“6/19/2009, 4:10pm EST”
An email from Iran
This email excerpt was posted on Nico Pitney’s excellent HuffPo live-blog of the election aftermath in Iran (originally posted by Steve Clemons):
By the way, two nights ago I went out to see a few things … as the general crowds spread into their homes militia style Mousavi supporters were out on the streets ‘Basiji hunting’.
Their resolve is no less than these thugs — they after hunting them down. They use their phones, their childhood friends, their intimate knowledge of their districts and neighbours to plan their attacks — they’re organised and they’re supported by their community so they have little fear. They create the havoc they’re after, ambush the thugs, use their Cocktail Molotovs, disperse and re-assemble elsewhere and then start again - and the door of every house is open to them as safe harbour — they’re community-connected.
The Basiji’s are not.
These are not the students in the dorms, they’re the street young — they know the ways better than most thugs - and these young, a surprising number of them girls, are becoming more agile in their ways as each night passes on.
Amazing.
Note: The Basiji militias are volunteer military forces controlled by the Ayatollah. They have been mobilized to infiltrate and disrupt the massive pro-reform protests.
Never leave home without it.
