[Peace-discuss] Arash Norouzi explains the "wiped off the map" controversy

[Robert Naiman]

 Arash Norouzi, co-founder of the Mossadegh Project
(http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/, which incidentally has really cool
"no iran war" t-shirts), is no apologist for Ahmadinejad or the
Iranian government, as the last paragraph of this article makes clear:

'Iran's President has written two rather philosophical letters to
America. In his first letter, he pointed out that "History shows us
that oppressive and cruel governments do not survive". With this
statement, Ahmadinejad has also projected the outcome of his own
backwards regime, which will likewise "vanish from the page of time."'

This article carefully explains several aspects of the controversy,
including the original birth of the mistranslation (IRNA, not Western
media), how the mistranslation was corrected by IRNA but not Western
media and was further distorted by Western media and Western
politicians in the service of an agenda of confrontation, and
Ahmadinejad's repeated failure to disavow the mistranslation when
challenged by Western reporters.

[The article leaves out a piece of the story that Juan Cole has
emphasized in his blog: subsequent statements by Ahmadinejad and
Khamenei that Iran is not a threat to any country, including Israel.
See: Juan Cole, "Ahmadinejad: We are Not a Threat to Any Country,
Including Israel," Sunday, August 27, 2006,
http://www.juancole.com/2006/08/ahmadinejad-we-are-not-threat-to-any.html]

Of course, it could be argued that after the Holocaust denial
conference, attempting to establish the truth in this matter is a
fool's errand. But you never know when the truth is going to matter,
so it's good to know what it is, just in case.

"WIPED OFF THE MAP" - The Rumor of the Century
http://democracyrising.us/content/view/736/164/ Thursday, 18 January
2007