Dedrick Muhammad and Farrah Hassen on the Christians United for Israel conference headed by John Hagee.
Even worse, according to the Congressman, “We find Iranians making inroads in South America with Bolivia and Venezuela. Iranians have no business in the Western Hemisphere.” The paranoia around Iran is so great that relatively small trade deals between South American countries and Iran is viewed as a threat. Not to be outdone, Pence offered this nightmare scenario on Iran: “This is a perilous time with the menacing pronouncements of Ahmadinejad. God forbid the next Holocaust will not require camps but one missile and one bomb and 17 minutes of flight. Americans, Democrats and Republicans, are coming together to place more pressure on Iran until it abandons nuclear weapons.” Thunderous applause ensued. Some in the crowd even raised their hands in the air, presumably to pay homage to an Iran-hating God.
Irancove @ August 19, 2008
Gareth Porter on Pamela Hess’ “propaganda blast in the guise of an intelligence briefing” derived exclusively from a “senior intelligence offer” about Iranian hit-squad training:
Hess’ hit-squad training story should be assigned to journalism classes for the next generation to open a discussion about what went wrong with American journalism before and during America’s overtly imperial war in the Middle East. And Hess should be seen as a stunningly clear illustration of what happens when a reporter gives up any pretense of independence from the national-security state.
Porter’s article does a great job of deconstructing Hess’ piece and reporting on Iran in general. I also flagged that story when it came out.
Irancove @ August 19, 2008
Speaking to FOX’s Chris Wallace about why McCain is a better choice for president, Senator Lindsey Graham equated Iran and al Qaeda.
GRAHAM: If you’d lost an Iraq, the biggest winner would’ve been Iran, the topic we’re talking about. They were ready to fill the vacuum of a failed state in Iraq, al Qaeda would’ve claimed victory and every moderate voice in the world—it’s about moderation and extremism.
Graham’s statements are an indicator of the intellectual bankruptcy of the far right and also highlight a profound ignorance of the region—or a willingness to lie for a political agenda. Iran is a nation with a majority Shi’i, Persian population. Al Qaeda is a radical Sunni, international, fringe organization. Al Qaeda considers Iran a great enemy. Al Qaeda in Iraq has consistently threatened Iran and al Qaeda’s top leadership even considers Iran a common enemy between the United States and al Qaeda.
Similar statements were made prior to the Iraq war in trying to link al Qaeda to Iraq. Not only were they discredited long ago, but more evidence is now surfacing that those statements were based on deliberate and cynical attempts by the White House to manipulate public opinion.
Graham also raises the specter of “the vacuum.” For more on that, see this video.
Irancove @ August 18, 2008
Report by the International Center for Journalists:
Iran is complex by anyone’s standards. Even journalists who have spent decades reporting on it struggle to understand it fully. Yet many Westerners think they know a lot about Iran because it shows up in the headlines so often.
The words and names people see—Ahmadinejad, nuclear, oil, veil, mullah—have become synonymous with fear and distrust, and the saber-rattling between Iranian officials and the West dominates much of the media coverage. Sidebars, Web slide shows and extended interviews have not yet convinced the general public that Iran is a multidimensional story.
How much of this is the journalist’s problem? Are editors concerned that they might be perpetuating stereotypes?
ICFJ perceived a need to take a closer look at the Iran buzzwords and find new openings for fresh approaches to reporting about Iran. You will find here an opportunity to gain insight from a unique group of experts who have made it their life’s work to understand Iran.
This report is the result of our April 2008 conference “Iran 360: Exploring Politics, Economics and Society in a Global Hot Spot,” supported by the United States Institute of Peace.
Irancove @ August 17, 2008
With no sense of irony, Swoop reports on the comments of a US administration official regarding Russia’s incursion into Georgia:
So long as Moscow now moderates its ambitions, our contacts suggest that Washington wants an early resolution of this episode. This will include forcefully persuading Georgia to accept a residual Russian presence in Georgia. Should Moscow not scale back its actions, then the potential for escalation cannot be discounted. As a White House official explained to us: “This is a very appealing issue for Americans. We don’t like big nations bullying small ones.”
