On Wed, Jun 04, 2008 at 11:52:46PM -0600, Doran L. Barton wrote: > Not long ago, Charles Curley proclaimed... > > Oh, piffle, "weekly threats". Show me a reliable source, i.e. one that > > isn't a toady to the neocon warmongers. And threats are not the same > > as actions. Iran's mullahs aren't the nicest people in the world, but > > they are quiet about Israel. Mr. Ahmadinejad doesn't make foreign > > policy. > > Are you saying they didn't choose President Ahmadinejad to be the > mouthpiece for their government? He speaks for them as far as I'm > concerned.
Well, perhaps you should look more closely at the nature of the Iranian state. It is very opaque and convoluted, more so even than that of China. The presidency has little real power in domestic policy and less in foreign policy. (Unlike the presidency of, say, the United States, to which most of us are more accustomed.) Thus, President Ahmadinejad produces much noise and very little real results. I suspect that that noise is intended more for domestic consumption than for export. > I don't know where you got the idea the Iranian government was > actively acting against our interests was some kind of "neocon" > (what does that mean anyway?) conspiracy. I don't know where you got the idea that I had gotten that idea. "necon" means "neo-conservative", i.e. people who support an imperialist foreign policy and big government to pursue "conservative" values in domestic policy. Messrs Rumsfeld, Cheney, Podhoretz (sp?), Libby, e.g. As opposed to paleo-conservatives like Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, Robert Taft. > To test my point, I did go back in time (with the help of Google > News) to see who was publishing these articles. > > Google News shows plenty of traditional news sources with articles > detailing Iran's vows to destroy Israel, Iran's defying the IAEA, Iran > supporting Hezbollah terror, Iran supplying Shiite and Al Qaeda insurgents > in Iraq with weapons, and more. I didn't find these articles on NewsMax, > TownHall.com, or National Review. I found them on Reuters, Washington Post, > ABC News, Associated Press, London Times, and the BBC. Ah, then you have citations to the "weekly threats" to blow Israel off the map, as I asked? > > Iran's government is bad. Do I think we should pull another Iraq and > go in and make it "good?" No. I think the best thing the US can do > is promote capitalism in the region via Iraq and Afghanistan and let > the people under oppressed regimes make their move. Here I agree with you in large part. Promote free markets, yes (including at home). Remain in Iraq and Afghanistan, no. The latter is not helping the former goal. -- Charles Curley /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign Looking for fine software \ / Respect for open standards and/or writing? X No HTML/RTF in email http://www.charlescurley.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email Key fingerprint = CE5C 6645 A45A 64E4 94C0 809C FFF6 4C48 4ECD DFDB
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