Just a reminder about the price of freedom
The Guardian of London is trying to gather and publish accounts from Iranian protesters who were arrested by the government. The story below, told by an anonymous Tehran shopkeeper, is harrowing and painful. This is a truncated version; the more complete account is available at the Guardian site.
He came to my shop around 10.30 am. You could tell straight away that he had just been released. His face was bruised all over. His teeth were broken and he could hardly open his eyes.
He was not even into politics. He was just an ordinary 18-year-old in the last year of school. Before the election he came to me and asked how he should vote. He looks up to me. His father is an Ahmadinejad supporter.
He had gone home directly after his release, but his father did not let him in. He didn’t mention he had been raped. At first, he didn’t tell me either. It was the doctor who first noticed it and told me.
When he came to my shop he collapsed in a chair. He said he had nowhere to go and asked if he could stay with me. I called a friend of mine who is a doctor to come home and see him. Then I brought him home.
His shoulder blades and arms were wounded. There were some slashes on the face. No bone fractures, but he was bruised all over the body. I wanted to take some photos but he did not let me. The doctor said only four of his teeth were intact, the rest were broken. You could hardly understand what he said.
Then the doctor told me what had happened. He had suffered rupture of the rectum and the doctor feared colonic bleeding. He suggested we take him to the hospital immediately.
They registered him under a false name and with somebody else’s insurance. The nurses were crying. Two of them asked what sort of beast had beaten him up like that. He was a broken man. He told us not to waste our money on him, and that he would kill himself.
With the approach of the Fourth of July, celebrating the birth of American freedom, it’s good to keep in mind that for a lot of people around the world freedom is something they have yet to attain, and that it doesn’t come cheaply or easily.
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199 comments Add your comment
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
1:54 pm
Fear works. It works for a LONG time. But, eventually, someone with real courage will stand up to the fear and inspire others to do the same. Let’s hope the courageous people of Iran are more successful than were the courageous students in Tienenman Square.
Conservatism leads to Paranoia
July 2nd, 2009
1:58 pm
Neo Cons… Transform and Roll Out….. Bomb Iran now.
AmVet
July 2nd, 2009
2:22 pm
How heartbreaking. And what a shame such evil goes unpunished. In any and all countries…
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:24 pm
Is this a regime with which we can conduct “dialogue?”
AH
July 2nd, 2009
2:26 pm
and what a shame Jay and others want to use this as political fodder. At least Bush stepped up to the plate and did something. Then he was vilified for it. Now Obama has the exact same situation and what has he done and what will he do? So far he has come out and make a weak statement on the situation and that is it.
Scooter
July 2nd, 2009
2:33 pm
AH @ 2:26 pm,
What would you have Obama do about it?
DebbieDoRight
July 2nd, 2009
2:34 pm
josef: Is this a regime with which we can conduct “dialogue?”
We talked to Russia, China, Serbia and Bosnia. And they’ve done just as much or far worse than Iran.
AH: and what a shame Jay and others want to use this as political fodder. At least Bush stepped up to the plate and did something. Then he was vilified for it. Now Obama has the exact same situation and what has he done and what will he do? So far he has come out and make a weak statement on the situation and that is it.
Jay reported it. The only one I see “politicizing” anything is YOU. You took a story, and pasted Obama on to it, THEN accused Jay of ulterior motives. My God, you Obamahaters are SOOOO predictable!!!
What should Obama do? Go to war? Then we’d have THREE WARS TO PAY FOR!!! Along with a gigantic deficit — yep, that’s REAL smart!!!
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:34 pm
Obama said our role was to bear witness. G-d willing there will come the day of reckoning, and soon, when reports such as these will be of value. The more we can “get out there” the more evidence, the more witness.
Paul
July 2nd, 2009
2:34 pm
Evil people the world over use whatever cover they can – a uniform, a business suit, religious garb – to present an image to the world.
But underneath they are evil, with no regard for humanity. All they regard is themselves and their power.
Let’s hope our president understands that.
oj
July 2nd, 2009
2:35 pm
Yeah, bombing the country and destroying its infrastructure is exactly what they need. GREAT idea.
Normal
July 2nd, 2009
2:36 pm
Josef, AH…What can we do? Send in the troops? We are so far extended with Afganistan and Iraq, our troops are used up…they really don’t have much left to give. No, military action is not the answer.
