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Can You Keep a Secret? The media silence on Iran.
National Review Online ^ | August 7, 2002 | Michael Ledeen

Posted on 08/07/2002 9:24:36 AM PDT by xsysmgr

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To: xsysmgr
Why?

Simple, it's not their kind of "news".

21 posted on 08/07/2002 10:47:34 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Grampa Dave; Miss Marple; MLedeen
We need to move fast on an oil deal with Russia. Find out how much is in Eastern Siberia.

Once we do that, we say "Yob tvoyu mat, OPEC." And go full-tilt boogie on `em.

22 posted on 08/07/2002 10:51:43 AM PDT by hchutch
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To: Dog
United States can't interfere in this ......let the people throw out the mullahs.

Why not, some commandment or law of nature against it?

It would certainly be faster.

23 posted on 08/07/2002 10:53:56 AM PDT by ExpandNATO
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To: Eala
Iran ping
24 posted on 08/07/2002 10:55:00 AM PDT by knighthawk
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To: Dems_R_Losers
In yesterday's article, Ledeen also noted that some of the protestors want the son of the Shah back as part of a constitutional monarchy. Given just how anti-Shah the media was, Iranians preferring the Shah is just too much crow for the media
25 posted on 08/07/2002 10:57:18 AM PDT by ExpandNATO
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To: TomSmedley
Lets hope that you are correct with this remark: Perhaps, the God who took down communism so recently is working to discredit islam. We can pray so!

I would add that God helps those who help themselves!

Thanks for the update re the horrible consequences the Islamakazi Mullahs have brought on the people of Iran.

26 posted on 08/07/2002 10:58:42 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
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To: ExpandNATO
See were we to go into Iran.....the people would side with the mullahs.......not a good idea....we quietly help the revolution...behind the scenes...
27 posted on 08/07/2002 10:59:09 AM PDT by Dog
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To: hchutch; Miss Marple
I'm sure that our Stealth President is doing exactly and more than you posted to lessen our dependence on Opecker oil and to weaken the Opecker Princes.
28 posted on 08/07/2002 11:00:20 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
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To: Grampa Dave
Thanks for the ping!

If the current Iranian regime was overturned it would be a huge victory in the war on Terror!

29 posted on 08/07/2002 11:01:49 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Grampa Dave; spodefly; Dog
I agree with Grampa Dave.

The silence is because these people rather hide the fact that people living in Iran are sick and tired of the rule of the ayatollahs. They have indeed been promoted as alomst as good as socialism by the lefties.

It's just like with Reagan. Here in the Netherlands most people thought he was wrong about the communists being the empire of evil, because the media never said anything bad about the their comradski.

But after the fall of the wall we now see that Reagan was right agter all.

This will also happen in Iran.
30 posted on 08/07/2002 11:02:01 AM PDT by knighthawk
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To: spodefly
Interesting how the media completely refused to go after Gore, when it was learned he was brokering arms deals between Russia, and Iran, behind the backs of Congress.
31 posted on 08/07/2002 11:02:08 AM PDT by TJFLSTRAT
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To: TomSmedley
Perhaps, the God who took down communism so recently is working to discredit islam. We can pray so!

Prayers offered!

32 posted on 08/07/2002 11:04:41 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: xsysmgr
Why?

Coverage of dissent against the Iranian govt. would not confirm anti-Americanism. Therefore it is omitted and deemed unimportant by the media, and the chatty circles they look to for guidance.

The Mullahs have made "Death to America" a centerpiece of their power and ideology. Their religious rites have been transformed into hate sessions against "America" and the West. They call for our destruction, Khomeini called for us to be conquered. But this is ignored by our media. Why? Because the Mullahs are foreign and hate America, therefore they are privileged with legitimacy, and a feeling that they are "right." If they reported the Mullahs' beliefs closely, and the dissent in the country, this would only undermine the anti-American narrative structures they tailor their reporting with. Therefore this information is ignored or omitted.

