Seriously, just read it with Bush inserted instead of Ahmed-i-Nejad:
[So and so blogger] writes that Bush does not act as President of all Americans. He just continues his radical propaganda and counts on his followers. He adds that Bush acts as a candidate for presidential election rather than a President for the whole country.
I'm not disputing that Ahmed-i-Nejad is a rough character and unlikeable. But there is a lot more to the Iranian situation and a lot of domestic internal politics in Iran driving this confrontation. We should pay attention to the facts, not the hype.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 6
At least in America the complete loonies have a lot of checks and balances hindering the implementation of idiocy. In Iran?
It's a pity that the source document is in Arabic as it would be interesting to read the rest of what this blogger had to say.
Well done Sean - this made me think outside the square.
It's about perception. I'm not arguing Ahmed-i-Nejad is right. I'm just arguing that we need to try and stand in our opponents shoes and try and see the world from their perspective. Ahmed-i-Nejad is not a savory character. But then again, a lot of world leaders are worse, and we are not contemplating bombing them. Why is that?
In this case it is almost impossible to "stand in our opponents shoes and try and see the world from their perspective" because the social dialogue in Iran is entirely opaque to us. Even when we think we understand their words we miss most of the nuances and interconnections.
But I do see the similarity in rhetoric. The "Axis of Evil" and the "Great Satan" share the same playground.
That is the sole point I was trying to make. Glad you see it.