I'm back

Happy holidays!

I have been collecting souvenirs to offer from Neo-Resistance. I wish I will also be able to share them in the next few days.

The NIE report followed by Ahmadinejad's explicit apologies to the nation of Iran because of his fiscal mismanagement, financial failures, international blunders that have embarrassed Iranians were enough to put my political mind to rest. That the idiots of the two sides have begun to lose feathers can only but serve the humanity for better. After that, I could enjoy family and Iranian landscape for the rest of my trip, until my mom called a few hours before our flight to tell me Bhutto was assassinated ... democracy, indo-pakistanian style! (Putin is the man-of the year of Time's magazine. call him dictator all you wish, but democracy in certain parts of the world WILL NOT exist in its occidental style. I am no expert on these matters but democracy in Pakistan seems to be a top-down colonial order, which keeps failing PERPETUALLY, no matter how hard the Oxford-Harvard educated elite try ... anyways I think peasant/feudal societies do need/seek a dictator ... the fact that political power/mind remains in certain families (Ghandi's of Bhutto's, for example) speaks to me of a disconnection between the common-man and their destiny that contrasts the much stronger bond they have with a "god-like" figure, who (by virtue of money, family tree and (western)education) can think and act on their behalf as they encounter a world beyond the borders of their tradition/hierarchical orders.

This was a fruitful trip: initiated on scientific mission (which ended very nicely and inspired plenty of admiration and respect for Iran in the eyes of one of the leaders of our scientific field); overlapped my little brother's wedding; allowed traveling to some of the most historical cities of Iran (Mashhad, Esfahan & Kerman); and last but not least afforded a chance to see Iranian's creativity on display.

The picture above is of selected works of my 8.5 years old niece that were exhibited in a "creativity" gallery (below). They are rich in color and complex in texture. The abundance of high quality (and very affordable) art material (all made in Germany) in "toy stores" in Iran puts a few drops of shame on my North American forehead! If you know where to buy cheap and high quality (no made-in-china trash please) creativity stuff for kids, please let me know.

I wish I had CNN

and I could see OVER AND OVER AGAIN, Bush's face, as he was saying "I said thjere was a new report, I didn't say what the content of the report was" ... liar liar, pants on fire-face :)

But, in Iran, these kind of things are not sensationalized. I heard it by accident, as a part of foreign news, and not the news headline!

I am going to go buy a few papers now, and take a picture of the news stand for you all :)

Now you can travel to Iran without fearing bombs and etc!

Hello!

Will be back soon with lots of fun stories.
I'm well so is Iran!

I'm away!

For Iran-related updates please stop by Stop The Second Holocaust and enjoy the wit and the intelligence of kindred spirited contributors of that blog.

Also, National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is campaigning to rescue everyone (both Iranians and Americans) from a war. They may need your help, or your citizen's voice.

So long!
Naj

Ahmadinajad: On the Defensive

There is a fight breaking out between Iran's power players!
Yesterday, Ahmadinejad had threatened to "expose traitors".
Ex Nuclear official charged with espionage!
Today, the parliament accepts his new oil minister.

I am too busy to write now. But I see none of these on on the "news" frontpage!
Keep an eye!

Is Iran Next? (Townhall meeting)

Is Iran Next? A Town Hall Discussion Hosted by Rep. Moran on U.S. Foreign Policy towards Iran When: Tuesday, November 13th 7:00PM to 9:00PM Where: George Washington Masonic Temple; Theater 101 Callahan Dr. Alexandria, VA 22301 Who: Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense. Guest Panelists: Lee Hamilton, President, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Chairman, Iraq Study Group, Co-Chairman, 9/11 Commission, former Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan; Danielle Pletka, Vice President for foreign and defense policy, American Enterprise Institute; Dr. Trita Parsi, President, National Iranian American Council; What: A town hall discussion on U.S. foreign policy as it relates to Iran, with special focus on recent reports that the Bush Administration is considering employing the military to prevent Iran from pursuing a nuclear power program. This town hall is the first in the nation focused on this subject. *This event is free and open to the public. The King Street Metro is walking distance from the Masonic Temple, but limited parking is also available. **An Alexandria DASH bus will also be available at the King Street Metro to carry people to and from the meeting.

