Debunking Iran War Propaganda

  • Bob Fertik's picture
    Bob Fertik
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May 24, 2006

Now that the Benador-created Big Lie about Iran requiring Jews to wear Nazi-styled yellow stripes has been thoroughly debunked, it's time to debunk more anti-Iranian war propaganda.

Throughout the English-speaking world, it is taken as an absolutely proven fact that Ahmadinejad said he wants to "wipe Israel off the map." But did he?

Ahmadinejad speaks Farsi, not English, so his words have to be translated for us to understand them. And good translations paint a different picture:

Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, translates the Farsi phrase as:

The Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).

The Middle East Media Research Institute translates the phrase similarly:

[T]his regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.

On 20 February 2006, Iran’s foreign minister denied that Tehran wanted to see Israel “wiped off the map,” saying Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood. "Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned," Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament. "How is it possible to remove a country from the map? He is talking about the regime. We do not recognise legally this regime," he said.

As Americans, of course we recognize the Israeli government, as does most of the world. But 32 countries do not, including such close allies as Saudi Arabia and Dubai - whose government Bush wanted to put in charge of American ports.

Turning the question around, there have been foreign regimes that the U.S. did not recognize, including the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Did that mean that the U.S. wanted to "wipe Afghanistan off the map"? Of course not.

When it comes to the security of Israel, the American media seems to be incapable of objectivity. But before we send more Americans to fight and die in Iran, we must demand accurate reporting of lies like this one.

Comments

NYT: our close allies...?

  • Northside's picture
    Northside
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02/12/07
3:55pm

Within the past two weeks, Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman have juxtaposed our relationship with our interchangable allies/enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Friedman: Not-So-Strange Bedfellow, Jan 31, 2007

Here's a little foreign policy test. I am going to describe two countries -- ''Country A'' and ''Country B'' -- and you tell me which one is America's ally and which one is not.

Let's start: Country A actively helped the U.S. defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan and replace it with a pro-U.S. elected alliance of moderate Muslims. Country A regularly holds sort-of-free elections. Country A's women vote, hold office, are the majority of its university students and are fully integrated into the work force.

On 9/11, residents of Country A were among the very few in the Muslim world to hold spontaneous pro-U.S. demonstrations. Country A's radical president recently held a conference about why the Holocaust never happened -- to try to gain popularity. A month later, Country A held nationwide elections for local councils, and that same president saw his candidates get wiped out by voters who preferred more moderate conservatives. Country A has a strategic interest in the success of the pro-U.S., Shiite-led, elected Iraqi government. Although it's a Muslim country right next to Iraq, Country A has never sent any suicide bombers to Iraq, and has long protected its Christians and Jews. Country A has more bloggers per capita than any country in the Muslim Middle East.

The brand of Islam practiced by Country A respects women, is open to reinterpretation in light of modernity and rejects Al Qaeda's nihilism.

Now Country B: Country B gave us 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11. Country B does not allow its women to drive, vote or run for office. It is illegal in Country B to build a church, synagogue or Hindu temple. Country B helped finance the Taliban.

Country B's private charities help sustain Al Qaeda. Young men from Country B's mosques have been regularly recruited to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq. Mosques and charities in Country B raise funds to support the insurgency in Iraq. Country B does not want the elected, Shiite-led government in Iraq to succeed. While Country B's leaders are pro-U.S., polls show many of its people are hostile to America -- some of them celebrated on 9/11. The brand of Islam supported by Country B and exported by it to mosques around the world is the most hostile to modernity and other faiths.

Question: Which country is America's natural ally: A or B?

Country A is, of course. Country A is Iran. Country B is Saudi Arabia.

Don't worry. I know that Iran has also engaged in terrorism against the U.S. and that the Saudis have supported America at key times in some areas. The point I'm trying to make, though, is that the hostility between Iran and the U.S. since the overthrow of the shah in 1979 is not organic. By dint of culture, history and geography, we actually have a lot of interests in common with Iran's people. And I am not the only one to notice that.

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FA081FF73F5B0C72...

Paul Krugman: Scary Movie 2, Feb 12, 2007

Before we get to the apparent war-mongering, let’s talk about the basics. Are there people in Iran providing aid to factions in Iraq, factions that sometimes kill Americans as well as other Iraqis? Yes, probably. But you can say the same about Saudi Arabia, which is believed to be a major source of financial support for Sunni insurgents — and Sunnis, not Iranian-backed Shiites, are still responsible for most American combat deaths.

The Bush administration, however, with its close personal and financial ties to the Saudis, has always downplayed Saudi connections to America’s enemies. Iran, on the other hand, which had no connection to 9/11, and was actually quite helpful to the United States in the months after the terrorist attack, somehow found itself linked with its bitter enemy Saddam Hussein as part of the “axis of evil.”

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/opinion/12krugman.html?n=Top%2fOpin...