Noted journalist Fareed Zakaria explained this phenomenon quite candidly. He begins with an acknowledgment:
And it is worth remembering that the United States still funds guerrilla outfits and opposition groups that are trying to topple the Islamic Republic. Most of these are tiny groups with no chance of success, funded largely to appease right-wing members of Congress. But the Tehran government is able to portray this as an ongoing anti-Iranian campaign.
Notice his use of the word “portray”. The Iranian regime “is able to portray” an ongoing anti-government campaign “as an ongoing anti-Iranian campaign.” Again, the issue isn’t what the facts are, but what the perceptions are. Zakaria then praises President Obama’s response to events in Iran, saying
In this context, President Obama has been right to tread cautiously — for the most part — to extend his moral support to Iranian protesters but not get politically involved.
Remember, it’s not that funding “guerilla outfits and opposition groups that are trying to topple the Islamic Republic” isn’t being “politically involved”. It’s simply that Obama has wisely, and not without success, created the perception of being politically detached. With this as his framework, Zakaria concludes:
Ahmadinejad is also a politician with considerable mass appeal. He knows that accusing the United States and Britain of interference works in some quarters. Our effort should be to make sure that those accusations seem as loony and baseless as possible. Were President Obama to get out in front, vociferously supporting the protests, he would be helping Ahmadinejad’s strategy, not America’s.
So, accusations that the U.S. is interfering in Iran are true. But acknowledging that would be strategically unwise. “Our effort” – and by “our” Zakaria presumably includes journalists like himself – should not be to report the truth (drawing the obvious corollary), but to work to discredit anyone who observes that the long arm of the U.S. has certainly not been withdrawn from Iranian affairs.
There is a vast amount of unverified or, in some cases, verifiably false information floating around, often originating from sources with a clear bias. Tehran Bureau’s use as a primary source someone who is a member of the Mousavi campaign is just one notable example. Information from such sources is then spread around the internet, sometimes with viral effect, without attribution or sourcing and with a completely uncritical eye. This is often on account of the commentator’s own bias, such as the assumption of the teach-in Niknejad participated in that we should express “solidarity” with the “pro-democracy” – that is to say, the “pro-Mousavi” – movement.
Our effort should not be to take sides in an election campaign in a foreign sovereign nation, but rather to make the best effort to be objective and, far from reporting only that information which suits our own personal political ideology, to discern from the available information in an effort to learn the truth.
Regrettably, numerous commentators on recent events in Iran obviously disagree, preferring instead the creed of Fareed Zakaria.
US/Israel mostly benefit from Ahmadinejad policies. Israel has managed to distract global attention from its atrocities toward Iran who is posed like an international threat and its current rulers just promote that image.
US/Israel could hardly achieve such comfortable position, should a democratically elected government was in Iran. They are selling weapons to Arabs, commanding their policies, only because of Iran! Whatelse could have been in their wish list?
It seems that you are just supporting whoever shouts anti-US slogans! Either you are so naive to believe in what you see, or you are also part of the team.
You must live in Iran with Iranians, before being able to write about us, unless….
Yes, i believe Ahmadinejad won by his own ability. The son of late Shah, Reza Pahlavi wants to be a new candidate puppet like his father and grand father.
These neoconservatives like Timmerman are criminals. I have noticed their enormous amount of distortions and lies about almost everything. They won’t succeed, because Iranians won’t allow it. They are not stupid.
If one is stupid, then one believes lies and distortions. Only intelligent and wise people ask for evidence for an stolen election. Such an evidence does not exist! What exists is lies, distorions, propaganda planted by CIA, neocon or Straussians who want to manipulate masses for the elite.
While some of the Iranian diaspora work underground, others such as Haleh Esfandiari work out in the open at the Wilson Center on Pennsylvania Avenue.
