My “Dear Mahmoud” letter has apparently upset some folks in his world. Here’s the latest, which wasn’t sent to Pajamas but to me personally:
> Dear Mr Ledeen,
>
>
> I read your most recent article in the form of a letter
> to President Nejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran , I have
> few points to make as follows :
>
> * On the analytical side you might be right in most of
> the points you try to make, however,being secular you miss
> to grasp the religious fervor engulfing us Shites , and we
> know inside us that we are winning gradually and
> incrementally.Tell me the last time Israel chose to go for a
> war in the region and ended with a dismal failure .
> * The Western lack of sincerity and genuine conduct is
> clear in your invasion of Iraq .You told us it is about
> democracy, while it was about Israel and Oil, and getting
> closer to Iran.But god was on our side : you helped to
> deliver Iraq , thanks.
> * You are in a fix : If Israel attack Iran, it could be
> destroyed , it is just too weak and small as Rafasenjai and
> other Leaders in Iran and Lebanon mentioned many times,
> while US is too preoccupied with the mistakes in Iraq and
> Afghanistan, and the consequences of financial corruption,
> moreover, the Europeans are too commercially interested and
> busy with Russia,witness Austrian gas deal with Iran. What
> do you think?the Austrians will buy and pass Western
> technology to Iran at cheaper price.Get over it.
> * With due respect , I am sure you know that Iran will win
> , if you manage to release your hot air by destroying few
> buildings , then your losses will mount and your media
> machine will be in reverse .Iran will win, the shite
> community will dominate the Region , and Israel will be
> what it deserves to be: small marginal state seeking Iran
> protection and passing Western technology to Iran until the
> we shites master the know how which is not far.
> That is probably why you write comfortably from US not
> Israel.I understand that human need of yours.I challenge you
> to publish it .
>
> Regards
> MOhammed Hamza Alhassan
> Qatif, S. Arabia
You may wonder, as I do, if Mohammed is really the guy he claims to be–a Saudi Shi’ite. There aren’t many of them, and they are not treated well by the Royal Family, even though they sit on the oil over in the Eastern Province.
Note the alternate universe feature: anyone who claims that the United States was defeated in Iraq has it precisely backwards. And anyone who think that Iran is winning is, well, a useful idiot of the Tehran regime…
Meanwhile, the useful idiots are active on American media, as in the shockingly ignorant interview with Ahmadinejad on NPR. There’s this little exchange, for example:
Ahmadinejad: You know the history, but it has to be repeated to the people who are your listeners. While America was there, we had no elections in our country. Nonetheless, when the Islamic Republic came into being, the U.S. government rose against it with all its might.
NPR: Let me ask about that.
Ahmadinejad: Several coup attempts occurred. The eight years of war between Saddam [Hussein] and our country were actually supported directly by the United States. From Day 1, our people were — sanctions were imposed on our people. So who exactly is the provocateur? Who is the one who seeks war?
Every single claim by Ahmadinejad is false. There were plenty of elections under the shah, indeed during those years Iran was the most “progressive” country in the Islamic world, women had more power and more freedom than anywhere else in the Middle East save Israel, and I dare say that Jimmy Carter did as much as anyone to favor the revolution. When the shah was overthrown, the United States tried desperately to kiss up to Khomeini, offering arms deals, trade deals, all kinds of goodies. But Khomeini declared war on America right away (branding us “the great Satan”) and relations were broken, not by U.S. policy but when Iranians seized our embassy in Tehran and took our people hostage.
But the interviewer seemed not to know any of that. If he did, he didn’t say so. Nor, so far as I know, has any pundit in the following days.
Maybe our journalists need a short stint in a reeducation center…
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