Pejman has an excellent Tech Central Station article up about the growth of weblogs in Iran: "Blogging for Revolution."
"The Blogosphere has already influenced politics, culture and society immeasurably. It was the first medium to pick up and understand the importance of Trent Lott's infelicitous comments at the 100th birthday of former Senator Strom Thurmond. It has won deserved acclaim in its coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom and its discussion of the post-September 11th world in general. Let's hope the Blogosphere, and Iranian bloggers in particular, have the power to influence meaningful and effective change in Iranian culture and society. Keep tabs on Iranian bloggers and reformist Iranian websites. They could very well serve as the cyber-shock troops of a new Iranian revolution."Jeff Jarvis, meanwhile, sees weblogs breaking down some important Iranian-American mutual suspicions.
Speaking of Iranian bloggers, we also have some updates on arrested blogger/journalist and Prisoner of Conscience Sina Motallebi. Hossein Derakhshan offers a Day 13 update that describes the regime's latest tactics, and a Day 17 update yesterday.
Finally, no post of this nature would be complete without mentioning Glenn Frazier's excellent Iranian Liberty Index, which aggregates key blog links and news articles dealing with the cause of liberty in Iran.
Iranians and Americans can go two different ways here. Some of us (I'm an American) will put the past in it's proper perspective and move on. We will become friends, we will have self and mutual respect, retain our autonomy and identity and things will get better. Others will point at the past as a red herring. They have always been filled with hate and spoiling for a fight. The past gives them their excuse. There may be some "undecided" folks, scared perhaps to trust that good can come from someplace that has been branded evil.(The Great Satan VS Axis of Evil) Those of us who can get along need to set an example for these nervous souls. Ever forward people.
Dave