In his latest New York Times op-ed, "Hugs From Iran" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/kristof-hugs-from-iran.html), Kristof describes the manner in which Iranians he interviewed changed their opinions the moment he pulled out his notebook and video camera, but observes the ubiquitous "warmth of Iranians when they discovered I was American," leading to the erudite conclusion "that at the grass-roots level, this may be the most pro-American nation in the Middle East." Kristof concludes:
"To me, Iran feels like other authoritarian countries I covered before they toppled. My guess is that the demise of the system is a matter of time — unless there’s a war between Iran and the West, perhaps ignited by Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. That, I sense, would provoke a nationalist backlash and rescue the ayatollahs. More on what I found on my journey in forthcoming columns."
Ah yes, sweet music to the ayatollahs ears, who had a reason for issuing Kristof that visa. God forbid that Israel should strike Iranian nuclear weapons development sites, thereby provoking nationalist backlash and rescuing the ayatollahs, even if this might serve to rescue Israel from threatened annihilation at the hands of the ayatollahs.
To his credit, Kristof did ask one of the common folk whom he encountered "about human rights activists and members of the Bahai faith who are in prison." The man's response:
"'I don’t think that in our country innocent people go to jail,' he said. 'They must have done something.'"
How enlightening. Well worth the 1,700-mile expedition. You're the man, Nicholas! Keep up the good work!
[Kristof, also like Borat, is very much into hugging. Recall his "remarkable" 2011 opinion piece entitled "Hugs From Libyans" (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2011/03/nicholas-kristofs-hugs-from-libyans-new.html), written before the al-Qaeda flag was raised over Benghazi. A hearty cyberspace hug from me to you, Nicholas.]
Amazing how the financially challenged New York Times can subsidize this inanity. On the other hand, they also recently paid for Peter Beinart's universally panned, worst-seller.
ReplyDeleteOf course, "Iran is not a totalitarian state" - Roger Cohen, was first pick at the NYT but as much as he would have loved to shmooz with Achmadinajad and the Mullahs, Cohen refused to participate in this years 'Running of the Jew' festival unless they officially changed the name to 'Running of the Zionist'. Chinqui.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Among other things, thank you for stressing the fact that Kristof doesn't speak Farsi.
ReplyDeleteI recently died when I read on a health forum I am interested in a "report" by some geek (astrophysics) who went for several days to ... North Korea and on his return announced (as intended) that North Korea is wonderful, people are warm and wonderful, but they, like us, have a problem with government. No, he doesn't know Korean (or any other language), no, he doesn't know Korean (or any other) history and culture, etc. but he is for peace and knows that hugging and kissing will bring this peace.
Anonymous, I didn't know that NYT paid for Beinart's book. Ha, that makes Krugman's repeated praising of the "masterpiece" even more interesting. Oh, bastard.
Beinart's "gem" was published by Times Books, "a publishing partnership between The New York Times and Henry Holt and Company." I understand that less than 3,000 copies of this book were sold worldwide, notwithstanding attempts by the likes of Krugman and Dowd to pump up its sales. Yet another instance where someone foreign to the Middle East attempts to foist his distorted views on those who know even less than he does . . .
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