Re: Iran's new statement on Israel...
 

Watched the Daily Show last night, and Stewart's guest was Hooman Majd.

Video here.

I've read several books on Iran - not from a political learning point of view, or because of current events - but because Iranian/Persian history is when you stop and think about it amazing. Architecture, poetry, science and learning, diversity of history, culture and society. A vast and sprawling history that dwarfs my own country.

Iran's elections are next June - and if Iranians think Ahmadinejad is a bit bonkers and will look to get rid of him - then that is their right. As Majd points out - it is the Ayatollah's that hold the main power in Iran.

I don't really know if my thoughts add to the thread, but from what I've read, Iran is far more than the scary "evil" place that our media paints it to be. And much like Afghanistan - we don't really know the places we proceed to bomb and attack - for the purpose of 'fixing'.

All that said, Ahmadinejad could well be a complete nutter. But then I think GW Bush and the Pope are as well, so what do I know. ;)

Re: Iran's new statement on Israel...
 

Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil

Not relevant to the topic at hand other than to wonder how much more coverage this would be getting if the cleric was Iranian rather than Saudi.

Re: Iran's new statement on Israel...
 

no, it just a political clarification for me. there's enough sense prevailing that, regardless of the meeting-halfway talk, the guy is patently crazy. this isnt going to change.
i just never trusted the clips that were selected for us here in the states to see. everything would point to someone (again) cartoonishly evil. not understandably demented. someone for who being rational doesnt even exist, so that perhaps edging closer to a proposal to react and aggressively displace him would be much less of a deal, because you clearly can't talk to him. bush is demented, but somewhere we know why, and we know his limits. he's deplorable, but he's contained. however this dude is so off the charts something has to be done oh god...

i dont doubt that allowing the guy to have nuclear capability is a short step away from attacking israel, but politically theres no way the guy would just unequivocally push for extermination, and thats what it's been distilled down to for us. this version is a lot less alarmist and inciteful, and what i suspect through a combination of convenience and barrier was ignored for the OHMYGOD media deliciousness.

Re: Iran's new statement on Israel...
 

An interesting article on Iran - Iran's Interrupted Freedom.

You know - because there really isn't any 'THEM'.

"Iranians are as ready as ever to complain about inflation, corruption and an overall lack of opportunity - but try and talk politics, and the most likely response is disinterest. True, at the top levels the attitudes and the rhetoric are still often vehement; the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was in routine form at the United Nations general assembly's annual meeting in New York, prophesying the end of the "American empire" and scorning the "few bullying powers" who were trying to ruin his country's "peaceful nuclear activities". But in much of Iran, in the marketplaces and cafes and streets, people have other concerns: this sort of thing appears to be just irrelevant background noise."

Re: Iran's new statement on Israel...
 

A British former foreign secretary writes in the Sunday Times:

"Some key decision makers in Israel fear that unless they attack Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in the next few months, while George W Bush is still president, there will not be another period when they can rely on the United States as being anywhere near as supportive in the aftermath of a unilateral attack. In the past 40 years there have been few occasions when I have been more concerned about a specific conflict escalating to involve, economically, the whole world."

Warning signs of an Israeli strike on Iran

October Surprise, anyone?