The war-mongers who are pining for the next phase of their Glorious War of Civilizations -- regime change in Iran -- thought they hit the jackpot last week when the pro-War, Israel-centric National Post of Canada published a column by neoconservative Amir Teheri which claimed that the Iranian parliament had passed a new law mandating "separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct colour schemes to make them identifiable in public." The warmonger pundits immediately began screeching how they found definitive proof that Iran is the New Nazi Germany -- a new law requiring that Jews wear yellow identifying strips on their clothing.
But the story was a complete scam, total fiction, and everyone -- including the National Post and the pro-Israeli groups which were promoting the story --now acknowledge that the story was false. Everyone, that is, except for the fact-proof fanatics at Powerline, who continue to insist that it's true.
As CNN reports, National Post has now categorically retracted the story and admitted that it's false:
A Canadian newspaper apologized Wednesday for an article that said Iran planned to force Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive clothing to distinguish themselves from Muslims. . . .
But the National Post, a longtime supporter of Israel and critic of Tehran, admitted Wednesday it had not checked the piece thoroughly enough before running it.
"It is now clear the story is not true," Douglas Kelly, the National Post's editor in chief, wrote in a long editorial on Page 2. "We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story."
This article from Jewish Week -- headlined: "Anatomy of a Hoax: False story alleging special yellow insignia for Iranian Jews spurred by Wiesenthal Center's flawed confirmation" -- details how many pro-Israeli organizations (including AIPAC and the Simon Wiesenthal Center) pushed the story as hard as possible, while some exercised more caution. But the publication of the story by National Post, combined with the mindless and reflexive support of scores of neoconservative organizations and pundits intensely yearning for removal of the anti-Israeli regime in Iran, caused the false story to explode into the public dialogue. The Jewish Week article details the predictable fallout:
The ensuing media blaze was like a match thrown onto a tinderbox, starting with the National Post page one banner, headlined: "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS?" - followed within hours by blogs, wire services, radio reports, Rush Limbaugh and outraged press statements issued by Jewish groups carrying the news to millions.
And any doubt about the circles that spat up this false story are dispelled by this paragraph in that article:
Benador Associates, the public relations agency that placed the story with The National Post, is a boutique firm specializing in promoting neoconservative figures such as Taheri, Michael Ledeen, Richard Perle, Charles Krauthammer and others who supported the Iraq war and "regime change" in Iran now.
The same people who conjured up the cakewalks, Saddam's chemical stockpiles and mushroom clouds that led us into the Iraq disaster are now trying the same fraudulent tactics to induce Americans to get rid of the regime in Iran. But as the article details, all of those groups now recognize that the story was false. Indeed, the original newspaper publishing the story has not just retracted it, but said expressly that it is false.
But just as they continue to insist that Iraq had WMDs and elaborate contacts with Al Qaeda, Powerline is not going to abandon this claim just because every fact makes indisputably clear that it is false. No - they have a war to deceive people into, and nothing will take precedence over that. In an amazing post to which both Scott "Big Trunk" Johnson and John "Rocket" Hinderaker contribute, they insist that the crux of the story is true, and they even trot out their standard line by excoriating the "MSM" for covering up the story. Scott, for instance, says:
I am struck, however, by the lack of interest in the undisputed component of the law on which Taheri focused. Taheri reported that the the (sic) Iranian Majlis had adopted legislation that prescribed the clothing to be worn by Muslims . . .
Taheri also reported that the law "envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians." It is the latter element of the law that generated the furor, but I have not seen any report taking issue with Taheri's account of the pending imposition of an Islamic dress code. If such a dress code were to become effective, religiously based noncompliance (assuming it is permitted) would identify the offenders as non-Muslims or infidels. Along with Reuters and the Daily News, the mainstream media have overlooked this apparently troubling consideration.
Displaying his only talent, Rocket then takes the deceit one dishonest step further and adds this:
As Scott notes, it is hard to see how Iran can regulate the clothing worn by Muslims without also regulating the clothing worn by non-Muslims, either explicitly or implicitly.
There simply is no law in Iran that has anything to do with mandating what non-Muslims should wear. It does not exist. And it never did. And everyone acknowledges that except for Powerline. From Jewish Week:
[Israeli expert on Iran, Meir] Javedanfar told The Jewish Week he spent "about 40 minutes" talking to sources in and outside of Iran and, more importantly, getting the text of the legislation off the Internet. His review of the extensive parliamentary debate of the bill, also available online, showed that such a proposal was not even part of the discussion.
Indeed, the law's text and parliamentary debate, available in English from the BBC Service, discloses no provision mandating that any Iranians will have to wear any kind of prescribed dress. It instead focuses on promoting "traditional clothing designs" using Iranian and Islamic patterns by Iran's domestic fashion industry and preventing "the import of clothes incompatible with cultural Islamic and national values." The law is meant to develop and protect Iran's clothing industry, Javedanfar said.
At this point, the only way to claim that Iran has passed a law regulating the clothing which non-Muslims must wear is by lying. But that's exactly what Powerline is claiming. And four months from now, and six months from now, when the debate intensifies over whether the American military should forcibly change Iran's government, Big Trunk and Rocket will be writing posts insisting that Iran has a law requiring Jews and Christians to wear identifying clothing, and they will link to the post they wrote today setting forth the "rationale" which proves that, and scores of other warmonger pundits and bloggers will link to that post when arguing, with increasing urgency, that Iran is the new Nazi Germany and that those who oppose an attack on it are a bunch of appeasers who never learned the mistake of Neville Chamberlain and who don't care if another Holocaust occurs.
Even the extremists who peddled this story now admit that it's false. Only Powerline continues to claim that it's true. Isn't that fairly definitively proof of the complete lack of credibility, integrity and honesty of TIME's Blog of the Year? There is no limit on what they are willing to fabricate in order to justify their defense of the administration and to push the country to war with Iran. But if this patently dishonest insistence on clinging to a plainly false story isn't enough to compel their removal from mainstream respectability, what would be?