She was a fellow of the NED in 1995 and the Wilson Center gets a third of its funding ($9 million) from Congress and the rest from big oil, big banks, big business and Soros’ OSI – well known for his involvement in color revolutions.
http://www.peakoil.org.au/news/index.php?esfandiari.htm
Is Haleh Esfandiari a CIA asset ?
“….If a democratically elected government was in Iran….”
This is such a stupid statement: Are you trying to imply that israel is demonizing and trying to Persuade US to bomb and nuke Iran because it does not have a “democratic” government like Jordan or Mubarak’s Egypt ? Go find yourself an even more naive or stupid audience like yourself.
Dear DELAVARAN,
Perhaps you have misunderstood my point. US/Israel LOVE undemocratic governments like those you named AND Iran (under current rulers). Just look at the outcome Iranian government activities bring for US/Israel. Maybe unknowingly, maybe not! But it is a fact that as long as you benefit from something you don’t do anything seriously to change it, even if these governments “unknowingly” act in their favor. I am not implying that Ahmadinejad is an agent of US/Israel, but it does not make a difference as long as his activities benefits them! He might not have acted much differently even if he was an agent. He is destroying Iran’s economy and infra-structure, who could have “really” challenged US/Israel interests in region. Without a prosperous and successful Iran, what we can do, but to shout “down to US/Israel” at our own streets!!! And if Iran is eventually attacked, whose policies have given public legitimacy to such an attack, which can eliminate Iran from political equations for decades to come!? Ahmadinejad is either an honest stupid, or a deliberate traitor, but I believe it does not make a difference for the US/Israel…… they love him!
The unfriendly gestures in media by US/Israelis toward Iran is required to convince public that we are really enemies! This is a must in order to show goes on! Just focus on eventual results… (in past and in future)
Thanks for all the work! This was very useful. We are being manipulated by our crass media and public diplomacy (aka propaganda) specialists, just like in the buildup to the war in Iraq. We need people like you to exercise independent, critical thinking.
Than you for writing this.
As an amateur propaganda enthusiast I am struck by how clumsy and self-defeating a lot of modern propaganda (from what should be the world’s foremost experts) is nowadays.
The old futurist gripe goes that I though we’d have jet packs by now and Philip K Dick fans might note the absence of psychotropic pharmaceutical propaganda anyone can swallow, but here we have established overt enemies of a government shilling for a one-sided self-glorification with only themselves as a source.
If Kelly Niknejad is reading, I’d like to assure her that I have the stamina and other properties of a horse and the bank account of a horse breeder, and that I can be absolutely trusted as an authority on these true facts that are not lies.
whois lookup for TehranBureau.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/tehranbureau.com
Try reading my answer, Mr. Hammond. There might be hope for you yet.
http://www.qlineorientalist.com/IranRises/hammond/
There’s no hope for me, Evan. I really do expect claims to be backed by evidence. I’m a lost cause. My answer to your answer: http://hammond.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/07/30/dr-evan-siegel-responds-to-the-case-of-the-fatwa-to-rig-irans-election/
President Obama who appears to have picked up the reigns of past puppets of US-Empire elite also appears to be continuing the Iran “Evil Axis” from past cabals.
President Ahmadinejad and Shia-Cleric Overseer continually asking for change and peace talks with the US-Gov is not what the “Constabulary” crowd want, Mir Hussein Mousavi terrorist agenda (as Iran head of Foreign Ministry) is more the “Axis Enemy” needed to keep the Empire ‘perpetual war economy’ going.
It’s going to be a while before we see any CMS cloud offering from the likes of Oracle. Acquia have lately established Drupal Gardens which is a cloud dependent service which feels very promising. There are a host of reasons why we are not traveling onto the cloud more promptly, the principal reason is organizational change where budgets and contracts are determine and granted years for 3, 4 even 5 years. Come renewal time some clients are asking CMS in the cloud but then have to consider other subjects such as integration with CRM & some other back office systems. I guess it will materialize eventually.
Absolutely superb!
Bravo ! Hats off !