Obama’s UN Ambassador-nominee Samantha Power will have a lot on her plate, as a New York Times story on June 9 makes clear. Included on the list was “confronting Iran’s apparent attempts to develop a nuclear weapon.”
The next day on her MSNBC show, Rachel Maddow said this (6/10/13):
The current president of Iran has had the job for the last eight years. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he’s known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The facts on this issue should be clear by now–but evidently they’re not.
Iran is not “apparently” developing a nuclear weapon. Some political leaders make claims to that effect, but there is no solid intelligence that has yet established that this is what Iran is doing. What is known is that the country has a uranium enrichment program that is regularly monitored by International Atomic Energy Agency, and that there is no evidence that the country’s uranium program has any military dimension.
As to Maddow’s claim, that’s just wrong. Ahmadinejad has, like other Iranian leaders, denied the country has any intention of building any such weapon. He’s done so in numerous U.S. media appearances, denying any Iranian plan to build a bomb–a simple Google search would turn up too many such instances, like this interview from CBS last year (helpfully headlined “Iranian President Denies Iran Developing a Nuclear Weapon.”) Or a Reuters piece (11/8/12) that included this:
“The Iranian nation is not seeking an atomic bomb, nor do they need to build an atomic bomb…. For defending ourselves we do not need a nuclear weapon,” said Ahmadinejad.
Perhaps Maddow has hitherto unreleased information that proves that Ahmadinejad isn’t telling the truth–and that when he says Iran isn’t building a bomb, what he means is, “Yes we are.”
Absent that, she needs to issue a correction.
(Thanks to Nima Shirazi for calling this to our attention.)
Oh, silly FAIR, don’t you remember how Saddam’s denials that Iraq held “WMDs” were actually part of how he tricked our poor intelligence agencies into thinking he *did* have them, because he didn’t deny in the way that meant he really meant it? Same thing here!
Just a small (but I think important) correction/distinction – Iran and Ahmadinejad have not “denied they are seeking nuclear weapons,” they have “affirmed that they are not seeking nuclear weapons.” “Denials” typically come only after accusations, whereas “affirmations” can come at any time (as they have, on multiple occasions, in this case).
Why did you post Maddow’s quote as saying “Iran’s PURSUIT of nuclear weapons”, but then almost immediately say “Iran is not “apparently” developing a nuclear weapon”. You quoted “apparently” as if Maddow had said it, and you used developing instead of pursuing (i.e. pursuit), again, as if she had said it. Your critique is aimed at the NYT, and should have immediately followed the NYT link, but your headline is all about Rachel Maddow, and your critique follows her quote. I’ve been a fan of FAIR for many years, but these tactics are shoddy at best. It appears you’re more interested in a catchy headline than in the Fairness or Accuracy portions of your name.
Alas, Ms Maddow is as left as they come in the “Liberal Media.”
The late, great Phil Ochs:
“In every political community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good times. Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally.”
She leaves many mis-impressions on nuclear matters. If you watched her stories on loose nukes, you might be left thinking all the NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration) ever did was go around the world sweeping up loose enriched uranium. In fact it is the agency that once upon a time was the Manhattan Project and currently builds and maintains the entire U.S. nuclear menace. Huh, … the U.S. Now there’s a country not in need of “pursuit” of n-weapons. It’s still bristling to the teeth with them.
It seems Maddow is sinking to the level of Tom Friedman, the establishment’s house liberal.
nuclear triggers have one purpose, and IAEA officials believe that they were tested at Parchin. anything that is single-purpose and only used for a nuclear weapon DOES indicate an attempt to obtain nuclear weapons technology.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iran/120307/iran-cleaning-after-nuclear-trigger-test-ap-says
Check this out. I saw the announcements of http://www.we-choose.org and it seems like a great idea. The Iranian regime has shut down virtually all social media to avoid a repeat of 2009, but they can’t control this voting process and it’s a pretty cool way for Iranians to register their vote for someone other than the handpicked six we’re stuck with and at least have a choice. On We Choose, you can select from 20 candidates. My vote (okay, I’m lobbying here) is for Maryam Rajavi. She’s been a great fighter for a democratic Iran, but whoever you vote for, take advantage of this opportunity and vote. Don’t give Khamenei the satisfaction of saying he had a big turnout and thus legitimacy for his election. Vote today!
Nazer, you need to re-read the source article about the Parchin military base. And not the Global Post version…go back to the CNN report: it was very clear that the issue of Parchin was lack of access when it was originally demanded. The Iranians then relented and agreed to let them inspect the place. Its all old news. And more recently, the Iranians processed a good chunk of their uranium into forms that are very specifically civilian based and make it nearly useless for military purposes without a lot of work reprocessing. Having read several of these IAEA, I haven’t read one yet that says “here is where they are in violation” of anything substantial. The only one I read indicating a violation seems to have had something to do with disposed of tailings and where they ended up: in 1 ammo dump, or in conventional waste stream. Reading it, it sounded like IAEA wagging their finger at Iran for its methods and suggesting that it may have fallen into the wrong hands and should be recovered. Not exactly a smoking gun….
