demonstrating that neoconservatism is an offshoot of Leninism

He is writing from a position that the only important thing is to show how much he hates the evil neocons. All the rest is of secondary importance at best. This is not analysis, it’s fourth form posturing.

Please refer to this handy guide to work out who is to blame for any particular world event.

Absolutely.. It was Carter who was mad, and Obama is following in his footsteps.

1. Was it rigged or wasn’t it?

2. Even if it was, wouldn’t little Mahmoud still have come first anyway?

3. To what extent, if at all, do the other three candidates for president share western values such as the legitimacy of the democratic process?

4. To what extent, if at all, do the protestors in the silent marches share western values such as the legitimacy of the democratic process?

5. Depending on your answers to questions 1 to 4 above, what is the most suitable response that we should be looking for from our own government (Obama, Brown, Sarkozy, Merkel, Netanyahu, . . . fill in the blank)?

From this snippet, Packer seems to be addressing question 5 exclusively. But we ought to be clear in our own minds what it is we object to. Is it (a) that he is giving the wrong answer to question 5, or (b) that he shouldn’t even be attempting to answer question 5 until he has found the answers to questions 1 through 4?

If it’s (a), then I’d say there isn’t yet a single right answer. The best we can do is look at the alternatives.

If it’s (b), then the objection is valid only up to a point. If we wait until every last detail is filled in about the facts on the ground in Iran, we’ll run the risk of postponing any action until it’s too late.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/1769/slide_1769_23983_large.jpg

But Jimmy Carter could only see the Shah’s authoritarian rule with human rights abuses that were not as bad as many, and thought it needed a new shining dawn, a Ghandi to make it a beacon of enlightenment to south west Asia. But his chosen Ghandi turned out to be more like Ghengis Khan, and Iran has declined for 30 years. Even if the current regime is overthrown, its militaristic culture and dodgy neighbours will constrain any Renaissance. I wish it well.

Mike Tomasky in the Guardian: Is Rafsanjani plotting against the
Supreme leader Ali Khamenei?

I don’t see how it is particularly any worse than normal in the writings about the situation in Iran, except that the unworkable amount of incoherent information lends itself well to cherry picking. I don’t see how it’s unacceptable to comment on it now, there are many other threads on this blog and places in the online and offline world where you can find out about the situation in Iran and express sympathy for the people caught up in it if you want. In fact by commenting on this thread you’re wasting valuable time that could be spent reading Twitter.