Juan Cole: Top 10 things you know about Iran that aren't true

Finally someone who knows what they are talking about.

Good spot Mashbury!

10-5-2009 7:21 PM

jmatts78

It's just too bad that our world leaders care nothing for facts.

10-5-2009 8:51 PM

Thanks, info!

10-5-2009 8:53 PM

Just noticed the typo.

Sorry for that.

10-5-2009 9:47 PM

Juan Cole has been on top of the situation for a long time. I read his blog every day. Helps to cut through all the crab that the MSM feeds us.

10-5-2009 10:43 PM

Ratilfar: I'm just alittle curious about that statement...

If you know its crap, then why watch it?

BTW thanks for the link to his blog, I'm always on the hunt for informative material.

10-5-2009 11:04 PM

Because in order to know what the lies are, you got to hear them for yourself. And sometimes the MSM gets it right.

10-6-2009 1:45 PM

Maybe you need to read more than one news article concerning Iran's threats:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/05/iran-threatens-israel-with-destruction-in-11-days.html

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108376.html

http://www.topix.com/world-leaders/shimon-peres/2009/08/peres-nuclear-armed-iran-threatens-israel-with-airborne-death-camp

I am sure Iran wants nuclear weapons just to "protect themselves" from Israel and the U.S.

10-6-2009 2:50 PM

Yeah, with sources, I already know what I'm getting. I don't buy into the Israeli propaganda.

10-6-2009 4:14 PM

megamorphg

realize that most people dont know this due to the media being flooded with wrong information and congress voting on wrong legislation and perpetuating these problems.
the media, we can do little about...
but lets clean out congress! www.kickthemallout.com

10-6-2009 7:10 PM

ratilfar said:

I don't buy into the Israeli propaganda.

Seconded.

10-6-2009 7:12 PM

You forget jay8h they control most of the us media and a good chunk of global media too, so of course it will be spun in their favour.

10-7-2009 11:45 AM

So if you cannot trust the various news sources to try to glean from them the truth, where are you guys getting your information that is deemed to be factual?

10-7-2009 3:20 PM

Juan Cole is a scholar at the University of Michigan who has spent his life understanding the Middle East.

10-7-2009 3:49 PM

And has a much better track record on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan than all the neocons put together.

10-7-2009 9:51 PM

jay, your suggestions are hardly "various news sources." These are one-sided sources dedicated to proving a point, not to telling truth. No serious objective expert has yet concluded that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons. It's a neocon pitch until the evidence is in, JUST AS IT WAS WITH IRAQ.

10-8-2009 4:36 AM

Jay, it's all a Republican't Masturbation Fantasy. None of those sources quote a single Iranian leader. Those are the paranoid and/or propagandist ravings of greedy people who want an excuse to charge in and "liberate" all the oil.

10-8-2009 6:11 PM

Time will tell..........

10-8-2009 9:38 PM

Yes; time will tell which is the most dangerous fascist regime in the world; Iran, America or Israel. Facts are leaning toward the latter two.

10-10-2009 10:50 AM

Then why do you stay in this country? You would be happier in Iran, it appears.

10-10-2009 11:56 AM

Ah, the Okie from Muskogee question.

America is much more than politics, jay. I love its people, its hope, its Constitution, its lands, its freedoms, its aspirations. It's my home.

I am appalled by its dark sides, and I am working to change them - to bring them into line with its better vision. I expect that is your goal, as well, even though we have a different view of how to do that.

Must people really agree with you in order to love America? Is your view really the only patriotic one? Is it really unloving to try to face, proclaim, and correct our nation's weaknesses?

10-10-2009 9:07 PM

I'm perfectly happy in Canada, Jay; where the fascism is limited; unlike America

10-12-2009 11:33 AM

masbury, thank you for your response. You are one of the few civil Clippers who can dispense with name calling.

I too want what is best for this country. I risked my life as a carrier pilot to defend it. I am very patriotic, but, I see the "dark side" as those who threaten America's foundational beliefs. I see liberalism as that threat. The disagreement comes from those who wish to change things that have proven to be successful for the past 200+ years to a socialist/communist society. It has never worked and never will. It will only destroy this country as it has historically done so.