The reality of it is we can do nothing. This is their problem. We can say harsh words, we can gnash our teeth, we can rale at the heavens, but that is all we can do. The Irani people have to have the strength to stand on their own or bow to the powers. The world would have to stand united against the clerics, and the chances of that happening are nil. Pray people, if you can, because that is all you can do. Pray hard.
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
2:40 pm
“How heartbreaking. And what a shame such evil goes unpunished. In any and all countries”
I really believe this: it doesn’t go unpunished. WE might not see the punishment, but it happens. It might not be physical, it might not be immediate…but such evil DOES extract it’s due punishment.
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:42 pm
NORMAL–you said it far better than anyone else. And, that is exactly what we should be doing, “harsh words, gnash our teeth and rale at the heavens.” And, as a man of faith, I keep a prayer for them in my heart. “How long, oh L-rd!”
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
2:44 pm
“What would you have Obama do about it?”
I think you already have your answer here: “At least Bush stepped up to the plate and did something”
My guess would be that Obama should attack Egypt. Hey, they have nothing to do with Iran..but they’re CLOSE, aren’t they?
AmVet
July 2nd, 2009
2:45 pm
Oh yeah Bush did something alright.
READY! FIRE! AIM!
mm
July 2nd, 2009
2:49 pm
Why do wingnuts always try to solve other countries problems? Why don’t they try to solve our country’s problems instead of trying to make them worse?
The party with no ideas wants to shoot down the ideas of everyone else.
Kamchak
July 2nd, 2009
2:50 pm
Paul @ 2:34
Well said!
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:51 pm
Doggone–my post appears to have not gone through. In relation to your 2:40, which is why I hold onto in my heart of hearts a hope that there is a G-d of Wrath and a Day of Judgment.
Scooter
July 2nd, 2009
2:51 pm
Normal @ 2:36 pm,
Again, I agree with you. If I could do more than “hunt & peck” on this keyboard I would have said tht myself!
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:52 pm
PAUL @ 2:34–I do believe our president does understand that.
Jake
July 2nd, 2009
2:55 pm
“What would you have Obama do about it?”
Obviously we want him to open a dialogue and convince the Iranians of the error of their ways. Meanwhile Bush’s despised foreign policy has already liberated one Middle Eastern country from these horrors and a 2nd is well in process.
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
2:56 pm
JAKE–I repeat my question, is this a regime with which we can dialogue?
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
2:57 pm
“which is why I hold onto in my heart of hearts a hope that there is a G-d of Wrath and a Day of Judgment”
We all have our beliefs. This is NOT one to which I hold. There is no God of Wrath that would say to “turn the other cheek” and “love thy neighbor as thyself” Evil people don’t need a God of Wrath…they’re satisified with the worship of the evil they do. And people of peace don’t need one either, because they know and reject the evil that is and that does.
Scooter
July 2nd, 2009
2:58 pm
Doggone @ 2:44 pm,
That was punny, I mean funny!
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
3:00 pm
“Let’s hope our president understands that.”
I have no doubt that he does. Waht *I* hope is that he has the courage to resist following their lead, down their evil path.
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
3:02 pm
Doggone–which is why I said “I hold onto in my heart of hearts…” In my work with the survivors of the Shoah, those who were able to maintain a belief, largely, did so knowing that there would never be human justice.
Huckabee The Next POTUS
July 2nd, 2009
3:03 pm
Eight months after the election and daily I read all these crybabies still harping on Bush and all he did. Why all the hate on a man who is no longer President, could it be because the false prophet they slobbered over has done nothing yet. He is smoke and mirrors, as are most Entertainment Tonight stars. I never thought Dumpocraps could create an empty suit that would make Peanuthead Carter look like a strong leader but I was mistaken, Jimmy Carter belongs on Mt. Rushmore compared to this clown.
This weekend embrace the celebration of Freedom for all it’s worth because at the rate this Socialist Sissy is going and the further intrusion of Big Brother daily into the private sector, there won’t be many more July Fourths to look forward to.
Now excuse me as I go Obama, shower and shave and get ready to head down to Turner Field to witness a sweep of the defending World Champions, again. At least I still have the money to do that before Obambam and his cronies decide I need to support a few more Illegal Aliens and Welfare Brood Mares. Please don’t tell Barney Frank some of us still have money, He’s on a crusade to give the worthless among us free homes.
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
3:03 pm
“Meanwhile Bush’s despised foreign policy has already liberated one Middle Eastern country from these horrors ”
Dream on.
