IRAN: REALITY, OPTIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES

[Phx_Dem]

Testimony by Karim Sadjadpour
Associate
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee
Washington, DC
October 30, 2007

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I commend the committee for its interest in understanding the views of the Iranian people, who project a fundamentally different image of their country than that espoused by their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It goes without saying that it is difficult to make broad generalizations about a socially
diverse population of 70 million people. Yet I do believe there are some important thoughts and trends among Iranians which transcend age, gender, religiosity, and socioeconomic class distinctions. Based largely on my experience living and traveling throughout Iran intermittently from 2001-2005, I would like to outline briefly a number of important factors
and their implications for U.S. policy. I preface my comments by saying that any kind of U.S. military attack on Iran would alter substantially the factors I list below, almost entirely for the negative.

More at:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/2007-10-30_ks_testimony.pdf

[Tom Joad]

1. There is a $200 million campaign to sell a war with Iran to the american

people. This according to the New York Times.
It's called "Freedom Watch"

Ari Fleischer, bush's former official liar to the press, is active in the group.
Sheldon Adleson, the third richest man in america is one of the funders, (he is also a big funder of a little non-influential lobby group called AIPAC, that most congresspeople are not influenced by at all!!--- because, as everyone knows, congresspeople only think of what is best for America and the common good, and NEVER think of electoral politics when voting on bills or making public statements)

I'd like to think it won't work. Because people do want peace. It's going to take some work on our part though. much hard work.

[Phx_Dem]

2. They want to raise $200mil by Nov. '08

Pretty scary group. There is really no reason for the US to take any action regarding Iran until after the general election.

[Tom Joad]

5. and even if they make half their goal, its still scary stuff

with Adelson (who can nearly fund it all himself) and the religious right and secular far right groups like "The Israel Project" and aipac... i don't doubt at all that they will be able to raise a significant amount of money, and beat the drums for war.

[Tempest]

3. You can only cry "wolf" so many times before it won't work

And the neocons used up all their wolf's on Iraq.

[Tom Joad]

4. but they got the undemocratic Dem congress to remove language

from a bill declaring, simply, that Bush must go to congress before an attack on Iran. Crazy stuff... and yet Pelosi, wHoyer and Reid went along. They have much clout.