Sometimes the news is to big to ignore, lest the media loses even more credibility. One solition for the politically correct is to spin some blame on America. Like throw away lines that Iranian reformers are stifled because of what Bush said in such and such speech. Besides salvaging an anti-American angle, this thinking is arrogant, narcissitic, and self-important - denying that the "other" has any nefarious or malicious motives and actions other than those responsive to America or the West, and that "we" control all events that are deemed "negative."

There will be no Iranian coverage. The asperations of the majority of Iranians may be similar to what the media elites feel for themselves and embrace. But this fellow-feeling is less important than maintaining anti-American narratives, or at least hanging on to them. Reportage about the region is around 90% about the identity-feelings of the reporter, not the feelings of the reported. Euro press, around 98% from what I can tell.

33 posted on 08/07/2002 11:06:13 AM PDT by Shermy
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To: knighthawk; Grampa Dave; spodefly; Dog
because the media never said anything bad about the their comradski.

What's new about this?

All the way back prior to WWII the media never said anything about the horror that Stalin was delivering in Russia!

The media is not our friend!

Gramsci vs. Tocqueville or Marxism vs. the American Ideology
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3a54bec871fa.htm

The Gramscian Roots of America's Culture War Thread 2 (Is Gramsci the Father of Neo-Conservatism ?)
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a3bc78569bf.htm

Who is Antonio Gramsci? You Better Learn!!!
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3a4c610569be.htm

YATES: "Understanding the Culture War: Gramscians, Tocquevillians and Others"
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3a56d02c2a1b.htm

Original Sin
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3b80051c3e46.htm

34 posted on 08/07/2002 11:11:20 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: xsysmgr
Apparently the media of the entire Western world have applied this standard to the dramatic events in Iran, because on Monday massive demonstrations were held in the country's major cities, from Tehran to Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashad, and others. The regime responded with unprecedented violence. There was widespread street fighting. More than 1,000 people were arrested. Several were apparently killed. Even late on Tuesday conflicts were ongoing in Khorassan, and not a single word appeared in a major Western publication, or on the news wires, or on any television broadcast of which I am aware.

Have these events been reported in any other outlets?

35 posted on 08/07/2002 11:12:56 AM PDT by untenured
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To: Shermy
BTTT
36 posted on 08/07/2002 11:13:46 AM PDT by cibco
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To: knighthawk
Thanks for your special insight to the Iranian situation.

These comments from your side of the ocean make this article even more important. Thank you!

The silence is because these people rather hide the fact that people living in Iran are sick and tired of the rule of the ayatollahs. They have indeed been promoted as alomst as good as socialism by the lefties.

It's just like with Reagan. Here in the Netherlands most people thought he was wrong about the communists being the empire of evil, because the media never said anything bad about the their comradski.

But after the fall of the wall we now see that Reagan was right after all.

This will also happen in Iran. ===========================================================

If the Islamakazi Mullahs are dethroned and become heads on pikes, no one but the left wing mediots will mourn them.

37 posted on 08/07/2002 11:17:31 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
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To: untenured
No.....Ledeen is the only one reporting this story.....Brit Hume had him on his show a couple of weeks ago talking about ...this is a new article.... Truly stunning that not even a wire service will even mention it huh??
38 posted on 08/07/2002 11:23:11 AM PDT by Dog
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To: Dog
See were we to go into Iran.....the people would side with the mullahs.......not a good idea....we quietly help the revolution...behind the scenes...

The people already want the mullahs gone, so why would they side with the mullahs. Working behind the scenes means we have something to hide.

As has been repeatedly said by the Soviet dissidents, Reagan openly labeling the Soviet Union an evil empire encouraged more anti-Sovietism not less.

You should reread what Ledeen wrote today and yesterday. America openly siding with the people against the mullahs would only make things go faster.

39 posted on 08/07/2002 11:23:29 AM PDT by ExpandNATO
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To: ExpandNATO
I have read it ....thank you.
40 posted on 08/07/2002 11:26:43 AM PDT by Dog
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