Thursday
Jan142010
Latest Iran Video: "A Message to Armed Forces of Iran" (13 January)
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 9:46
An interesting video which surfaced on YouTube on Wednesday, calling on Iran's military to "stand down" and join the Green movement.
There is no indication of whether the video was made by activists inside or outside Iran, and I am looking for signs of how widely it is circulating in the country.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw1VpvA7oPY[/youtube]
There is no indication of whether the video was made by activists inside or outside Iran, and I am looking for signs of how widely it is circulating in the country.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw1VpvA7oPY[/youtube]
tagged Iran, Iran Elections 2009 in Middle East & Iran
Iran, Iran Elections 2009 in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (21)
Looks to me like it's from the same source as this one - "I Go To This Green War..." , posted yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCnz6B_Ohlk
on of the pictures was taken during a rally in amsterdam. this me give a clue to the origens of the clip
I doubt this will have much effect inside Iran - the message is poorly targeted, and lacking in inspiration. No appeals to defend the Iranian people - no nationalistic or religious references just "join the winning side". Only a few of the shots were from inside Iran too, and the English text was needless.
Cassius
In all the pictures you can see the green colour; you don't need an other thing; it's the colour of resistance, democracy, fight for rights; the "iranian people's colour" !
[...] & "I Go to This Green War" To the Armed Forces of the Iranian People Latest Iran Video: “A Message to Armed Forces of Iran” (13 January) | Enduring America The following is a very sad but so inspiring that it reminds me of the French national anthem, [...]
[...] & "I Go to the Green War" To the Armed Forces of the Iranian People Latest Iran Video: “A Message to Armed Forces of Iran” (13 January) | Enduring America The following is a very sad but so inspiring that it reminds me of the French national anthem, [...]
Green Psy-ops is born. Good work. My only criticism is that there are only two psy-ops videos thusfar. More would be nice.
To Scott: as for distribution, I intend to retweet these two videos until my fingers fall off.
To the author of these videos: you are going to get a lot of criticism from people that don't know what they are talking about. My advice to you? Take a look around. Who do you see standing in your shoes? Only you, right? Sure there are a lot of people in the world who probably know much more about psy-ops than you do. So what? Are they stepping forward to do what you are doing? No. So continue.
The Big Guy does not choose the qualified. He qualifies the chosen. Guess what? You just got chosen. Fasten your seatbelt.
FIrst time seeing this, but it feels like the Green Movement no matter who did it. Just as the "I Go to the Green War" gets to the root of the movement, this is what the movement has been screaming. I think it embodies it well. I'm with manydrums. RTing till my fingers fall off and staying in Favorites!
Personally I think the English text was very needed to allow for more RTs. The rest of us outside Iran who don't read Farsi don't like to RT something we can't understand. It just gives it more legs. Besides, it's a unifying gesture between cultures.
I don't mean to be overly negative - and I appreciate the effort the author went to - however you have to look at it objectively for the task it is trying to achieve. Is this a message to the Iranian armed forces to switch sides? If that is what the aim of the video then many aspects seem out of place.
I mentioned the English being unnecessary because the Iranian armed forces speak Persian. Most of those who know people in Iran speak Persian - if you must you can release a separate video with subtitles for the western crowd. If you are trying to covert people some of whom are anti-western then the English will take away from your message.
If you are targeting the armed forces - then you must tailor the message to them. What do they hold dear? Now I don't know the Iranian armed forces but most armies respond to calls based on nationalism and defence of the people.
If the people are religious then you have to target that - show and be explicit why the green movement is on the side of god. Why it is their religious duty to support us. Are there quotes from popular Iranian religious leaders that you can use? The green movement might aim for a secular society but to achieve its aims it has to win over the religious as well.
Are there financial incentives for them not to switch sides? You may need to address that - you can either shame them or point out the failing economy etc.
All this is just my personal thoughts as an outsider - Iranians will have a better idea of what kind of things to target.
Cassius: This is a yes or no question. Do you know what psy-ops is? Yes or no please. Thank you.
Manydrums: Yes - Not sure what you are trying to say though.
This video wasn't from Iran's Theocracy. Who wants the Green movement to succeed the most? Follow the movement that will generate the money.
Cross-blogged at http://www.repubx.com .. first in news and home to IntelliFETCH .. check it out!
Cassius: Explain to us what psy-ops is please. Thank you.
Manydrums: Please don't behave like a child. I did not come here to squabble. I offered my thoughts - and welcome a discussion - if you disagree that is your right but please dispense with this nonsense.
Cassius: Wow, it didn't take you very long to resort to namecalling did it? Pot? Kettle? The point is, Cassius, that you have been quick to offer criticism and slow to take it. Let the videomaker do his job. Keep out from under his feet.
I notice, btw, that you have declined to support your claim that you know what psy-ops is.
manydrums, Cassius has a very good point. The video only appeals to the army to choose the winning side. This is a weak argument. Appeals to nationalism, religion, or injustice would be much stronger.
Asking him whether he knows what psy-ops is is belittling and doesn't respond to his valid argument. Frankly, his arguments show that he understands psy-ops better than you do.
The goal is to reach the emotional side of the viewer. Different people are moved by different emotions. It makes sense then to make a varied set of appeals that target different feelings.
That said, the video is still worthwhile, and better than nothing. It's just that it could be much better still, and I hope more are made.
This reminds me of the Sting song : "Russians" which had the line "I hope the
Russians love their children too." We could substitute Iran for Russia and so we would have "I hope the Iranians love their children too" Of course they do, probably as much as anywhere in the world. What is now needed is for Generals to have some backbone and say enough is enough of this dictatorship.Not only has there been too many deaths from internal riots but there is the ticking clock of air attack. Those outside who will repeat what was done in Yugoslavia in the nineties. No one in their right mind wants to see that.
Getting back to the Gordon Sumner song: "Russians" now that would be a good start for a new green Psy-ops video.
Scott: Further to psy-ops, I came across this from on my twitter timeline this morning.
http://www.sidewalklyrics.com/?p=3027
It is a blog entry on photos from the 1979 revolution in Iran. The blogger claims that:
"AyandeNews reports that for the upcoming Fajr celebrations (31st anniversary of the revolution) a memo has been sent to all IRIB writers and producers putting last minute touches on their TV specials … asking them to take out:
*all photos and videos of the revolution’s martyrs (individuals who were killed in the protests before the revolution)
*photos and videos of pre-revolution demonstrators attacking or setting fire to public places
*photos and videos of demonstrators writing on walls or throwing Molotov cocktails or escaping police"
I have quite a bit of other writing to do these days. But I remain very interested in knowing the results of your investigation into the distribution of the two psy-ops videos.
You also draw a distinction between whether the videos come from inside Iran or from outside Iran. Apart from the obvious, does this hold any special meaning for you? Could you expand please?
Very much looking forward to hearing further from you on this. Thank you.
Well, I d on't know the person who post the video want us to do. over throw the Goverment and replace it with what? did nt we do that once before. The Green movment is about the change of policy and replacing the Ahamadi and be sure relgion doe not take day to day decision. Stop posting and encouraging chaos.
Worthless - just a joke! Isn't it!!?