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
By Nader Bagherzadeh at Information Clearing House
16/08/08 “ICH” – — It is clear from recent articles in the Christian Science Monitor and the Los Angeles Times [1, 2] that the heated discussion during the five hours of the July 19th Geneva conference between Iran and P5+1 may have had a lot to do with the ultimate dismantling of the enrichment and heavy water facilities after a specified period of suspension and the so called freeze-for-freeze. Freeze–for-freeze was an idea originally proposed by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Elbaradei, who demanded that Iran not install any new centrifuge while the existing ones are still spinning. In return, the P5+1 countries would not seek new sanctions as long as the negotiations would continue.
Asking for the dismantling of Iran’s sensitive nuclear facilities has always been the US position. This is exactly what the influential senator Richard Lugar of Indiana stated almost two years ago: “The US final goal is not suspension, but dismantling of Iranian enrichment facilities at Natanz.” More on page 682
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
Mother Jones has the story:
And yet, while AEI’s in house team of foreign policy hands (Frederick Kagan, Danielle Pletka, etc.) has noticeably restrained itself from as aggressively publicly promoting a military option on Iran as might be expected, still it is home to those such as former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton who says whatever he wants — almost always predictably disparaging of a diplomatic solution to any crisis from North Korea to Iran. And as a longtime loyal home for many who were associated with the most hawkish positions of the Bush administration (Bolton, Paul Wolfowitz, Lynn Cheney and formerly her husband), it’s hard to imagine that it was any extreme ideological position which would have prompted the departure. And Ledeen was described as always a good fundraiser for the think tank. So his departure is somewhat perplexing.
Ledeen is not alone in being scarcer at the influential think tank of late. Former Reagan administration Pentagon official Richard Perle is often in France and rarely makes public appearances at AEI any more; but there’s no talk of Perle leaving AEI, although his role there is largely “emeritus” the associate described. Ledeen is now the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a small Washington think tank headed by former Republican National Committee spokesman Cliff May.
Michael Ledeen has been pushing war on Iran for a very long time and was an enthusiastic advocate of the Iraq war. Before the Iraq war, he said:
One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today.
Ledeen explains his departure from the AEI and into the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as a “freedom scholar” after returning from a cruise in Alaska at his site “Faster Please.”
… I always thought it was stupid to go to Alaska in August. I love August in Washington, I adore hot and humid and so Washington is a dream come true for me. Plus, no Congress, which means much less traffic, and you can get tables in restaurants. Plus, I moved my office from AEI after twenty happy years, to Cliff May’s rising Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. It seems a good fit, it puts me in the same sandbox as Andy McCarthy and other terrific people, and I love the email address: michael(at)defenddemocracy.org I mean, that’s what I’m all about. …
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
Media Matters on Jerome Corsi:
While the recent anti-Obama book by Jerome Corsi, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality (Threshold Editions), will debut atop the New York Times bestseller list, many in the media are challenging the book, noting its numerous falsehoods as well as its author’s track record, which includes a slew of bigoted posts on the conservative website Free Republic and co-authorship of a discredited book attacking Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. The media’s reaction to The Obama Nation stands in stark contrast to coverage of that 2004 book, Unfit for Command. As Media Matters for America has noted, the media were sharply criticized for taking too long to challenge Unfit’s numerous smears and falsehoods.
Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher calls the book by the Swiftboat author a “swift kick to his credibility.” Eugene Robinson talks about Corsi’s “vicious lies” and “concocted venom.” Kenneth Vogel of Politico says that Corsi’s “wild theories, vitriol and dogma..have called into question his credibility.”
Rachel Maddow of MSNBC says “You may remember Corsi for his sober allegations that Hillary Clinton is a lesbian, that John Kerry is both a Jew and a Communist, and his allegations that Muslims actually worship Satan. You may remember Jerome Corsi for his recent book attacking the liberal myth that oil is a finite resource, since he, Jerome Corsi, has learned how to make new oil.”
