May 2009
8 posts
Iran president's rivals slam his foreign policy -... →
The two inevitable questions about the Iranian elections are:
(1) Who will win?
(2) Does it make any difference?
No one knows the answer to the first, including even political specialists in Iran. In the past 24 hours I have heard utterly confident predictions by knowledgeable Iranians that Ahmadinejad would win and, alternatively, that his primary rival Mousavi would prevail in a second round...
Cheney's speech ignored some inconvenient truths |... →
Fact-checking Cheney.
The Iranians are coming, the Iranians are coming!... →
Pssst… Don’t tell anyone but there are a few responsible voices in Israel who take exception to the hysteria about Iran.
Is Our Diplomacy President Heading the U.S. Toward... →
Time Magazine’s bureau chief in Cairo provides a recap of my debate with the Leveretts about US-Iran policy. He carefully avoids taking sides.
Roger Cohen - Obama in Netanyahu’s Web -... →
I think Roger Cohen exaggerates Bibi’s “victory” over Obama. There was, indeed, a burst of irrational exuberance among Bibi’s supporters when they heard all the nice words and compliments being sent his way by Obama. That sense was reinforced by the exaggerated predictions of doom with which they had approached this meeting.
You could almost hear their sighs of relief when...
Have We Already Lost Iran? - Flynt and Hillary... →
Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Everett wrote an important op-ed in the NY Times over the Memorial Day holiday. It wonders whether the Obama administration has not already “lost Iran,” almost before it has begun. [Click on the above title to see the full text.] The first clue to their very negative interpretation of current U.S. policy toward Iran is their regret that President Obama has refused...
Zakaria: What You Know About Iran is Wrong |... →
Here’s another skeptical take about the conventional wisdom on Iran…
More complicated than it looks. . .
Here is the lede of an article in the Washington Post, reporting on a new study by the Rand Corp. for the US Air Force. It is one of several recent studies by Rand that break from the conventional wisdom that views Iran merely as a threat. These studies add a useful dimension to policy analysis by putting themselves in the shoes of the “enemy” — who doesn’t always look so...
