Ever wonder why we let Saudi Arabia get away with shit and get pissy at Iran? [PIC]

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by abregar

Perhaps it is about the money. Saudi Arabia is open to expansion of US businessis, Iraq wasn't, Iran to the best of my knowledge isn't. Perhaps it is all about the business connections?

Actually Iraq was open to US businesses prior to the war, it was US policy that prevented it, NOT iraqi policy.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by garbagemanlb

aside from political grandstanding, I have yet to see evidence that Iran plans on actually using military action against Israel.

Are you trying to argue that simply one quote is enough evidence to instigate a full-fledged war with Iran?

I think it's a quote that needs to be taken seriously considering the nuclear ambitions of Iran. Whether he said they should be wiped off the map, removed from the pages of time, wipe Israel away, etc the end result is similar in that Iran's political leaders are clinging to the hope or desire to see Israel fail, get wiped away or just flat out removed from the Middle East. All the rhetoric of how he made the statement and the words he used really don't have much bearing to me. It's essentially all the same thing and doesn't really have that great of a difference in meaning. If the UN has any purpose at all it would be to respond such allegations as this before hostilities multiply. The UN was formed as a diplomatic body to work on issues like this. It is not common but is dangerous for a nation to make similar statements as this, especially between nations with hostilities and a history of war.

Relations between Israel and Iran is very similar to those between us and the Russians during the Cold War. They're both assisting groups unfriendly towards each other's goals and they both have itchy fingers. Statements like these need to be made into a large issue so they don't escalate. I don't think this one statement is enough to justify a war and I haven't heard of any politicians claiming we should invade Iran today based on this claim.

But when we take these types of statements in their entirety with other actions by Iran such as their non-compliance with the UN, nuclear ambitions and assistance of insurgents killing Americans/Iraqis and destabilizing Iraq, we're left with a much stronger argument for war... although I still would disagree. But even with all of this I haven't heard of any politician demanding war with Iran. And I don't hear too many citizens saying it either. Most people are just forewarning that if Iran keeps going down the path they're headed war may become inevitable. I don't necessarily know if I agree with that. And while Bush is in power I really don't want to hear of any more talks about military action anywhere in the world. This administration has proven to be incompetent on that scale and we shouldn't start picking fights while Iraq is in the situation it is in.

[garbagemanlb]

Originally Posted by JaJae

Numerous presidential candidates have said that striking Iran to prevent them from developing nuclear technology is a possibilty.

I simply find it astounding that people can justify using military action against a country on the sole basis of their rhetoric. We are in a sad state when action like that is viewed as necessary or acceptable.

Iran's Unlikely TV Hit
Show Sympathetic to Plight
Of Jews During the Holocaust
Draws Millions Each Week
By FARNAZ FASSIHI
September 7, 2007; Page B1
(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

Every Monday night at 10 o'clock, Iranians by the millions tune into Channel One to watch the most expensive show ever aired on the Islamic republic's state-owned television. Its elaborate 1940s costumes and European locations are a far cry from the typical Iranian TV fare of scarf-clad women and gray-suited men.

But the most surprising thing about the wildly popular show is that it is a heart-wrenching tale of European Jews during World War II.

The hour-long drama, "Zero Degree Turn," centers on a love story between an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man and a French Jewish woman. Over the course of the 22 episodes, the hero saves his love from Nazi detention camps, and Iranian diplomats in France forge passports for the woman and her family to sneak on to airplanes carrying Iranian Jews to their homeland.


Shahab Husseini stars in 'Zero Degree Turn.'
On the surface, the message of the lavish, state-funded production appears sharply at odds with that sent out by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called the Holocaust a myth.

In fact, the government's spending on the show underscores the subtle and often sophisticated way in which the Iranian state uses its TV empire to send out political messages. The aim of the show, according to many inside and outside the country, is to draw a clear distinction between the government's views about Judaism -- which is accepted across Iranian society -- and its stance on Israel -- which the leadership denounces every chance it gets.

"Iranians have always differentiated between ordinary Jews and a minority of Zionists," says Hassan Fatthi, the show's writer and director. "The murder of innocent Jews during World War II is just as despicable, sad and shocking as the killing of innocent Palestinian women and children by racist Zionist soldiers," he says.

Mr. Fatthi, 48 years old, is a well-known director of historical fiction for television. In the past, his work has focused on Iranian history. But he also dabbles in comedy, winning international critical acclaim two years ago for a hit feature, "Marriage, Iranian Style."

He says he came up with the idea for "Zero Degree Turn" four years ago as he was reading books about World War II and stumbled across literature about charge d'affaires at the Iranian embassy in Paris. Abdol Hussein Sardari saved over a thousand European Jews by forging Iranian passports and claiming they belonged to an Iranian tribe.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

• Official site for "Zero Degree Turn."
Mr. Fatthi says he chose the title because the world at the time was in dire circumstances, offering few options for avoiding the terrors to come. Shot on location in Paris and Budapest, the show stars Iranian heartthrob Shahab Husseini and is so popular that its theme song -- an ode to getting lost in love -- is a hit, too.

