February 23, 2012

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The World Media Goes Bonkers: An Israel-Att​acks-Iran Case Study

By February 10, 2012
421px-Israel-iran_flages

For the second time in a few months we have seen a crazy global Israel-About-to-Attack-Iran Story. I don't want to go into all of the details but this tale is an example of how the media has just lost it completely due to a combination of laziness (reporters don't really do research or check sources); agenda; ignorance; and good old sensationalism. Partly, too, it arises from the difficulty of the mass media in dealing with the Internet media era and the difficulty of the Internet media in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Israel, Media Coverage of the Middle East

Response to Ron Paul: Did U.S. Policy Make Today’s Islamist Iran Hate America?

By January 31, 2012
640px-Ron_Paul_WRLC

Presidential candidate Ron Paul has said repeatedly that Iranians hate America because of its role in the 1953 coup overthrowing Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh. Like his frequent claims that the September 11 attack was a response to a supposed decade-long U.S. bombing of Iraq.In fact, about the only intense bombing of Iraq done by the United States in the last twenty years was for two weeks at the start of the 2003 war and one time in retaliation against an assassination plot against former … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Middle East Politics, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

Israel Isn’t Going to Attack Iran and Neither Will the United States

By January 26, 2012
421px-Israel-iran_flages

The radio superhero, The Shadow, had the power to “cloud men’s minds.” But nothing clouds men’s minds like anything that has to do with Jews or Israel. This year’s variation on that theme is the idea that Israel is about to attack Iran. Such a claim repeatedly appears in the media. Some have criticized Israel for attacking Iran and turning the Middle East into a cauldron of turmoil (not as if the region needs any help in that department) despite the fact that it hasn’t even … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Israel, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

U.S. Policy and Iran: Why Obama’s Bargain has Failed

By December 16, 2011
320px-Barack_Obama,_Hillary_Clinton_and_Bill_Burns_in_the_White_House_Situation_Room

The Biblical verse Deuteronomy 30 quotes God as saying: I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life that thou may live….” This notion of choice is the basis for Obama Administration policy toward Iran. And as in the Bible the “correct” choice seems rather obvious. Who would not choose “life”? Answer: The Islamist regime of Iran. Since late 2010, when he finally decided that he couldn’t make a deal with Iran, Obama turned to his own … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Middle East Politics, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

How the Obama Administration Helps Kill the Chances for Arab, Turkish, and Iranian Democracy

By November 17, 2011
Hillary_Clinton_with_Salam_Fayyad,_March_2009

In a speech, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asks: “Why does America promote democracy one way in some countries and another way in others?” Here’ how the question should be rephrased: Why does America subvert the chances for democracy one way in some countries and another way in others? Here’s the answer: In some places—notably Iran, Syria, and the Gaza Strip—America does nothing to promote democracy and the downfall of anti-American regimes because it is afraid to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Middle East Politics, Turkey

Rumors of Israel Attack on Iran Show the Media as Clueless

By November 3, 2011

By Barry RubinHere's a great case study of why so much of the reporting or analysis on the Middle East is so bad. Articles in the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz have led to speculation and concern--even in high levels of the U.S. government--about whether Israel is about to attack Iran. The Guardian and Daily Mail have even predicted that the British government is going to attack Iran. For goodness sake, is anyone actually studying these issues?In fact, this story is full of holes.First, Israel has … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Regional Security

The Iran Terror Plot Crisis: Big Trouble for Obama

By October 12, 2011

Remember that Hillary Clinton ad about it being the early morning hours and the phone’s ringing in the White House? Well it’s arrived in real life and the phone is—or isn’t—going to be answered by Barack Obama. And the question is: What are you going to do about the dramatic announcement of an Iranian plot to attack targets in Washington DC? True, it’s a bizarre story about Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Mexican drug lords. But, after all, the United States was impelled a step … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Regional, Regional Security, U.S. Policy on the Middle East

Why Is Iran’s Influence in the Arab World Declining? What is The New Regional Line-Up?

By September 14, 2011
Shahab_3_missle

Often, coverage of the Middle East in the mainstream media is beyond belief. Even when the article has good information it often misses the main point. Such is the case with an article in the Wall Street Journal, “Arab Spring Turns Up Heat on Iran.” The article correctly reports that Iran is losing popularity in much of the Arab world: In Egypt, favorable views of Iran declined from 89 percent in 2006 to 37 percent today. In Saudi Arabia those holding such beliefs declined from 85 percent … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Egypt, GLORIA, Iran, Saudi Arabia

Israel, Iran and the New Middle East

By September 11, 2011
Israel-iran_flages

In recent years, Israeli strategists have identified an Iran-led regional alliance as representing the main strategic challenge to the Jewish state. This alliance looks to be emerging as one of the net losers of the Arab upheavals of 2011. This, however, should be cause for neither satisfaction nor complacency for Israel. The forces moving in to replace or compete with Iran and its allies are largely no less hostile. The Iran-led regional alliance, sometimes called the muqawama ("resistance") … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Israel, Middle East Politics

And The New Head of OPEC Is….: Energy Independence Anyone?

By August 5, 2011
Iran_map

Rostam Ghasemi is a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and runs one of its big military-industrial operations. In other words, he makes arms some of which are sent to Iraq to kill Americans. He has just been appointed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be Iran’s oil minister. Ghasemi, an engineer, has been personally sanctioned by the United States and EU because of his involvement in Iran’s nuclear program. Read More... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GLORIA, Iran
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