As you'll read, Cole belongs to a private discussion group with other academics, writers, and interested parties about Iraq, Iran, and related matters. Hitchens somehow obtained a transcript of one of their discussions and selectively quoted Cole in a intentionally misleading article in Slate. The following is Cole's response of which I wanted to highlight a particular passage about Iran.
"Moreover, Iran cannot fight Israel. It would be defeated in 72 hours, even if the US didn't come in, which it would (and rightly so if Israel were attacked). Iran is separated by several other countries from Israel. It has not attacked aggressively any other country militarily for over a century (can Americans say that of their own record?) It has only a weak, ineffective air force. So why worry about it?
What is really going on here is an old trick of the warmongers. Which is that you equate hurtful statements of your enemy with an actual military threat, and make a weak and vulnerable enemy look like a strong, menacing foe. Then no one can complain when you pounce on the enemy and reduce his country to flames and rubble.
It is obvious that powerful political forces in Washington are fishing for a pretext to launch a war on Iran, and that they are just delighted to have Ahmadinejad as cartoon villain and pretext. But they had a moderate, reforming president in Mohammad Khatami for 8 years, and just blew off all his overtures to the West. Iranians organized big candle-light vigils for America after September 11, in sympathy!"
The relationship of arms deals between Iran and Isreal is particulary interesting. How many times can Isreal and the US reset the Middle East like a checker board and still claim the high ground or expect anyone to believe their veracity? Read the rest here.
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1 comment:
Well, I don't think it is any secret that Hitchens has for some time had a very serious and debilitating drinking problem. He once showed up drunk to a talk I gave and heckled me. I can only imagine that he was deep in his cups when he wrote, or had some far Rightwing think tank write, his current piece of yellow journalism. I am sorry to witness the ruin of a once-fine journalistic mind.
this is how you trully counter-punch! haha...i read Cole's response. fucking a...well written. the pictures were perfect too in that they brought the realities of war to the forefront of an intellectual debate about language/translations.
bottomline who cares what a "secretary of interior" with no real power says?
I do hope we avoid war.
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