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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.

Iran Revolution Dawns and The Dusk of the Clerical Theocracy Falls

Iran’s nationwide protests have persisted for 100 consecutive days, and with no socio-economic or political resolutions in sight, there is no easing of the upheaval in the forecast.  

Initially sparked following the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in the morality police custody, protests soon morphed into what many consider a revolution, with people resisting the regime’s brutal oppression. 

The Iranian people’s unwavering determination to topple the regime at any cost, and the role of Iran’s organized opposition as the driving force behind the uprising, have indeed frustrated the security forces. Bereft of any solution to quell society and control uprising, authorities and state-run media continue their “victory” rhetoric.  

“The riots have ended in the country,” the state-run Iran daily, the government’s official newspaper, claimed on December 24.  “The bitter autumn of 2022 has ended without the [dissidents] achieving much success,” the state-run Vatan-e Emrooz daily also wrote in this regard on December 22.  

In addition, the Javan newspaper, an outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), promised security forces of the “riots’ failure.” It is worth noting that IRGC commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, has repeatedly boasted about successfully “wrapping up” protests, only to see another round of demonstrations erupt, sometimes hours after his remarks.  

Regardless of the officials’ efforts to pull the wool over their dispirited forces’ eyes, they finally get the short end of the stick, as the stubborn facts on the ground remove any doubt about the regime’s dark future as the uprising continues.  

On Friday, and Saturday alone, reports tallied by the Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), indicate there have been dozens of anti-regime demonstrations across Iran. Besides, defiant youth in several cities, such as Babol, Isfahan, Saveh, and Tabriz, torched the regime’s symbols and the bases of the IRGC paramilitary Basij.  

On Saturday, several districts in Tehran and Shiraz witnessed anti-regime protests, with people chanting slogans such as “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei,” denouncing the regime and its vicious supreme leader Ali Khamenei.  

Brave Baluchi citizens in Sistan and Baluchestan province continued their protests on Friday, with women demonstrating an increasingly more vivid contribution. These brave women, clad in black chadors, chanted: “With or without veiling, onward toward the revolution,” thereby laying to rest the regime’s efforts to disparage the Iranian women’s demands to abolish mandatory veiling.  

Enraged, the state-run ‘Iran daily’ tried to portray these women as foreign agents. “A few women chanted norm-breaking slogans. These hired protesters are trying to increase the feminine presence in protests in Zahedan.”  

After four months of brutality, killing over 750 innocent protesters and arresting many more, Iran’s dictator Khamenei finds himself and his regime in a lethal deadlock. The situation has reached a point where authorities and the tightly controlled state media warn their ilk about their ominous future as the revolution persists.  

“These incidents are chained and are multi-perspective. They occur every now and then, revealing their grim faces,” the state-run Farhikhtegan daily wrote on December 25.  

“Officials should not make this mistake that everything is under control and things are back on track. Do not waste your time with bogus claims and rhetoric. Stop this naïve notion that by execution, oppression, and torture you can solve the problem and end this matter,” the state-run Jomhuri-e Eslami daily warned on December 25.  

Hossein Ansari Rad, a former MP and top official warned Khamenei in a letter on December 25 while acknowledging the public hatred toward the regime.  

“The Islamic Republic has failed in all economic, social, political, and cultural domains. You have claimed that foreign countries are behind these protests. But as many experts have been shouting, the disastrous mismanagement of economy, culture, and politics have caused these angry protests with many victims, thousands of prisoners, and countless heart-wrenching tragedies,” he acknowledged.  

“This [uprising] is a small flame of a larger fire of wrath, unhappiness, and mistrust due to the corrupt mismanagement that left people’s vital demands unattended while trying to control their personal lives.  These protests are supported by at least 85% of the population, who want a life without torture and intimidation. If we do not act now, a huge explosion will happen, so please halt torture and execution to save the system,” he said. 

Of course, Khamenei wouldn’t stop his killing spree, as he has repeatedly asserted that a step backward would cause his regime to collapse immediately. Ansari Rad is worried about the regime’s future while trying to shed crocodile tears for the people.  

Evidently, the situation will never be the same, and the Iranian people’s core demand is regime change and the establishment of a democratic and secular government. Therefore, the legitimate demand and the people’s right to self-determination and self-defense, vis-à-vis the brutal oppression, should be endorsed and recognized by the world community.

Source: ncr-iran.org, Mehdi Oghbai, December 26, 2022





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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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