Why not the Iranian flag?

[Mosin]

Lisa, Why do you hate Freedom (R, TM, Patent Pending) so much?!?!



Marg bar ehTramp ehStamph!!!!!

[Badger]

What "weapons facility" you fuck? Clearly all you read is NCRI/Mossad talking points... there is not a SHRED of evidence that Iran has, or wants a nuclear WEAPONS program. Like I said, analyzing this info, including US GOVERNMENT ANALYSIS (read the latest Intel Estimate?) is what I do for a living.

Dude, I gotta ask...

If you do what you claim to do then I wonder how it is that you can be so dismissive of the factual evidence? It may be that we're both confusing semantics. But to say that there's NO evidence that Iran has or wants a nuclear weapons program suggests a naïveté that extends beyond the pale.

Ahmadinejad and his toady Council of Guardians appear to have no interest in any negotiated outcome around the nuclear issue that doesn't permit them a complete nuclear fuel cycle, which would permit weapons-grade enrichment. Fuck this bogus idea of a civilian nuclear program. Western intelligence coupled with IAEA surveillance dovetail in their assessments that expenditures and acquisition of gas centrifuge technology is wholly out of proportion to any other reactor related expenditures they seem to be making towards such a civilian power program.

Their missle program, advanced to the point of solid-fueled IRBMs, are dual-capable by design as demonstrated a few weeks back with a show of capability that was vigorously reported in the news.

Seriouly dude, the intoxicating allure of nukes is undeniable. Given Iran's goals of expanding influence into northern Iraq I can't see how you'd deny the push for and the acquisition of nuclear weaponry. Hell, if the Kurds see Iran with nukes they'll be emboldened to push even harder for sovereignty in the north where a large percentage of known Iraqi oil reserves lie. Iran then will continue its regional threats and push the Kurds to pursue sovereignty by either secession or formation of an independent state which Iran will undoubtedly back. It'll also handle it like the puppet that such a state would be. Truth of fact Tehran will be the de facto capital for such a state and its influence the destabilization of such influence - particularly as it relates to Islamic fundamentalism - in the region will grow exponentially causing further destabilization. Israel will never brook such behavior from a country so close to its borders - especially one which has talked as much shit as Ahmadinejad has over the past few years.

So to say that there's no proof, no evidence of Iran's will to acquire nuclear weapons is, for this reader, a grave oversight. Especially one made by someone claiming albeit vaguely of being an analyst.

One of my college professors once said to me that 'absence of proof is not proof of absence.' You might be well served to incorporate that idea into whatever tool bag you use to perform your intel evaluations.

[ygmir]

referring to Lisa's post:

snickering.................

no, not snarking, snickering.............

edited for clarity.........

[mojo]

Isn' the Iranian flag the same as ours...except on fire?

I believe it will be on fire sometime after the US elections this fall.

A dark cloud - a pall - sits on the horizon I think. Iran with its nuclear ambitions coupled with the loose and reckless tongue of its current president and its draconian lap dog mullahs will force Israel's hand. She'll take action against certain, specific facilities sometime within the next 4-6 months unless a political de-escalation starts to take place. One need not be a soothsayer to see that is damn near destined to happen.

I have had the disquieting thought that just such a conflict may become part of an upcoming "October surprize".

[Badger]

I have had the disquieting thought that just such a conflict may become part of an upcoming "October surprize".

Not before the first Tuesday in November. They're not that stupid and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to have to answer to the inevitable cries that their strike was timed to influence the election results.

[Mosin]

I am VERY GLAD you asked me that Badger. From my decades of studying Iranian history and traveling in Iran, and interviewing Iranians, and writing books/articles on Iranian nationalism, I THINK Iran probably does have a secret nuclear WEAPONS adjunct to their civilian nuclear program (which, btw/ we started for them under the Atoms For Peace project in 1957... my dad did the first geological study for the Bushire plant, which we advocated until we lost the contracts in '79!) but the fact is as I stated... even more than Iraq in 2003, we have absolutely no hard evidence that Iran's ballistic missile program and/or civilian nuclear program has a weaponization adjunct. (same goes for CW and BW).

I am not willing to make, or to allow my countrymen/women to make the same mistake we made in 2003! If you had asked me in '03 whether Saddam had WMD (as per govt. definitions) I would have answered affirmatively... I mean, as Tech raps so eloquently, we did sell Saddam that shit... see the damning docs at the GWU National Security Archive! And still, he was able to do away with them... I would guess in a "dispose of or die" command sometime around 2001.

Now, whatever President Adhominemattackajad (thanks Colbert!) says from his rectum, the Iranian Leader (Ayatollah Khamenai... who actually controls the army and foreign policy despite the Neocons favorite, powerless posterboy for evil, Ahmadinejad) has not only stated that Iran will never be the first to instigate war, he has issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons as "haram." While he has history on his side (Iran has not attacked anyone since 1747) history also raises questions about his truthfulness: there is a Shi'ite tradition known as *taqiya* that allows for what is termed "ritual dissimulation" (i.e. bullshitting when supposed defense of the faith/community calls for it).

Thus, I can THINK Iran has a nuclear weapons program all I want, but supporting that wonderfully effective tactic of Shock and Awe and/or sending other people's kids to kill others and potentially die because of what I THINK I know without evidence is not an option this round. alhamdulillah!

WHAT HAPPENED TO DIPLOMACY?! When Mao said China could lose 30 million easily, but that 30 million "running dog capitalists" would make good rice fertilizer, what did Tricky Dick do?!? Someone finish the story/analogies for me puh-lese!!! This "bomb first/discover later" Bush Doctrine of binaries (us-them, good-evil, freedom-terror, civilization-Islam) has clearly not been successful in any context. We can do better. That's my Armenian-American-Iranian Dream.

