Groucho Plays Tehran
The Islamic Republic looks more and more like a Marx Brothers creation. The leaders proclaim themselves invincible, but just offstage, we can hear the sounds of breaking crockery.
For starters, the currency is crashing — Iran may well be the only country in the world in which the dollar is not only gaining strength but is the object of unbridled passion. In the past couple of days some money changers have refused to sell dollars because the market is just too volatile. As RFE/RL tells us:
the rial declined 13 percent against the dollar last week as demand for the U.S. currency soared among businessmen and ordinary people. On September 29, the rial was 12,500 to the dollar; a week earlier, a dollar was worth 10,500 rials.
Even Iran’s loyal Syrian allies are unwilling to take a chance on the rial; Syrian merchants have been refusing Iranian money in their shops.
For those who would take refuge in gold, forget it; the gold bazaars are on strike all over the country. Take a look at this short video of the bazaar in Hamadan.
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the country’s leaders do not know how to cope with the economic, social, and political chaos they have created. More and more companies have been given to the military. Six energy and petrochemical firms were transferred to military control in recent weeks, in a clear demonstration of the inability of government ministries to do their job.
Instead of addressing the country’s very real problems, Iranian leaders are devoting considerable time and energy to such crucial issues as proper Islamic uniforms for the national women’s soccer team, and new bicycles for women that would avoid attracting men’s attention.
The one thing that the regime does know how to do is repress, and every day actual and suspected dissidents are thrown into jail, where they are lashed and tortured, and often executed. But the opposition is anything but silent. Prisoners are writing detailed accounts from their jail cells, to the great consternation of their oppressors, and the leaders of the Green Movement are more outspoken with every passing day. Mir Hossein Mousavi, for example, commented on his Facebook page that “converting lying into a method to run the country is the sign of fear as well as the sign of decline; they (totalitarians) not only are afraid of the street rallies and demonstrations, but they are even frightened by the green wristbands of artists, athletes and youth.”
Perhaps Yale could offer Irans Prez, (I know I am lazy for not remember its spelling) a position and hasten this Iranian demise.
Amadinnerjacket*
*Jay Leno
When it comes to Groucho I’m a Marxist. I don’t think is fair to compare such a fine and intelligent gentleman as Groucho Marx with the members of the Iranian government, especially with its leading member A’jad.
I wonder if they know how Hitler and Mussolini ended.
I am sure Obambi the Mohammedan who will be unemployed and unemployable in a couple of years time would jump at the chance to help his brothers. After all look at the miracle recovery he has brought to the US economy.
This will just make the regime even more dangerous. Look at North Korea or Zimbabwe.
Ghastly failures but the regimes are still in place. Ahmadinejad is planning a visit to Lebanon, his proxy Hezbollah may stage a coup & take over the country. Expect plenty of trouble, possibly attacks on Israel as a diversion, more interference in Iraq & Afghanistan as well. The Obama administration is asleep at the wheel, they’re busy putzing around with ”Palestine” …….
True enough. I’ll see you over at Y-net, Terry, and in the homeland soon enough.
Looking forward to it.
I share your worry: the fact that the mad mullahs might now feel that they are a cornered rat will make them more dangerous.
And, as it happens with all the totalitarian regimes, there is now the problem of the many criminals who have killed and tortured a lot of people to defend the regime. Those too know that they have no future.
One difference in N Korea and Iran today that comes to mind is the very large gap in education level between the two. Plus, in spite of abominable repression, Iran still has a working opposition.
Am ever hoping for the success of the Iranian people in their struggle — always looking for roses maybe.
Are there more Iranians imprisoned by their theofascist government this year than last year, or are there fewer? Are the Greens more active in the streets this year than last year, or less? Has the 2010 ‘privitization’ campaign in Iran resulted in more key national assets coming under the control of the IRGC this year than last year, or less? Is the non-Constitutional IRGC’s control over the entire Iranian economy grown to more than 30% this year over last year, or has it shrunk? Are there more ‘liberal’ presidents at Iranian universities this year than last year, or fewer? Have any Iranian universities this year removed the Basiji thugs from classrooms, or instead, does every university in the past year celebrate its own new, personal Basiji command post on campus?
