American Leftists Encourage Troops to Disobey Orders … In IRAN
“What will it take for the Iranian military to get engaged in protecting its own people?” – Twitter comment.
The political left is increasingly calling for the Iranian military to join the resistance.
See this discussion on the Democratic Underground.
And Twitter is also alive with people declaring “Iranian people MUST call the military to protect them from Basij and other paramilitaries!!! What will it take for the Iranian military to get engaged in protecting its own people?” So, apparently, it’s OK to disobey the orders of SOME government officials, at least the ones over there in Iran. Well, it’s a start. Now if we can just get leftist pundits to see how or when it would also be OK over here, maybe they will stop calling us “traitors” and “extremists” for even suggesting that our troops might want to consider disobeying certain rather extreme orders at some future point. How can it be treason to encourage our troops to not shoot their fellow Americans and to not round them up and force them into concentration camps? What’s good for the goose … – OATH KEEPERS
The below was posted on the New Republic website:
How The Iranian Military Can Be Flipped: A Field Guide
-Amanda Silverman
As the protests in Iran continue and reports of violence in the streets proliferate, we started to wonder what could make members of the Basij and other paramilitary groups abandon their ties to the regime and back the opposition. So, we called founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, Peter Ackerman, to see if he had any advice. First, he stressed just how important it is to flip the troops: “If loyalty shifts don’t occur, ultimately the movement will sort of dissipate and vanish. With these shifts, the movement’s progress will accelerate and it will become an even more potent force than it is currently.” Then he got into specifics:
Use the clerics. “What you need to do to create the flip in the loyalty of the military is to have third parties of moral authority come to them and their families and argue for that change. That’s why it is important to consider the significant split among the clerics. This dissenting faction is dispersed throughout Iran so they could be the ones to start the dialogue. They in turn would lay out an alternative version that, with all things being equal, is more attractive than the existing reality.”
Make the troops see a better alternative to the present. “Whoever you’re dealing with in the military, you’re not going to appeal to them just by saying violence isn’t nice. You have to say, ‘Look–we’re trying to build something that is more attractive to you long term.’ We’ve seen this work before in South Africa, Poland, and Chile.”
Hold your fire. “If the dissidents start shooting and throwing rocks, it will be very difficult to get defections from military.”
Consider what groups you’re working with. “In general terms–the more elite the unit, the more their culture is insulated from everyone else in society, and thus the harder it is to flip. ….
Read the rest HERE. OATHKEEPERS: This is VERY INTERESTING! Perhaps we need to work up a counterpart field guide for here. Hmmm, I wonder if Mr. Ackerman will help us write it. Don’t hold your breath. Yet, we should sit up and take notes as we watch what is going on in Iran. There IS a serious chance the Iranian military can be flipped.
One thing though – Ackerman thinks that the more elite the unit, the more likely it is to “just follow orders.” We don’t think that is the case (nor ar the Basiji “elite”- they appear to be equivalent to brown shirt thugs, not highly trained elite soldiers). Often, the more elite the unit, the more free thinking and the greater the sense of duty and honor (witness our Special Forces, SEALS, Delta, Force Recon, etc.).
In fact, in Iran, it was General Ali Fazli, a decorated combat veteran and the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, who has refused to follow orders to use force against the protesters in Iran. Maybe an academic just can’t understand how it would be that the more hard-core the troops, the more courage and devotion to the people those troops will have, and the more willing the troops might be to sacrifice their lives to do what is right – like General Fazli. – Stewart Rhodes
MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IT IS THE ZIONISTS WHO WANT THE TROOPS TO DISOBEY ORDERS IN IRAN. THE JUDAIC CONTROLLED MEDIA AND CIA/ZIONIST PLANTS HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THEY CAN TO OVERTHROW THE ELECTION WIN OF PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD. THE ZIONISTS HAVE BEEN DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO DEMONIZE AHMADINEJAD SINCE AHMADINEJAD HAS BEEN ON TO THE CRIMINAL TERRORIST SCAM CALLED THE MODERN DAY STATE OF ISRAEL.
JAMES B. PHILLIPS
Mr. Phillips,
Please take your anti-Semetism and superfluous capitalization elsewhere. Silly rants like this (and other idiotic screeds you have posted on this site – ALL IN CAPS LOCK) lend credence to those who would denounce this organization. If you wanna duke this out come comment on my blog at:
teeceeemm.blogspot.com
I’m more than happy to stand up for the chosen people of the Yahweh, as I have done opposite Jew-baiters of all stripes time and again. This just isn’t the place for a debate of that nature; as the statements that either of us make could become ammo in the propaganda machine of those mutual enemies we share.
umkay? thanks
TCM
TCM,
Please take your silly name calling and ad hominem attacks elsewhere.
James B. Phillips
Share39 Watada Discharged
Saturday 26 September 2009
by: Gregg K. Kakesako | The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Lt. Ehren Watada was the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war. (Photo: PD-USGov-Military)
The Army grants the officer’s resignation under “other than honorable conditions.”
First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
With little fanfare the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.
Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge under “other than honorable conditions