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I'm really starting to get nervous about this drumbeat for war with Iran. The Iraq debacle has shown that Americans are easily manipulated by propaganda and lies into going to war, much to the delight of the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex and the Bush-Cheney war profit machine.
Now there's evidence that the biggest reason given that Iran should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons, Iranian President Ahmadinejad's much-repeated quote that he wished to see Israel "wiped off the map" may actually be a mistranslation. According to UK Guardian Columnist Jonathan Steele, the phrase may actually be closer to "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
Kind of puts a different spin on the quote, doesn't it? While the first translation is abhorrent to me, I kind of agree with that second translation.
Now, I don't pretend to speak Farsi. I don't pretend to know if Jonathan Steele or his sources are reliable. But what I do know is that the Bush Administration cannot be trusted, and that the mainstream U.S. media, which is clearly in the pocket of the Israeli lobby, definitely cannot be trusted to tell a balanced truth about Middle Eastern affairs.
I don't know what the right answer is. But I do know that going to war with Iran over its nuclear programme may very possibly trigger World War III, with the U.S. and Israel on one side, and the Islamic world, Russia, and possibly China on the other side. Because of this danger, we must proceed very, very carefully.
Is it worth going to war over a mistranslation? With the stakes so high, isn't it worth stepping back from the rhetoric and propaganda, taking a deep breath, and studying the issue logically and dispassionately?
Let's not get goaded into an unjust war again. Given our history as a country, we need to let cooler, reasoned heads prevail. Please, please, please, I beg you, question EVERYTHING that the mainstream media and the Bush administration is telling you.
Our lives depend on it.
Now there's evidence that the biggest reason given that Iran should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons, Iranian President Ahmadinejad's much-repeated quote that he wished to see Israel "wiped off the map" may actually be a mistranslation. According to UK Guardian Columnist Jonathan Steele, the phrase may actually be closer to "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
Kind of puts a different spin on the quote, doesn't it? While the first translation is abhorrent to me, I kind of agree with that second translation.
Now, I don't pretend to speak Farsi. I don't pretend to know if Jonathan Steele or his sources are reliable. But what I do know is that the Bush Administration cannot be trusted, and that the mainstream U.S. media, which is clearly in the pocket of the Israeli lobby, definitely cannot be trusted to tell a balanced truth about Middle Eastern affairs.
I don't know what the right answer is. But I do know that going to war with Iran over its nuclear programme may very possibly trigger World War III, with the U.S. and Israel on one side, and the Islamic world, Russia, and possibly China on the other side. Because of this danger, we must proceed very, very carefully.
Is it worth going to war over a mistranslation? With the stakes so high, isn't it worth stepping back from the rhetoric and propaganda, taking a deep breath, and studying the issue logically and dispassionately?
Let's not get goaded into an unjust war again. Given our history as a country, we need to let cooler, reasoned heads prevail. Please, please, please, I beg you, question EVERYTHING that the mainstream media and the Bush administration is telling you.
Our lives depend on it.
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