In every case, the theofascism is stronger this year than last year, with the IRGC leading the way. The theofascism is consolidating its power in Iran during 2010, not dissipating it. Revolution? No Fascism has ever been defeated by an internal revolution, and since Fascism is itself revolutionary, to defeat it requires the cost of vast amounts of blood.
Does Mr. Obama impress ANYONE that he is willing to support such an anti-theofascist revolution at such a high cost? Instead, it is more likely that we are caught up in the same self-denial that characterized the 1930′s: Wait, watch, and hope that the problem (the threat posed by Fascism) will simply wither away.
Well said, bankrupt regimes can still be viable and secure. Look at North Korea.
The Iranian regime’ still has the option any totalitarian state has; the mass murder of its own people. From all indications, it is already underway.
This regime’ began by murdering anyone it even suspected of not being 1000% “Islamist” (math not being their strong suit). It will continue to do so until it runs out of people to kill, or people to do the killing.
While it resembles Germany under the NSDAP now, in the end it will probably look more like Cambodia under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
No, it’s not pleasant to think about. But it is unfortunately the most likely outcome.
Now, consider what might have happened if, like Iran, Pol Pot was, in the throes of his regime’s self-destruction, also on the verge of crossing the nuclear weapon threshold. Does anyone doubt he would have used such weapons, on Cambodia’s neighbors, its enemies, or even its own people?
The Iranian mullahs, lost in their violent dreams of the Twelfth Imam coming out of his well to help them conquer the world, are even more unstable than Pol Pot was. Which means that when they build a nuke, it’s not a matter of if they will use it, but when, how, and who it will be used on.
We enter a dangerous age. And, as Wretchard’s 3 Conjectures states, the terrible “ifs” accumulate.
clear ether
eon
All these events are well and good, and certainly will help in overthrowing the regime. But all of it may mean nothing if the Army is not on the side of the protesters.
The Revolutionary Guards are going nowhere because they know if they lose power, they will never regain it and may also end up in jail or, worse, executed as war criminals (not all of them, but a lot of them). But for the Non-Revolutionary Guard members of the Army and Navy, it could be time to convince them to rebel against the mullahs AND the heavily armed Revolutionary Guards. The Army and the Navy have the arms and the manpower to do this and may represent the best chance for ending this madness in Tehran. And, as in any dictatorship, once the ruler or rulers know that they’ve lost the military, it’s a good sign that it’s time to leave.
I wonder if anybody has heard of any Western covert operations directed at “turning” units in the Army and Navy against the current regime? Also, since the dollar talks bigtime in Iran, how about bribing certain Generals and Admirals into switching sides? I’m sure that, with the current economy being what it is in Iran, it wouldn’t take much to convince senior officers that it would be in their best interest (both politically and financially) to support the west. Money talks in that part of the world and it would be a lot cheaper to BUY some support than to try and force them into supporting a revolution. The Chinese try to buy North Korean Generals all the time. We should be doing the same thing with the Iranians. Any news on whether or not we’re trying to make the Army and Navy rebel, in any way, against this regime?
calling for regime change from the US would prevent regime change, this is why most senators don’t voice their opinion, too bad some care more about their own political careers than true policy
I could not fail to disagree with you less…
I had to write it down:
I could not fail to disagree with you less =
I could fail to disagree with you more =
I could disagree with you less=
I agree with you (more)
Although I’m still working out the logic of Ledeen’s reply: let’s see “FAIL to DISagree” could be simplified mathematically to “succeed to agree,” so we’d have “I could not succeed to agree with you less”) — ok good since I think that means “I don’t agree with you… a LOT” — and that is my opinion too. Well let me just state my opinion, and if it matches what Mr Ledeen said, great, and if not, well I’ll try to slip out the back door.
