The Camera Is Mightier - Check out Andrew Sullivan's blog for best coverage of Iranian protests

[jefferson_dem]

The Camera Is Mightier

A reader writes:

Watching your continuing coverage of the people of Iran continuing their fight for freedom I was struck, and touched, by the presence, in every picture, in every piece of footage, by the universal presence of cellphones and cameras. No matter how chaotic, no matter how frightened they may be, the protesters held their phones high. Not a brave few but a brave many pressed into the violence, stood right next to the regimes thugs and pointed their cameras. It seems like the ultimate act of defiance; no matter how you try to shut us down or shut us up, we will expose you. You can kill us, but the world will know that we never stopped fighting.

I urge you to continue to use your platform to show us this incredible fight. Before this started, the people of Iran seemed alien and vaguely threatening. Now, I see a young woman, veil shoved back and cellphone in the air, and this lefty atheist woman sees a sister clear across the world.

Iranian protesters wipe the bloodied face of a man who was allegedly shot during an anti-government protest in Tehran on December 27, 2009. ( -/AFP/Getty Images)

VIDEOS and MORE here - http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

[UTUSN]

1. Andrew SULLIVAN, known for his perspicacity in supporting Shrub. n/t

[jefferson_dem]

2. At Least 4 Dead as Iranians Fight Police in Streets (NYT)

At Least 4 Dead as Iranians Fight Police in Streets
By ROBERT F. WORTH

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iranian police opened fire on protesters in Tehran on Sunday, killing at least four people, including a nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi, as vast crowds of demonstrators flooded the streets of cities across Iran and fiercely fought security forces, according to witnesses and opposition Web sites.

The protests, taking place on the holiday marking the death of Shiite Islam’s holiest martyr, were the bloodiest — and among the largest — since the uprisings that followed Iran’s disputed presidential election last June, with hundreds of thousands of people thronging Tehran alone, witnesses said. There were reports of hundreds of injured people and numerous arrests.

In Tehran, thick crowds marched down a central avenue in mid-morning, defying official warnings of a harsh crackdown on protests as they chanted, “Death to the dictator!” They refused to retreat even as police fired tear gas, charged them with batons and discharged warning shots.

The police then opened fire directly into the crowd, opposition Web sites said, citing witnesses. At least four people were killed, the Web sites reported, and photographs circulated of a man with a bloodied head being carried from the scene.

One of the dead was Ali Moussavi, Mr. Moussavi’s 35-year-old nephew, the Parleman News Web site reported. He was shot near the heart at midday in Tehran’s Enghelab Square, the report said.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/world/middleeast/28iran.html?_r=1&hp