A Magnificant Op-Ed!

This certainly gives people an insight into the Iranian crisis. One the MSM will never publish. Thank you for a brilliant article that is explicit and backed-up with plenty of substantiation.

Bravo!

William Cormier 

by William Cormier (133 articles, 7 quicklinks, 18 diaries, 332 comments) on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 5:47:27 PM
 

A Magnificant Op-Ed

I am grateful that you read this rather long essay and flattered by your comments.  The Islamic ideology that is standing up to the imperial powers is a major stumbling block; as such, it does not surprise me that in 2004, an adjunct scholar from the Jerusalem based think tank IASPS D.Y. Anaximander said: "The depths to which we've come . now marked by the convergence of terrorist Islam and Western elites (represented at this moment by the Democrat candidate for president of this country) are such that we must be grateful-it is horrifying to say-that we were attacked by Muslims."

It also makes one understand why Islam is under attack everywhere - the creation of the Islamo-facism vocabulary, etc.  However, the mistake that is being made is that while the U.S. may be the only superpower, it is fast declining and there are several contenders/threats, and Iran may well end up being needed as an ally and not a foe.   

by Soraya (21 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 17 comments) on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 9:55:41 PM
 

Re: The Iran Threat

Thank you Soraya for that very informative and sobering
article.

If I could just note with regard to a link you provided: Secret move to upgrade air base for Iran attack plans. The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran.

About a year ago I was listening to a retired General who's name escapes me, speaking on CNN about any impeding attack on Iran. I vividly remember him saying that "we'll know they are planning an attack  when we begin to see movement of the stealth bombers on Diego Garcia." Very frightening!

Sadly, there's been no real outcry by the American people denouncing any such preemptive and illegal attack on Iran. The vast majority of Americans have become too complacent in their lifestyles, due impart to the constant propaganda they've been fed by a reticent and complicit corporate mainstream media. The citizens of this country are totally oblivious to the horrendous long term ramifications of any such attack.

If you recall, after 911 our bellicose usurper "n" chief told Americans to "go shopping." I can only imagine what he'll blather if he decides "God forbid" to attack Iran.

And Impeachment is off the table?

by Munich (0 articles, 74 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 919 comments) on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 12:50:45 AM
 

The Iran Threat

Sadly, almost half of Americans now feel that if we need to, we should attack Iran.  The msm has managed to brainwash Americans into thinking that Iran is a threat.  Here is something  interesting:

A undertaken by the Westminster Committee on Iran, looked at 19 national newspapers in the UK for a week long period. It found that whilst most articles were unbiased and factually-based, 74% contained a sentence or two that rendered the article "overly negative" or "misleading". The most common of these misleading sentences were:

• stating that Iran had threatened "to wipe Israel off the face of the map". In fact the Farsi phrase used by President Amadinejad was "Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad." This translates directly as "The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise". Whatever the interpretation of this translation, "a regime vanishing from the page of time" is very different from a threat to wipe a nation off the map.

• stating that Iran is responsible for supplying weapons and intelligence to terrorists in Iran. Despite many accusations, no evidence has been produced to link the Iranian government to Iraqi insurgents. General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admitted at a Pentagon news this year that he had no evidence of the Iranian government sending any military equipment or personnel into Iraq.

The report, Iran in the British Print Media, finds that a general impression has been created in the UK media that Iran is acting against the will of the "international community" in continuing to develop a covert nuclear weapons programme. This impression is deemed to be misleading to the extent that there is absolutely no proof that Iran has a nuclear weapons programme. Inspections over the past three years have found no evidence of a nuclear weaponization programme. The idea that Iran is defying the will of the world community ignores the fact that 118 nations of the Non-Aligned have recognise Iran's right for a civilian nuclear technology and 56 nations signed the Baku Declaration which stated "the only way to resolve Iran's nuclear issue is to resume negotiations without any preconditions and to enhance cooperation with the involvement of all relevant parties."

I imagine the U.S. is a great deal worse.

by Soraya (21 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 17 comments) on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 12:40:25 PM
 

Well said, Soraya.

I agree with the previous commenters, a job well done. Your comment about one sentence among all the others being factual is very important. It is said that dis-information must be 90% correct in order to be believed. This is how our government gets MSM to lie to us. It's almost the whole truth, but it's difficult to find the one line of falsehood that destroys the other 9 lines of truth.

For a simple example, there's a commentary at GreatRedDragon.com [no ads] entitled 070220 Identifying Psychopaths. The link is too long. Sorry. But the point is how we get taken in by the media. Almost everything is 100%, then they slide in one falsehood to mis-direct our thinking and our efforts. This applies to religion, to education and to our government.

by Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 221 comments) on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 1:01:30 PM
 

The Real Threat to America Lies from Within

Very well said, Saroya. The real threat to America, of course, lies from within.

It could also be said that most all threats to individual freedom and personal well-being start with externalities not properly assimilated... or otherwise... fully digested.

If our sense of self-worth can be boiled down to how much is our ability to simply consume something - whether it be outsourced information from state-sanctioned or corporate-controlled media... or supposed necessities of life purchased with monopoly money... to enhance our daily survival or everyday pleasures - then I dare say, most Americans today have truly been had.

As it relates and ties back to what's in it for me (WIIFM) I can't imagine Iran - or the Iranian people, for that matter - posing any serious threat to me.

The threat might be perceived as real by someone... inside some collusive commercial groups... acting for outside vested interests... with a secretive predilection towards piracy - but I can't for the life of me... consider that ordinary people should actually die... for somebody else's idea... of a threat.

Assumptions are often the result of ig-nore-ance; thus, false beliefs... are just as often... borne from fear.

Hopefully, for Americans too lazy or acculturated to honestly think for themselves anymore, your words will shed some new light on their own very real predicaments - that is, their own individual perceptions of reality... consumed without too much thinking... then internalized as actual truth... unthinkingly... from within.

This is the only real threat to America and its citizenry I can conceive to be true - the lies we willfully stomach as truth... and trust in the liars... that pretend to know... how best we should think.

Thank you again for your insights! I appreciate the good research you put into this piece.

by bejeezus (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments) on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 5:30:47 PM
 

Oops, sorry I misspelled your name, Soraya!

It seems I'm constantly threatened by my own incompetence. ;)

by bejeezus (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments) on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 5:34:46 PM