Now that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran has said last week's election was correct and that any further protests will be punished, he has setup a situation where the increase in bloodshed is now much more likely.
We know about 15 have already been killed during this past week's peaceful demonstrations that grew by the day numbering about one million across the country Thursday during a "day of mourning" for those early martyrs.
We as Americans cannot be naive and believe if Mir Hossein Mousavi pulled off a miracle and came into power that Iran, as a government, would suddenly be ameanable to the United States and our interests. But that is not what is gripping most of us in this drama. What is gripping us as Americans, as people with a history of fighting for freedom (albeit an imperfect history to be sure) is a sea of people wanting to be heard, a sea of ordinary people wanting to be respected, to be treated with common human decency and being allowed to live a life as they choose to - to self-determine their own future.
When we see a power structure try and hold unto power that no longer has the support of it's people, a power structure that is prepared to spill blood and hold unto power at all costs, we as Americans recoil and naturally support the people who want to fight such a naked use of power.
I sincerely hope the situation in Iran can end peacefully with minimal bloodshed and also hope those who hold unto power against the will of the majority are removed from power, but I fear what we will see.
I was deeply touched by what an ordinary citizen of Iran said as his "last will and testament" as reported on HuffingtonPost:
"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It's worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I'm two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow's children..."