RECENT issues

Memos and Issue Briefs: NIAC Memo: Terror Label for Guard Corp Entrenches US-Iran Enmity NIAC Memo: A New Cold War with Iran? NIAC memo: Success in U.S.-Iran Security Talks Requires Balanced View NIAC Welcomes Second Round of US-Iran Talks NIAC memo: Iraq - One-Sided Focus on Iran’s Role Counterproductive NIAC memo: Iran's Security Outlook NIAC memo: Might the U.S., Iran Cooperate on Al-Qaida? NIAC memo: New War Rhetoric Undercuts Iraq Talks NIAC memo: US-Iran Convergence in Iraq? NIAC Welcomes US-Iran Talks in Baghdad NIAC memo: The Challenges in Forcing Iranian “Behavior Change” NIAC condemns arrest of Iranian American scholars NIAC memo: Scholars Bear Brunt of Anti-Diplomacy Backlash

OVERVIEW: THE US-IRAN MEDIA RESOURCE PROJECT

Although both the United States and Iran express the desire for a diplomatic solution to the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, the present situation poses a significant risk of military confrontation between the two countries. Finding a diplomatic solution is a more intricate task than initiating war. In order to find a negotiated solution, the United States needs accurate information and sound analysis of the intentions of the other side. This means understanding Iranian national security interests and the strategic calculations of the political elite, so that signals from Iran are correctly interpreted.

US Is Forging Evidence to Incriminate Iran

This is not surprising to anyone who reads this blog. In fact the all-lies modi operandi of Washington does not seem to be shaming anyone into any action anymore!

I am sure Bush and Cheney are wearing their disgusting grin seeing how FAR they are getting with their deceptive rule!

This just out in the Observer:

Iraqi fighters 'grilled for evidence on Iran'

US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi insurgents to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran, it was claimed last night.

Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for American forces in Iraq, near the Iranian border, told The Observer that information on Iran is 'gold'. The claim comes after Washington imposed sanctions on Iran last month, citing both its nuclear ambitions and its Revolutionary Guards' alleged support of Shia insurgents in Iraq. Last week the US military freed nine Iranians held in Iraq, including two it had accused of links to the Revolutionary Guards' Qods Force.

Brose, 30, who extracts information from detainees in Iraq, said: 'They push a lot for us to establish a link with Iran. They have pre-categories for us to go through, and by the sheer volume of categories there's clearly a lot more for Iran than there is for other stuff. Of all the recent requests I've had, I'd say 60 to 70 per cent are about Iran.

'It feels a lot like, if you get something and Iran's not involved, it's a let down.' He added: 'I've had people say to me, "They're really pushing the Iran thing. It's like, shit, you know." '

Brose said that reports about Washington's increasingly hawkish stance towards Tehran, including possible military action, chimed with his experience. 'My impression is they're just trying to get every little bit of ammunition possible. If we get something here it fits the overall picture. The engine needs impetus and they're looking for us to find the fuel - a particular type of fuel.

'It now really depends on who gets elected President in the US. If nothing changes in the current course, I'd say military action is inevitable. But we have to hope there will be a change of course.'

He denied ever being asked to fabricate evidence, adding: 'We're not asked to manufacture information, we're asked to find it. But if a detainee wants to tell me what I want to hear so he can get out of jail... you know what I'm saying.'

Other military intelligence officials in Iraq refused to comment, but one said: 'The message is, "Got to find a link with Iran, got to find a link with Iran." It's sickening.'

Iran Theater

Tehran City Theatre: built in 1934-7
Architect: Amir-Ali Sardar Afkhami

No I don't mean the passion-play between Cheney and Ahmadi-Nejad.
I mean an actual theater community inside Iran.

Chant This Season With Me, Musical.
Director: Hossein Parsai
Composer: Majid Entezami
(Watch a clip of Makhmalbaf's film celebrating Iran's 100 years of cinema, with Entezami's score)

Here's an old article from iranian.com:

At the juncture of modernity and tradition, at the interstices of time immemorial and the political reality of the moment, the Iranian society is witnessing a movement whose demands will determine the fruitfulness of the artistic future of the country. ...

