‘Watching the Fall of Islamic Theocracy’
The protests in Iran have entered a third week and the state media acknowledges that the death toll has reached 19 and that hundreds have been injured. Fareed Zakaria, a man not noted for idle leaps, proclaims, "we are watching the fall of Islamic theocracy." In an interview with CNN, he explains: No, I don't mean the Iranian regime will fall soon. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 21, 2009 08:24
Iranian Mullahs Order Election Probe
I'm going to write up a longish piece trying to make sense of the Iranian elections for New Atlanticist later today. Since comparisons to happenings in America seem to be the blogospheric rage de jour, however, I will just note that I have received the news that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Guardian Council to "look into ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 15, 2009 08:58
War Powers Consultation Act
Former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher take to the op-ed pages of the NYT to call for a new War Powers Act. A bipartisan group that we led, the National War Powers Commission, has unanimously concluded after a year of study that the law purporting to govern the decision to engage in war — the 1973 War Powers ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 8, 2008 07:21
Iranian Nukes Breakthrough? (Updated)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his gang of mullahs are said to be "seriously considering" the latest EU 5+1 proposals on resolving the international standoff on the Iranian nuclear program and are telling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to pipe down. Warren Strobel: Iran's senior diplomat said Tuesday that Tehran was seriously considering a new offer from six world powers to resolve the dispute over ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2008 07:12
Scowcroft: ‘Hard to Make Things Better if You Don’t Talk’
When I first saw the headline "Brent Scowcroft Echoes Obama" at memeorandum, I read it as "Brent Scowcroft Endorses Obama," which struck me as sufficiently newsworthy to immediately click the link. The actual story is markedly less surprising: Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, said on Monday that he agrees with ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 29, 2008 06:42
Iraqi Militias Disbanding Under Pressure?
Could the Mahdi Army and other key Iraqi "militias" disband? Signs are pointing in that direction. Iraq's top leadership council issued a call over the weekend: A top leadership council called Saturday on Iraqi parties to disband their militias or risk being barred from taking part in elections and participating in political life. A statement by the "Political Council ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 8, 2008 08:25
Free Speech Isn’t Free
Anne Applebaum contrasts the treatment of two high profile critics of radical Islam and thereby highlights the question of how far Western governments must go in protecting free speech. She notes that Salman Rushdie is still alive nearly two decades after a fatwa was placed on him by Ayatollah Khomeini because the British government has protected him ever since. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 8, 2007 08:54
Demonizing Ahmadinejad
University of Michigan Middle East scholar Juan Cole argues that the demonization of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is misguided and part of a right wing propaganda campaign to agitate for another war. Critics have also cited his statements about the Holocaust or his hopes that the Israeli state will collapse. He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 25, 2007 07:48
Iraq Withdrawal Logistics (Updated)
Phil Carter draws my attention to a report by Lawrence Korb and colleagues on the logistics of troop withdrawal from Iraq. The study's working assumption, that the Surge will inevitably fail and that withdrawal must commence immediately, is a political question that's hotly contested. The military-logistical questions, though, are interesting in their own right. Those who argue for a rapid and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 30, 2007 07:34
Pakistan Minister Says Rushdie Knighthood Justifies Terrorism
Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq declared that terrorism was "justified" in response to Salman Rushdie being awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth. Pakistan demanded on Monday that Britain withdraw a knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie, as a government minister said the honour gave a justification for suicide attacks by Muslims. Angry protesters in several cities torched British flags and beat them ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 19, 2007 09:27
Railing Against the Pirates of Tehran
Fred Thompson (or, more likely, a staffer) made his blogging debut at Redstate yesterday afternoon, warning of the dangers of the propaganda victory Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got from taking 15 British marines hostage. He is disgusted with the weakness shown by the international community in this affair: "The UN Security Council summoned its vaunted multilateral greatness to issue a swift ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 8, 2007 08:46
Iran Makes Warning on Nukes
Iran has stepped up its rhetoric in its ongoing clash with the international community over its nuclear program. Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday the country will pursue nuclear activities outside international regulations if the U.N. Security Council insists it stop uranium enrichment. "Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 21, 2007 12:17
Iran Supplying EFPs to Shiites: The Evidence
The U.S. military yesterday presented a de-classified version of their case that Iran is supplying explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) to our enemies in Iraq. How persuasive that case was likely depends on one's view of the Bush administration. Some excerpts from the major reporting below, with judgments and qualifiers emphasized in boldface. James Glanz for the NYT: After weeks of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 12, 2007 10:15
Rashomon in Najaf
I still haven't found an official release on the military action that occurred in Najaf but, if you're confused about what happened there, you're not the only one. Iraqi blogger Zeyad of Healing Iraq has collected more than a dozen different descriptions of what happened, ranging from an unprovoked attack on harmless pilgrims by Americans and members of the Iraqi military ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 30, 2007 10:10
Islam’s Sunni-Shiite Split and Iraq
CSM's Dan Murphy writes about the origins of Sunni-Shiite split and its impact on the Iraq crisis. The Shiites were the eventual losers in a violent struggle for mastery that lasted decades, a fact now reflected in their minority status within global Islam. But while the civil war now raging between Shiite and Sunni in Iraq is sometimes cast as ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 17, 2007 11:32
