A great column by Farideh Farhi going after Michael Rubin, the unreconstructed neoconservative (are there any other kind?). Farhi says Rubin is pushing a confrontation with Iran by twisting Iranian statements about its nuclear goals, and in one case directly misreading Persian.
Of course, there is always the possibility that
Rubin's Persian is not very good (or his translators are not very
good). For instance, in his reaction to one of Roger Cohen's pieces in NYT, Rubin writes in the National Review Corner blog:
"One
of Cohen’s interlocutors, at least according to his February 5, 2009
column, was former IRGC [Revolutionary Guard Corps] Chief Mohsen Rezai. Here is Rezai in today’s
Iranian press: “Our enmity with the U.S. has no end." Cohen painted him
as a bit more reasonable."
Rezai in fact said exactly the opposite, using a double negative. He said: "Our enmity with the U.S. is not without end"!
Rubin responds in a tetchy way here to Farhi's overall column, but fails to address the specific charge of misreading that Rezai quote. Have I missed something, Michael Rubin? If not, when will you respond? Thanks to Ali Gharib and Jim Lobe's blog on this.
Michael Rubin was responsible for taking down Pael Kerr's site.
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/2270/once-upon-a-time
Rubin's work is kind of like the New Yorker's report of Ahmadinejad's so-called "Holocaust advisor," whom we later find out "has no responsibilities or influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran but is famous for his extreme views in recent years against Jews, especially after a Financial Times interview with him. Before that, he was unknown."
Some of this Islamophobic crap fills a political purpose on behalf of the Jewish state, other times it seems to fulfill a psychological need to detect "antisemitism" behind every bush.
I like the Uri Avenry piece on Ahmadinejad's recent remarks.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1240695086/
he says:
I AM not saying that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an agent of the Mossad.
Absolutely not. I don’t want to be sued for libel.
I am only saying that were he an agent of the Mossad, he would not behave any differently.
And also: If he did not exist, the Mossad would have had to invent him.
Either way, the assistance he is giving to the government of Israel is invaluable.
It's time to view these Jewish Zionists operating in the West as replicants. They employ a counterfeit simulation of Western academic standards, guidelines and principles, but do so on behalf of a Jewish-supremacist enterprise that contravenes the very principles, procedures and nature of the milieu they have absorbed and replicated; indeed they seek to overthrow that very milieu on behalf of their own (true) supremacist ideology.
Rubin's an nasty one. He did a PhD at Yale on Iranian history, studying with a respected historian, Abbas Amanat (who I suspect regrets having had him as a student)… so I suspect he knows Persian pretty well. Mistranslation is, in his case, most likely to be deliberate.
I am told that when he was still in grad school he single-handedly torpedoed one of the Khatami-era initiatives to improve US-Iranian relations. The American Institute for Iranian Studies initiated and funded US students to study in Iran for a couple of years in the late 90s. Rubin went to Iran on the second year of this program, and managed to actively destroy the program through his actions there (basically flouting all the rules, pissing off all the Iranians from the teachers to officials, etc.).
So his subsequent career has been a continuation of his early promise…
"Rezai in fact said exactly the opposite, using a double negative. He said: "Our enmity with the U.S. is not without end"!"
Iran's enmity with the US is stated as conditional, conditional upon renouncing alliance and support for Israel.
Iran's enmity with Israel is stated as unconditional, and as it funds and arms militias attacking civilians within sovereign Israel, operates definitively OUTSIDE of the rule of international law and US policy.
Maybe you can say the same of Israel in some respect, but the question is about Iran.
It is about time we expose the EDs in the US as the vanguard of the American Nazi Movement.
Well, Chris, what are you waiting for? Expose away! C'mon!
What's a matter Chris, cat got your tongue?
Berel, your Zionist rhetoric has become so mundane, repetitive and predictable, I have a hard time believing that most people don't just roll their eyes and shake their heads every time you trot out one of your red-herrings, all of which are merely variations of the same old "anti-semite" trope.
Can't you come up with something a little more original? As I explained to you before, that hand has already been well overplayed. Accusations of intolerance coming from documented and exposed Zionist fascists simply no longer have any sting. Every time you again use the accusation, all you are doing is discrediting it further. But maybe that's your intent, as Zionists have made it clear they want to drive all Jews into Israel, either by hook or by crook.
Ed, sometimes I have to imagine family life at Chez Berel:
"Chris, dear, remember to get milk on your way home from work, you shouldn't be a vanguard for the Neo-Nazis!"
"But you were supposed to get the milk, you anti-Semite! You were too busy gassing Jews to remember?"
"Listen, you Cossack, I cleaned up after the anti-Semitic dog (or why would he do that?) so you go get the milk, or do you intend we should squeeze Jews into our coffee?"
What the more amorous discourse might amount to, a defter hand than mine will have to compile.