Because all the dissidents one cares to read about from the USSR who spent 20+ years in Siberia and many others in other less famous countries all unanimously write about the feeling of utter loneliness and destitution — this was especially true if they felt that others had “forgotten them.” They would eagerly wait months for word of a letter or a speech from Reagan or whomever regarding their plight… and if they received anything at all, that served to give them more energy, more hope, and more stamina than any vitamin shot ever could! It’s incredible to read about exactly how important protests from the West were for them in every way. It also helped to erode the feeling of many other countrymen that their government was “equally bad as_____.” So I think strong support for Iran’s prisoners are absolutely called for!
Further, there is some unfortunate polling data that shows Iranians uniting over their “right” to nuclear weapons. But that is miles away from their almost unanimous desire now to get rid of their utterly runious regime. That last issues is not even being debated by anyone. The only questions are “who” and when and logistical issues if you will. But there’s near universal agreement, yes within Iran (among those not employed by the IRG, the Basij, etc) to not go down in flames simply because their two top guys in power happen to belong to a cult in effect — a Shiite cult (the wacky, off-shoot cult-like belief of being a “Twelver” that most Shiites think is nonsense). Strong belief in the 12th Mahdi implies that you perform real-world acts, like spending untold millions to widen the main boulevard leading into downtown Teheran so so the Mahdi has “enough room when he returns” — see, they think of everything — actually Ahmadinejad thought of, and implemented this when he was still only mayor of Teheran.
Other acts a committed Twelver can perform are anything of a really destructive nature, but murdering infidels works as well in a pinch. They do all of this in order to hasten the Mahdi’s arrival (right now he’s hiding, or “occulted” as a little boy in a well in the city of Qom).
And yes, there have been many cases of people even in this country doing nutty things based on their eschatological beliefs… it’s just that up until now, they never had nuclear weapons.
What truly gets me worried however are the articles beginning to come out now about “containment” — like a recent one by Bruce Riedel, talking about how Iran is basically “a rational actor” like the USSR and thus could or can be contained via M.A.D. The only problem is that for MAD to work the enemy is in fact required to be rational in the sense that he is someone who wants to live out his natural life.
When you have people who posses nuclear weapons and who would take glory in committing themselves and all those around them to death as a “joyous event” because it will bring about the Mahdi all the more quickly, then you’ve got an enemy that cannot be (traditionally) defeated.
And if Iran looks like its on the verge of weaponizing a nuclear bomb, Israel simply has no choice other than to act — her hand will be forced — it’s that simple as Israel would in fact die (!) either via a mass emigration or the detonation of a few+ bombs, either way. Although I am very worried about the extent to which Obama can stop Israel if/when it comes down to it.
And please remember, Israel knows she cannot destroy Iran’s nuclear development, just that she can delay it — just like Begin and all his staff thought they were only “delaying” Iraq’s nuclear program at Osirak. Sometimes however, during the 1, 2 or 3 years a “delay” buys you, many “interesting” (in the Chinese sense) geopolitical events can occur which “remove the problem from the board” so to speak.
The bottom line is that while of course I would like regime change and think we should be pushing it far more vigorously in every way possible, Iran can not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon with the current regime. If that happens, not just Israel, but the entire world will be hoisted on its own petard (or rather, the lack of using it earlier).
i believe that unparsable line is from pres. eisenhower.
I believe I’ve got it figured:
(preliminary)
I could not fail to X. I could not fail to get home => I must get home.
I could not fail to X => I must X
(main effort)
“I could not fail to disagree less.” =>
I must (disagree less)
disagree less => Agree more.
I must (agree more).
I agree.
It is good to see that you are using the words Islamic Republic and not incorporate the word Iran. That small step will produce giant leaps in changing the way we Iranians are seen. But you did use the word military to describe the IRGC. They are bandits.
ali: picky picky picky. they carry weapons and wear uniforms.