At no time in modern Iranian history has the country been witness to such a surge in cultural activity. This, of course, is not an objective evaluation, but a simple observation.
To stop only at one example, the City Theater has so many shows ready to be staged that it is hard to keep up with new ones appearing. The notorious bureaucratic disorder that is in place actually ends up shuffling and bungling many of them to the point where earlier in the year the director of BLOOD WEDDING, Ali Rafii, threatened to abort the show (written by Garcia Lorca and translated by Shamloo, and staged for a second time in the past year) because, he complained, interjections by other programs (notably Shahram Nazeri's concert in November) affected a discontinuity in the group's performance. He didn't make good on his threat, and the audience kept coming back for more, so to speak, turning the show into a box-office triumph.

The success of DANDOON TALA, a play by the renowned film director Davood Mirbaqery, has pre-empted the showing of THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI, a play by Bertolt Brecht, which was scheduled to start at primetime in late December, but which was instead slotted to 4 pm with much delay. According to the press, DANDOON TALA has been the biggest moneymaker in Iranian theater history, raking in over 7 billion rials over a period of eight months.

Since two years ago, the City Theater has opened two smaller stages: the Qashqaii, and earlier this month, the House of Khorshid. Both are low capacity and easily sell out.

Merry theatrical matrimonies have also been consummated in the prolific dominion of Ataollah Mohajerani. A particularly effective one seems to be the 1997-established PARCHIN which boasts Bahram Beyzaii as a member, but also well know directors like Hamid Amjad, Mohammad Rahmanian, and actors like Mojdeh Shamsaii, Mahtab Nasirpour, and Habib Rezaii. Other groups like NARGESS SIAH (currently staging Genet's LES NÈGRES in the House of Khorshid) are also worth mentioning.

Twenty years into the Revolution of 1979, the Iranian theater is more alive than ever. Though overshadowed heavily by its more prosperous visual associate in the film industry, the theater is making it dent in ways that can be said to silverline a dramatic promise in the cultural scene of the country. Perhaps it is not too farfetched to expect a cultural renaissance of sorts in the space that has opened since the election of Mohammad Khatami into office.

When the Iranian president of the time was making progress by bounds and leaps in promoting cultural productivity, he did it on the premise of "dialogue of civilizations". He also was trying hard for reconciliation with the US. At that time, Washington dismissed him to be just a "figure" with no executive power. Thus his pleas for peace were dismissed.

It is curious how the US has started to take the "presidential figure" of Iran seriously "now" with Ahmadinejad, who a) won election as dubiously as did Bush and b)is openly challenged by the Supreme Leadeship of Iran! Don't you think?

So is it too far fetched to imagine that the West and Israel are more afraid of a beautiful and free Iran, therefore more determined to oppress a democratic Iran; and that fanticism serves their interest better?!

Iran: the Untold Story

GABRIEL N. LISCHAK writes:

For many, a military confrontation looms just over the horizon, with the drumbeat of war growing louder and louder. Yet within Iran’s borders, a storm is brewing—of which few outside the country are aware.

In December 2006, a notable crowd of Iranian students participated in an event called “University is Alive.” They chanted, “Nothing to lose but our chains!” “Death to dictators!” “We want bread, not bombs!” This demonstration occurred despite the government’s tough measures on political dissent.

Elsewhere, as President Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at Amirkabir University, students heckled him and set his picture on fire.

A “war of words” is spreading among Iran’s youth, with talks of “change” and “revolution.”

Read the rest of the story.

Romance Continues!

US to free nine Iranians held in Iraq

Financial Times, 12 minutes ago!

The US military said on Tuesday that it would release nine Iranians being held in Iraq, including two of the so-called "Arbil five" arrested in January on suspicion of supporting armed militia in the country.

"It is our intent to release nine Iranians currently in custody in the near future," Rear Admiral Greg Smith, a US military spokesman, said at a press conference.

"These individuals have been assessed to be of no continuing value, nor do they pose a further threat to Iraqi security," he said.

(This is the American way of saying "Sorry! we screwed up innocent people again!")

Stop the Second Holocaust Campaign

The common line of Zionist vendetta against Iran is: "Stop the Second Holocaust." I suspect there are sufficient facile and inherently paranoid Jewish minds who may buy this line of propaganda.

I wish to invite all those who consider Iran to pose a threat of 2nd Holocaust and 3rd WW to provide a comparative analysis between Hitler, Ahmadinejad and George W Bush to compare and contrast who is the most likely agent of the WW3!