There are many more accounts of Corsi’s debunked credibility that are available at Media Matters.
Corsi has been pushing war with Iran for many years now. It bears mentioning that Corsi is the author of Atomic Iran—if you haven’t read the book, the picture on the cover serves as a good indicator of Corsi’s simplistic sensationalism, demagoguery, fear-mongering and racism.
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
Retired Army Colonel and International Relations expert, Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich talking to Bill Moyers on the imperial presidency and national security state.
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
What is the value of an article full of ominous (but routine) charges thrown at Iran by a “senior US military intelligence officer” speaking on “condition of anonymity?” As a news item, can there be any substance or veracity to something so vague that it is impossible to prove, but ideologically consistent with the talking points of the status quo?
Irancove @ August 16, 2008
Mike Wallace wallows in self-congratulatory praise after receiving an Emmy for an interview he did with Ahmadinejad. The video was significantly cut to fit the ridiculously shallow and tired “crazy Iran” frame, which has now become so ubiquitous.
Watch:
Irancove @ August 15, 2008
Comments by Fatemeh Keshavarz from Counter Punch:
Discussing the rising U.S. exports of cigarettes to Iran recently, Senator McCain joked, “Maybe that’s a way of killing them.” We have seen the unfortunate impact that Iran has on the Senator’s sense of humor before (the famous “Bomb, bomb, bomb” song). But this essay is not about Mr. McCain or the election. It is about the circumstances that make it possible for him to voice the death wish: “our” deep ambivalence toward “them,” the Iranians. The Americans who travel to Iran, an average of 300 a year, find the country full of surprises. Before they arrive in Tehran, they know a thing or two about the country. They know that a religiously oriented government is in place and the constitution extends its tentacle deep into personal lives. They know that many young Iranians long for living in a more western society. Not an unrealistic assessment. But there is a lot they don’t know. Iran has a constellation of highly developed urban centers. Literacy is pretty high (over 90% among 15 to 25 year olds). Universities are filled with women students. The infant mortality and population growth rates are under control. And the country is at the forefront of stem cell research. If these are not enough, there is a bigger shocker: Iranians like Americans.
Why is it then that, here in the U.S., Senator McCain can safely issue Iranians a collective, supposedly humorous, death sentence? After all, if he did that to the Poles, or the Senegalese, he’d be jeopardizing his political career.
Interestingly enough, the legitimacy of Mr. McCain’s comment is rooted in a handful of stories. In the past year or so, as we have gone about our daily lives, these stories have floated in the background developing – gradually but surely – into “facts.” In truth, they are neither facts nor fabrications. They are a selective arrangement of truth with important parts missing. And they all have one message: Iran is dangerous.
Take the story of the “clandestine” nuclear program which Iran is said to have kept secret for twenty years. It refers to the nuclear facilities at Natanz outside the historic city of Isfahan. The building of this center was not announced until about three months before nuclear materials were introduced into it. The missing detail here is that the None Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of which Iran is a signatory, allows its members to do exactly that: announce a facility three months before it becomes operational.
Then there is the story of the Iranian “sabotage” of our success in Iraq and Afghanistan. Few Americans know that Hamed Karzai and Nouri al-Maliki both consider Iran a valued ally of their respective government. Few know that Iran is building a dental college in Kabul and supplying Baghdad with electricity. Even fewer know that the lethal roadside bombs killing the American troops are made in Iraqi factories not in Iran: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3862435.stm
Occasionally, there is news that could debunk one of these stories completely. In May, L.A. Times reported an unprecedented confession by the US military: the weapons they had recently found in Iraq did not include a single item made in Iran. The news should have grabbed the attention of all major papers. If it did, their reporting did not show it. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19908.htm
But all is not lost. Like Iran, America has its surprises. While presidential hopefuls find it easy, even funny, to construct scenarios of mass killing, many ordinary Americans dedicate their lives to understanding situations of crisis and preventing wars.
