs are not up to speed with the technology network that has proliferated throughout the globe and are learning that “mass media control” is a thing of the past.
Huge crowds assemble on short notice throughout Tehran and remain several steps ahead of Iran’s considerable domestic security apparatus. The demonstrators of Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989 did not have the technical high ground that their protesting counter parts have in Tehran. It remains to be seen, as of this writing, if Iranian security legions can corral and subdue the hundreds of thousands who are outraged at the voting sham that recently occurred in their country.
The ruling theocracy of Iran made a serious miscalculation in rigging this election. They obviously determined all they needed to do was give the appearance of electoral transparency. They permitted large partisan public candidate rallies, accompanied by a nationally televised debate to the voters and world stage. They also encouraged a large Election Day turnout, and then announce their predetermined choice of the victor in the election and hoped everybody would return to their own affairs and daily business. They are now reaping the whirlwind of an entire culture, intoxicated with the notion that their vote actually meant something.
How utterly foolish this theocratic regime has been. They announced, prior to Election Day in anticipation of a huge voter turnout, that they had 55 million paper ballots printed. The reported turnout was around 35 million with Ahmadinejad garnering 22 million and his nearest opponent, Mir-Hossein Moussavi, with 13 million. These results were announced within three hours of the polls closing, according to Richard Engle, veteran Middle East reporter for NBC. Three hours to tabulate 35 million paper ballot votes is preposterous by any previous standard known to mankind! What idiots these rulers must think of the people.
What kind of precedent did they think they were setting for a country of 78 million people, two thirds of whom are under 30 years old and were not alive when the last revolution took place 30 years previously? This youthful population segment is well educated and acculturated to Western customs and politics, as a result of their interaction via cyberspace since they began substantive cognition. In their reporting of election results they said that Ahmadinejad defeated Moussavi by almost two to one in his hometown, which would be like reporting McCain defeated Obama in Chicago by that margin.
For their part, Republicans have wasted no time in advocating a “get tough” approach to Iran. An approach that has been bereft of any positive results with Iran, to date, along with other disastrous Middle East policy initiatives of theirs. Instead, President Obama has adopted a posture of keeping his powder dry until the smoke clears; at least. Today, the Guardian Council of Iran has announced it will review allegations of any voting infractions and irregularities. My bet is they may determine the vote margin was not as great as first reported, but there will be no new election or recounts that would jeopardize their predetermined choice of the winner.
The situation in Iran represents the first great clash of a pre-cyberspace authoritarian leadership style and the youthful disciples of emerging technology’s informational applications to international politics and governance. The prophetic theme in Marshall McLuhan’s, “Medium Is the Massage”, of 1967, where he predicted the inexorable emergence of the, “Global Village,” is manifest in this current struggle. Stay tuned.
