[lit-ideas] Re: Of demons and men
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:08:56 -0800
I did a Google Search on news about Kenneth Timmerman and discovered that he
has been nominated for the Nobel Prize. He is considered an independent
researcher and has been studying Iran for two decades.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20
<http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&artnum=1&issue
=20060208> &artnum=1&issue=20060208
One of the things that has put me off about Timmerman is he doesn't provide
as many footnotes as I would like. He writes from his own authority, and
who, after all, is Kenneth Timmerman? Maybe I've been underrating him.
Lawrence
_____
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Lawrence Helm
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 9:03 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Of demons and men
I need to apologize to Timmerman - a bit. After posting my note, I picked
up his book to check something only to discover it was in Mohammad
Mohaddessin's Islamic Fundamentalism. It was the latter who was more
thoroughly demonizing Khomeini.
Timmerman does assume an Iranian mastermind, but his is Rafsanjani.
Timmerman is breaking stories about Iran that I've never heard before (there
isn't anything wrong with that, but the stories should be verifiable, and
his may not be). For example, according to him, Al Quaeda trained for 9/11
in Iran. One of his informants is a body guard who walked through a
building and saw simulations of rockets flying into American buildings.
This bodyguard, Zakeri, went to the American embassy in Azerbaijan and
wanted to contact the CIA with his information. He was referred to a CIA
official eventually who scoffed at his information. Zakeri even had the
date September 10th as the day of the attack, and the CIA official, unnamed
in Zimmerman's book, laughed and said he'd mark it on his calendar. When
Timmerman tried to follow this story up, the CIA denied it. They said that
Zakeri was unreliable and they never used him. Timmerman counters with a
CIA principle which is that if 25% of what an informant can be verified from
other sources, you ought to pay attention to the other 75%.
Timmerman also has photos of an Iranian terrorist mastermind (formerly) from
Lebanon named Imad Fayez Mugniyeh. He quotes someone as saying Mugniyeh
makes Osama bin Laden look like a school boy. He says because of the photos
Mugniyeh got a plastic surgeon to change his looks and now he looks
something like Richard Gere with a pot belly.
Perhaps my present less-than-favorable impression of Timmerman will change
as I read on. If so, I'll apologize further later on.
Lawrence
_____
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 1:57 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Of demons and men
I went through a serious several-year jag of reading Israel/Palestine issue
books. I read books written by Jews, by Westerners who lived in the midst
of the conflict for a time, by Palestinian sympathizers, by political gurus
and secular journalists, all the Arab/Muslim texts Eric mentioned (well,
most of them). I can't count the number I read. Many out loud w/ my
husband. The one sure thing I came away with was the certainty that in
terms of cultural and political clashes there simply is no objective right
and wrong, there simply are no white hats and black hats. There are agendas
I support and actions I find damnable. But it's all a mixed bag of motives
and rights and beliefs and and and ......
I stopped reading on the subject for a while. It was too demoralizing.
Julie Krueger
========Original Message========
Subj:
[lit-ideas] Of demons and men
Date:
2/20/06 1:30:37 AM Central Standard Time
From:
lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To:
lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent on:
I'm currently reading Robin Wright's The Last Great Revolution, Turmoil and
Transformation in Iran. I previously read her In The Name of God, The
Khomeini Decade, so I have a very good feel for what Wright thinks of
Khomeini. In both of her books she describes Khomeini entering the Iranian
Revolution with traditional Shiite beliefs, esp that Religious leaders
should not be in governmental leadership positions. He made several
announcements to that effect. His intention was to stay out of government
unless there was some problem he needed to referee. But as time went on he
was drawn more and more into government until when the Iranian constitution
was eventually written, he became the Velayat-e Faqih, the Supreme Leader.
I'm also reading Kenneth Timmerman's Countdown to Crisis, the Coming Nuclear
Showdown with Iran. Timmerman addresses the same facts Wright does, but
draws very different conclusion - think Andreas' views on Bush. In
Timmerman's view Khomeini wasn't drawn into anything, He was orchestrating
a clever plot. He intended to be the Veleyat-e Faqih from the beginning.
He played reluctant and hard to get to get the people behind him - to get
them to demand that he become the Supreme Leader.
I'm uncomfortable with Timmerman's approach to Khomeini. I don't trust
conspiracy theories. I fully accept the idea that we are each capable of
all sorts of things we don't think we are capable of as long as we aren't
tempted by them. I accept that if we are subjected to strong temptation we
shall, most of us, succumb. So I can accept that Khomeini may have been
tempted to compromise his Shiite beliefs when he had the opportunity to
become (of felt the necessity to become) Veleyat-e Faqih. But I find it
hard to believe in the cynical conniving Khomeini that cleverly planned
everything in advance. If he was that cynical, clever, and conniving, then
why did he make so many other mistakes? For example, he got rid of the
Shah's American weapons, and nuclear development sites. A Shiite trusts in
Allah, not in American technology and weapons, Khomeini said. But when the
war with Iraq started, his people begged him to change his mind and let them
get some decent weapons to fight Saddam with; which he reluctantly agreed
to, and then they had to go to a source, the USSR, they hadn't used before
which necessitated inordinate delays and learning curves.
Timmerman has demonized Khomeini while Wright has described a human being
who happened to be the religious leader who became the Supreme Leader of
Iran. I shall be happy to read anything else I can find by Robin Wright. I
shall be very reluctant to read another book by Timmerman.
Lawrence
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