On Saturday, Michael Ledeen posted an article at PajamasMedia.com about the political unrest in the Middle East and North and South America. 

Mr. Ledeen notes that it is difficult (other than in Iran) to separate the freedom fighters from those who want to set up a Middle Eastern caliphate.

Mr. Ledeen points out:

“The vast insurrection is aimed at sitting rulers, but not all the insurrectionaries are fighting for freedom.  Indeed, many of them are prepared for martyrdom if they can advance the cause of even more terrible tyrannies, wrapped in the glory of a new caliphate.  The demonstrations in Bahrain and Jordan, like the virtual civil war in Yemen, are sponsored by the intelligence arms of the Iranian Islamic Republic, and supported by killers from Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and their proxies.  And we have already seen the Egyptian Islamists come front and center to lay claim to the country.  Andy McCarthy is appropriately alarmed.”

We have no way of knowing how all of this will turn out–either in Iran, Venezuela or Wisconsin.  We can take heart in the fact that in Iran Mr. Ledeen has confirmed that some of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have asked for guidelines suggesting restraint when dealing with protestors.  The 1979 Iranian revolution succeeded in part because the military and police did not shoot the protestors.  We may reach that point again. 

Please follow the link above to read the entire article.  Mr. Ledeen is considered a scholar on the Middle East, and the article is very insightful.