On Tuesday, July 8, Andrew Wimmer, and fourteen other members of the Center for Theology and Social Analysis in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood of St. Louis, visited the office of William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri’s 1st District and spoke with him via teleconference. The purpose of the visit was to discuss with him the House Concurrent Resolution 362 “expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony.”
Four days later, in these very columns Andrew wrote: “House Concurrent Resolution 362 and its companion, Senate Resolution 580, pave the way for open war with Iran. It is that simple, and we must be equally clear and bold in our opposition.”
When Representative Clay observed: “Look, I’m sure that we all agree that we need to send a clear message to Iran that they cannot continue building nuclear weapons and killing our soldiers in Iraq. “No,” responded the group: “that is precisely what we do not agree on because neither of those claims has been substantiated and repeating them only propagandizes for war.” In Andrew’s words, the group speaking to the Senator “included young and old, veterans and veteran activists, teachers and students.”
On Wednesday, July 9, William Lacy Clay became the first member of the House to withdraw his sponsorship of Resolution 362. It appears that Iranians are not naïve in their liking the Americans. They realize that for each Senator McCain, there are many Andrew Wimmers – and one would hope – Lacy Clays.
Fatemeh Keshavarz is Chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literature at Washington University and the author of Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran.
Irancove @ August 15, 2008
Andrew Bacevich asks “is perpetual war our future?” at Tom Dispatch.
Bacevich will also be on PBS tonight to speak with Bill Moyers on American empire, militarism and its challenge to American democracy.
Andrew Bacevich, professor of history and international relations at Boston University, retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of colonel.
Irancove @ August 15, 2008
John McCain says: “My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression.”
Let’s run-down the list. Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, followed by the US expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Collapse of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars of aggression between successor states. US invasion of Afghanistan. US invasion of Iraq. There are a slew of other examples of serious international crises over last 16-18 years.
One of the great threats we face is the personal sense of grandiosity of the lead foreign hands who shape the course of our role in the world. Not national grandiosity, but personal grandiosity. Because if you’re a foreign policy hand or political leader your own quest for greatness is constrained by whether or not you live in times of grand historical events.
There’s a lot of this nonsense floating around today by pampered commentators who want to find a new world historical conflict to write bracing commentary about before we’re done with the one from last week. But John McCain might be president in six months. And whether it’s his own shaky judgment, temperament or just the desire to find a campaign issue, this loose cannon is a real threat to this country.
Irancove @ August 15, 2008
by Dan Froomkin via Nieman Watchdog
The legendary newswoman is recovering from illness. But if she were in the White House briefing room, these are the questions she says she would be putting to spokeswoman Dana Perino.
The White House briefing room just isn’t the same without Helen Thomas, the ailing 88-year-old Hearst Newspapers columnist and Bush gadfly. Her acerbic, heartfelt demands for answers on issues such as war and torture provide a striking contrast to the often passionless, small-bore questions from her more traditional colleagues.
In late April, Thomas became the target of a remarkable Internet campaign, with fans sending her dozens of flower arrangements after a particularly frustrating exchange with White House press secretary Dana Perino. Thomas had been trying to get Perino to explain the apparent contradiction between President Bush’s insistence that “we don’t torture” and his administration’s record of torturing people. But Perino doggedly refused to acknowledge that torture had taken place. When Perino tried to move on – and no other reporter expressed any interest in the matter — Thomas turned to her colleagues and asked in disgust: “Where is everybody? For God’s sakes.” There was no response.
Thomas was stricken with an infection in May, and after a long hospitalization is now in a rehabilitation center. She tells me through her agent: “I’m looking forward to jumping into the fray again, and I am improved.”
I asked her what questions she’d be asking if she could. Her top three:
Q. I’m still trying to reconcile the contradiction of the President saying we do not torture. Response?
Q. Why does this administration continue to threaten in volatile disputes, despite knowing it cannot follow through?
Q. What do you (Dana) think will be Bush’s legacy, with his popularity polls so diminished and his philosophy of preemptive war so repudiated?
