Iranian Protests Continue
Crisis in Iran Sparks Global Guerrilla Cyberwar
"The election crisis in Iran has ignited a full-on guerrilla cyberwar, with Twitterers and techies across the globe pitching in to help protesters in that country access the Internet, and official Iranian government Web sites being knocked offline."
The protests against the s"election" of President Ahmadinejad continue with surprising intensity today. It is difficult to know exactly what is going on as the Iranian government has cracked down on almost all reporting, all video footage, and is trying to restrict all instant messaging, texting, email, phone, and other communication.
Twitter however has seemed to manage to become the medium of choice for Iranians looking to get their message out to the world as the government tries to squelch and censor them.
Although it may be the case that Iran did in fact elect Ahmadinejad, there are reported problems with the % vote for Ahmadinejad due to irregularities in the vote. Some areas are reporting up to 140% of the population voting, others showing clear statistical anomalies, there were some polling stations were shut down before they were intended to, and of course the fact that 3 hrs after the polls closed they had somehow managed to do a manual count of millions of paper ballots.
In the mean time, people world-wide are trying to stand with the Iranian people, looking to assist them getting around the censors with proxy servers, and putting the Iranian government who is brutally trying to stifle dissent on the defensive by taxing their resources through Denial of Service attacks against their websites and servers.
It will be interesting to see what Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decides to do here. He at first backed Ahmadinejad's election as a divine proclamation, but has seen backpedaled calling for investigation into election fraud. It would be difficult for him to completely backpedal and back Moussavi without undermining his own authority, but the situation may be rising to a head where he needs to throw Ahmadinejad under the bus to preserve any of his own authority at all. Time will tell.
The U.S. and President Obama have taken a cautious approach so as not to add fuel to the fire of the hardline supporters in Iran. While it would be in our best interest to see that the supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi are victorious, it would harm their effort if the U.S. injected itself too heavily into the situation and appeared as meddling. The best that can be hoped for is for them to manage the victory themselves, despite the military and governments objections.
The situation is tense, but it is my fervent hope that the voice of the Iranian people is heard. It may well be that the Iranian people called for the re-election of Ahmadinejad, though I continue to hope not, and if it is their voice needs to be respected as they are a sovereign nation. But if that is not the case, then the widespread election fraud must be fought tooth and nail. The voice of their people deserves to be respected no matter what.
"The election crisis in Iran has ignited a full-on guerrilla cyberwar, with Twitterers and techies across the globe pitching in to help protesters in that country access the Internet, and official Iranian government Web sites being knocked offline."
The protests against the s"election" of President Ahmadinejad continue with surprising intensity today. It is difficult to know exactly what is going on as the Iranian government has cracked down on almost all reporting, all video footage, and is trying to restrict all instant messaging, texting, email, phone, and other communication.
Twitter however has seemed to manage to become the medium of choice for Iranians looking to get their message out to the world as the government tries to squelch and censor them.
Although it may be the case that Iran did in fact elect Ahmadinejad, there are reported problems with the % vote for Ahmadinejad due to irregularities in the vote. Some areas are reporting up to 140% of the population voting, others showing clear statistical anomalies, there were some polling stations were shut down before they were intended to, and of course the fact that 3 hrs after the polls closed they had somehow managed to do a manual count of millions of paper ballots.
In the mean time, people world-wide are trying to stand with the Iranian people, looking to assist them getting around the censors with proxy servers, and putting the Iranian government who is brutally trying to stifle dissent on the defensive by taxing their resources through Denial of Service attacks against their websites and servers.
It will be interesting to see what Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decides to do here. He at first backed Ahmadinejad's election as a divine proclamation, but has seen backpedaled calling for investigation into election fraud. It would be difficult for him to completely backpedal and back Moussavi without undermining his own authority, but the situation may be rising to a head where he needs to throw Ahmadinejad under the bus to preserve any of his own authority at all. Time will tell.
The U.S. and President Obama have taken a cautious approach so as not to add fuel to the fire of the hardline supporters in Iran. While it would be in our best interest to see that the supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi are victorious, it would harm their effort if the U.S. injected itself too heavily into the situation and appeared as meddling. The best that can be hoped for is for them to manage the victory themselves, despite the military and governments objections.
The situation is tense, but it is my fervent hope that the voice of the Iranian people is heard. It may well be that the Iranian people called for the re-election of Ahmadinejad, though I continue to hope not, and if it is their voice needs to be respected as they are a sovereign nation. But if that is not the case, then the widespread election fraud must be fought tooth and nail. The voice of their people deserves to be respected no matter what.
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