The Iranian Mess (UPDATED)
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards have killed some 30 Kurds in reprisal for the bomb that went off on a military base in Mahabad a week ago. It seems that the action actually took place across the Iraqi border, yet another violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Then there is the fascinating story of the computer “worm” that, according to numerous publications, penetrated tens of thousands of official Iranian computers. Government officials in Iran stoutly maintain that no serious damage has been done, but then they would say that no matter what the truth was. It seems very unlikely to me that a regime as notoriously inefficient as the Islamic Republic could have an accurate assessment of what took place, but it is certainly convenient to be able to blame the usual suspects in Washington and Jerusalem for the regime’s failure to produce a nuclear warhead after 21 years of working on it. Perhaps they will soon blame the “worm” for the long lines at gas stations (to a limit of less than 16 gallons a month), and the rising food prices.
It’s fascinating, but it’s a mess.
On behalf of primates everywhere, I object to calling Ahmadinnerjacket “The Chimpanzee.”
It’s highly insulting to the chimpanzees.
I think we need to hear about Coates not the monkey man. What happened to that story?..hidden again????
Which Coates story are you referring to?
This one?
This one?
This one? (admittedly, that one’s about Coates indirectly, but it’s still somewhat relevant.)
This one?
This one?
Or this one?
By my count, that’s 6 stories in the last 5 days… an average of more than a story a day. So, I really find it hard to see where your criticism is coming from.
Unless, of course, it’s just a transparent attempt to draw attention away from Ahmadinnerjacket. In which case, it’s not only transparent, it’s pathetic.
I had the same thought, CW. Chimpanzees are too benign a species to be linked to that grinny little goblin. By the way, doesn’t it seem like Ahmabignutjob’s facial rictus is stitched on? You never see him without it. It’s so extreme, it must hurt.
I liked your comment in defense of chimpanzees, but resent your insult of dinner jackets, although, normally, there is no insult to that shrimp, posing as a jerk, which comes close to being over the top (inconceivable.)
Okay, now that I have the snark and sarcasm out of my system (temporarily–see message above, assuming it gets through moderation), a serious comment.
This is what always seems to happen to totalitarian governments. There are internal fights about who controls what, sometimes leading to purges inside the government; rebellion amongst the “proletariat” who just can’t seem to grasp that their job is to meekly do what The Enlightened Leaders tell them to do–shades of the Tea Party and the Obamacrats there; reprisals against certain groups whether or not they’re responsible for something; and the infrastructure breaking down, either with or without outside help.
My big question is whether or not America, thanks to the “the best solution is government” Democrats, is too far down that road to successfully turn back. My worry is that it is.
CW:…..consider the founding documents…..I believe the answer for this moment in our time, resides within the exercise of States’ Rights!Ah the coruscation of our Founders continues to dazzle and lead us across the centuries, if we would only demand that it be taught in our schools and not this pap/crap from nonsense peddlers/liars like Columbia University’s Frankfurt School devotees.
RISE UP STATES OF OUR UNION! SCHOOL THE PETTY TYRANTS OF THE DC SWAMP.
Odd that the left saddled the mature and thoughtful George Bush with the sobriquet Chimpy when Ahmadinejad is clearly the Not So Great Ape. Calling him The Chimpanzee does slander our nearest relatives. He strikes me as more deserving of the title Runty Baboon.
Sounds like a lot of ferment to me. I start to hope that the 12th Imam will disappoint. He may be a super-dude when it comes to leg-tingle the chimpanzees, but I suspect he is having trouble keeping the centrifuge operators focused on their messianic duty.
Remember the superlative soviet technology? Talented scientists and engineers were supposed to believe in the party line with enough fervor to fully apply themselves to the glory of socialism by producing avant-garde marvels. Let’s assume that a critical number of these did in fact exist. If they were ever to accomplish anything, they would have had to rely on some combination of domestic industrial support and foreign suppliers of critical materials and components, like our present day Persians. That’s asking for a lot of miracles beyond the privileged perimeter of the technical elite. It’s like the logistic train in any army. The best elite fighters will accomplish next to nothing without dependable, timely and adequate support.