Thomas, who has covered nine presidents since first being assigned to the White House by UPI in 1961, is the subject of an upcoming short documentary on HBO, Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House.
E-mail: froomkin@niemanwatchdog.org
Irancove @ August 15, 2008
Via Eteraz…
Irancove @ August 14, 2008
Fox and Friends on nuclear weapons, cocaine and proper apparel when addressing the UN:
Irancove @ August 14, 2008
As we write, the arrival of new U.S. warships will mark the largest build-up of Naval forces in the Gulf since the 1991 Gulf War.
The aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan, along with the USS Iwo Jima, an Amphibious Assault Ship are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region, along with a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.
This move follows the ominous Operation Brimstone, a massive military exercise involving more than a dozen warships from the US, England, and France in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran.
The USS Roosevelt, which participated in the just-concluded exercise, and the USS Ronald Reagan will join two US naval battle groups in the area: the USS Abraham Lincoln with its Carrier Strike Group Nine ; and the USS Peleliu, and Amphibious Assault Ship with its expeditionary strike group.
Irancove @ August 13, 2008
More on Afshin Molavi’s “Star Students of the Islamic Republic” in Newsweek:
Sharif’s reputation highlights how while Iran makes headlines for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s incendiary remarks and its nuclear showdown with the United States, Iranian students are developing an international reputation as science superstars. Stanford’s administrators aren’t the only ones to notice. Universities across Canada and Australia, where visa restrictions are lower, report a big boom in the Iranian recruits; Canada has seen its total number of Iranian students grow 240 percent since 1985, while Australian press reports point to a fivefold increase over the past five years, to nearly 1,500.
Iranian students from Sharif and other top schools, such as the University of Tehran and the Isfahan University of Technology, have also become major players in the international Science Olympics, taking home trophies in physics, mathematics, chemistry and robotics. As a testament to this newfound success, the Iranian city of Isfahan recently hosted the International Physics Olympiad—an honor no other Middle Eastern country has enjoyed. That’s because none of Iran’s neighbors can match the quality of its scholars.
Puts Fareed Zakaria’s hackneyed comments into doubt:
ZAKARIA: I don`t think they`re that good at sophisticated engineering. They`re pretty good at thuggery.
Irancove @ August 13, 2008
Peter Hirschberg on the complications of Israeli arms sales to Georgia:
Israel’s relations with Georgia have been close, partly because there is a large Georgian Jewish community in Israel. In recent years, ties have also taken on a military dimension, with military industries in Israel supplying Georgia with some US$200 million worth of equipment since 2000. This has included remotely piloted planes, rockets, night-vision equipment, other electronic systems and training by former senior Israeli officers.
“Israel should be proud of its military, which trained Georgian soldiers,” Georgian Minister Temur Yakobashvili told Israel’s Army Radio in Hebrew shortly after the fighting erupted.
Israel is not a major supplier of arms to Georgia, with the US and France supplying Tbilisi with most of its weaponry. But the arms transfers have attracted media attention partly because of the role played by some high-profile Israeli figures, including former Tel Aviv mayor Roni Milo, who conducted business in Georgia on behalf of Israel Military Industries.
According to media reports, Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, a senior commander in the 2006 Lebanon war who resigned after the release of a highly critical report on the way the war was conducted, served as an adviser to Georgian security forces.
Further attention was drawn to the Israel-Georgia arms trade earlier this year when a Russian jet shot down an Israeli-made drone being operated by the Georgians.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
The Israelis should be careful or they will acquire a reputation for dumping their allies unde pressure.
Until now the US has held the record for consistency in that field of political action.
Is it coincidence that the US and Israel both acted over the last few years to encourage Georgia in defiance of its giant neighbor?
Israel has 80,000 immigrant Georgian Jews in its population. The defense minister of Georgia is reported to be a “former” Israeli citizen.