UPDATE: Taylor Marsh, who has done some substantial original reporting on this story from her blog, has a detailed and very interesting post today exploring the question of who bears original and ultimate responsibility for the manufacture and distribution of this false story. Be sure to follow the links to Taylor's other posts where you can see the chronology of her impressive journalistic involvement in this story.
So just how much funding does powerline get from AIPAC?
ReplyDeleteMost Canadians know what a propaganda rag the National Post is, barely fit to use as birdcage lining. Typical of the right-wing echo chamber. One entity prints a known falsehood, and everybody else acts as a megaphone. Off topic, what good news that Lay and Skilling were convicted for Enron malfeasance.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder we should declare war. They're Protectionists!
ReplyDeleteHere's some detail on the law in question.
www.statesman.com
Of course, the question is when will the governments involved go after these media outlets for printing outright falsehoods and lies? There's a double-standard here: when the Right print lies and falsehoods they get a free pass, but when news media print the truth they get a visit from the Attorney General's henchmen.
ReplyDeleteDan Rather and his editor were run out of the business for printing supposed falsehoods, but when was the last time that a Right media-head was taken to task for their lies and decpetion?
It kind of makes me wish that there'd be a law on the books that prosecuted the media for disseminating untruths. Of course, we expect the news media to police themselves; but with abuses against the truth such as this, the inability of the press to do so becomes apparent.
It's not 'lying'.
ReplyDeleteIt's serving a Higher Truth.
Sean Hannity also repeated this lie as fact in his interview last night with Condi Rice.
ReplyDeleteAll they really need to do to be "successful" at this is keep people confused.
ReplyDeleteIf they can run it through the news cycle at different times, it serves their agenda whether or not it is being reported as "true" or "false."
This is how "doublespeak" works. It is also the reason we get so many conflicting statements and lies from this administration. The truth doesn't matter if people are always confused and we can choose which version of any number of events suits our purpose.
Classic propaganda technique.
anon@3:36pm: Sean Hannity also repeated this lie as fact in his interview last night with Condi Rice.
ReplyDeleteWhat'd she say?
AIPAC has been up to no good for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteFor some of the nitty-gritty, see James Bamford's book "A Pretext For War".....
Cheers,
This story will not ever die. Just like the incubator story you can still hear today, we'll be hearing this one five years from now, justifying why we invaded Iran and have to stay the course there. Hill & Knowlton would be proud of the work Benador has done.
ReplyDeleteAnd any doubt about the circles that spat up this false story are dispelled by this paragraph in that article:
Benador Associates, the public relations agency that placed the story with The National Post, is a boutique firm specializing in promoting neoconservative figures such as Taheri, Michael Ledeen, Richard Perle, Charles Krauthammer and others
It is entirely fascinating to type Michael Ledeen's name into namebase.org's proximity search...
I'm still trying to figure out which Army they intend to use for the invasion. Or are they just going to lob a bunker-buster and call it a day?
ReplyDeletePublished on Thursday, May 25, 2006 by Inter Press Service
ReplyDeleteIran Proposal to U.S. Offered Peace with Israel
by Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and to cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to the secret Iranian proposal to the United States. The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-U.S. agreement covering all the issues separating the two countries, a copy of which was obtained by IPS, was conveyed to the United States in late April or early May 2003.
The two-page document contradicts the official line of the George W. Bush administration that Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel and the sponsorship of terrorism in the region.
There are not enough words in the English language to accurately describe what a complete and utter waste of cells, space, and breath John Hinderaker is. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that every morning he grabs his Time "Blog of the Year" award, goes up onto his roof, and shouts "I AM A GOLDEN GOD!" at the top of his lungs a la Billy Crudup's character in "Almost Famous."
ReplyDelete"I'm still trying to figure out which Army they intend to use for the invasion. Or are they just going to lob a bunker-buster and call it a day?"
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, our military will have to divert itself from Iraq to fight Russia and China after we invade Iran. The only conceivable outcomes of us going to war with Iran are:
-The world and the UN acquiesce fully to overtly aggressive US imperial hegemony
-We become embroiled in a world war
Might seem far-fetched to some, but pay close attention to headlines from our corporate media about Iran. Russia and China are already being set up on the opposite side of the fence. It's easy to predict world governments based on their propaganda news outlets. I might be going too far in my assertions, but I can guarantee massive repercussions if we invade Iran, even if the UN were to support it.
Let the good times roll.
There are not enough words in the English language to accurately describe what a complete and utter waste of cells, space, and breath John Hinderaker is.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Any rational thinking person hates those Rocket, but NOBODY hates him quite as much as GG, which is why I always savor the Powerline posts here.
Oh, I don't know...Putting Ann Coulter on their cover?
ReplyDeleteI am anxiously awaiting to hear the right-wing apologists spin this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Powerline needs a comeuppance.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly the reason I get depressed about world events.
ReplyDeleteGlenn can eviscerate this nonsense with samurai precision day in and day out, and yet it doesn't seem to change.
Why aren't people on the right screaming for people to be fired? Shouldn't the NP's editor go? Or whoever decided to run the article at least?
ReplyDeleteThis is worse than rathergate - at least there Rather actually had documents, and the contents of the documents are most likely true, just the documents can be proven to be the originals.
This was out-and-out false, and EASILY verified by anyone who could read persian to read the law on the Iranian government's web site, or how about calling up the Jewish member of the Iranian parliament who, I'm sure, would notice if a Nazi-esque law got passed forcing him to wear special clothing...
yeeesh.
I am no advocate for Powerline, but unless I misread you or your quotes from them--I haven't read their original post--I think they may be making the point that, if Muslims in Iran are given mandates as to what clothing they should wear, by definition, anyone NOT wearing such clothing will be identified as non-Muslim, i.e., "infidels." It's as if in Nazi Germany, rather than all Jews being required to wear yellow stars, all NON-Jews were required to wear swastikas. Those without the swastikas would then be identifiable as Jews.
ReplyDeleteTo reiterate, having only read your quotes from the Powerline column, I may be misreading what they are saying. And, if I read them right per your quotes, it's still obviously a case of the Powerliners trying to salvage their credibility by finding a way to assert the basic point is still true.
