Sunday, December 09, 2007

And then the Iranian Apologists and Truth Benders come out


Apparently waiting for the moment we have 2 exemplars of what hideous spin is in this post NIE, reality. This is going to be a bruising battle, and make the partisan divide bitter beyond reclaim just in time for Iowa and New Hampshire

WaPo has published a comical op-ed by Vali Nasr, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, and the author of "The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future."
khamenei_pragmatist.jpg
Meet 'The Decider' of Tehran. It's Not the Hothead You Expect.
Sunday, December 9, 2007; Page B01

When most Americans think of Iran, they probably think of its incendiary president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since his election in 2005, Ahmadinejad has gleefully shocked the world with his defiance over Iran's nuclear programs, his ravings about a Shiite messiah, his jeremiads against Israel and his denial that the Holocaust occurred. But while Ahmadinejad is surely the regime's face, he's not its boss. Since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death in 1989, the real power in Tehran has belonged to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ahmadinejad makes the noise, but Khamenei pulls the strings.

Nasr then goes on to inform us how moderate and temperate and reasonable is the man who REALLY leads Iran.

The supreme leader is an enigma even to most of Iran's 70 million people. In fact, he's far more cautious, conservative and pragmatic than the bellowing Ahmadinejad. Khamenei wants a "Goldilocks" kind of Islamic Republic -- not too hot, not too cold.

Sorry, Mr. Nasr. but, here's a few samples of the words and thoughts of the 'hidden' Khameinei:

The West's publication of the cartoons was an Israeli conspiracy motivated by anger over Hamas's win in the Palestinian elections, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday.

The caricatures amounted to a "conspiracy by Zionists who were angry because of the victory of Hamas," he said, referring to the Palestinian movement that won a landslide victory in last month's elections.

Khamenei, who has the final word on all matters in Iran's Islamic system, was speaking at a ceremony to mark the air force's decision to join the Islamic revolution in 1979. His speech was broadcast on state radio.

More from this moderate and even tempered, racist son of a bitch....

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