Michael, the IRGC are an invading army killing Iranians under the law of the Ayatollahs. Please do not mix them with the national forces.
This is a very significant point and one most Americans don’t understand. The national military is a different organization from the IRGC; it isn’t what keeps the hardliners in power; but it is one of the key national organizations a country needs to be viable as a true “national” entity that survives from one government to the next.
Iran is an established and solid nation in this regard, with a longstanding infrastructure to fall back on. Regime-change there — regime-change brought about by the people — is nothing like the proposition it is in fractious and collapsible “nations” carved onto the map by colonial powers in the last century.
Every Iranian I’ve ever met has pride in the national military, the kind of pride and good feeling Americans tend to have for ours. The IRGC is hated, but the people distinguish between it and the national military. The existence of the national conscript military long pre-dated the 1979 revolution. The situation of the military in Iran is quite dissimilar from that of Saddam’s Iraq: dissolving or decapitating the IRGC would not leave the country in disarray, unable to police or defend itself.
and the soviet union didn’t have a national conscript military? what are you thinking?
A change in regime in Iran is desirable, but it should happen without American involvement. That’s because whatever replaces it is sure to be less than perfect, much less Utopian, and it’s time America stopped being blamed for actively helping “lesser-of-two evils” overseas governments.
God knows, some people even resent us for undercutting _Marxist_ regimes.
America should look after its own interests – first and foremost preventing a nuclear attack (terrorist or otherwise) on its territory. See “Time to Scream” at yallaland.com for an explanation of how this could happen. You are proposing that the US not act in its own interests because of what others might say (i.e., letting others have the last call).
Kinda like the Obamacrats and the Tea Party rallies, hmmm?
Poor metaphor. Groucho was funny. There is nothing funny about Islam.
He didn’t kill audience members who didn’t laugh at the right spot. At least, not that I recall.
>>>>>>Perhaps Yale could offer Irans Prez, (I know I am lazy for not remember its spelling) a position and hasten this Iranian demise.
To paraphrase Eisenhower’s quip when he resigned the presidency of Columbia University to run for president, the president of Iran will probably decline — he’s sick of politics.
I would only say that one must not confuse the Mullahs with the people. The Iranian people are some of the most industrious and cultured people on this planet: just look at their historical record and that of those of them who escaped the mullahs. It’s the Mullahs that are the problem.
I wonder if the older Iranian folks miss the Shaw… I always thought that if he had been as bad as he was portrayed to be, he would have had Khomeini assassinated. Didn’t though, did he?
No I do not miss him and in fact I hate him. he too was a dictator but in a different way. he is the reason and the sole reason we have these dooshes in charge. he did not do jack for our country, julike these guys, all he did was to make sure he and his family had everything. so no
Sigh….. I loved the Shaw. Couldn’t resist Eliza Doolitle (Oy).
Chris– “Shah”, not “Shaw”
Just imagine what would have happened if Obama (it is so hard to call this person “President”) had supported the opposition with as much fervor as he did the lawsuit against Arizona (maybe we should start the rumor that Iran won’t let in illegal aliens – that might arouse Obama’s anger).
David, they do let them in, they just won’t let them out again.
…”(maybe we should start the rumor that Iran won’t let in illegal aliens – that might arouse Obama’s anger)”
Ha, that was pretty good. I might steal that line from you.
I would not laugh too hard. The regime has all of the guns, and the guns control the masses. The sound of crockery offstage is more probably skulls being cracked. A little terror goes a long way.