Of course, the question is, then, is there a law in Iraq requiring that Muslims wear specific identifying clothing? And, if so, are there penalties for Muslims who do not adhere to the clothing dictates?
I am no advocate for Powerline, but unless I misread you or your quotes from them--I haven't read their original post--
ReplyDeleteWhy would you write a long post insisting that I misunderstood Powerline's point if you haven't even read their post? All you have to do is click on the link I provided and read it. Why would you launch into a lengthy defense of Powerline if, as you claim, you haven't even bothered to read what they wrote?
I think they may be making the point that, if Muslims in Iran are given mandates as to what clothing they should wear,
But no law mandates what Muslims have to wear. The whole premise is false.
by definition, anyone NOT wearing such clothing will be identified as non-Muslim, i.e., "infidels."
First of all, that's nonsense. Nothing in the law prohibits anyone from wearing whatever clothes they want. Jews and Christians are free so to wear whatever they want to wear.
Second of all, there are plenty of religions which mandate certain clothing. Most rabbis in Israel would say that Jewish men and women are required to wear certain clothing. Does that mean they are imposing an identifying dress code for non-Jews?
And if Jews are required by their own religion to dress a certain way, then they are choosing to dress in a way that identifies them as Jews. No law is making them do that.
Third, Powerline is claiming that the substance of the story - that a new law mandates that Jews wear yellow stripes - is true. Here is what Big Trunk wrote:
Taheri also reported that the law "envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians." It is the latter element of the law that generated the furor, but I have not seen any report taking issue with Taheri's account of the pending imposition of an Islamic dress code.
Nothing calls for different clothes for people in different religions. There are no dress codes for religious minorities That was what the story claimed. The whole story was false. To insist that the essence of it is true requires deliberate deceit.
Of course, the question is, then, is there a law in Iraq requiring that Muslims wear specific identifying clothing?
No, there is no law. There are efforts underway to protect the Iranian clothing industry by excluding Western clothing on the ground that it does not comport with Muslim beliefs about clothing. But there is no law mandating that people dress in accordance with their religion - and, most importantly, there is no dress code for religious minorities - as National Post falsely claimed and as Powerline still claims.
Sometime, I would like to hear an acknowledgment that the law in question severely restricts legal dress for women, who must be around half of the Iranian population.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying we should invade; it's just that the law is truly repressive even if it is not repressing religious minorities. It would be good for us to acknowledge that women get put down once again and nobody notices.
But if this patently dishonest insistence on clinging to a plainly false story isn't enough to compel their removal from mainstream respectability, what would be?
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth would that deny them mainstream credibility? After all, it's exactly what the MSM did for years, pretending that Gore claimed to have invented the internet.
Peddling provably false stories to promote the Bush agenda isn't what gets you kicked out of the MSM. It's how you get invited in.
Sometime, I would like to hear an acknowledgment that the law in question severely restricts legal dress for women, who must be around half of the Iranian population
ReplyDeleteThat would be great except it doesn't appear to.
Obviously posting a link was inadequate to the task so here's the whole text of what I've been able to find so far
"In order to preserve and strengthen Iranian-Islamic culture and identity, consolidate and promote national clothing designs and guide the manufacturing and marketing of clothes, on the basis of domestic forms and designs, as well as to encourage the public to refrain from choosing and spending on foreign designs not appropriate to the Iranian culture and identity," the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry will form a committee made up of representatives from various ministries, the state media and the parliament culture committee to follow through this law.
___
The Culture Ministry and state media must "encourage through public broadcasts to promote patterns of Iranian clothing and clothing from different regions of Iran ... and to abstain from promoting patterns not conforming with Iranian-Islamic culture."
___
The Culture and Trade Ministries will promote knowledge of Iranian-Islamic patterns of clothing in international culture exchanges and national, regional and international festivals.
___
The Commerce Ministry will organize seasonal exhibitions of clothes in order to ensure public distribution and protect the manufacture and sale of clothes conforming with Iranian-Islamic patterns.
___
The Commerce Ministry is obliged to raise tariffs on foreign clothing to set the foundation for growth of domestic clothing.
___
The Cooperation and Social Affairs Ministries are tasked with giving a priority to ensuring that designers and manufacturers of clothes on an Iranian-Islamic pattern benefit from state incentives.
___
All governmental bodies should encourage and facilitate their staff to purchase Iranian and Islamic clothing.
If anyone can find a more complete translation, by all means post a link.
ReplyDeleteGlenn said: "Why would you write a long post insisting that I misunderstood Powerline's point if you haven't even read their post? All you have to do is click on the link I provided and read it. Why would you launch into a lengthy defense of Powerline if, as you claim, you haven't even bothered to read what they wrote?"
ReplyDeleteI don't think my post was particularly long, and I certainly don't see it as either a defense of Powerline or as "insisting" that you misunderstood Powerline's point. I simply posed a question raised in my mind based on YOUR parsing of the Powerline article, and supported by you with quotes of your choosing. I didn't feel I needed to read their whole article to ask a question raised in my mind by your presentation of their position. I certainly intended to read their whole column when I had the time, but my phrasing was purposely couched to indentify that my questions were based on only a partial familiarity with their claims, and acknowledging that perhaps I was misreading the arguments.
Okay, I've read the Powerline column, and I still think they are trying to say that Muslims will be required to wear identifying clothing, which by definition, would serve to reveal by their noncompliance anyone who is NOT Muslim.
ReplyDeleteI still don't think your original post was clear as to whether the Powerline take--obviously meant, as I said in the first place, to salvage their credibility--was false...you focused on the falsity of reports that non-Muslims would be required to wear identifying clothing, but you didn't clearly--to my reading--reveal whether the assertion that MUSLIMS would be required to wear appropriate religious dress was also false.
Based on the quotes posted by Phd9, it appears any laws or rulings with regard to clothing have to do with promoting the wearing of styles which derive from IRANIAN culture...it does not seem to have any specificity as to RELIGIOUS dress...which, of course, would settle it that Powerline's statements are flat wrong.
