tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post2121770517663015455..comments2023-12-28T06:30:48.808-05:00Comments on The Rule of Reason: Book Review of 'The Iran Threat' by Alireza JafarzadehUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-24159172456981825282008-09-07T18:25:00.000-04:002008-09-07T18:25:00.000-04:00Alireza Jafarzadeh is affiliated with the National...Alireza Jafarzadeh is affiliated with the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI) whose leadership intersects that of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (MEK). The MEK is a militant group that openly wants to overthrow the theocratic government of Iran. Since the MEK is a non-government group that wants to use violence to achieve a political end, they do indeed meet the US and EU's definition of a Global Terrorist Organization (GTO). Nevertheless, none of this changes the fact that the government of Iran is a brutal theocracy that has no right to exist.<BR/><BR/>However, notice underlying the form of the criticism of Jafarzadeh's book. The author A is affiliated with group B, group B is affiliated with group C, group C is sketchy, therefore (implied message that A's book is untrustworthy.)<BR/><BR/>If you want to criticize this book then you either need to present specific evidence on why the specific claims within are wrong or demonstrate that Jafarzadeh has a history of supplying misinformation on crucial matters of intelligence. Jafarzadeh has a regular online column with FoxNews.com [1], he is a Fox News foreign affairs analyst and he has appeared on a slew of generally respected media stations such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and NPR. His commentary appears in plenty of columns and videos on the internet, so there is plenty of information to reference to make specific claims against the veracity of his research. Until I encounter specific evidence that discredits Jafarzadeh's findings, I see no reason to doubt the information in The Iran Threat.<BR/><BR/>On another note, I just wanted to clarify that the MEK is pretty sketchy. According to [2], they have a number of cultish aspects about them (e.g., members taking vows of celibacy, weird rituals of self-criticism, some non-totalitarian Islamic elements, possible brainwashing). In addition, they were a Marxist group in the 1960s (but they now claim to embrace a mixed bag of Western values such as democratic elections, women's rights, minority rights, a mixed economy, free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and the like. [3]) Moreover, they did form an alliance with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War and allegedly aided in Hussein's brutal crackdown on Iraqi Kurds (even though the NCRI today explicitly supports "the autonomy of [an] Iranian Kurdistan.")<BR/><BR/>Lastly, I revised my book review to give a more accurate portrait of Jafarzadeh's proposed strategy for Iran. Specifically, I changed<BR/><BR/>"Upon further exploration, one can tell that the NCRI is far from calling for an ideal, laissez-faire capitalist government. Nevertheless, if the NCRI were to take power, it would surely be a substantial improvement over the current Iranian theocracy."<BR/><BR/>to<BR/><BR/>"However, the NCRI's leadership is intertwined with that of the militant group MEK, which has several cultish/irrational aspects. Thus, Jafarzadeh's proposed solution is unfortunately more pragmatic than principled."<BR/><BR/>[1] http://www.foxnews.com/column_archive/0,2976,171,00.html<BR/><BR/>[2] http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E4D6173DF930A25754C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1<BR/><BR/>[3] http://ncr-iran.org/content/view/27/158/DarkWatershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05148630809538552374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-60485482020910717142008-09-07T08:39:00.000-04:002008-09-07T08:39:00.000-04:00> "Jafarzadeh is a terrorist and so is the...> "Jafarzadeh is a terrorist and so is the NCRI, . . ."<BR/><BR/>Proof?Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-43786749532967690832008-09-07T01:26:00.000-04:002008-09-07T01:26:00.000-04:00Jafarzadeh is a terrorist and so is the NCRI, and ...Jafarzadeh is a terrorist and so is the NCRI, and every single Iranian knows that the NCRI sided with Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war. And while the MEK (NCRI) tries to take credit for "exposing" Iran's nuclear program, they didn't. The program was already known to the US, and in fact the program started in the late 1970s with the participation of the USA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com