Can the disgust of the Iranian work force, combined with the interference of a truly masterful cyberware harassment campaign and the panic at the top, altogether reach a critical mass by which the most ambitious plans at the top will be frustrated by the legendary “devils in the details”? I, for one, with optimism as one of my pre-existing conditions, hope so.
Ledeen: One will get you ten that there were other unannounced meetings as well.
I don’t know much about gambling, but I do know something about probability theory and the English language. “One will get you ten that E occurs.” would seem to mean that the odds against E are 10-to-1. How else would betting $1 get you $10, should E occur? Of course, since I’m not familiar with the way gamblers talk, I might be wrong, but I don’t see how.
if you bet a dollar that there were other meetings, you get back ten for being right.
Ledeen: if you bet a dollar that there were other meetings, you get back ten for being right.
Yes, that’s what it means, but I didn’t think you meant to imply that it was unlikely that there were other meetings. (If the bet is fair, the probability that there were other meetings is 1 in 11, or about 9%.)
No need to insult the chimps, surely?
He’s smiling because he made it out of New York City still breathing. Tomorrow, tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow, tomorrow is another day. Patience.
Indeed.
he comes here to insult the victim of September Eleven and goes home happily.
he must be protected by the same demons that made a failure of all the attempts to terminate hitler
but those demons are treacherous…
Thank you Mr. Ledeen for your analysis of what’s happening behind “the Persian carpet,” so to speak. Of all the possible options, I had never even thought of the computer virus as a way of crippling the nuke program. Hopefully it is the first domino in a chain that brings the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.
One question: When (if) the regime collapses and, in theory, a regime amenable to the west emerges, what will be its attitude towards Israel? My fear is that it will be more of the same, just considerably de-fanged. Oh well.
Exactly. The ‘Greens’ look a great deal like the same Islamists with a nicer mantle. For instance, I read that Khomeini’s grandson lent his support to Mousavi or Karroubi recently. I don’t find that encouraging. My own experience in the US is that at least half of Iranians sneer at infidels and hate Jews. I accept that the average Iranian will have a better life under a Mousavi than a A-jad, but the regime will still build the bomb, support Hizbollah and Hamas, and hardly be a friend of the US.
well mousavi/karroubi have said explicitly that a green government would end iranian support for terrorism. but i suppose you know better…
Are you trying to say you can trust what they say? After all we have been through with Iran and Islam? They may be the “opposition” but they are still Islamist and as such can not be trusted.
Michael,
Smoking Frog is correct. If $1 gets you $10 in return, then you have bet on a long shot. A bet on a ‘sure thing,’ would have short odds that would return you, for example, $1.10 for $1 wagered. If you were implying that it is a sure thing that Ahmadenijad had other meetings in NY, your odds were wrong.
Michael, for mousavi/karroubi to have made that statement, it seems, at least on the surface, that they are assuming too much power.
For, you might remember the excerpt of “In Ishmael’s House” by Martin Gilbert, where the writer alleges that the degree of dhimmitude allowed by the ruler, places too much power in the hand of the ruler.
So, with that as a guide, I sincerely hope that one strongman isn’t replaced with another strongman. For, what did Sharansky state in “The Case for Democracy”? That a government which depends on the people does a better job than a people depending on government, in respecting the rights of the people.
and also to Larry in the silicon.
JJ:it is going to be a regime that is going to respect the international laws and democracy.
Larry: you are off by a mile.Irania people have no animosity toward Israel. if there is a new government they may not be as cozy as you wnated them to be tword Israel, but it is also not going to be one threting the deatrction of Israel. remmeber the biggest slogan durion last year’s up rising was:
Not Gaza, Not lebonan but Iran. as for the nuclear issue, I can only tell you this for sure, no matter what Iranian you talk to and matter what thier political thinking, they are all united for developing nyclear technology. it is their right they say. so let’s hope that if there is a regim change it will one that is responsible, transparent and accountable. so they are going to be developing nuclear technology one can trust them that it is not to make a bomb but for peaceful purposes.