Glenn, I think you've mentioned this in one form or another that these guys want not only a monarchy here in the US but endless war around the globe.
ReplyDeleteAs for being removed from mainstream respectability ask Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin about that one. More than likely this will get Johnson and Hindraker season tickets to the Meet the Press roundtable.
But did you see the National Post story? I was in Canada when it came out and couldn't believe my eyes. A full third of page one was taken up with a picture, not of anything Iranian, but of Jewish ghetto dwellers, complete with yellow stars, circa 1941. Another photo of the same completed the story on the back of the news section. I remember thinking this was a really wierd way to illustrate a story about Iran, but hey, this is Canada. Totally designed to make Iran look like Nazi Germany, and to instill fear and hatred.
ReplyDeleteReally. Somebody get a screen shot of that page one. It'll knock your socks off.
Okay Lenin's tomb has one. Sorry for the delay in getting that.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought that the Lincoln Group had just gotten another contract for psychological ops.
ReplyDeleteIs that NYTimes reporter Judith Miller's name I see listed at Benador Associates? Why yes it is!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Benador's web site,[1] Benador Associates is a "Public Relations, Media and International Speakers Bureau." Benador was founded by Eleana Benador. Offices are "located in New York City as well as in Paris and London. However, the activities of the firm are expanding throughout the American continent, as well as in Europe and the Middle East."
Jim Lobe describes Benador as follows:
"When historians look back on the United States war in Iraq, they will almost certainly be struck by how a small group of mainly neo-conservative analysts and activists outside the administration were able to shape the US media debate in ways that made the drive to war so much easier than it might have been… But historians would be negligent if they ignored the day-to-day work of one person who, as much as anyone outside the administration, made their media ubiquity possible. Meet Eleana Benador, the Peruvian-born publicist for Perle, Woolsey, Michael Ledeen, Frank Gaffney and a dozen other prominent neo-conservatives whose hawkish opinions proved very hard to avoid for anyone who watched news talk shows or read the op-ed pages of major newspapers over the past 20 months."
— Jim Lobe, The Andean Condor among the Hawks, Asia Times, August 15, 2003.
So there are these peculiar archipelagoes of opaqueness in the world of news, where journalists are at the mercy of single sources that appear solid. It is very dangerous for the US cable news channels to depend so heavily for analysis of things like Iraq and the war on terror, on retired military officers and on well-connected cyphers like Walid Phares. (Hint to cable news personnel departments: if an academic has a spotty publication record and is at some small place or doesn't have a proper university post, but you get a call pushing him from some rightwing think tank in Washington or from the Benador Agency, be suspicious).
Juan Cole, Psy-Ops and News Informed Comment, Dec. 3, 2004.
PhD9 said...
ReplyDelete"I'm still trying to figure out which Army they intend to use for the invasion. Or are they just going to lob a bunker-buster and call it a day?"
Now you know the real reason Congress is hurrying to pass an immigration bill making all the illegals legal. They're gonna slap uniforms on em and send em to Iran.
Things are indeed very scary right now from a constitutional crisis point of view. We have an executive branch that has looted our treasury, led us to war under false causes, and declared itself above and beyond the laws that govern us all. They have been supported by a structurally crooked Congress and a complacent and often complicit media. We have a syndicate of very rich very greedy people in league with crazy warmongering idealogues and religious fundamentalists. It is a toxic formula.
ReplyDeleteThe very fabric of our society is being tested right now. God help us if we go to war with Iran. But that's what these crazy bastards are trying to do. This is why all these generals are standing up and speaking out. They see our kids going crazy over there and doing terrible things, and they won't stand for it any more. But attack Iran is spitting in China's eye. And conflict with China is not a path towards peace and happiness. It is a fast path to global conflict. The gates of hell are now propped open quite nicely.
Every time I look in my kids' eyes, I get angrier and angrier at what is happening to us.
Headline on Fox News yesterday: "Will Al Gore's Global Warming Movie Destroy The US Economy"? And how about the panty-sniffing Hillary Clinton article on front page of the New York Times? The whole thing was innuendo about Billary's sex life. Is that really meaningful news right now? Of the so-called liberal news media.
I read today that American Idol got more votes collectively than any president in the history of this country. This is a decadent society, man. We are like Rome. I am in despair.
Now is a critical moment. Fitzgerald seems set to indict Rove and probably several more. The naked raping of everything good about our country is being laid bare. Bushco is like a cornered dog. He appeared 100% insane in his press conference with Blair today. I am very afraid.
There is no room for partisan politics now. We are well beyond that. This is about the survival of our society.
Now smile at this oldie-but-goodie:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/23894/
Here's a second to Mr. Greenwald's support for the work that Taylor Marsh has done on this one.
ReplyDeleteFor example, immediately after the National Post's publication of its original front page, above the fold publication of the story that ran with the Taheri fabrication last Friday, Ms. Marsh went straight to one of the circular source's mouth, the Wiesenthal Center, and got them on the record saying that they had been badgered by an assistant editor from the National Post to corroborate the story. This figures quite prominently in Mr. Kelly's mama mea half-a-culpa from yesterday.
As has been pointed out at the top of the thread, most reasonable people up here in Canuckistan understand the Nat Post's built-in bias.
But here are just a few things that folks south of the 49th might not know about it that even if you are not planning to visit the tinfoil haberdashery anytime soon just might give you pause.
1) The National Post was started by Conrad Black (currently in Mr. Fitzgerald's sights in Chicago) who was very happy to have Richard Perle sit on one of his corporate boards back then.
2) One of the paper's golden boy columnists is 'Axis of Evil' moniker creator David Frum, who both Mr. Perle's ghostwriter and a fellow Canuckistani.
3) The paper is now owned by the sons of Izzy Asper who have most interesting political views and who are not afraid to impose 'style guidelines' on all of their news/media in an effort to further those views.