American foreign policy and sanctions against Iran should only be concerned with protecting American interests and security. Why should America, again, support the revolution of people without knowing what “the people” really want. We only know or pretend to know what they don’t want. We do know that a successful revolution in Iran will absolutely not lead to a secularisation of government and society and Iran will remain a theocracy, governed by the absurd principles of Islam. We know that some people want a revolution, we don’t really know for certain how many and do they represent the “Iranian people” as a whole? In 1979 the ‘Persian people” wanted a revolution but did not anticipate, or care or clearly state what is supposed to come after. The outcome was the replacement of a modernising monarchy with a theocracy based on Guardianship of Islamic Jurists- an Islamic Republic “under the guidance of an 80-year-old exiled religious scholar. America supported this revolution who’s protagonists only stated their discontent with the, then, present situation but never clearly stated its aim or a realistic alternative. The resulting betrayal of the Shah and the support for Khomeini, who’s religious fanaticism was known to the American government, made America to a high degree responsible for the establishment of today’s criminal regime. (the irony is that immediately after the revolution Iran became the most outspoken enemy of the United States in the middle-east) . One of the most embarrassing chapters in America’s foreign policy. If the “Iranian people” want, again, a revolution let them have it, but let them do it without interference and let them be entirely responsible for their choices and the outcome. The romantic appreciation for revolutionaries with an unknown agenda who claim to speak for all the people is, to say the least, naive and is evidence of total ignorance of history and learning from it. Another recurring stupid argument in this discussion is the the notion that a nation’s “historical record” is an indication of the quality of it’s contemporary culture. (see#4)
“…Ahmadinejad’s top aide called for clerics to go back into their mosques and leave politics to the politicians.”
Oh, the irony, it burrrrrns!…
The sticking point is Irans right to nuclear fuel and nuclear medicine.
This is allowed under N.P.T. of which they are a signatory.
Iranian’s are united in that right,the protesters even Mousavi and against sanction’s.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39138
They don’t want other countries causing regime change.
That rhetoric leads them toward’s Ahmadinejad .
The white elephant in the room is Israel’s nuclear weapon’s of which they have threatened to use on Iran.
I
Iran’s program isn’t peaceful – it not for nuclear fuel or medicine. Here is an excerpt from Yalla Land explaining why:
1. Why then is Iran experimenting with nuclear warhead technology?
2. Why enrich uranium to 20%? For energy purposes, 5% is enough. So Iran claims it needs the enriched uranium for medical isotopes. When asked which medical isotopes, it was mum. The most time consuming stage of uranium enrichment is its enrichment to 20% – from there, reaching the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb is relatively easy (according to Reuters – 6 months, according to the Non-Proliferation Agency – 3 months).
3. Iran is, after all, an oil-rich state – why then would it need nuclear energy? This question has been presented to Iran, and the reply was that the nuclear energy would free up more oil for export and thus increase the country’s income. But the ecomonics do not add up – the Bushehr plant alone cost Iran a billion dollars.
4. Iran is not a peaceful country. On the contrary, it is very aggressive: ask the Persian Gulf States (see here and here). Threatening countries in the Middle East and pouring money into terror organizations, it destabilizes countries from within. See the Hizballah expansion in Lebanon, to the point that it is now hard to distinguish between the Lebanese Army and Hizballah.
I’m sorry but Israel has never “threatened to use” any nuclear weapons against anyone. Israel does not ever admit the existence of nuclear weapons in their country. Therefore your statement, on its face must be wrong — that there was a “formal” or “official” in any sense of the word “threat.”
Now perhaps you “read in” some kind of threat against countries (a), (b), and (c). That’s fine. But certainly Israel never said out loud or in print that they threatened any country with nuclear weapons. It’s really not splitting hairs, it’s important —
In fact it’s so trusted that they would not do so, that the Arab countries themselves have effectively “endorsed” their faith in that Israel would not use nuclear weapons by attacking Israel even again on “their Christmas Eve” in 1973!
A situation where easily Israel, had they been made up of different people, might have turned to tactical nukes. But no, even then, when Moshe Dayan was found crying at the battlefront, totally distraught and for days the situation looked incredibly bad (that even Nixon resupplied them) and — please someone correct me if I’m wrong — but even in a war where Israel lost the proportionally-equivalent numbers of soldiers to what the US lost in Vietnam, they still did not opt to use nuclear weapons.