Normal
July 2nd, 2009
3:05 pm
Jake
July 2nd, 2009
2:55 pm Bush’s despised foreign policy has already liberated one Middle Eastern country from these horrors and a 2nd is well in process.
———–
This is a joke, right? Bush’s policies have liberated nothing!
Iraq will go to civil war as soon as we leave. The Shia and Sunni have too much to settle and the Taliban want nothing more than to keep us on a two front setting because a united American Army is their worst nightmare. All President Bush’s policies have done is get 4000+ American men and women killed. You just have to be joking…
getalife
July 2nd, 2009
3:06 pm
Ex President of Iran said it is a coup against democracy.
WaPo publishing neo cons to bomb Iran and this :
Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html
That paper needs to fail like this guy:
“Limbaugh: So we’ve got hell breaking loose in Honduras. You know what we learned about Honduras? We learned the Obama administration tried to stop the coup. Now what was — the coup was what many of you wish would happen here, without the military.”
Ah geez.
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
3:07 pm
“Why all the hate on a man who is no longer President”
“The evil that men do lives after them” William Shakespeare
I’m still waiting and waiting and waiting to see if anything about Bush’s legacy fulfills the second part of the quote: “The good is oft interred with their bones.”
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
3:09 pm
“So, let it be with Caesar, the noble Brutus has said that Caesar was ambitious, if so, it was a grievious fault, and grievioulsy hath Caesar answered it…”
Jake
July 2nd, 2009
3:09 pm
josef – Can you reason with a rabid dog? I don’t think so, I don’t remember that approach even coupled with economic sanctions and an invasion working very well with Saddam. It’s clear to me that Obama has even figured that out, at least after he was elected and got those presidential foreign affairs briefings. I was being sarcastic and jabbing the far left whot apparently think we can just hold hands and sing we are the world and the oil will keep on flowing.
Paul
July 2nd, 2009
3:09 pm
josef nix
I truly hope so. I think our president is a man who looks for the best in people and has a belief in the good mankind can accomplish. Even in our own system he experiences people who work for personal gain, shade the truth, put self interest first.
But the evil represented by the mullahs and the thugs they employ – the Basij, where Ahmadinejad got his start – are so different, so alien, it takes a radical shift in one’s mindset.
And I do think, after all the briefings he’s received, he does understand the reality he faces. He has a background that teaches the good that can come. His background also teaches evil in opposition to good. It teaches it’s relentless, unforgiving. Let me rephrase: I hope he understands it deeply and sees it for what it is. And that he never confuses cooperation with acceptance, or agreement with accommodation.
A while back I remarked, when people said how he had these associations early on, how he tossed them aside when they became liabilities? I remarked that’s a quality I’d like in a president, one who will use other leaders – particularly unsavory ones – to advance our interests, who will use them to get what we want. But never, ever feel any sense of debt or feeling of fellowship with them.
DB, Gwinnettian
July 2nd, 2009
3:10 pm
Sometimes I really wish people wouldn’t think big-picture so much, and just focus on what they’ve learned. That story Jay’s posted, I don’t think, ought to have us immediately reaching out and thinking about big geopolitical issues. and for God’s sakes, it oughtn’t to have us engaging in stupid “My Preznit can beat up your Preznit.”
It ought to be about the people in the damn story: this broken man, this terrified friend and yes, the brave souls willing to document the horror.
If we’re going to go bigger picture than that, It ought to make us understand that what we have (as Jay correctly pointed out) shouldn’t be taken for granted (duh) and that in Iran and elsewhere, people are being abused for the crime of thinking the wrong things, or even for being suspected of thinking the wrong things.
(Also, do note that as compelling a story as this may be, the Guardian can’t independently verify it.)
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
3:11 pm
JAKE–thanks. You make a very good point. I didn’t catch the sarcasm. My apologies.
Gandalf, the White! (!)
July 2nd, 2009
3:12 pm
Them Ragheads are all the same, all the understand is the heel of a boot.
RealityKing
July 2nd, 2009
3:15 pm
Kinda reminds me of the hit jobs our liberal media is doing to their agenda foes these days. Not to mention the blantant lies being told by our Congressonal leaders about what HAS TO HAPPEN TO AVOID DISASTER. NOW! Progressive beatings in America’s streets surely can’t be far behind..
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
3:15 pm
“Them Ragheads are all the same, all the understand is the heel of a boot”
Chalk up one supporter of the Mullahs and the existing regime then. Duly noted.
