Kathryn, I’m not going to get into a blame timeline. That’s not what bothers me. What does is that a Kayhan editorial, which carries the weight of the Supreme Leader’s sanction:

  • Promotes 9/11 revisionism. This is more offensive given the 9/11 commission’s findings with regard to Iran.
  • Accuses U.S. troops of massacring hundreds of thousands in Iraq.
  • Claims that the U.S. has lost 12,000 troops in Iraq.
  • Theorizes that everything is a plot of the military-industrial complex is ridiculous.

This is the propaganda spoon-fed everyday to the Iranian public and to an Arab audience via al-Manar and al-Alam. Keep in mind that we self-flagellate over phrases such as “Axis of Evil” (which, non-violently, augmented pressure on the regime by encouraging many European and Japanese companies to reconsider their investments) and yet we turn a blind eye to what the Iranians say and, more worryingly, what the circles surrounding the Supreme Leader may think.

Their thinking is important: When commentators and analysts discuss the possibility of a nuclear Iran, what they are speaking about has nothing to do with the Iranian people but rather the small clique of Revolutionary Guards and officials in the Office of the Supreme Leader who would maintain command and control over the program.