Bravado is the Israeli style in international relations and in managing occupations. Rashness bordering on adolescent conceit is another way to describe the style.
I guess Russia doesn’t frighten as easily as some of the entities that the Israelis usually deal with.
What did the US think it was doing encouraging little Georgia to provoke the bear?
Ask the Jacobins.
Irancove @ August 13, 2008
One of the best universities of the world is in Iran, the Newsweek weekly said in its latest edition, referring to Iran’s Sharif University of Science and Technology.
“Forget Harvard _ one of the world’s best undergraduate colleges is in Iran,” said the news weekly in an article appeared in its August 9 edition.
It said that Sharif University has now one of the best undergraduate electrical-engineering programs in the world.
“In 2003, administrators at Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering Department were startled when a group of foreign students aced the notoriously difficult Ph.D. entrance exam, getting some of the highest scores ever.
“That the whiz kids weren’t American wasn’t odd; students from Asia and elsewhere excel in US programs. The surprising thing, say Stanford administrators, is that the majority came from one country and one school: the Sharif University of Science and Technology in Iran.” More on page 642
Irancove @ August 12, 2008
Matt Yglesias responds to Reuel Marc Gerecht’s argument for bombing Iran. Gerecht says:
Although Iran’s growing democratic culture is unlikely to be stopped, and it’s pro-American disposition is unlikely to change unless Washington goes Scowcroftian and seeks to placate Tehran, a militant, dictatorial Islam remains strong among the country’s ruling elite. Unless the unexpected happens—some internal or external shock convulses and cripples the clerical system—the mullahs will surely get the bomb long before the people get a real democracy.
His concern for Iran’s pro-American democratic culture is touching. It’s also comforting to know that he has the best intentions at heart for Iran’s civilian population:
It seems unthinkable that the United States would, for example, unleash any massive military strike against Iran that would kill thousands of innocent Iranians for the terrorism of its dictatorial leadership.
There are those in Iraq and Afghanistan who disagree. But regardless, after a few paragraphs of deep consideration, Gerecht reluctantly concludes that bombing Iran’s nuclear sites is a burden we must bear.
Yes, it will be difficult to bomb all of the sites in Iran, but the most critical are well known—Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, Tehran, and Bushehr. These facilities took the Iranians years to build under ideal circumstances. Under siege, building new sites clandestinely will be a demanding, time-consuming task. The issue isn’t feasibility, but the determination to strike whenever required since the assessment of risk does not allow any other course of action.
US intelligence and the IAEA have concluded that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. Studies also cast serious doubt about the chances of success on attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Considering the very risky stakes of his proposal, Gerecht also conveniently ignores the prospect of an Iranian retaliation which, after all, is quite probable after a massive bombing of its cities (especially if the “clerical regime” is half as irrational as Gerecht claims). The implications of instigating such a retaliation with the potential to quickly escalate the conflict into a potential humanitarian, political and economic catastrophe is missing from Gerecht’s argument.
It’s important to note that a city like Isfahan has a population of close to 2 million people who are vulnerable to any bombing of the city’s nuclear energy plants. Not sure how all of that will fare with Iran’s pro-American democratic culture…
Irancove @ August 12, 2008
Condoleeza Rice according to the Jerusalem Post:
We don’t say yes or no to Israeli military operations. Israel is a sovereign country,” she said in response to a question from The Politico Web site as to whether she was concerned that America would be blamed in the case of an IDF attack on the Islamic Republic.
Her statements come amid speculation that Washington has warned Jerusalem not to attack Iran and media reports that the US told Israel it doesn’t have the green light to use Iraqi airspace for any such attack.
Col Pat Lang says the issue of Israel attacking Iran still seems unresolved.
Artfully worded. What she said was that the US does not take responsibility for Israeli decisions. What it does not say is whether the US will accept Israeli overflight of Iraq going to and coming from strikes on Iran.
Irancove @ August 11, 2008