10-12-2009 8:58 PM

Thanks, jay, that compliment is meaningful to me.
Naturally, I don't see liberalism in the same light. I see it as challenging our nation to arise and fulfill its sometimes-ignored Constitutional responsibilities to all our people (civil rights being an example of where this has happened). At the same time, I believe conservatism at its best to be of inestimable importance for bringing realism and careful evaluation - "conservatism" - to the table, keeping us from throwing away that which we have gained. I see liberalism without conservatism as rashness; I see conservatism without liberalism as stagnation.

10-12-2009 9:21 PM

Jay; note that the base term of "Liberalism" is "Liberty"; the founding concept of America. Anything that isn't Liberalism is an enemy to America; and that means Conservatism. Conservatism is a stagnating, destructive force in America, destroying it from within; based on an overwhelming love of self/selfishness and a callous disregard for the world around you. That is a recipe for disaster. Look around you; the many countries that are America's closest allies in the world are Social Democracies, and with only a few exceptions, they are much more stable and prosperous that America. That isn't a coincidence; that is the result of Liberalism. Without Liberalism, there is no freedom, just stagna...

10-13-2009 1:41 PM

Questions for darkforce:

1. Has our country leaned towards liberalism or conservationism for the past 200+ years?
2. Are we are are we not the greatest country ever devised by mankind in spite of liberalism?
3. If liberalism is so great, why do the countries that hold to it ultimately fail?

Masbury, I agree with you. We need a little of both.

Mankind at it's finest is a depraved creature. We will take advantage of whatever we can unless bounds are set. But, if we give to those who are without, we develop a monster who will live off of those who work.
Thus, a balance is required. IMHO

10-13-2009 9:30 PM

The US always leaned toward conservative. America was founded by religious radicals who were fleeing enlightened church reform in Europe. No, America is NOT the greatest country in the world; far from it. If I had to pick a "greatest" country in the world, I would likely pick Sweden, but in truth, there really isn't one "greatest" country in the world. There are plenty of bad ones, and America ranks with many of the bad ones, because it embraces conservatism and stagnancy instead of liberalism and growth.

Since when do countries that embrace liberalism fail? Where did you get that idea from? FauxNoise? Flush Limbaugh? Phlegm Beck? It's a lie. Liberal nations are the most stabl...

10-14-2009 7:16 PM

darkforce, check out how well Cuba is doing:

www.mcclatchydc.com

10-14-2009 8:42 PM

Why should I compare free socialist nations like Canada, Sweden and France to a fascist country masquerading as a Liberalist nation?

Why don't you check out those three nations I mentioned; see how much better they are doing than the US right now, and in the recent past, and then tell me you still believe Liberalism has failed. It's conservatism that has failed.

10-16-2009 10:53 AM

I did, darkforce. I do not see any difference. Mankind is mankind where ever you go. They all have their problems just as we do.

I do have a suggestion for you. Why in the world do you remain in this country if you are so unhappy the way it has been run for the past 200 years?

10-17-2009 1:44 PM

Jay, it is the mix of left and right that have made the best of what America is today. Civil rights, Medicare, Social Security, voting rights, safe workplaces, abolition of child labor - want to throw them away? As with many of America's achievements, liberalism led the way.

We advocate more of that wonderful tradition.

10-18-2009 4:08 PM

Masbury, I might agree that the mix has made the best of what America is today, but I do not agree liberalism led the way. For a starter, the Republican party led on Civil Rights and I would bet the rest are a combined effort that balanced the outcome. I think you would have to agree this country has been basically conservative for the past 200 years and has done well without much government intervention.

10-19-2009 12:43 AM

Jay, I'm Canadian. I don't live in America; I never would, because it's a fascist, imperial, inhuman empire. I live in a successful liberalist nation that has better survived the global recession exactly because of our liberalist leanings. Conservatism is what led to the financial crash — the insane removal of control from a system that affects so many people so greatly and the mentality that anything that you do is okay so long as you benefit (and to hell with anyone else).

Conservatism is just a kind term for antisocial selfishness. It is fully and entirely negative in both its concept and its implementation. Liberalism is just a technical term for "having a heart" and think...

10-19-2009 12:44 AM

Politically, the USA is the armpit of the nation; possessing a bad smell, and constantly offending the world with its corruption and far-reaching effects. And basically, Obama has been nothing but a relatively ineffective deoderant.

10-19-2009 12:45 AM