Finally, one last tidbit.... It is important to understand that this thing was unleashed at the front-end of a three day weekend up here that signals the beginning of cottage season. Thus, every self-respecting editor/big time journo was gone for the duration (including Mr. Mea Culpa Kelly), which allowed the Whirlitzer to crank unimpeded for all that time. As a result, by Monday noon there were already more than 250 newstories on this thing, some of them outright trumpeting the lie (ie. in the NY Post), but many others, including wirecopy that made its way into the Washington Post, prominently featuring the 'false but true' codswallop that has been amplified by the Powerline post being discussed here.
.
I think this is all beside the point. According to shariah law, dhimmis (non-Muslims) are supposed to clearly identify themselves as such to the ummah (Muslim community). The details of implementing this are left to the individual communities. The first world leader to require Jews to wear distinctive badges (a yellow belt and a yellow conical "dunce" cap) was Haroun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, who ruled in Baghdad in the era of Charlemagne, the late 700s and early 800s.
ReplyDeleteIn the Shiite version of Islam this is all the more important, since any physical contact, no matter how slight or inadvertent, renders the believer najis (unclean), and requires him to take a ritual bath. Iran has a long history of this. From the reign of Abbas I [1587-1629] (who made Shiism the dominant form of Islam in Iran) until the 1920s, all Jews were required to display a yellow badge.
So while the story might have gotten some details wrong. there can be no doubt that something like this is in the works in present day Iran.
An ironic note is that one of the last acts of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was requiring the members of the local Hindu minority to identify themselves as such by wearing a saffron scarf.
Anonymous said:
ReplyDelete"An ironic note is that one of the last acts of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was requiring the members of the local Hindu minority to identify themselves as such by wearing a saffron scarf."
was this before or after the bush administration gave the taliban $43 million in aid in March 2001, or met with them in august of 2001 to discuss plans for an afghani pipeline?
Judging by the excerpts posted above by phd9, the proposed law seems to be about as controversial as a Buy America campaign in this country.
ReplyDeleteBut haggling and hairsplitting over the wording of the law is beside the point. The real point is the campaign to promote a war with Iran and the people behind this campaign.
There are no genuine facts properly speaking to argue about here except the fact of a deliberate political intervention designed to con Americans into acquiescing in a war with Iran.
A little investigative journalism regarding Benador seems very much in order.
No need to keep pounding on that Hindraker buffoon, Glenn -- the guy lost any shred of credibility after the infamous "Bush = genius, awaiting a real challenge" post from some time ago.
ReplyDeleteYearlyKos in 2 weeks, baby!
To paraphrase Anonymous 12:20AM above:
ReplyDeleteI think this is all beside the point. [Irrelevant comments about Sharia.] [Irrelevant historical comment.]
[Irrelevant statements about the Shia.] [Irrelevant statement about Iran and the Shia which would be relevant in the context of real historical argument coherently bridging past with present but which is actually irrelevant since such an argument is not presented.]
[Fake limiting ploy[,]] [vapid sophistical assertion.]
[Irrelevant conclusion with bonus misuse of 'ironic'.]
Good post. I don't know how Mr. Greenwald got through it without once mentioning Jesse MacBeth...you know, making the point a bit more non-partisan? Oh right, that wouldn't have occured to him, would it. Still, that would have removed it from the same old he-said - she said partisan screed classification and made it more appealing to other-than-the-choir.
ReplyDeleteWell there is some good to come out of this. Who knew, before all this, that Iran had Jewish MPs -
ReplyDeleteGlenn, you'd better be careful with this post's title. Some wingnut magazine is likely to cut off the "Powerline," run with the rest and cite you.
ReplyDeleteAfter WW2, Jewish people emerged with the sympathy and respect of the entire world. In this country Jews were recognized for their achievements, their humanity, their prinicpled leadership for the fight for civil rights for other groups, their creativity, their scholarship and a whole host of other contributions. Their imprint on this country's culture is simply incalcuable.
ReplyDeleteAbove everything else, Jewish people were identified with one quality: compassion. Whenever there was a fight about an issue which centered on justice, you could be certain Jews were among the leaders and most passionate soldiers in that fight.
When a civilized people start acting like barbarians and repugnant bullies, lilies that fester indeed smell far worse than weeds.
I submit that certain powerful warmongering, unprincipled factions in Israel are doing fatal damage to the high regard the world has had for American Jews.
If this were an activist age like the sixties, an age in which Jews were among the most passionate, energized, organized and effective fighters for civil rights for blacks and other causes which had to do with Justice, there would be an outcry on the part of American Jews against what the Israeli lawless bullies and "faux" Jews are doing and American Jews would be marching in protest against a band of thugs who were robbing them of their good name by guilt through association.
The fact that they are not doing so is causing more damage than the bigots at Powerline can ever do.
The masses of people in any country are not that sophisticated and don't follow things that closely. When they read in the paper or see on the news that "Israelis" are doing x,y, or z to the Palestians, they don't distinguish between a minority that do and the majority who don't because the majority is now bearing silent witness to a crime as loathsome as the treatment of blacks in the South.
: How Mean Can you Be?
Israeli settlers in the West Bank have shot Palestinians, stolen their land, stolen their water, chased them out of their homes, put their own orchards off limits, and generally been about as mean as you could be short of an actual concerted war. They have also lobbied successfully to keep Palestinians stateless, about the closest the modern world comes to large-scale slavery.
And now the big colonies have convinced Prime Minister Olmert just to unilaterally steal the Palestinians' land on which the colonists are squatting!
But when you push little children into thorn bushes, somehow that is more eloquent than all the other things I just said. It reminds me of the jeers and jostling engaged in by American whites when the first southern black students walked on to previously segregated campuses.
-Juan Cole
"Palestinians: Settlers once more assault schoolchildren"
By Michal Greenberg, Haaretz Correspondent
Palestinian schoolchildren from the West Bank village of Umm Tubba were assaulted Sunday morning by settlers who approached them from a community called Ma'on ranch, Palestinians said.
The children who were making their way to school were escorted by Israel Defense Forces soldiers, but the escort did not prevent the assault.
The children said a woman pushed two of them unto thorn bushes at the side of the road.
