Archive - Mar 14, 2012 - Article

Fire Power

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Get Real

War is where illusions go to die. This was true of Vietnam and the war in Iraq. It is being ground into us every day in Afghanistan. At this moment, those who want Israel to mount an air attack on Iran's nuclear facilities are counting on mass amnesia. But forgetting the lessons of past wars won't save the next bout of military adventurism. War with Iran is a real possibility, and yet there has been no real debate on its consequences>>>

Eye Opener

On the way to viewing Iranian Taboo the car radio program was about a 340 ton rock being dragged 60 miles to the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art. A surreal waste of effort, perhaps to make that very point! As it turns out, this extravagant expenditure of energy isn’t nearly as absurd as the efforts of the Islamic Republic to create terror and frustration for Iran’s Bahais. The difference is that while the artistic statement is a capricious waste, the Regime’s political statement is a malicious overexertion>>>

Persia in Crisis

Rudi Matthee finished his BA in 1975 in the Netherlands in Arabic and Persian language and literature, and subsequently spent a year in Iran as an exchange student, studying and traveling to various places in the country. He has authored three books and co-edited as many; all on the subject of Iranian history. His latest book, Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan, was just published. Rudi speaks fluent Persian and Arabic and reads in both languages>>>