The New York Times has an editorial on the P5+1 talks with Iran. It's the usual rubbish, so I'll take the liberty of rewriting it for them with a bit of role reversal to make it read more accurately:
Talking With America
The U.S.’s agreement over the weekend to hold a new round of nuclear talks next month with Iran and five other powers is a constructive development. On Monday, Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Tehran is ready to resolve its nuclear disputes “quickly and easily” and suggested flexibility on uranium enrichment.
But nothing is ever quick and easy with the Americans. They are masters at diplomatic sleight of hand and have provided ample reason for mistrust.
Okay, enough fun. The Times goes on to say "Iran’s unsurprising push for an immediate lifting of sanctions must be resisted." Yes, by all means, we must continue to wage economic warfare on the country to punish the people of Iran for their sin of tolerating a government that refuses to bow down to Washington.
They it says, "The major powers also need to confront Iran’s divided leadership by spelling out explicitly a vision for the kinds of diplomatic and economic incentives — including access to peaceful nuclear energy — that Tehran would gain if it gives up its weapons-related nuclear activities."
So Iran is undergoing "[nuclear] weapons-related activities". That is a fact. No question about it. "Iran’s nuclear ambitions are real and dangerous..." the Times insists, "...though there is no proof yet that it has made the decision to move from producing fuel to building a bomb."
So Iran is a very "real and dangerous" threat because we know it is undergoing nuclear weapons-related activities, even though there is no evidence that this is the case.
Sound familiar? It was called Iraq, people, come on! As Bush said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.... If you fool me, you can't get fooled again." Or something like that.
I love the Times' attempt to use Jedi mind tricks on their readers, though. That's good fun. "The threat from Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is very real and dangerous. These aren't the 'droids you're looking for."
It's just too bad there are so many weak-minded fools who actually take this same old kind of propaganda seriously.