So I’d say Israel’s track record is pretty damn good — and not only that, every one of their Arab neighbors knows it — and “banked on it.”
chrome i deleted your comment which had nothing to do with the subject. try to stay on-topic pls.
I was replying to Frumious Falafel comment to me, that Israel has never threatened to use nuclear weapons when they have .
You can not talk about nuclear weapons in this region without including Israel’s.
Why do you want to avoid this issue?
Frumious wanted me to congratulate Israel on it’s ‘restraint’.
To delete my account of the weapons Israel does use,DIME,White Phosphourus,depleted uranium,chemical including nerve gas,when i referenced these fact’s is insulting to the freedom of speech and the free flow of information.
You didn’t delete Frumious’ comment , you could also say was ‘off topic’.
Does Fruminious think it is ok to censor my reply to him, addressing the comments made to me?
It shows the inability to accept any
criticism of the action’s of the State of Israel.
I don’t know whether you will print this and will rethink your decision to prevent me giving answers to comments
directed at me.
I might be wrong,but i have never seen other comments deleted for ‘off topic’.
I am interested in other posters view of this?
Print it and see if others agree with you.
.
ok here it is. the blog had nothing to do with israel. comments like this distract us from the main subject. which is why i try to delete them. probably should have deleted more of them…
Do you believe you should interfere with posters conversation’s?
I would ask you to wright an article of Israel’s nuclear weapon’s.
I would love to hear yours and others un-biased opinion.
Irans nuclear weapons has everything to do with Israel.
The implication being that when they get a nuke they will point it at Israel.
It’s the hypocrisy that makes Ahmdenijad laugh.
Israel has threatens to attack Iran,that would meen a non signature to NPT with nukes attacking a signature
with no nukes.
Why you believe this is off topic makes no sense.
Unless nobody is brave enough to address it.
I am sorry, am I reading you correctly? Are you justifying Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons by claiming that it is a tit for tat because Israel has such weapons? Are you delusional? Israel is a western democracy in which the value of life is of utmost importance. Such importance is not attached to human life in most Islamic countries. The IDF does not blow up pizza parlors and discotheques. Don’t you see? It is not about Iran or Iranians not having nuclear weapons. It is all about Ahmadinejad and those who share the same apocalyptic mindset not having such weapons. The man is waiting for the Mahdi to appear. Does he give a hoot if millions are killed in that path? Does he care even if he is killed? Tell me, if you were living, for example, in Los Angeles, would you rather have LAPD well armed or the Crips and the Bloods? Would you rather see a nuclear India or a nuclear Pakistan? Why do you allow yourself to be indoctrinated by propaganda from evil quarters? Don’t allow yourself as an Iranian to be led by false prophets.
“I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.” Hamlet
I can’t answer you because you are off topic and i demand
that you are arrested.
I have already reported my opinion on the issue’s you have raised and was deleted.
Should i try again hoping i won’t be censored again?
by all means
Michael: just about everything you say here is true. the chaos you are describing is so true as I talked to my sister yesterday. she told me” no one knows what is going here and it is chaos: bazar’s closing their own in fighting as well as the opposition it is taking a toll. things are so expensive there now and it does seem that the sanctions are worikng and my sister said so. she also told me that this is the begining of the sanctions and things are going to get a lot worse. I would to disagree with you on two things:
one-the us should not openly encourage a regime change. this would only play in the hands of the dictators.
two- I never believed senator liberman’s loyalty to America. his first loyalty is to Israel and he would to at lenght to keep it that way. that is why him calling for regim chage is so one sided.
m
i don’t know why it is so hard to see the central AMERICAN issue: the Iranian regime is killing Americans every day, and we have yet to respond. Bringing down the regime is the most effective response, and doesn’t risk American lives or cause innocent Iranians to be killed or wounded. This has nothing to do with Israel, it’s about us. If you had children on the battlefield you might see this more clearly.