Imagine, if in 1933, Hitler was trying to unite the world by saying:"The Jews are going to be the cause of WW2, and we need to annihilate them in order to prevent the perils of WW2."

(You can write for my new blog: http://stopsecondholocaust.blogspot.com

Why is the Israel-Lobby Pushing for War?

In a 2002 article, Jason Vest of The Nation wrote about the link between the Committee of Present Danger (CPD), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and the Center for Security Policy (CSP). This is a dense but important article that exposes the core relationship between Zionism, neoconservatives, and the new Middle East project.

Read an earlier post about the intriguing link between the Israel-Lobby, Neoconservative hawks, and the military industry complex!

Useful links at SourceWatch: Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy towards 2000

Count Bush's Early November troubles:

• Diplomats Won't Go to Iraq
• Bush vetoes popular water projects bill (5th veto)
• Rice, Hadley to be subpoenaed in Israel lobby spy case
• Judiciary head to vote against Bush attorney general nominee
• Karen Hughes (undersecretary of state) Resigns After Failing to Improve the US’ Image Abroad
• US senators warn Bush has no authority to attack Iran
• Nov 6th: Cheney Impeachment! (thanks rick B)
  

Not spies, usual AIPAC "back-channelers"!

Rice, Hadley to be subpoenaed in Israel lobby spy case

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US judge ruled Friday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, White House National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and other top officials can be subpoenaed to testify in a spying case against lobbyists for Israel.

Federal court judge T.S. Ellis ruled to allow the request by lawyers for Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to subpoena Rice, Hadley and 13 other current and former top government officials to testify in the case, according to court documents.

Rosen and Weissman, accused of passing secret US defense information to unauthorized people while they worked for AIPAC, hope the testimony of the government officials will support their defense that they were not engaged in spying.

"The defendants claim that testimony from these current and former officials will tend to show that the overt acts reflect nothing more than the well-established official Washington practice of engaging in 'back-channel' communication," according to Friday's opinion issued in Alexandria, Virginia

An American Stem Cell Researcher in Tehran

In recent issue of Nature, this month, The MIT Professor Rudolf Jaenisch reports on his visit to Tehran, and "Enthusiastic stem-cell researchers in Iran face plentiful funding but a shortage of equipment."

Read the rest of his travelog

"During my time in Tehran, however, I encountered only enthusiasm and hospitality. Other Westerners, such as Emory University's Sarah Berga, who has spoken at this conference before, were treated equally well. My only regret is that there were not more Americans there. Despite my colleagues' concerns, I felt safer than if I had been a tourist in a large American city. There were no panhandlers or aggressive touts to harass me, and the country is beautiful."

This is not the first time Iran is featured in the prestigious journal Nature!

What Is Hegemonic About Iran? (CIA factbook)

Please be sure to compare Iran's military expenditure to that of Saudi Arabia and Israel. Also the public debt!

See Critical Montage's contextualization of Iran's military expenditure in more details

Looking for my avatar ...

What I like about Persian depiction of women is that it doesn't objectify the woman as the subject of gaze, but that it mystifies her as the muse of spirit.

Visit Mahmoud Fashchian's e-Gallery

Our Hitler?

"It is easy to understand the revolt of slaves but difficult to comprehend the evil of tyrants." Hans-Jurgen Syberberg

A few years ago, as the Americans were gearing up for Iraq, I saw one of the most extraordinary documentaries of my life: Our Hitler: A film from Germany (1977).

The reason why I thought of this post is Wally's introductory course to Neoconservatism:

Neoconservative is a commonly misunderstood word. It has been around since the 1800s, and it's meaning has changed many times. It was started by liberal Democrats who were unhappy with some of the stances of the Left. It picked up momentum in the Goldwater years, on through Reagan, Bush41, Clinton, and Bush43.
...
It has become a well-embedded myth, that: Liberal=Democrat; Conservative=Republican; and Neoconservative=Conservative.

Neocons are faithful only unto their own fascist ideology. Power and world domination is their goal. They gather under the banners of Democrats and Republicans alike. This is the reason the Republicans are pushing hard for Hillary Clinton. Remember what they did for LIEbermann? The MSM has already given her the 'annointing' as the Democratic Presidential Candidate. It's a win-win situation for the neocons. Neocons aren't that interested in 'which' party is in power, but 'who' that person in power is."