M
Right now, my guess is that the only thing keeping Ahmadinejad and the mullahs in power are the Revolutionary Guards. They are the “true believers,” the defenders of the Iranian faith. If they are as dedicated as they seem to be, about as hardcore in their devotion as the SS was to Hitler, then I don’t think they’re about to change anytime soon. In fact, even as Berlin was falling, just about the only troops still fighting for Hitler, even though the end was staring them in the face, was the SS. So if a civil war is coming, the anti-government forces had better find some alternate methods of getting armed, because the Revolutionary Guards don’t seem to be going anywhere.
There may be better prospects with the Iranian Army. If whole divisions could be convinced to turn against the regime, then you could have something. Have there been any reports of rebellions within the Iranian Army? You will note, too, that the most dangerous weapons in the Iranian Navy are in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards (such as those suicide Iranian speed boats that are designed to sink ships in the Straits of Hormuz). The structure is probably the same in the Army. If there is that much distrust in the military that the Revolutionary Guards must control the most important weapons because they distrust the regular troops, this could be the opening we’re looking for.
When the czar was overthrown in Russia, the communists made it a point to start rebellions within the Army first. When whole divisions started abandoning the czar, the Army fell apart and the civil war began between the Red and the White Russians. We need to do the same thing here. Either the US, or the Greens, need to find a way to convince the military to start fighting against both the Revolutionary Guards and the mullahs. It will probably be a long and bloody fight, because the Revolutionary Guards know that if they lose the battle they will lose power forever. Dictators and their minions rarely like to give up power without a fight. But once they lose the support of the military and the forces within the Army and Navy are in open rebellion, then that will be the beginning of the end.
If people just riot in the streets, the Revolutionary Guards will simply shoot them down, as they did after the elections. But with the military behind them, the anti-government forces will at least have a chance. Time to focus on the anti-government forces within the military if we’re to pull this thing off.
“I’m a nut job” fresh from calling the USA and the Jews of course complicit in 9/11 at the totally irrelevant UN then has dinner with two of the Obamanations closest Black Racist bosom buddies Louis Farrakhan and Shabazzz ( who was not at the White House for dinner recently honestly it was another guy who coincidently looked just like him and has the same name). Are you American moonbats worried or are you are still naively, hysterically, emotionally and STUPIDLY in love with the LIAR Messiah.
Farrakhan is still looking for the giant space ship to come swoop he and his groupies away (really!).
Well, now that the UN has evidently just established a special new department for outer space affairs, we should send Calypso Louie to the top of Devil’s Tower.
I guess that it would have been unrealistic to expect the NY Times to report on the meeting between monkey man and Farrakhan. I’m surprised that the Rev Wright wasn’t included. Did Bill Ayers not get an invite? The New Black Panther Party? Now there is a perfect illustration of the failure of public education. To refer to these cretins as illiterate does injustice to under achievers everywhere. I suppose their interaction with the chimp was limited to grunts and sign gestures. It would have been refreshing had somebody took it upon himself to drag monkey man by his heels behind a limo to Ground Zero. It is an imperfect world.
Maybe His Holiness the Reverend Farrakhan was appealing for the release of the hikers. Joining Jesse Jackson and Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in the emancipation-of-innocents-from-the- hands-of-gangsters racket.
IRI are a bunch of throwbacks. Everybody knows it. Hey! Hey! Ho! HO! IRI has gots to go! Hey Dr. Ledeen, since President Obama and his wanna be “Central Komitee” are so incompetant, why wait till 2012? Why doesn’t congress impeach him and thus finish this administration’s story? Jackpot!
You neglected to mention that in addition to Farrakhan, Malik Shabaaz and other New Black Panther Party members were also in attendance at the “private” dinner Ahmadinejad hosted at his hotel. It is also important to remember that our own dear barry used both Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and Shabaaz’ NBPP thugs as bodyguards and security during his 2008 campaign.
