Mike Baker

that they were just interested in peace and bettering the lives of Gaza's civilians.

That, of course, turned out to be a well-planned disinformation campaign designed to lull the Israeli government into complacency.

I'm not saying that you can't trust the Iranian-backed terror group,

But if it walks like a terrorist duck and talks like a terrorist duck, it may well be a terrorist canard.

But first, today's BDB Spotlight.

Today, the picture coming out of Iran is no longer just one of political unrest and street protests.

It now reflects deliberate, organized violence carried out by the state against its own citizens, much of it obscured by a nationwide internet blackout.

According to stark warnings issued by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, it's an independent New York based nonprofit that documents human rights abuses in the country.

A massacre is currently unfolding across Iran.

The group says it's received multiple eyewitness accounts and what it describes as credible reports indicating that hundreds of protesters have been killed during the ongoing crackdown.

Because the regime has effectively severed Iran from the outside world, confirming exact numbers is, well, currently next to impossible.

The descriptions coming in of the regime's methods are indicative of large-scale violence.

Witnesses report hospitals overwhelmed with casualties, blood supplies critically low, and bodies piling up as security forces continue to fire on demonstrators.

The number of dead, they say, is rising by the hour.

And this is not random violence.

Eyewitnesses describe protesters being shot in the head.

They report the use of snipers and surveillance drones.

It doesn't appear to be a government just struggling to restore order.

It appears to be a regime attempting to crush dissent through fear.

Multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, report that the death toll has climbed sharply over the past several days.