In his epic film, Hans-Jurgen Syberberg's (a historian as well as a filmmaker) reflect on Adolf Hitler, the cultural mechanisms underlying his mythic rise, and the effect he continues to wield over Germany. The problem that film raises, chills your spine, when you realize how similarly the history is repeating. This is how the circus starts:

"Ladies and gentlemen,
now that we're rid of the Kaiser and God -- off we go.

The Song of Songs, the greatest story ever told. Let's give him his chance, let's give ourselves our chance. Taboos, this show's about taboos. The greatest show of the century, big business, the show of shows ... No human story, but a history of humankind, no disaster film, but disaster as a film. The end of the world. Deluge, the cosmos biting the dust."

George Hunka:

"Hitler: A Film from Germany is an attempt to divorce Hitler and the Third Reich from a simple narrative and historical summation through a marriage of the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk and the Brechtian alienation effect, an unlikely alliance but a profitable one: Film as the art form of the 20th century, the epic theater providing its principal dramaturgical devices."

Doron Altaratz:

"Syberberg is using puppets to represent the third Reich leaders in his film. ... I believe that this representation is beyond the scope of the theatrical experience. The historical figures become mannequins of the different uses of society. They have lost their individualism and became actors in the theater of history."

It is not a coincidence that after almost 25 years of obscurity, the film is being released in DVD format only recently.

You may legally download the entire film from Hans Jurgen Syberberg's official website.

Enjoy!

Halloween headlines

Breaking news: Bush's psychosis confirmed!
Illogicals: If we (Europeans) don't starve Iranians, Cheney will bomb them! Let's starve Iranians to prevent Cheney's war!!!!< Uhhmmm ... how about starving Cheney and Israel for a change?! Shame!
Is there something amusing about Americans accusing others of "terrorism" ?

Checkout these headlines!

Bomb Iran LA Times (last year)
We must Bomb Iran, says US republican guru The Telegraph, UK

Bomb, Bomb Iran New York times
Podhoretz secretly urged Bush to Bomb Iran Politco
Likud members: Bomb Iran Ynet News
Bomb Iran? U.S. Requests Bunker-Buster Bombs ABC news
We may have to Bomb Iran Times (last year)

The Case for Bombing Iran, I hope and pray that President Bush will do it. Wall Street Journal
Bolton Calls for Bombing Iran The Guardian
We must attack Iran before it gets the bomb The Telegraph, UK
US plans to Bomb Iran, inspite denials The Independent
The Plane that will Bomb Iran The Atlantic
Bomb Iran Now Jewcy.com
US planning contingency plan to Bomb Iran Reuters

And this is the extent of criticism:
Bomb Iran: For Israel and America!CounterPunch
Dowd: Bomb, bomb Iran International Herals Tribune
Let's go Bomb Iran Znet

Bomb Iran Music Video

American Hypocrisy!

Just as Iran and the EU announce "satisfactory negotiations", Rice announces new sanctions against Iran!

I am still reading the Treacherous Alliance and the footsteps of Israel in this are just too repetitive and clear to deny. (Read pages 180-190, and just replace the dates in 1994-1995 with 2007.)

Shame!

Israelis are hilarious!

Tony Karon reports that the American defenders of the Zion have recently identified a new threat: Haaretz! Turns out the Israeli liberal daily is the latest “threat” to Israel, because it tends to report the truth about Israeli actions.

Showdown With Iran!

Let's see what Cheney wants to bomb:

Richard Armitage concluded correctly: "I have never seen such an ethnocentric country. For these people, Persepolis is not something of 4500 years ago. It is today!"
The Frontline documentary was a timid one: it only shyly exposed the Israel lobby, the American Enterprise Institute, and Bush's ignorant incompetence!
Watching this, I thought of America with the same disdain that I think of a rapist.

Iranian Parliament's warning to Ahmadinejad:

Update (Wednesday, oct 24)
Just as Iran and EU start talking about Iran's willingness to consider the "constructive proposal" of the EU, Rice goes to congress to threaten Iran more! Which is telling me the Iranians are quite righ to say "Americans are not interested in negotiating to solve problems but only in negotiating for the sake of negotiation!

