Wow

1:05 pm EST May 3rd, 2006 | Politics | 12 Comments

Juan Cole lets Christopher Hitchens (and the rest of the idiot warmongering neocons) have it.

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12 Responses to “Wow”

  1. william says:
    May 3, 2006 at 2:05 pm

    Hitchens and the “war mongers” take people at their word. Cole, and presumably you, OW, don’t. Can you say ostrich?

  2. z_adura says:
    May 3, 2006 at 5:05 pm

    William, did you read Christopher Hitchen’s article or Juan Cole’s reaction? If not, you are ignorant. If so, you are an idiot.

  3. Rheinhard says:
    May 3, 2006 at 5:05 pm

    Who is taking who at what word, now?

    Did that comment make any sense to anybody else?

    My only guess at a possible interpretation of that quite cryptic statement is that “Hitchens and the ‘war mongers’ take at word”, that word being that Iran is committed as a singular national will to the destruction of Israel and America. (I will proceed on this basis, but if I am in error, please correct me.)

    In the first place, as Dr. Cole points out, never mind that that “word” is inaccurately translated (that it conveniently suits a narrative that the warmonger neocons desperately wish to create may or may not be coincidental).

    In the second place, pay no attention to the fact that the same warmonger neocons now agitating for war with Iran because of its ‘singular national purpose’ of Israeli and American annihilation, ordered by the all-powerful supreme generalissimo Ahmedinijad, are the same people who argued that the previous moderate, reformist president Khatami was nothing but a powerless figurehead, devoutly to be ignored. The fact is Ahmedinijad is far less able to order operations by his military than Wee Emperor W is ours.

    In the third place, also pay no attention to the fact that large swaths of Iranian society, especially its youth, are favorable toward America (as evidenced by Cole’s photographs of Iranian youth holding a post 9/11 candlelight vigil). If you are to believe that the Iranians are all screaming Islamofascist zealots, which helps if you’re trying to convince Americans that we should be bombing the hell out of them, this picture is slightly problematic. And it further reinforces what a tragedy the war our leaders are agitating for would be, because it would pretty much quash any hope of these young, reformist elements being able to guide the country in the future.

  4. Big Gay Al says:
    May 3, 2006 at 5:05 pm

    Hitchens and the  war mongers take people at their word. Cole, and presumably you, OW, don t. Can you say ostrich?

    Had we followed that rationale during the Cold War, when the Soviets were threatening to wipe us off the map every day, there’d be no world left to defend.

    The question is not, do we take every madman at his word. The question is, do we believe said madman can follow through on his threat. In the case of Iran and Ahmendijad, the answer is no.

  5. doug r says:
    May 3, 2006 at 11:05 pm

    I suspected that translation was hinkey. He’s quoting the original Ayatollah Assoholah, Khomeni who traded hostages with Reagan for weapons.
    You guys quote Reagan all the friggin’ time, why can’t he quote some crazy dead guy as well?

  6. Frank_D says:
    May 4, 2006 at 1:05 am

    Of course you did, Doug…

  7. Bill L. says:
    May 4, 2006 at 2:05 am

    Actually, as the article in question points out, the Ayatollah was trading arms with Israel even while they held our hostages. In fact, they were trading arms and oil when he made the statement about “the regime in Jerusalem” needing to “vanish” from the pages of time/history. So on the one hand you had a man openly advocating a hostile position against Israel, though falling considerably short of calling for an outright attack, and on the other you have the same man dealing with his hated enemies behind closed doors.

    Oh, if only I were as smart as William, Hitchens and the “war mongers” and could just take people at their “word.”

    Between half-hearted 2 line posts and the occasional goofy link to articles that either prove nothing or actually wind up countering their position, the trolls don’t even seem to be trying anymore. Could this be the end of Groundhog Day?

  8. JWG says:
    May 4, 2006 at 6:05 am

    Has anyone found a correction in the Arabic press? Al-Jazeera’s english version seems to accept the claim that Iran threatened to destroy Israel.

    Ahmadinejad’s comments were the first time in years that such a high-ranking Iranian official has called for Israel’s eradication, even though such slogans are still regularly used at government rallies.

  9. JWG says:
    May 4, 2006 at 6:05 am

    Here’s another 2 months later:

    Ahmadinejad, who in October said arch-enemy Israel should be “wiped off the map”

    There’s plenty more…does anyone have a correction from the Arabic press that matches Cole’s “expertise”?

  10. Frank_D says:
    May 4, 2006 at 7:05 am

    troll An outrageous message posted to a newsgroup or mailing list or message board to bait people to answer. Trolling is a form of harassment that can take over a discussion. Well meaning defenders can create chaos by responding to trolls. The best response is to ignore it.
    Also, the person who posts such messages.

  11. BD says:
    May 4, 2006 at 9:05 am

    If we’d taken Baghdad Bob at his word, we would have turned and run away from Iraqi Freedom. He said that we would be defeated!

  12. Frank_D says:
    May 4, 2006 at 6:05 pm

    Juan Cole is wrong