The IDF [Israeli army] has been escorting the Palestinian children to school daily due to the intensified assaults by settlers.
On Sunday three soldiers and an army jeep escorted the children, but the Palestinians say that the soldiers did nothing to stop the settlers from assaulting the children.'
That is disgusting. These are actions that define the delusional neo-cons in Israel and America, the heartless abusers of human rights that are tucked at the top of both governments.
They are actions which are the direct antithesis of everything that "Jewishness" has always stood for, and I urge people to rent The White Countess.
Mr. Feinstein is a portrait of a simple man who has suffered and felt the sharp sting of injustice first hand. He emerges unbroken and heroic and is anything but "simple" however because he has a heart as big as the sky.
What the hell are these evil American neo-cons and despotic Israeli thugs doing to the image of Jews throughout Europe and even in our own country? I have definitely started to see a subtle shift in the perception of "Jews" in many of my own friends. It doesn't sit very well with people whose blood starts to boil at the sight of a little black child being pushed around amd tormented by bigoted bullies to see that happen to the Palestianians. I am sure Powerline thinks the Palestianians deserve it for x, y, or z reason. But for American Jews it is a tragedy that might have lasting implications.
Remember this great song from Hair?
"Easy To Be Hard"
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy To Be Hard; Easy to be cold
Oh, how can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud; Easy to say no
And especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
Do you only care about the bleeding crowd?
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend...
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be hard; Easy to be cold
Easy to be proud;
Easy to say no.
I have never for one moment in my life really understood how people can be so heartless, how people can be so cruel.
PS. ....details how many pro-Israeli organizations (including AIPAC and the Simon Wiesenthal Center) pushed the story as hard as possible, while some exercised more caution.
ReplyDeleteThe Simon Wiesenthal Center should hang its head in shame. Stop preaching to the world to never forget this and never forget that. When it comes to the Simon Wiesenthal Center the only thing I will remember is what frauds they are.
As for who bears the most responsibility for the dissemination of this false story, when you start rounding up the usual suspects please remember to put Eugene Volokh and Orin Kerr at the top of the list.
Alan Dershowitz writes the text. They publish it.
I admit it takes guts and dedication to expose Orin and Eugene. That's probably why I am the only one so far who has done so.
But I know Glenn has guts and I would bet anything that he is going to get around to Orin Kerr one of these days when drawing up the bill of indictment.
I went to Powerline exactly once, and it took a single visit to frontpage.mag to convince me that any further time spent on either was a waste of time. They are such screechingly obvious fools and charlatans that they don't even deserve the attention Glenn gives them. Who wants to write a doctoral thesis on David Duke?
It's the Machievellis in the room who operate using complex and ingenious devices that I think need to be exposed.
Maybe Marty Lederman wouldn't be as quick to assume Orin Kerr writes in good faith if he spent a little more time analyzing Orin's methodology and motives.
Or if people don't have the time or inclination, I'll print the classic comic book synopsis version here myself:
Example A: Glenn Greenwald
The Iran "yellow star" report is a sham. The usual suspects including Powerline and frontpagemag.com continue to disseminate and attest to the veracity of alarmist, race-baiting propaganda to promote their own blatantly obvious corrupt agendas.
Example B. Rupert Murdoch and clones:
Iranians are staring to turn Iran into Nazi Germany and are first going after Jews.
Example C. Powerline et al.
Don't believe those who tell you the Iran "yellow star" story is a sham.
Example D. Eugene and Orin.
A story has come out reporting that the Iranians are requiring Jews to wear yellow star badges to identify themselves. Clark Kent, er, "Professor" Kerr is too busy grading papers (and getting faxes from Alan Dershowitz) to investigate the accuracy of this story. Talk amongst yourselves. More later....
There have been suggestions that the yellow star story is not true. More later.....
The yellow star badges identifying Jews in Iran is debated across the Internet. More later.....
The requirement that Jews wear yellow star badges to identify them in Iran is verified by Powerline. More later.....
The history of Iranian law has contained language concerning various attempts to blah blah blah......More later.
The specific text of the statute in Iran which requires certain individuals to identify themselves and conform to strict codes of dress blah blah blah.....More later.
More later.....But don't forget those yellow star badges......
Rmember the cartoons? You don't suppose the yellow star badge identification for Jews in Iran blah blah blah.....More later....
More.
More.
More.
More.
Professor Kerr has concluded that if Iranians in this country were required to wear pictures of mongooses on their lapels it might violate Article 6, Section 4, paragraph 27 of the Statute of Prohibition which addresses any requirements for ethnic sartorial identification but it would certainly not be a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
As for those yellow stars and cartoons, more later, you can be sure.....
Example E. Marty Ledermen
Nasty, nasty. What is this world coming to? ::Sigh:: My friend, the estimable Orin Kerr who has done a definitive and exhaustive anlysis of this issue offers his opinion here, no doubt the correct but I haven't had time to do my own complete analysis yet and probably never will now that Orin has written the textbook on this matter, that this does not, sadly, violate the Fourth Amendment.
Glenn Greenwwald!!!
ReplyDeleteAs your most loyal fan, I am shocked!
Glenn, will you please go get a full nine hours sleep? I am attributing your response to Robert 1014 as due entirely to lack of sleep and overwork. There is simply no other way to explain it.
If Robert 1014 wants to write comments ten times the length he does on this blog, you should encourage that. He is one of the two or three best commenters on this blog. If you want to single out people for attack, why don't you concentrate on some of the hate-filled, annoying, snarky comments that appear here so frequently?
Instead you want to drive away one of your few best posters? Because he is a gentlemen, he handled his own response to you very graciously.
BTW, Robert was 100% right and you were 100% wrong in your response to him.
He didn't have to read any further in the Powerline article to be able to intelligently comment on the point he was making. And he wasn't insisting on anything. He got further information on the law in question from another commenter here and then came to a valid conclusion taking that new information into account.
And you should reread the Powerline post and Robert's post and you will see that nothing Robert wrote was wrong. Did you notice the word "if" in Robert's post?