Also, the CNN didn't show the woman who confronted Rice with bloody hands, Calling her "War Criminal"

==============================================


Update (Tuesday Oct 23): Talks in Rome held, and successful too, According to Solana.
In this picture, he is shakinh hands with the resigned negotiator, Dr. Larijani. Iranians showed a united front, and willingness to negotiate peaceful solution.

I am beginning to romanticize the cleverness of the Iranian government, wondering with a satisfied grin: was the resignation a part of the choreography?

=================================

More than 180 Iranian MPs have signed a letter praising former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, who has resigned from his post.

The deputy speaker of Iran's parliament has said that Mr Larijani resigned because he could no longer work with Mr. Ahmadinejad, confirming suspicions that they had fallen out on policy, and possibly personality as well.

This means Ahmadinejad's in trouble!

This indicates that if Ahmadinejad deviates from the expressed wishes of the supreme leadership and the parliament, he will be in constitutional trouble! That, Larijani attended the Rome talks as representative of the supreme leader is already alluding to to exposed rift between Iran's ruling factions. However, it seems that the so called "islamo-fascist-dictatorship" in Iran is acting more responsibly and more democratically than that of the US of A!

Mr Velayati, the former war-time foreign minister- now senior foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has expressed objection to Ahmadinejad accepting Larijani's resignation: "In the very important and sensitive situation where the nuclear issue is at the moment it would be better if this [resignation] did not happen, or at least it was prevented".

According to Velayati (read the voice of supreme leader on foreign matters) pragmatists believe in negotiating with the international community and talk of following the path of Japan.

It would be becoming worrisome however, if Ahmadinejad takes a radical stance against the supreme leader. He has been showing Komeini-ist megalomaniac symptoms, and he has been capitalizing on the capitalist corruption of those who are opposing him at this moment. Khomeini's radicalism has done great harm to Iran. I doubt this rookie is afraid to fall in the same Neo-Con trap that his spiritual leader fell, 30 years ago!

Amercan Evangelists pay Iranian Jews to immigrate to Israel!

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/104803.html

Iran's top negotiator resigns.

Here is what the Iranian pundits say about Iran's next step in European negotiations

=================================
In spite of resignation, Larijani will attend the upcoming talks in Rome.

Apparently Larijani and Ahmadinejad clashed after Putin's visit. Ahmadinejad was not pleased with Larijani's public declaration that "we will consider Putin's proposal"--which we heard the Supreme leader say himself to Putin: "we will think about it", he said througha translator!

However, Ahmadinejad has been maintaining that Iran's nuclear dossier is closed; and that there is no need for any negotiations beyond the commitment to IAEA. By clashing with Larijani, Ahmadinejad has tried to show presidential autonomy from the (un-elected) supreme leader!

Now you may find this funny, but Ahmadinejad is challenging the "foundation" of dictatorship in Iran! But, the supreme "dictator" is behaving milder and more reasonably than the "democratically elected" president! To be frank, i have been wishing for the "dictating" establishment in Iran to slap Ahmadinejad a little bit. This is an undemocratic wish, of course. But, if I have to choose between democracy and getting even ONE road in Iran bombed, I will choose dictatorship! (Isn't this consistent with the view advocated by Dick Cheney? So one needs to ask: is the US trying to make sure democracy will not be established in the middle east?!)

This is a clear clash between the supreme leader, Khamenei, and Amadinejad at this point! And the third axis of this group of conservative, Hashemi (perhaps the closest Iranian official to Ameircan administration!), has re-iterated just now that "Americans should learn from history. If Iran was interested in developing weapons of mass destruction, it would have retaliated against Saddam's chemical bombing of Iran."


===============================================


I am scrambling through Iranian news!

This seems to be a "trigger" to undermine Ahmadinejad officially. Apparently Ahmadinejad was not happy about Larijani's statement about "we are studying Putin's proposal" and wanted to say he's the one who is calling the shots!

Tomorrow, the parliament will begin investigating the reasons for Larijani's resignation. Already, a few Ahmadinejad opponents have expressed "regrets" and have stated their opposition to Ahmadinejad's confrontational attitude.

I suspect an impeachment is awaiting Ahmadinejad.

Borzu Dargahi, reports for LA times.

Contextualization:
Larijani's official objective for resignation is to pursue a different career in politics. The government's spokesman indicated that Larijani may still appear in the talks with Solana.

