Monday, October 5, 2009

Juan Cole: the government's ten biggest lies about Iran

Belief: Iran is aggressive and has threatened to attack Israel, its neighbors or the US

Reality: Iran has not launched an aggressive war in modern history (unlike the US or Israel), and its leaders have a doctrine of "no first strike." This is true of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as of Revolutionary Guards commanders.


Belief: Iran is a militarized society bristling with dangerous weapons and a growing threat to world peace.

Reality: Iran's military budget is a little over $6 billion annually. Sweden, Singapore and Greece all have larger military budgets. Moreover, Iran is a country of 70 million, so that its per capita spending on defense is tiny compared to these others, since they are much smaller countries with regard to population. Iran spends less per capita on its military than any other country in the Persian Gulf region with the exception of the United Arab Emirates.


Belief: Iran has threatened to attack Israel militarily and to "wipe it off the map."

Reality: No Iranian leader in the executive has threatened an aggressive act of war on Israel, since this would contradict the doctrine of "no first strike" to which the country has adhered. The Iranian president has explicitly said that Iran is not a threat to any country, including Israel.

Belief: But didn't President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threaten to 'wipe Israel off the map?'

Reality: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did quote Ayatollah Khomeini to the effect that "this Occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" (in rezhim-e eshghalgar-i Qods bayad as safheh-e ruzgar mahv shavad). This was not a pledge to roll tanks and invade or to launch missiles, however. It is the expression of a hope that the regime will collapse, just as the Soviet Union did. It is not a threat to kill anyone at all.


Read the rest here. And don't believe a word of the propaganda the state is feeding its corporate media puppets. The government crooks are lying through their rotten, yellow teeth, as usual.

2 comments:

  1. Yeah, the lies about Iran get louder every day, the media doing their usual job of pushing the agenda of the powers that be. You might be interested in reading a recent article, found here
    discussing the subject, entitled "Connecting the Dots: The Axis of Evil Closed in on Iran's Nuclear Sites, while the G20 stamps on our Civil Rights."
    Thanks for your post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indeed. I really hope that people aren't going to be fooled by this like they were with Iraq.

    ReplyDelete

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