Good on Ms. Shirazi for pointing this out. (By the way, if you are really a Shirazi, can you post a good recipe for that fabulous Persian Shirazi chicken soup with rice and boiled eggs…?:-)) I am really sick of people thinking that Rachel Maddow is alternative media. She is not.
“Ahmadinejad has… …denied the country has any intention of building any such weapon.”
Really? And you’re willing to take the word of the same dangerous little imp that denies that the Holocaust happened?
If it walks like a duck…
Im trying to sift through what FAIR is saying.It sounds like they are saying that ah ma needs a jobs words/promises are actually worth more than camel shit.Anybody who believes anything mr ‘no gays in Iran”has to say …is a fool.American Intel ,and Israeli intel seem convinced.They have been wrong before……but Id say they are right 98% of the time.So choose your poison.Obama or the ruling Mullahs
Actually, “American and Israeli intel” are far from convinced . . . you’re taking the word of politicians in Israel and the U.S. Let’s say for arguments sake the Iranians get themselves, somehow, a nuclear weapon. Then what? Or better yet, just like last time, a lunatic in power (last time it was Dubya, this time Netanyahu) decides he somehow has the right to use tactical nukes to destroy something that only exists at his say-so–all you hawks down with that?
I know this may be impolite to mention, but it appears that certain persons in America often adopt the Israeli attitude when it comes to matters involving their security that they are again being victimized or potentially so. I don’t think this is unprecedented in history. For example, there were many in America, with German heritage who were reluctant to push to war v. Germany. I think this is understandable, ala tribal. But, I think it should be taken into account as to why persons are biased, and should be recognized as people exchange ideas.
NAZER …the article you link, which is pretty typical of its kind, claims, twice, right at the beginning, tha “satellite photos show trucks cleaining up WHAT COULD BE a test” of a a nuclear rigger. They author is very careful to qualify this bit of “news”…AGAIN – the IAEA has repeatedly said that there is no evidence, whatsoever, that Iran is trying to build a Bomb and this concurs with what thoset other international peace organizations THE PENTAGON AND ISREALI GOVERNMENT, have already said publicly:
http://fcnl.org/issues/iran/us_israeli_intelligence_officials_iran_is_not_pursuing_nuclear_weapons/
stop spreading lies,NAZER
BILL
The article quotes Rachel Maddow verbatim…whether she got that comment from the NYT (no surprises) or one of her friendly anonymous
“sources” in the Obama admin…dosent matter..she repeated it, willingly, and unqualified on her nightly campaign commercial for the Dems.
If Rachel is wrong, she will admit it. Maybe her instincts tell her that Achmadimijacket is full of crap.
Rachel is actually right because Ahmadinejad has stated that Iran has a right to have a nuclear weapon.He simply has not admitted that they are pursuing the technology to build one.It’s pretty much the international consensus that thousands of centrifuges are only necessary for the pursuit of nuclear weapons grade plutonium.Ignoring that fact is not just naive,but dangerous.
The American media are at their most sanctimonious in attacking foreign nuclear energy and weapons programs. The United States is the only country in history to have inflicted mass murder and severe long-term residual suffering on human beings – hundreds of thousand of them, yet our news organizations rarely discuss efforts to ban all nuclear weapons, and few Americans are aware of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups headquartered in the United States and hundreds more abroad.
Despite the fact that America has become increasingly bellicose over the last three decades, other people are somehow not supposed to try to defend themselves against American hegemony. Yet those who join the ever-expanding list of countries with nuclear weapons increase the likelihood of human annihilation.
It is long past time for the media to wake up.
John Q your understanding of nuclear proliferation ,devoid of moral relativism is startling.You see no difference in us having the bomb…and lets say some of the worst characters in history because you think what is fair for us- is fair for all?Then you say because we used the bomb in WW2 killing many, but saving millions of lives (Japanese and American)That we no longer hold any moral high ground?You need to study the reasons why we used the bomb.What we learned from its use.Why we have never used it again.And why it is so important to stop the spread to those who would use it if they could.This is not an academic exercise.This is life and death.Israel has had the bomb for decades yet never used it against her enemies.Would her enemies have been as reticent?Some have proven they understand this weapon.Some……fly planes into buildings.
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thanks However I’m experiencing challenge with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting an identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
NSA Lies about spying on U.S. Citizens. C.I.A. Lies. Use of drones. All the while CorpGov owned media continue to obfuscate what’s really going on. BlackAgendaRadio is a good source for news as is fair.org
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