Are you starting to read stories with a predispostion against the source that colors your interpretation of the actual words they write?
Are you starting to behave a little like a tyrant trying to impose your own hurried interpretation of words and then castigating, yes Glenn, castigating anyone who disagrees with you?
What is the meaning of the use of the word "nonsense " when talking to someone like Robert 1014? I would prefer you save your attacks for the enemy and avoid the collateral damage to your friends.
You can now castigate me but even so you will remain a hero of mine because I consider you a rare gift to humanity and you have literally changed my life.
But you know that I believe in "resisting the beginnings".
And you are beginning to periodically attack your very best commenters. That may not be your view, but it's mine.
Nobody is perfect and there is no requirement to be perfect.
That's why God made apologies :)
Most rabbis in Israel would say that Jewish men and women are required to wear certain clothing. Does that mean they are imposing an identifying dress code for non-Jews?
No, but their actions certainly help to identify non-Jews and the rabbis are theocratic, clannish, exclusionary authoritarians. Organized religion is the ultimate authoritarianism. It even wants to control you in the afterlife and thinks it has the power to do so.
As for all those noble "capitalist Ministries" in Iran? Ya. They are interested in trade policies and promoting local industries. Sure. That must be it.
The first world leader to require Jews to wear distinctive badges (a yellow belt and a yellow conical "dunce" cap) was Haroun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, who ruled in Baghdad in the era of Charlemagne, the late 700s and early 800s.
ReplyDeleteWe need a law like that here... for Republicans and Bush supporters. The dunce cap is perfect and I would opt for a yellow streak down the back.
EWO--You can now castigate me but even so you will remain a hero of mine because I consider you a rare gift to humanity and you have literally changed my life
ReplyDeleteWon't Ayan Rand be jealous? Get help, you pervert.
I don't suppose that in the coversation about news that turns out to be wrong the ABC report about Hastert is on the radar screen?
ReplyDeleteCiting anonymous law enforcement sources, ABC News reported on Wednesday that Hastert was under scrutiny in an FBI corruption investigation centered around former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
ABC updated its story later to say Hastert was not a formal "target" or "subject" of the investigation, but was "in the mix."
I hope he does sue for libel.
On the other hand it's hard to gin up any sympathy for a guy that rushes to the rescue of a fellow House member caught with bribe money.
For robert1014 and those fans of his defending him about his premise (a false premise)...where he makes the case for powerliars that since Muslims would have a dress code that anyone not following the dress code is therefore identified as non-muslim so that in essence is identifying.
ReplyDeleteUmmm....on other thing, you forget about those many muslims that would refuse to follow the dress code.
Telling the truth is Treason
ReplyDeleteBush supporters will never condemn Poweline for telling a lie – since it serves their purpose, but they will condemn anyone for telling the truth – if it doesn’t serve their purpose.
A couple days ago Glenn wrote about their fevered reaction to Murtha’s statements about Marines killing innocent civilians. Today, the The New York Times is confirming what John Murtha said.
He was telling us the truth.
Steve Gilliard reminds of what Bush supporters said about Murtha for telling the truth:
Here’s Fox News
Michelle Malkin says Murtha "hangs the Marines"
Blogs for Bush: "damned traitor"
Say Anything Blog says it was a "craptacular thing to do" for Murtha to speak out about this .
An entire site called "Murtha Must Go" that in its tag line calls him a "traitor"
Right Voices say "Anyway you slice it, he is a traitor!"
Hugh Hewitt " I cannot imagine a more irresponsible statement from Congressman Murtha given that the investigation is still open. The Congressman should explain his sources, or face the charge that he has judged the men involved before the evidence is even compiled."
Political Pit Bull: Murtha makes an "outrageous allegation"
Rick Edwards, Powerpundit
Listen how he rattles off all this stuff about how its just an allegation and we should wait for evidence, trial, yada, yada, yada..
.
Assrocket adds at the bottom of Not Assrocket's post that "Jack Murtha is a disgrace," trying to rally support for his Republican opponent saying "Let's at least make that miserable *** sweat."
(http://powerlineblog.com/archives/014127.php#014127)
Gary Gross calls Murtha a "traitor" proclaiming Murtha's statement a "pack of lies"
Neal Boortz weighs in with " Just whose side is he on, anyway? It doesn't appear to be ours." By definition, that's a traitor
(Steve has all the links.)
And Digby points to the man who exposed My Lai:
But for years Thompson suffered snubs and worse from those in and out of the military who considered his actions unpatriotic.
Fellow servicemen refused to speak with him. He received death threats, and walked out his door to find animal carcasses on his porch. He recalled a congressman angrily saying that Thompson himself was the only serviceman who should be punished because of My Lai. and asks
Does anyone think that it will be any different this time?
I don’t. For Bush supporters lying is patriotic, and telling the truth is treason, and as long as they control the political discourse in this country, that’s the way it will be.
Pootie--I hope he does sue for libel.
ReplyDeleteOn what grounds? For that fat pig they would have had to print that he was caught in flagrante delicto with a dead girl, a live under-age boy and you an Bart, Pootie.
In the various states, whether by case law or actual legislation, there are generally several "privileges" that can get a defamation case dismissed without proceeding to trial. These include the allegedly defamatory statement being one of opinion rather than fact; or being "fair comment and criticism", as it is important to society that everyone be able to comment on matters of public interest. In addition, it is generally accepted in the United States that a sufficiently public figure is "fair game" for all but the grossest libels.
Martial law. Crack down hard. Arrest any and all Bush supporters. It's a national emergency. Besides, it would be impossible to do the reverse and arrest people opposed to Bush. Less than 30% of the country cannot jail more than 70% of the country. Simple arithmetic.
ReplyDeletePootie--I hope he does sue for libel.
ReplyDeleteOn what grounds? For that fat pig they would have had to print that he was caught in flagrante delicto with a dead girl, a live under-age boy and you an Bart, Pootie.
It would also have to be untrue. With the pukes, 70% of the population already thinks they sleep with dead girls and inderage boys.