The lady has a point, though she is almost certainly wrong about Lieberman. It should be obvious that any event in the world – even the movement of a lilypad in Borneo – that might help Israel or Jewish survival is to be condemned. Anything that helps Miriam’s former co-religionists is out of bounds. If Ahmedinejad were to make good on his threats to destroy us (my country, Israel) she would applaud and support him.
The only benefit to her comments on Israel is to provoke any and all Jews reading them to consider the hazards of the Golah. Henry Kissinger’s attitudes are not so much different than hers, for instance.
Larry: first of all I am he and not a she. remmeber this is internet. I also take offence that you think I will be cheering if Iran attacked Israel. simply because I do not agree with the policies of Israel, it does not make to cheer theri discusion let’s get real. you do not agree with the president obama’s policies, so you would be happy if the russians attcked us. right? that is exactly what you are telling me.
M
Why is the central American issue not preventing nuclear proliferation among terrorists and in Iran? Nearly every speech A’jad starts is preceded by “Death to America” by the audience. Israel comes second or third (after England sometimes). Iran has started a nuclear arms race in the Middle East (Egypt and Kuwait have recently jumped in) – the chances of nuclear arms reaching terrorists will rise exponentially if Iran isn’t stopped. Not to mention Iran itself, which has already tested nuclear warheads.
i’m all for preventing proliferation, but the iranian regime has killed lots of americans without nukes…
Hi Mr Ledeen. as a matter of fact my third son is a Marine and soon will be going to Afghanistan to get shot at. for what, to protect the corup and dispacablr afghan government?
m
please thank your marine for his service. i suspect he can answer your question as well or better than i…
Sorry, meant nuclear warhead design
Not only that way, but also this, which is part of a comment attached to a very recent column by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who is the International Business Editor of the Telegraph:
They(the US) are not impress[ed] with Iran for example bypassing the denomination and supply of oil contracts with China based in Yuan. Nor if it happens with other middle eastern oil powers.
It’s been said that one does not bring a knife to a gun fight, nor does one bring checkers to a chess game.
Iran, and others, are not just waging war via militaries, but also financially. So, Michael, how good
are your contacts in the financial community? I recall reading somewhere that Bill Stephenson preferred bankers
whereas Big Bill Donovan favoured lawyers, to get things
done.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8044422/Institute-of-Directors-urges-Bank-of-England-to-inject-extra-50bn-into-UK-economy.html#comment-84722698
Senator Lieberman is probably one of the most honest politicians in American history. He has never allowed political expediency guide his decisions. So what are you saying Miriam? Being loyal to the US and Israel are mutually exclusive? In fact it is quite the contrary. If you are a loyal and patriotic American, you will naturally be an ally of Israel. Furthermore, if you are a sentient and reasonable human being of any ilk, you have to support Israel. I am not a Jew. I am an Iranian by birth. But I have god given reason. The Jewish people have, pound for pound, been the source of more excellence than all other peoples put together. That is a fact. They are humanity’s assets. Erez Israel is humanity’s safety deposit box in which we keep our assets. Being loyal to one’s assets is a bad thing? You cannot be an American senator and at the same time jealously guard your assets? Do you have any hard evidence that Lieberman has ever acted against US interests to favor Israel? Or are you just content to regurgitate slogans and tired cliches? Oh well, they did unleash the bubonic plague and the Aids virus on unsuspecting gentiles. Don’t reinforce the stereotypical belief that Iranians are anti semites emanating from morons such as Ahemadinejad.
Appreciate your sentiments, they are worthy and beautiful.
That charge against Senator Lieberman is a classic charge used against Jews of “dual loyalty” — and has been used successfully against Jews all over Europe and lately the US ever since the Jews were emancipated from the Ghettos by Napoleon.