I don't know either, but now I understand why it involves sheets with holes in them. Zionists probably have to use a bullet-proof material.
Actually, Richard Witty, Ahmadinejad has said multiple times that Iran could accept the existence of the Zionist state if the Palestinian people, through open referendum, voted and accepted the "two-state" solution, or any other mode of accomodation with Israel.
CF:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iranian_leader_We_would_support_any_0426.html
Unlike many, he understands, apparently, that the terms of solidarity are that you listen to the voice of those you support and follow their decisions, and do not dictate to them their choices.
In *some* respect Witty? This is why you were attacked before. Your arguments are empty (almost purely rhetorical) and dishonest.
Israel kills far more civilians on top of the 24/7 Occupation and all the abuse and misery it causes.
Israel does all these things you cry on and on about in relation to Iran, 1000x more and with political impunity.
I saw Jordanian King Abdullah today state that similarly.
Do you think it is actually true? And, what is the fine print?
Mooser, I understand you are still having a hard time getting a life.
Ed, Your nazi-style approach to life and politics only require mundane, repetitive and predictable answers. Your kind have been backhanded into prison so many times, it's a wonder they allow you internet access.
Original criticism is wasted on antisemitic scum like you. That is why no one bothers delivering any towards you.
I wish you could conjure some of this skepticism for Israeli actions and pronouncements.
I think we should all be writing to the WSJ to force a correction on the column.
Chris, it's ridiculous. The IDF employs Nazi-like tactics on a civilian population using weaponry that is a half century more advanced than Nazi Germany, and yet you so casually accuse Ed of being a Nazi. Zionism is the new Nazism. You know it's true. All the Hasbara in the world is not going to change the new paradigm on how the world views Israel.
It's simple really: if you want to know what's going on in the world you merely believe the exact opposite of whatever the Lizard People say.
"Iran's enmity with the US is stated as conditional, conditional upon renouncing alliance and support for Israel."
It is?
I've noticed that you're quite anti-Iran. I'm pretty sure Iran's enmity with the US is conditional upon the US renouncing UNCONDITIONAL support for Israel'
As far as I'm concerned, the militias that Iran funds simply protect their own civilians from Israeli onslaught.
And funding and support of terrorists attacking civilians of other nations is nothing new – the US did it all the time with the IRA
Yeah, you do that Chris. We await your expose. BTW everybody, here's some info on the mind of Chris's fellow traveler, Haaim Saban–you know who he is, the guy Harmon was talking to on the phone she identified as an "American"–actually, he hold dual citizenship–read the interview included here & you
will see what that means:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haim_Saban
Unfortunately, we still don't know who the 'registered' or 'non-'registered' suspected Israel spy is — According to the new piece in the NY Times — the unknown caller seemed to imply that Saban could be used to put pressure on Pelosi for the Harman's Chairmanship.
…meant to say 'registered' or 'non-'registered' lobbyist suspected Israel — as that is what all the apologists are trying to imply. It was just 'normal lobbying'?
No,Witty, the question is about the relationship between the USA and Iran. What's in the USA's best interest?
Iran's enmity with the US is stated as conditional, conditional upon the USA freeing itself from unconditional
support for Israel, which continues to be is rogue state in the region and by far the most lethal.
Richard Witty's translator says:
"Do you think it is actually true?" = It's a load of cowddroppings, as is the statement by Ahmadinejad.
Witty,
How could it not be true? After all the winning of hearts and minds that Israel has accomplished recently with the Palestinians, Middle Eastern leaders like Ahmadinejad and Abdullah can rest assured that the Palestinians will not come to an accomodation with Israel unless there are serious concessions made on the Israeli side – say, to the tune of the Clinton parameters, with East Jerusalem as the capitol of the Palestinian State. Do you see that happening with an Israeli government starring Bibi and Avigdor?
I'll save you a response by making for you…
Witty's response:
Hamas broke the ceasefire, causing the war crimes (not a term you would use) in Gaza. (lie)
Iran, antisemitism. Iran, antisemitism. Iran, Hitler. Iran, Hitler.
Iran, nuclear weapons. Iran, nuclear weapons.
PM
I hesitate to ask, Jacqueline_Hyde, but who or what are the "Lizard People"?
Don't worry, cha
no hairy shoulders and backs on lizards
Editor’s Comment — It’s often said that Iranian politics is a subject so complex that it often baffles the leading experts. Even so, there is one utterly predictable and dependable rule when it comes to the interpretation of statements from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: If he says something extreme and inflammatory then his words should be taken literally and treated with the utmost seriousness. If he says something reasonable and conciliatory then he obviously doesn’t mean what he’s saying and his words can be dismissed.
There you have it: Iran-watching made simple!
Iran’s President ‘would support two-state solution’ for Israel
By Alex Spillius, Daily Telegraph, April 26, 2009
http://warincontext.org/
gun criticized institute findings land tonne thermal