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
3:15 pm
PAUL–@ 3:09, still, though, the ghosts of Hindenburg and Chamberlin make their appearance…
Jake
July 2nd, 2009
3:17 pm
Normal are you so blinded by your partisan politics that you can’t see what has happened? The dictator was hung; the Iraqis have held several fair elections unlike the farce in Iran. The Kurds haven’t been used for nerve gas experiments lately; al Quaida isn’t much of a force anymore, and despite a few problems with the oil rights bidding that will get worked out too and Iraqi oil production will at least double over the next five years. Remind me how you were right when that civil war starts but don’t use your pessimistic vision of the future to obscure the reality of today.
DebbieDoRight
July 2nd, 2009
3:19 pm
Meanwhile Bush’s despised foreign policy has already liberated one Middle Eastern country from these horrors and a 2nd is well in process.
Huh? WHAT middle eastern policy? You mean the one where he invaded __________, (insert Iraq or Afghanistan here), destablized the country, set up a puppet government and THEN got a lot of civilians and Americans killed? You mean that one? I wonder what will happen to _________ after all the Americans pull out? Do you think that the puppet governments set up now will be able to stand on their own two feet? How much American Tax Payer money went in to setting up the puppet government of ________________________, I wonder? Remember Bush was using the double secret super dooper accounting method, (that Jethro Bodine made famous); and he was carrying over the double knots while erasing the thingamajig thingamajig from the books. I guess we’ll never know the true costs, financially at least.
Gandalf, the White! (!)
July 2nd, 2009
3:20 pm
Them Mullahs are all the same, only cure for them is a 5.56 round to the head.
josef nix
July 2nd, 2009
3:21 pm
Jake–I wouldn’t call Normal pessimistic. I regard him highly, but even I, the eternal optimist, have chided him for what I sometimes think may be an overly optimistic view. Jus’ sayin’
Gandalf, the White! (!)
July 2nd, 2009
3:23 pm
I hope you’ll don’t cry when them ragheads are at your door, taking away your freedoms. Stopping women from voting and driving, maybe it will be worth it!
Gandalf, the White! (!)
July 2nd, 2009
3:24 pm
Nermal is a dumbass, just sayin’!
Doggone/GA
July 2nd, 2009
3:28 pm
“Them Mullahs are all the same, only cure for them is a 5.56 round to the head”
When you celebrate evil…you ARE evil.
DebbieDoRight
July 2nd, 2009
3:28 pm
jake: Normal are you so blinded by your partisan politics that you can’t see what has happened? The dictator was hung; the Iraqis have held several fair elections unlike the farce in Iran. The Kurds haven’t been used for nerve gas experiments lately; al Quaida isn’t much of a force anymore, and despite a few problems with the oil rights bidding that will get worked out too and Iraqi oil production will at least double over the next five years
Yeah Normal!!! Didn’t you see the candy and wreaths and adulation that that the Iraqis were showing we liberators when we first got there??!? True, they didn’t exactly ASK us to liberate them, but still……..it’s our DUTY to liberate every country that needs it!! Next, we’re going to Africa and liberate a few countries over there!! After all, our interest in Iraq had NOTHING TO DO with oil!!! We liberate for liberation’s sake!!!!
DB: If we’re going to go bigger picture than that, It ought to make us understand that what we have (as Jay correctly pointed out) shouldn’t be taken for granted (duh) and that in Iran and elsewhere, people are being abused for the crime of thinking the wrong things
Word! Let’s let the Iranians, the same way the Americans did, have a chance to fight for their freedom and let’s remind everyone it’s about THEM not US.
Normal
July 2nd, 2009
3:29 pm
JAKE: I’ll borrow your question to ask you the same thing…pardon the slight papaphrasing
are you so blinded by your partisan politics that you can’t see what is happening(?). Are there not bombs going off still? Can they walk their streets without fear? Your argument is made weaker by bringing up an event that happened over twenty years ago. I’m not being pessimistic, I’m being realistic. Bottom line…we had no business in Iraq. Saddam was no threat to us and he was contained. President Bush was wrong, period.
TnGelding
July 2nd, 2009
3:32 pm
AH
July 2nd, 2009
2:26 pm
What did Bush do about Iran? You’re comparing apple sauce to orange juice. Better to do nothing than to make another horrific mistake. The original protesters set huge fires and were throwing objects at government authorities. Huge mistake. Demonstrations MUST remain peaceful.
Blame the poor folks:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/07/01/beazer_to_pay.html