New York Times Editorial, "President Rouhani Comes to Town": The Times Also Drinks Rouhani's Kool-Aid

Yes, the editorial board of The New York Times, fresh from a dubious meeting with President Obama (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2013/09/michael-calderone-new-york-times.html), wears its naivete on it sleeve.

In an editorial entitled "President Rouhani Comes to Town" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/president-rouhani-comes-to-town.html?_r=0), the Times begins:

"All eyes at this week’s United Nations General Assembly will be on Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. Since taking office in August, he has sent encouraging signals about his willingness to engage more constructively with the West than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who insisted on proceeding with Iran’s nuclear program, denied the Holocaust and seemed unconcerned as his country slipped into deeper economic distress. Mr. Rouhani’s assembly address on Tuesday gives him a chance to provide concrete evidence that his talk of change is real."

His speech Gives Rouhani "a chance to provide concrete evidence that his talk of change is real"? Oh really? When in the past did we hear of talk of "change" from someone else, and what became of it?

But back to Rouhani.

In an interview with Ann Curry of NBC News last week, Rouhani refused to deny, but also refused to acknowledge that the Holocaust occurred (see: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/19/20573897-exclusive-iran-president-blames-israel-for-instability-calls-for-peace?lite). This is "change"?

During this interview he also called Israel a nation that "does injustice to the people of the region and has brought instability to the region with its war-mongering policies." This follows on the heels of Rouhani's declaration in August as translated by Reuters (see: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57596710/new-iran-president-hasan-rouhani-calls-israel-an-old-wound/):

"In our region there's been a wound for years on the body of the Muslim world under the shadow of the occupation of the holy land of Palestine and the beloved al-Quds [Jerusalem]."

However, ISNA, Iran's student news agency, provided an alternative translation of Rouhani's observation:

"The Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed."

Either way, Rouhani's remarks are not encouraging.

More evidence of the stupidity and inaccurancy of the editorial board of the Times? The editorial declares:

"The next few weeks will be critical for capitalizing on a new sense of promise created by a recent flurry of remarkable gestures: Iran’s leadership has sent Rosh Hashana greetings to Jews worldwide via Twitter."

However, as reported by Iran's Fars News Agency (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920614000756):

"A senior advisor to the Iranian President rejected western media reports alleging that President Rouhani has tweeted a felicitation message to the world Jews on Rosh Hashanah, the new Jewish year, underlining that the Iranian president has no official twitter account.

'Mr. Rouhani does not have a twitter account,' Presidential Advisor Mohammad Reza Sadeq told FNA on Thursday.

The western media claimed late Wednesday that the Iranian president has tweeted a felicitation message to the worldwide Jewish community to congratulate them on the advent of the new Jewish year."

Should we expect honesty from Rouhani concerning Iran's nuclear intentions? As reported by The New York Times last month (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/world/middleeast/iran-said-to-pave-over-site-linked-to-nuclear-talks.html):

"Iran has paved over large swaths of a restricted military base that United Nations nuclear inspectors have sought unsuccessfully to visit for years because they suspect it was once a laboratory for testing weapons triggers, an antiproliferation monitoring group said Thursday in a study of new satellite imagery, suggesting the Iranians had tried to sanitize the site."

In short, look for more of the frightening "same" from Rouhani and more of the frightening "same" from an indecisive "kick the can down the road" Obama, fresh from his chaotic mishandling of Assad's sarin attack against civilians in Syria in August, which killed nearly 1,500 people.

It's not going to be pretty.

With respect to Iran's nuclear weapons development program, Israel had best prepare to act on its own. Sometimes I think Obama is bluffing himself.