Will be back with more.

Savages talk again:

We can attack Iran!

WHAT FOR??!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I were an American, I would be blue with shame!
But if Bollinger is the kind of person who runs their universities, I am not sure they are aware of the concept of shame!

Olmert:The Halloween Messenger!

"The Iranians need to be afraid that something will happen that they do not want to happen to them," Thus spake the criminal of the July war, Olmert.

Is it just me, or is everyone finding the state of politics in this past 24 hours somewhat amusing?
Without chronological order:

Putin gets a death threat.
Rice gives a little smack to Israel.
Putin goes to Iran.
Putin shows a little finger to certain someones (Sarkozy, Merkel, Rice) by announcing Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.
Olmert threatens.
Olmert runs to Putin. (Maybe he feels finger deprived!)
US pisses off Turkey.
US pisses off China.
Indians are pissed off with US's nuclear deal and they are likely to opt out of the pact!
Turkey attacks US-installed Kurds!
And Bush's drunken look in this picture is cute!!

Israelis, being Israelis, must be stewing in paranoia that "peace" may happen to them, and that the world may actually stop hating them! Now how can they live WITHOUT the world's hatred?! That will be ruinous to their economy and security!
This is why Olmert is on a "scare and conquer" mission! This is the new world order!
==========================

Update:
A comment on Haaretz by Chris Linthwaite

Olmert threatens to Wipe Iran Off the Map!
So placing the same criteria as placed on Iran by the international community Israel is now a nuclear armed rogue state who has threatened to use its nuclear weapons.

Therefore an immediate imposition of sanctions on Israel must be imposed by the international community.

Israel is now an existential threat to peace and stability in the Middle East. Has access to weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq solution must be an option.

Cheney's Law

a Frontline Documentary

A moment of deep breath!

Pfewh!
Usrael didn't attack Iran on Oct15.
Putin didn't cancel his trip to Iran.
Putin was not kidnapped upon arrival!!
Hillary is like a confused bug, cannot decide what she wants to do with Iran!
Israel is being pushed to recognize Palestinian state (I am sure Mossad is plotting an upcoming suicide attack. There are plenty of gullible youth in that part of the world!)
So how about a fashion show, Iranian style?



Also, if you have heard about Iran's popular TV series on Holocaust, checkout Trita Parsi's op ed about A Sober Analysis of Iran.

By the way, did you know they made us chant: "Down with Amrica, Down with Russia, Down with Israel" when we were kids?!! Isn't this picture a proof of how hollow the slogans coming out of Iran are?! Now is time for neoconservatives and Israelis to stop fearing Iran, come to their senses, and come to the negotiation table!

Reading Club: the nuances of Iran and Israel relations!

Update: Read a review of the book by Peter W. Galbraith
. The Victor? New York Book Review, Vol 54, no 15, Oct 11, 2007


Last night I picked up the Treacherous Alliance, The secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the US, written by Trita Parsi and published by The Yale University Press.

After I raved about how hilariously the book was written and how true to reality of the Iranian state of affairs it was, my friend Nunya, the politicky bitch, rushed to buy herself a copy and encouraged me to read this book together.

Coincidentally, Ridwan dropped by and pointed out to a nice link on Rootless Cosmopolitan where Trita Parsi is talking about the research and the motivation behind this book.

Feel free to join in and to share your comments and concerns with us. The book is readily available from Amazon and perhaps in your local bookstore, as that is where Nunya picked it up. You can have it in hard cover, for only $18 and learn, for the first time, about the real nature of Iran/Israel and US conflicts. I hope it will disambiguate anyone who considers this conflict to be about oil or religion. The premise of the book is a very important one, and this line of argument, although well known to many Iranian political scientists, has hardly been given a discursive public attention.

Happy reading!

Be sure to read Tony Karon's Rootless Cosmopolitain.

Addendum:
Here's a a commentary by Doug Bandow , a Washington-based political writer and policy analyst and Robert A. Taft Fellow with the American Conservative Defense Alliance. He served as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and as a senior policy analyst in the 1980 Reagan for President campaign. One would suspect he knows what he is Talking about! and he is calling Bush's unwillingness to negotiate with Iran Criminal!

Students of Tehran Polytechnique (aka Amir Kabir U.).