Michael and others would have us believe that the US ‘regime’ – where the President has people like Powers and Malley riding shotgun along with his Czars – is going to take down the IRI. Well, maybe. Yet the ties between Obama and Khalidi and Ayers – and Rauf – and the roles of those last three in the ‘flotillas’ in an attempt to destroy Israel’s sovereign rights to protect its borders – are both chilling and obvious. We are supposed to believe that an anti-American, anti-Semitic regime in Washington will pull out all stops in order to ruin an anti-American, anti-Semitic regime in Tehran. Luckily, Netanyahu and friends are skeptical about that…
i have never said any such thing. i wish they would support the opposition but i don’t expect them (or any other Western government) to do it.
jonnot, exactly.BHO and the Iranian Hitler’s dinner companions are joined at the (anti-American) hip.
So, it would be accurate to state, that these same dinner companions-plus the likes of Ayers & terror company-are BHO’s emissaries to third world dictators and Islamic terrorists.
Once this fact is recognized the rest falls into place-his bowing before dictators; inability to say Islamic terror; and his continual bashing of American excellence.
Someone needs to explain to me why Louis Farrakahn and the New Black Pathers aren’t in a holding cell right now after meeting with an avowed enemy of the US.
WHY???…ooohhh please, we’re in the Lazy crazy days of Obamamania!!!
and it will continue if the same people go back into office and we do not take the house and senate in this coming Nov vote!..which at this point it is looking doubtful..
If we think things are bad now..let them remain in power and get the idea that Americans approve of their actions and watch our nation fall to it’s knees.
There will be an wall of BPs that a voter will need to contend with..Farrakhan will probably have a gala for the monkey man at the WH.
He smiles because he has no power and no responsibility, just free lunch all the way around. He is given a script and follows it otherwise has no input.
minister was likely being vetted for an important role…
UN ‘to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8025832/UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html
Looking at the plight of the Iranians, the N. Koreans, the Zimbabweans, the Sudanese, the Venezuelans, etc. etc., thinking about the history of the human race, to have a tolerable government is a rare and valuable thing.
We like to think it couldn’t happen here. But the odds favor fouling it up, look around in space & time. Kind of scary. I pray for the Iranians, and for us, too.
Greetings:
I wonder if and/or how big a check Farrakhan picked up. My favorite Iranian does like to sow those monetary seeds.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not so mucha chimpanzee — give the chimps some credit here — as he is a Geico caveman.
Okay maybe meeting with Farrakhan is conceivably possible – both of them are clownish arrogant Judeophobes, but when they threw in “the New Black Panther party” (fer crissakes) I think the NY Post went a little too far. My prediction is in 24 hours this will turn out to be BS, but by then the information war against Americans will have won another battle.
And Jodetoad, let’s not forget about the Saudi Arabians and the Afghanis who live under terrible sh*t governments. To compare Venezuela to North Korea… get a hold of yourself, man.
Maybe cooking up an October Surprise for us since nutjob and Van Jones and how many others in our pResident’s Csar and cabinet that believe 9ll was an inside job. We have yet to see what big CRISIS is going to take place and test our Young President and his actions will cause us confusion but we have to stay with them (Joe Gaffe Biden)…………..kinda chilling words. I just find it strange as others here that nutjob is meeting with the same people that are “friends” with our Dear Leader. It is clear that his allegiance belongs with these people and not America or it’s people.
the October surprise will be:
iran hands over bin laden to obama.
That ain’t gonna happen cause Bin Laden is long dead, but they could try a double (but what would he look like it is hard to find someone over 6 feet tall that is an Arab!
Ajad was in New York? No wonder they are fighting a bed bug infestation.
Another note, does anyone know where I can buy some land on the West Bank. I feel like building something.
So Louis Farrakan and Ajad had dinner together? Maybe they were trying to create the 12th Imam.
The sad thing is, there are many Americans who believe his tripe. And some have been appointed White House Czars. Who else did he meet with?……
Michael
Below is a link to just the sort of news that does not make it on mainstream media that we spoke about and you offered to have us in the proper opposition share it with you.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/09/28/iran-strike-at-bazzar/
thanks. in fact, i wrote about it in this blog.
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