Consequences of an Attack on Iran are no Joke

It’s time for the pollsters gauging public opinion to speak more forthrightly about what the real options–and the real consequences–of attacking Iran are. They can start by shedding the sanitized references to “military action” and “surgical strikes” and calling them what they are–acts of war that will inflict death and destruction on tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Iranians. Continue Reading

The Daily Talking Points

News and Views Relevant to U.S.-Iran relations for August 26th, 2010: Reuters: John Irish reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned Iran that, “If a credible agreement [over its nuclear program] cannot be reached, Iran’s isolation would only worsen.” … Continue Reading

Obama, Nuclear Proliferation and the Politics of Mistranslation

The right wing blogosphere is buzzing with rumors (denied by the White House, according to Ben Smith of Politico) that the Obama administration has refused visas to employees of the Nuclear Research Center-Negev (NRCN) in Dimona, Israel. Roger Simon, blogging at Pajamas Media, claims to be quoting an article published in the Israeli daily Maariv…Nestled in Simon’s (or an uncredited source’s) “exclusive Pajamas Media translation” is the revelation that the English version Simon is quoting “is from a Google translation that I’ve tried to fix up a little bit.” A little bit? Let’s play “Simon Says” and compare his (or his source’s) efforts to what Maariv writer Uri Binder actually wrote. Continue Reading