Can't the Iranian gov't sue PowerLine and the National Post for Libel?
ReplyDeleteFrom shooter242 at 8:20AM:
ReplyDelete"I hope he does sue for libel."
Actually, the best he can hope to do under the circumstances is issue the categorical denials he already has and pray the FBI get's redirected elsewhere. For there to be a libel charge means he'd actually have to be innocent beyond any doubt of the matters discussed; given who he keeps company with and what they've been up to, that's about as likely as President Bush completely cleaning house and actually being interest in policy analysis.
Check out
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/7504.html
It never stops. Now they're pushing this 'suicide brigades' story.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be coming from an MEK affiliated organization, cites official Iranian media as source, but naturally there's nothing there.
.
Sean Hannity also repeated this lie as fact in his interview last night with Condi Rice.
ReplyDeleteHannity is still pushing the "Gore introduced America to Willie Horton" story, and the "Dem.'s wouldn't let pro-life speaker address convention" story.
One of my students mentioned Sean Hannity as his favorite "thinker" and I laughed in his face before I could stop myself.
.
What would be important to find out in this story is whether it is part of a misinformation/disinformation campaign run by the CIA or DIA. Disseminating propaganda by any US agency to US citizens is supposed to be illegal.
ReplyDeleteOne of my students mentioned Sean Hannity as his favorite "thinker" and I laughed in his face before I could stop myself.
ReplyDeleteIntroduce your student to one of Sean Hannity's "favorite thinkers". Hal Turner, (because Hitler is dead).
Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri was apparently at the wrong commencement. This graduating class of suicide bombers would certainly be a receptive audience for his message.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly they are wearing identifying clothing. Start of a trend?
Dems turned on Leopold for peddling a questionable, if not outright false, story. Liberals turned on Jefferson when 90k was found in his freezer.
ReplyDeleteThe republican culture of corruption? Right wing blogs defend and spin. False stories by their own side? They can't be wrong.
Meanwhile, back here in reality.
shooter242:
ReplyDeleteDemocratic Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri was apparently at the wrong commencement. This graduating class of suicide bombers would certainly be a receptive audience for his message.
Ummmm ... *looks at link* ... IC. "Dozens say they will die for Islam and Iran".
You know, I bet that dozens (if not more) U.S. citizens would die for the U.S.... hmmm, waiddaminnit, they already have (although unbeknownst to them, it was actually for Dubya's "new model" political aims, and for the benefit of AIPAC; too bad, suckas).
And in fact, I bet you'd even find dozens of "good soldiers" amongst the acolytes of Gen. William Boykin that would do so for Christianity (none of that "turn the other cheek" crap, that's soooooooo First Century....).
But I tell you what, Shooter: Why don't you go put your life on the line, pay the ultimate sacrifice, in defence of Dubya and all that is good, just, and 'Merkun?... The troops in Iraq ... and soon to be in Iran ... would appreciate the break.
Meanwhile, is it necessary to point out that Clay didn't address these folks you link to? I suggest that you'd be better off dealing with your own affairs, rather than telling others that you know what they should have done....
Cheers,
Shooter242 said...
ReplyDeleteDemocratic Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri was apparently at the wrong commencement. This graduating class of suicide bombers would certainly be a receptive audience for his message.
Interestingly they are wearing identifying clothing. Start of a trend?
That's OK, pootie. No one here expects you Goopers to die for your country. You can afford to have other people do that for you. You guys even had some riots over the fact back when you were Democrats and we were Republicans.
From the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned New York's Irish and German residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition when southern blacks would supposedly flee north. To these New Yorkers, the Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst fears. In March 1863, fuel was added to the fire in the form of a stricter federal draft law. All male citizens between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age were subject to military duty. The federal government entered all eligible men into a lottery. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay the government three hundred dollars might avoid enlistment. Blacks, who were not considered citizens, were exempt from the draft.
In the month preceding the July 1863 lottery, in a pattern similar to the 1834 anti-abolition riots, antiwar newspaper editors published inflammatory attacks on the draft law aimed at inciting the white working class. They criticized the federal government's intrusion into local affairs on behalf of the "nigger war." Democratic Party leaders raised the specter of a New York deluged with southern blacks in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation. White workers compared their value unfavorably to that of southern slaves, stating that "[we] are sold for $300 [the price of exemption from war service] whilst they pay $1000 for negroes." In the midst of war-time economic distress, they believed that their political leverage and economic status was rapidly declining as blacks appeared to be gaining power. On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery of the conscription law was held. For twenty-four hours the city remained quiet. On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the five days of mayhem and bloodshed that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began.
Great 2 print set of an historical print from History Shots for anyone who wants to see just how often the two parties have "flip-flopped" throughout history...
ReplyDeleteSOURCE: Abramoff Considered Hastert ‘A Reliable Ally For His Clients’
ReplyDelete[via War & Piece] Jason Rood tries to get a bird's-eye view on the press reports about the NSA domestic surveillance program. He concludes:
ReplyDeleteMaybe all these articles are on different programs, different efforts. But they seem to fit together into a larger structure, a clever one, that -- if it exists -- is quite a concerted effort to skirt the Constitution while conducting a massive domestic surveillance operation.
But they seem to fit together into a larger structure, a clever one, that -- if it exists -- is quite a concerted effort to skirt the Constitution while conducting a massive domestic surveillance operation.
ReplyDeleteWhich in addition to its dubious legality and potential for abuse is also an incredible waste of time and money
One troubling exception to your statement that everyone who carried this story has retracted it is the New York Post. They have at least two online versions of the story, one entitled "Fourth Reich", another "Jews Must Wear Yellow". I have Googled for all the keywords I can think of, and have found no retraction on their site.
ReplyDeleteTaheri got it wrong but there is indeed a story here --
ReplyDeletehttp://english.pravda.ru/news/world/20-05-2006/80684-clothing-0
-- and it is not particularly nice one.
The Iranian fundamentalists want clothing to reflect Iranian religious/cultural beliefs. Sounds harmless? Try it out and substitute Christian for Iranian.
It's not all about Bush.