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April 14, 2009
The man with the silver tongue and the myth of moderation
I'm tempted to say about Roger Cohen that the less said about him that better, but quite a few people have written excellent ripostes to his latest venality that are worth checking out.
In Roger Cohen's world, the extremists in Iran are actually moderate!
But there's another delusion about Iran, and that is that the moderates are actually moderate. Here's Time Magazine's Scott MacLeod:
I strongly hope and believe that Saberi's case will have a positive outcome. The sensible people in the regime will see to that. They know Saberi is no spy. Yet, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has collected more than 10,000 signatures on a petition in Saberi's support, is alarmed. "News reports that the Iranian authorities have charged Roxana Saberi with espionage are deeply worrying," says CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "Saberi has been working openly as a journalist in Iran for years. The public prosecutor must clarify why these charges have been brought and allow Saberi's attorney to view them immediately."
(emphasis mine)
And the poster child for the "sensible people" in the Iranian regime is former president Ayatollah Mohammed Khatami. Alas for those who are looking for moderation from Khatami, his record is not overly inspiring - except superficially. Michael Rubin observed:
True, when Khatami emerged on the world stage, he was a breath of fresh air. Diplomats applauded when, after his swearing-in on August 4, 1997, he declared: "We are in favour of a dialogue between civilisations and a detente in our relations with the outside world." Khatami became the toast of European capitals, with prime ministers tripping over themselves to host him in their capitals.On March 9, 1999, during his first visit to Europe, Khatami told the Italian parliament: "Tolerance and exchange of views are the fruits of cultural richness, creativity, high-mindedness and harmony. One must recognise this opportunity." Back in Iran, though, his message was different. He banned Israeli and Jewish non-government organisations from participating in the Tehran preparatory meeting ahead of the UN Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
Then, speaking to Iranian television on October 24, 2000, he declared: "If we abide by human laws, we should mobilise the whole Islamic world for a sharp confrontation with the Zionist regime. If we abide by the Koran, all of us should mobilise to kill."
Alas, such incitement was not mere rhetoric, and to suggest, as Camilleri does, that Khatami condemns terrorism is at best half-true. Khatami may have offered condolences after the September11, 2001, terror attacks in New York and Washington, but the bipartisan 9/11 Commission subsequently found that his government had granted transit across Iran to at least eight of the 14 Saudi hijackers who had trained in Afghanistan's al-Qa'ida camps.
When it comes to "moderates" in the Muslim world academics, diplomats and journalists are forever hearing what they want to hear and disregarding the rest.
The true level of moderation is something to keep in mind when considering how to outfit the Iranian regime with new surveillance technology or offering the regime new diplomatic flexibility.
Crossposted on Yourish
Posted by SoccerDad at April 14, 2009 6:45 PM
Why Does The Goldstone Commission Report Rely On Contradicting Testimony?
On a foundation of sand
Kemp vs. goldstone
The Goldstone Commission: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Gaza
Garlasco hits the fan
Israel deploys WorldNetDaily against Iran!
Have you forgotten?
Slapping the outstretched hand
Turki stuffing
Fadlallah clarifies that Israel's existence is the issue
"Khatami became the toast of European capitals, with prime ministers tripping over themselves to host him in their capitals".
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How revolting. The Europeans make me sick.
"How revolting. The Europeans make me sick."
american presidents and statespeople have routinely cavorted with, when not outright put in power, criminals like augusto pinochet, saddam hussein (see picture of donald rumsfeld smiling while shaking the rais' hand) and most saudi princes, people at least as bad as any mullah, people with an staggering amount of innocent blood on their hands. is that revolting? do americans make you sick?
Posted by: jean-francois at April 14, 2009 10:17 PMJews good everybody else bad.They say never again ,but I don't here anything about Darfur ,Rowanda,Pol Pot in Cambodia.Every religion spouts the same crap.if you don't believe like we do blah blah blah blah.
Posted by: mike at April 14, 2009 11:25 PMWow, 8-of the hijackers of September 11th traveled through Iran!!! I guess the only thing more amazing (and worrisome) is the fact that 19 of the 19 hijackers got into and lived in the USA. I seriously doubt that the Iranian government (or Khatimi himself) was knowingly allowing these guys to cross through their borders any more than the US immigration was knowingly giving visas to people who were going to destroy the world trade center. Let�s try to be intellectually honest.
Posted by: Jesse at April 15, 2009 5:44 AMYou won't find Shahesque puppetry, if that's the kind of "moderation" you're looking for.
Posted by: Anon at April 15, 2009 6:15 AMPerhaps governments need to listen to it's people and have more dialog with it's citizens and use common sense to fix problems...instead of "few" making rules and changing the rules ever so often for the many. Perhaps using common sense and having compassion for your fellow humans on every part of the globe is ideal.
Posted by: biorgen nomali at April 15, 2009 7:31 AMI really don't believe that all of these so called blogs are legitimate.
I find it hard to believe that the only blogs Yahoo can find to publish are rabidly pro zionist anti Iranian sites.
I am pretty sure that most of these sites are operated by the Mossad or other branches of the Israeli government. They could also be freelance Jewish ethnic extremists, but I tend to think that the organized and extensive nature of the phenomena speaks to a more central organization of the effort.
The real give away is the narrow foreign policy lines that are pushed by each of the "bloggers" and their "posters". They don't even really need to erase posts like mine. They just systematically flood the site with the latest foreign policy line of the right wing government in Israel. The agents who write these sites always pose as cute harmless individuals.
The Israeli have made it clear that they feel no moral compunction about using psy warfare and propaganda to achieve their goal of regional domination. Once a government announces its intention to lie to achieve its goals everything it does and says should be tested against a greater reality.
Racism and national chauvinism are distorting the character of the Jewish people. Everyone who loves the Jews should be concerned.
Posted by: larry at April 15, 2009 8:58 AM"his government had granted transit across Iran to at least eight of the 14 Saudi hijackers who had trained in Afghanistan's al-Qa'ida camps."
And we granted transit for all 14 of them to enter our country. This proves nothing, except maybe that Iran and the United States are equally incompetent when it comes to enforcing their borders and immigration.
Posted by: Anon at April 15, 2009 10:42 AMNo jean-francois, America is the greatest country. So I stand by my statement that the europeans make me sick, especially the french. The french btw who did business with saddam hussein which is why they opposed the war to overthrow him which is the same greed and cowardice preventing the euros from stopping Iran. I have no respect for the europeans and find you pretty contemptible. You deserve all the problems the muslim hordes are creating within your countries. This is the result of decades of appeasement. Now you have to live with it. I hope you are looking forward to a future under sharia, jean-francois. Don't expect us to enthusiastically follow in your footsteps.
BTW is there any way to keep this trash off the site?
Posted by: Laura at April 15, 2009 12:01 PM"Jews good everybody else bad".
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Yes, although I would add Jews and Christian Americans good and everybody else bad.
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"They say never again ,but I don't here anything about Darfur ,Rowanda,Pol Pot in Cambodia".
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I hear about them a great deal. What is your point? muslims are responsible for the genocide in Darfur and communists in Cambodia and in Rwanda it was one African tribe slaughtering the other.
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"Every religion spouts the same crap.if you don't believe like we do blah blah blah blah".
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ONLY islam kills unbelievers.