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I can't comprehend how a population can kill that many of their own people. They aren't even an "other" people, which has been the most common scapegoat lately.
by ares623 9mo ago
I can't comprehend how a population can kill that many of their own people. They aren't even an "other" people, which has been the most common scapegoat lately. Same skin color, same religion, same language, same homeland.
- blell 9mo ago[flagged]
- Jabrov 9mo agoA lot of it is being done by mercenaries brought in from Afghanistan and Iraq
- gizajob 9mo agoHow do you know? Do you have links for that information? And if true they’d be regular murders brought in, not mercenaries.
- Jabrov 9mo agoIn the article it says “ While most of the killings were carried out by IRGC and Basij forces, reports received by Iran International indicate that proxy forces from Iraq and Syria were also used in the crackdown. The deployment of non-local forces suggests a decision to expand repression capacity as quickly as possible.”
- sshine 9mo agoMercenaries are murderers for hire. Also, read the article. :)
- bawolff 9mo agoI think the point is that its believed they were foreigners who were part of iranian proxy forces (e.g. iranian backed militias in iraq), so weren't doing it for money but out of some sort of loyalty to the iranian regime or ideology. Usually mercenaries mean people doing it for money not ideology who get paid significantly more than your average soldier.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- flyinglizard 9mo agoIran is made of many different ethnicities, and there were reports of Arab militants that were brought in by the regime (it’s not hard to imagine given how reliant those organizations are on Iran for support). It’s generally not very hard to incite violence across groups in the Middle East, especially when you consider how bad the outcome might be for the losing side. Case in point, the Alawites who lost control of Syria and are now persecuted by the new government.
- innagadadavida 9mo ago[flagged]
- gamma42 9mo agoMost obvious bait ever
- parineum 9mo agoIt's definitely bait but there is definitely not the same reaction to this among that group of people and when one asks the question "why?", there aren't a multitude if explanations that come to mind.
- g-b-r 9mo agoI guess that Iran felt like the strongest opponent to Israel, its history was not widely known by the protesters, and so it takes a little more to distance yourself. There's maybe some disquiet in realizing that they're not someone you can side with, too. And for sure some of the outlets followed by the protesters have ties to Iran, sadly.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- SegfaultSeagull 9mo ago[flagged]
- RobMurray 9mo agoIs Iran funded by and supplied weapons by the US and Europe?
- myth_drannon 9mo agoFrom the previous uprisings, the regime usually sends Arab mercenaries like Hizbollah. They don't speak Farsi and have no connection to the people of Iran.
- skissane 9mo agoThis is a figure for the whole of Iran. So it includes not just the Persian-majority areas, but also the minority-majority areas (Azeris, Kurds, Balochs, Arabs, Armenians, etc). It would not surprise me if the death toll in the minority-majority areas were higher, and hence they contributed a disproportionate percentage of the total, since security forces would likely find it easier to do that to people of a different ethnicity and/or religion (some of these minorities are predominantly Sunni, Christian, etc) than to people more like themselves.
- kibwen 9mo ago> I can't comprehend how a population can kill that many of their own people. The notion of some well-defined "people" is a fiction that ruling powers use to keep humanity's innate tribalistic tendencies pointed outward at their adversaries. The truth is that the powers-that-be consider themselves to be above "the people", and will dispose of you as soon as you become inconvenient.
- jacquesm 9mo agoI can easily comprehend it, the history books are full of people killing large numbers of their own people. They just find some irrelevant differentiating factor that allows them to label the other as the outgroup and bring out the guns, the tanks, the ovens and the bombs.
- toyg 9mo agoAlso, they know the alternative is that they will be dragged in the streets and killed. Iran is long past the point where a revolution can be peaceful and conciliatory; if the regime falls, there will be a redde rationem where most people connected to enforcement and decision-making will be very summarily judged by the people they abused for decades.
- hshdhdhj4444 9mo ago[flagged]
- ks2048 9mo agoIt looks like you were downvoted, but you’re absolutely right. “Their own people” is a silly trope - people are always “othered” by something - if not race (I guess what is mean by “thier own people”), then by religion, political persuasion, etc.
- vjvjvjvjghv 9mo agoIt’s not necessary to bring American politics into things that happen anywhere in the world.
- woodruffw 9mo agoIt’s not necessarily the primary factor, but it’s worth noting that Iran is actually a relatively diverse country by the region’s standards. There are significant Kurdish, Azeri, Balochi, etc. minority groups, for whom the idea that they’re in the same “homeland” as the Persians is not necessarily given.
- exidy 9mo agoThe Khmer Rouge executed between half a million and a million Cambodians between 1975 to 1979[0]. These were the intentional killings, estimates range to as many as 2 million Cambodians or 25% of the population died as a result of Khmer Rouge polices. The end of the regime was brought about by an incursion into the Vietnamese border town of Ba Chúc, resulting in the massacre of more than 3000 civilians. Vietnam invaded, toppled the Khmer Rouge and brought an end to the executions although civil war would continue for much of the next decade. For these actions Vietnam was extensively sanctioned[1]. The parallels with ongoing conflicts today are hard to ignore. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge#Crimes_against_humanity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge#Crimes_against_hum... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_War#International_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Vietnamese_W...
- tovlier 9mo ago[dead]
- throwawayheui57 9mo agoThey are “othering” the people actually, using very clear ideological and religious lines. That’s what I see and hear from the regime ad campaigns, propaganda, etc.
- dartharva 9mo agoNow you see how easy it is for humans to "other" people to kill them