It’s an ugly statement and does not belong here.
This might be an auspicious time for Kurdish independence
Hey yo! Great article Dr. Ledeen, thank you for your great work. IRGC are pimps, thieves, muderers and bullies. The bassij are molecularly on the same level as sh$t! Remember this, the IRGC couldn’t do a damn thing against Saddam’s forces! They are supposed to be defenders of the country. Ha! They are a criminal organization! Khejalat nadarand! Kaseef! KASEEF! Haram! Down with Munafiqs! There will be another massive uprising, this I am sure of. Jack Pot!
I can’t help but get the impression that many assume that the IRGC is comparable to the Waffen SS….When in reality they more resemble Haitian Papa Doc’s TONTON MAQOUT. Real brave and effective against unarmed civilians….
Beware the colonels….the mullahs have reportedly purged senior IRGC officers…perhaps a sign that a palace revolt is underway………
The regular forces predictably view the IRGC much like the Whermacht viewed the Waffen SS…..a mix of loathing and fear.
It seems to me that if stuxnet is russian (which seems very plausible to me), that Russia is in the process of taking ownership of Iran’s plant and equipment, and therefore turning Iran into a client state. After all, according to Symantic, over 67% of Siemens software infected by stuxnet is located in Iran. That must be a sizeable portion of Iran’s total plant and equipment.
Stuxnet was designed to reprogram one or a few systems and as well to steal configuration data on the other Siemens-based industrial systems, possibly to be used to configure a similar worm in a future attack. Symantic’s technical report is here.
On the other hand, the Russian contractors may have been unwitting propagators of the worm, due to their and the Iranians’ very sloppy computer security practices.
Didn’t Admdinnerjacket pontificate at the UN recently about how the future belongs to Iran? But he also denies there are any homosexuals in Iran.
To miriam: Either you are very misguided or simply uninformed or even an angry leftist. Your assessment of all things now and during the Shah’s era is wrong and purely biased. Please be objective and read more with open mind.
All you say here is rubbish and makes you look really really bad!
In the meanwhile, to fool the uneducated masses in Arab world, Mahmoud will throw stones at Israel when traveling to Lebanon’s borders with Israel. The importance of this symbolic act for the masses, is the fact that it resembles a very important ritual conducted by muslim when performing the Hajj duties in Mecca, which is throwing stones at the Devil. Stoning of the Devil or stoning of the jamarat (Arabic: ramy al-jamarāt) is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls called jamarat in the city of Mina just east of Mecca. It is one of a series of ritual acts that must be performed in the Hajj. I believe Israel must do everything she can to stop such an act. Dropping few bombs as a welcome gesture by Israel would be of course the most appropriate act.
Miriam, as usual, Arabs and Muslims are linking everything awful to Israel; believe deeply in “theory of conspiracy”. You are like Poles, both blaming the Jews on their problems. If you do not agree with the policies of Israel, in this case, you do not believe in the right of Jewish people to establish their own secure homeland in the Land of birthplace of their Patriarchs, the Land of birthplace of Jewish people.
The tough Israel’s policies and despised by people like your sort, is not more than a policy of self-defense against terrorists and their supporters. It is a policy of existence protection. Today Ahemadinejad seeks to do of Lebanon an Iranian base on the borders of Israel to accomplish his dirty schemes you may bless it!?
As for Mr. Sen Joe Lieberman, Dear Ms/Mr Miriam, you wrong about Mr. Sen. Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman’s loyalty to America not more than of his loyalty to the values and real principles of freedom and democracy, and that Israel is the only State is practicing a real democracy in the Middle East. Mr. Lieberman is struggling strongly for Liberty that is embodied in the real values and real principles of the USA.
“Even Iran’s loyal Syrian allies are unwilling to take a chance on the rial; Syrian merchants have been refusing Iranian money in their shops.”
Michael, yes, that is right.
Jassem Othman – Syrian dissident, the land of holocaust, Poland.