"It's captivating. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, on Monday nights I find a television set and watch the show. So does every Jewish person I know here," says Morris Motamed, the lone Jew in parliament.

Mr. Fatthi enlisted the help of Iran's Jewish Association, an independent body that safeguards the community's culture and heritage. The association has criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments about the Holocaust but has praised Mr. Fatthi's show.

Iran is home to some 25,000 Jews, the largest population in the Middle East outside of Israel. Iran's Jews -- along with Christians and Zorastrians -- are guaranteed equal rights in the country's constitution. Iran's Jews are guaranteed one member of parliament and are free to study Hebrew in school, pray in synagogues and shop at kosher supermarkets. Despite Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements, it isn't government policy to question the Holocaust, and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hasn't endorsed those views.

While Iran makes it no secret that it considers Israel an enemy, it has been extremely touchy about criticism of its treatment of Jewish citizens. The show is seen as an effort by the government to erase the image that it may be anti-Semitic -- both at home among Jews and non-Jews, and abroad.

"In this show, you notice that a new method of political dialogue is being promoted that is more in line with the modern world," says Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist cleric and former Iranian vice president.

The message appears to be grabbing the public. Sara Khatibi, a 35-year-old mother and chemist in Tehran, says she and her husband never miss an episode. "All we ever hear about Jews is rants from the government about Israel," she says. "This is the first time we are seeing another side of the story and learning about their plight."

The show also pushes Iran's political line regarding the legitimacy of Israel: The Jewish state was conceived in modern times by Western powers rather than as part of a centuries-old desire of Jews for a return to their ancestral homeland. In one scene, a rabbi declares it a bad idea for Jews to resettle in Arab lands. In another, the French Jewish protagonist refuses a marriage offer by a cousin, who is advocating the creation of Israel.

Iran has long used TV to shape public opinion, where newspapers and the Internet are seen as media for the elite. The state's control over radio and television is enshrined in the constitution. Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, is not only head of the armed forces and the judiciary, but also the national broadcast authority.

"The regime appreciates the fact that to appeal to the masses, both in Iran and the Muslim world, television is the most important outlet," says Karim Sadjadpour, an expert on Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

On any given day, the country's seven state-run channels broadcast a mostly drab offering of news, sports, cooking shows, soap operas and religious sermons. Political propaganda is constantly fed into the mix. Dissidents such as students or reformers are routinely paraded before cameras to read confessions after stints of solitary imprisonment.

A slick documentary-style program recently aired long interviews with two Iranian-Americans who were detained on allegations of working to overthrow the regime. The interviews -- in which the pair blandly admitted to meeting with Iranian scholars and dissidents, but not to attempting to topple the government -- were intercut with provocative scenes of demonstrations in Ukraine, where the U.S. encouraged groups that eventually staged the successful Orange Revolution in late 2004.

In July, Iran launched a 24-hour English-language satellite news channel called Press TV, joining the ranks of the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. Its Arabic news channel, Al Alam, has been broadcasting news with an Iranian slant in the Arab world for several years.

Episodes of "Zero Degree Turn," broadcast in Farsi, can be seen outside of Iran on the Internet, either streaming live or downloaded at tv1.irib.ir/barnameha/sharhefilm.asp?code=0011109036106. It is also broadcast with English subtitles on the state-controlled Jameh Jam satellite channel, which is available on Europe's Hot Bird satellite network. Mr. Fatthi also says Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has been contacted about selling the show to networks in other countries, but he doesn't know which ones.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1189...o_itp&ru=yahoo


Curious they don't mention this on Fox News. I only heard about this from CNN. The hit tv show on state-run TV is friendly toward the jewish people, and it is clear that Jews are treated well in Iran.

Some people can't separate judaism from zionism, and that is part of the problem here. One can be against a jewish state (Israel) and not be against the jews. So instead of trying to work with Iran, we rattle our fucking sabers and we have our GOP nominees in the June 7th debates talking openly about using tactical nukes against Iran because Iran simply wants nuclear technology. And yes, Democratic nominees are also hesitant to rule out strikes against Iran.

I can't even begin to explain our hypocrisy in this situation, and it really makes me loathe the jewish lobby in D.C.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by garbagemanlb

Numerous presidential candidates have said that striking Iran to prevent them from developing nuclear technology is a possibilty.

I simply find it astounding that people can justify using military action against a country on the sole basis of their rhetoric. We are in a sad state when action like that is viewed as necessary or acceptable.

A possibility doesn't mean they're advocating for it to occur now based on this one line. I understand a lot of politicians aren't taking military action against Iran off the table, but I really haven't heard anyone say we should invade Iran. At this point they're making an argument on what's happening in region and saying it's a possibility for the future.

Hillary Clinton patronized Obama in one of the debates for saying he wouldn't do anything about Iran. She hypocritically said that a president and a presidential candidate can't take things like that off the table. Although it was hypocritical to many previous statements she made, she was essentially correct. That doesn't mean Hillary by any means is advocating or pushing for war with Iran.

And again it's not just the "sole basis of their rhetoric." There's a lot of actions that speak louder than their words here and not just one statement made over Israel quite some time ago. And again, I'm not saying I support an invasion or war with Iran. I don't.