Pakistan faces a crisis. President Musharraf has gone a route that appears to be highly tyrannical—declaring a state of emergency, suspending human rights guarantees, and arresting his enemies (including the head of the Supreme Court). For this, he’s been roundly … Continue reading →
In taking fifteen British sailors prisoner, the Iranian government is merely following its tradition of win-win hostage-taking. When in trouble (and there is some evidence the mullahs are in a certain amount of internal political difficulty in Iran), the best … Continue reading →
I heard the news with surprise on the radio: the Bush administration has announced that the US will participate in talks with Iran and Syria. That seemed awfully odd to me, given the administration’s previous declarations that this will not … Continue reading →
I’ve been noticing lately that two lovely impulses seem to go hand-in-hand–virulent anti-Semitism plus the willingness to use one’s own people as a sacrifice to the larger goal of destroying the Jews. Take a look at this post of Dr. … Continue reading →
At the end of this week’s podcast, the Sanity Squad briefly mentioned the election results in Iran, which were being counted and reported (preliminarily) even as we spoke. First the results showed a repudiation of Ahmadinejad, then new “results” seemed … Continue reading →
On the topic of James Baker and Lee Hamilton’s suggestion that we talk to Iran and Syria about helping us out in Iraq, I’d say a person would have to be either abysmally stupid, mindbogglingly ignorant, or stark raving mad … Continue reading →
It’s not just that I disagree with the “we need to talk with Iran” folks. It’s that they actually seem demented and deluded. Their suggestion makes no sense–or about as much sense as “talk with Hitler” would have made in … Continue reading →
[The follow-up second part of yesterday’s post on Vietnamization and Iraqization is coming soon. It was postponed for this one.] Assassinations are a dime a dozen in the Middle East. Lebanon, in particular, has seen quite a spate of them … Continue reading →
In honor of Oriana Fallaci, the fearless and uniquely outspoken correspondent who died yesterday in Florence Italy, I’m posting excerpts from her 1979 interview with Ayatollah Khomeini, which occurred not long after he came to power (these quotes appeared as … Continue reading →
When I was writing about the 1979 Iranian revolution I asked the following question: The Shah’s secret police–SAVAK, usually referred to with an adjective such as “dreaded” or “hated” before the acronym–was active in Iran to stifle those who would … Continue reading →
Last night I was talking to my fellow Sanity Squad members after taping this week’s podcast (no, it’s not online yet, but should be soon). The session you hear is usually just the tip of the iceberg for us. As … Continue reading →
Iran and Ahmadinejad have once again demonstrated the great and awesome power of the UN and their fear of its sanctions, in Iran’s continued defiance of the UN’s call for limitations on its nuclear program. Although Kofi Annan made a … Continue reading →