In a recent article for the Atlantic, Middle East expert Reza Aslan writes that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not be the hard-line president outside observers actually thinks he is. Based on unverified WikiLeaks documents and remarks by the president himself, the author concludes that Ahmadinejad is, in fact, in favor of greater social and political freedoms and the "Persianization" of Iranian society, but is isolated among others in Iran's current ruling establishment:
[Ahmadinejad]... is actually a reformer whose attempts to liberalize, secularize, and even "Persianize" Iran have been repeatedly stymied by the country's more conservative factions... But if you oppose the Mullahs' rule, yearn for greater social and political freedoms for the Iranian people, and envision an Iran that draws inspiration from the glories of its Persian past, then, believe it or not, you have more in common with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than you might have thought."
Here is why Aslan's characterization of Ahmadinejad is flawed:
Ahmadinejad is the kind of man who should not be judged by his words, but by his actions. As somebody who has met him on several occasions, once when he was Tehran's mayor and twice when I was reporting on his trips to the UN in New York over the past few years, I can say I've never seen a more insincere, manipulative and deceptive personality in my entire life.
One doesn't need WikiLeaks to know what Ahmadinejad has sai... >>>
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Aslan the "expert"
by robertborden54 on Mon Jan 31, 2011 05:26 PM PSTI'm pretty sure Memarian really wanted to put quotes around the word expert. In a way I admire Aslan he is milking his Iranian origins all he can. As an expert or an analyst he is hilarious. Memarian on the other hand has provided ample reasoning why the wilkileaks documents are not reliable and therefore anything they say about Ahmadinejad should be taken with a grain of salt.
Aslan does not know what he is talking about!
by Mammad on Mon Jan 31, 2011 05:15 PM PSTAnyone who even imagines that AN might be a reformer is dellusional. This is the man that fires people right and left simply because they said something that he did not like. This is a man who has called the opposition "dust, goats, and calves," and this is the man that has bitten even the hands of Khamenei, the very hand that put him where he is. AN may be anything, but not a reformer.
Mammad