Two Lies and a ?
One reason conservatives and other people spend so much time talking past each other is that they live in separate universes. From my point of view, that is because conservatives believe so many things that just aren't so. This isn't necessarily an accident. If you are the sort of person who listens to and believes the main stream media, our elected leaders, and even a bit of the wingnut media, you will hear and believe a lot of lies.
I have absolutely no brief to defend Iran's President Ahmadinejad, but I am very concerned that my country not be led into another war through a campaign of lies and propaganda. To that end, let me expose some lies about Ahmadinejad that are almost universally believed in the US. It's very easy to distort the remarks of someone who speaks a language few Americans understand.
(1) Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier. This one is everywhere, including Wikipedia. It's is also a total distortion of what he said, which had the following point: If European's killed six-million Jews, why should the Palestinians have to suffer for it? A CNN translation of his remarks:
Another version:
That "if" is the slender thread from which the massive lie of Holocaust denial hangs.
So who spreads this particular lie. Wikipedia, the BBC, and the Washington Post, not to mention the usual idiot freepers, littlegreenfartballs, instadolt and their ilk. Ironically, the most honest report I've read of his remarks content came from an Israeli Zionist site. Besides not constituting Holocaust denial, his remarks make logical sense - not that I'm endorsing them. Israel is a fact on the ground and has been for three generations. Turning back the clock is not an option.
(2) Ahmadinejad wants to "wipe Israel off the map." This one is usually interpretated as him wanting to kill or chase all Jews out of Israel. What Ahmadinejad has actually said, more than once, is that he wants to end the illegal and expansionist "Zionist Regime." This would end Israel, the Jewish state, but their is no implication that the Jews would either be killed or expelled. Naturally the Israelis take offense at this, but there is no need to blow this serious threat out of proportion
(3) Haven't you heard the things that the Iranian president has said? He's clearly making the case for a new 'religous cleansing' in which anyone who isn't Muslim will be persecuted or killed. (from a comment by RA in the What is Fascism post). A large number of Google searches revealed any number of variations on this statement. The only problem is that none of them had an attribution. When or where is he supposed to have said this? He has a number of times said things that flatly contradict this idea. (See, for example, his long letter to President Bush). There and elsewhere he says that Iran wants to live in harmony with other nations - though not Israel, which he believes is a crime against Islam and the Palestinian people.
If he has made such a claim, I'd like to know where and when. If you read it, what source was cited? Until I see some evidence, this looks like another bit of propaganda to me.
I have absolutely no brief to defend Iran's President Ahmadinejad, but I am very concerned that my country not be led into another war through a campaign of lies and propaganda. To that end, let me expose some lies about Ahmadinejad that are almost universally believed in the US. It's very easy to distort the remarks of someone who speaks a language few Americans understand.
(1) Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier. This one is everywhere, including Wikipedia. It's is also a total distortion of what he said, which had the following point: If European's killed six-million Jews, why should the Palestinians have to suffer for it? A CNN translation of his remarks:
If you have burned the Jews why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel. Our question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?(from this site
Another version:
'If the Europeans are telling the truth in their claim that they have killed six million Jews in the Holocaust during the World War II - which seems they are right in their claim because they insist on it and arrest and imprison those who oppose it, why the Palestinian nation should pay for the crime.
That "if" is the slender thread from which the massive lie of Holocaust denial hangs.
So who spreads this particular lie. Wikipedia, the BBC, and the Washington Post, not to mention the usual idiot freepers, littlegreenfartballs, instadolt and their ilk. Ironically, the most honest report I've read of his remarks content came from an Israeli Zionist site. Besides not constituting Holocaust denial, his remarks make logical sense - not that I'm endorsing them. Israel is a fact on the ground and has been for three generations. Turning back the clock is not an option.
(2) Ahmadinejad wants to "wipe Israel off the map." This one is usually interpretated as him wanting to kill or chase all Jews out of Israel. What Ahmadinejad has actually said, more than once, is that he wants to end the illegal and expansionist "Zionist Regime." This would end Israel, the Jewish state, but their is no implication that the Jews would either be killed or expelled. Naturally the Israelis take offense at this, but there is no need to blow this serious threat out of proportion
(3) Haven't you heard the things that the Iranian president has said? He's clearly making the case for a new 'religous cleansing' in which anyone who isn't Muslim will be persecuted or killed. (from a comment by RA in the What is Fascism post). A large number of Google searches revealed any number of variations on this statement. The only problem is that none of them had an attribution. When or where is he supposed to have said this? He has a number of times said things that flatly contradict this idea. (See, for example, his long letter to President Bush). There and elsewhere he says that Iran wants to live in harmony with other nations - though not Israel, which he believes is a crime against Islam and the Palestinian people.
If he has made such a claim, I'd like to know where and when. If you read it, what source was cited? Until I see some evidence, this looks like another bit of propaganda to me.
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