Fascism On The March

Omar over at Iraq The Model, has a scary post about the lack of newspapers in Iraq right now.

Me: who threatened them?
Papers guy: the death notes were signed by the mujahideen; they said that they will kill anyone who continues to print, distribute or sell newspapers.
He then showed me one of those notes; the ban includes virtually every paper but basically "papers that promote Safawi [Persian] Shiasm, blasphemous secular ideas and democracy…".I had a hard time trying to swallow what I read, why newspapers? What's going to be next? Will they try to stitch up our mouths and chop our tongues off?!
Those pen-hating cowards are afraid of the words written in our newspapers and they tried to paint their new anti-free speech campaign with a sectarian dye to make it look as if they were only after Shia and secular papers but in fact they are against everything that does not approve and praise their sick mentality.
Yes, I may not agree with what many of those newspapers do, and a few of them even sound offensive or disgusting to me for one reason or another but I cannot accept seeing them silenced in such a way and I am for their right to speak freely exactly the same way I want this right for myself.
Strange though that no one uttered a word about it as far as I know, even the papers themselves mentioned nothing about this threat on their websites and neither did any of the other local media outlets…maybe there has been a threat against that as well?
I don't know right now but I'll try to find out.This is one more time that makes me feel happy we have the internet and the means to use it.

Now I know that most of my friends and readers will know how I feel about fishwraps in general, but when they are the primary form of information distribution, it is scary to think that they are being stopped.

Meanwhile over the border in Iran:

The inhumane Islamic regime not only has not come to the aid and assistance of the victims of the Friday, March 31st earthquake in the province of Lorestan, it has also viciously attacked and beaten a number of those who complained and protested the lack of relief.

The regime-run news agency IRNA reported: "A group of the earthquake victims gathered, on Saturday afternoon, in front of one of the regime's relief centers protesting the lack of relief and demanding assistance such as food, tents and medical care for their families."

Mehdi Hashemi, a deputy of the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic regime who traveled to Boroujerd, one of the cities hardest hit in the earthquake, admitted that the protestors had in fact been arrested. He called the hungry and afflicted victims of the earthquake “agitators and hoodlums” and said: "those who were selfish and wanted to disrupt the order were arrested. We will make full use of all security and disciplinary forces including the revolutionary guards, the Basij and the army in order quash any unrest."

Well it must be nice to still think that Islam is the religion of Peace.