Once more in case anyone missed it: I am not an apologist for the IRI <period>. Reality is complex, however. I think we all need to heed Tech's advice to READ and educate ourselves. That is how democracy functions best IMHO, especially when we have others doing our killin' and dyin' and are only asked by our govt. to SHOP!!!

PS The latest (2007) NIE and the 2004 Report on Strategic Communications by the DoD/Defense Science Board Task Force (both avail online) would be a gr8 place to start that reading! Oh shit, I turned an ePlaya thread into a lesson. Throw eggs please, my dear students....

[mojo]

I have had the disquieting thought that just such a conflict may become part of an upcoming "October surprize".

Not before the first Tuesday in November. They're not that stupid and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to have to answer to the inevitable cries that their strike was timed to influence the election results.

I hope you are right. My worry is that this country has a propensity for always re-electing the incumbent party during wartime. Any political benefit of such a conflict beginning before the election would belong to the McCain camp. I truly hope they are not that stupid, but ........

[Badger]

Thus, I can THINK Iran has a nuclear program all I want, but supporting that wonderfully effective tactic of Shock and Awe and/or sending other people's kids to kill others and potentially die because of what I THINK I know without evidence is not an option this round. alhamdulillah!

Evidentiary discussion aside the 'will they or won't they' question of proactively taking out specific, strategic targets to cripple a burgeoning nuclear weaponry program *will* happen. Short of a diplomatic miracle I don't see many other options available to Israel and Dog knows we (and others) have squandered more than a few opportunities for a negotiated settlement around the myriad of questions the issue dredges up. It may not make it 'right' and there'll undoubtedly be consequences unforeseen. One consequence I don't see is a great deal of collateral damage. The identified centrifuge processing facilities in Iraq are very isolated and quite far from any civilian sectors.

I don't believe Israel is willing to err on the side of Iran's noble intentions any more than it's willing to wait for 'hard' evidence of bombs. Expecting her to buy into the lies is, in my mind, akin to suggesting that she believe after the fact that the showers at Buchenwald were a public sanitation project.

[Badger]

BTW Mosin,

Not asking that you drink any of my Kool-Aid but you might want to check out the link I'm about to provide you.

I work in the south bay and we have a series of monthly colloquia on various topics. One of our past administrators, Pief Panofsky was a celebrated scientist and arms control expert who continually kept the issue on the front burner at every opportunity. In May of last year he brought in Scott Sagan from campus to give a lunch time talk entitled The Iran Nuclear Crisis: An Update. It was pretty compelling and the fact that three Nobel Prize winners were in attendance that day I think testifies to the credentials of the speaker who I certainly wouldn't consider a Mossad apologists even though his view of certain aspects of the issue seem antithetical to some of those you've expressed.

Anyway, there's both a video and a download pod link at the following:

http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/colloquiu ... ?year=2007

Grab a glass of wine and enjoy.

[Mosin]

Thanks for the link. I always appreciate new information/perspectives...especially on these issues and particularly outside of the cable news mill. I'll check it now.

Re. Israel and Iran's nuclear program, I disagree with many of the assumptions that seem to underlie your and others' arguments here. For example, and correct me if this isn't accurate because I do not intend to put words in your or others' mouths...but it appears that you either condone/rationalize/accept Israel's WMD and potential use of them, and/or accept the notion that because the Holocaust was perpetrated by European "Christian" society/ies (i.e. because 6 million Jews were slaughtered... never mind the culprit) it is OK for the modern national state of Israel to unilaterally attack another country that it deems a threat...nevermind those pesky historical details, the mass killing, or environmental fallout. Without rehashing modern Midde Eastern history here, the historical track record shows Iran to be justifiably concerned about its national defense (and agressive only in bullshit talk from a president who has as much power to wage war or determine foreign policy trajectory as Ahnold!) whether or not one likes the current political system. Even our NIE recognizes that (as well as our Sec of Defense... see Iran: Time for a New Approach by Gates and Zbig, or the Iraq Study Group report AKA Baker-Hamilton Comm), so this isn't some Hezballah-generated talking point. Israel, on the other hand--armed to the fucking teeth with conventional and NBC weapons and with peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan--is only "threatened" if one perceives Revisionist/Likudnik/settler interests (which, by the way are not and have never been synonymous with Judaism) to maintain the occupation of land siezed in '67 against international law and UN resolutions to be primary/valid. I do not think that is your take Badger, and I would hope that you and others would agree that the idea/rationalization that Iranians (of the regime or otherwise) hate Israel more than they love their country, heritage, and children, is so fucking inane and dismisive to history/reality as to be pattently offensive... to view it through an Iranian nationalist lens (that of Iranian royalists, islamists, secular nationalists, marxists etc)... mass suicide over Israel? Killing all Palestinians and destroying the haram al-sharif and al-Aqsa?! Just who the f*ck do Zionists and their enablers think they are? Certainly not ALL THAT if anyone knows of Iranian history, culture, topography/geog, resources, art, architecture, food. Relevant stiry...dijja hear the one about the Jew who moved from Iran to Israel, only to return to his "homeland" Iran? Not a joke so no punchline...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... e/ShowFull

Point is, Israel is not even close to being worth suicide over for Iranians, even on the worst day in Iran or Gaza... Ashura included. But I digress....

I believe in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (many Israelis I know are far less pro-Israeli than that!), dialogue/diplomacy, and potential disarmament. I do not accept the status quo that because Israel needs to feel secure in its brutal 41 year occupation it is OK for it to bully, threaten, or attack others. Once again, Nader Shah Afshar was the last Iranian expansionist. If we get the fuck out of Iran's face for once in modern history and show the Persians a litle respect after their 2500 years of civilization the gesture will come back in spades.... reciprocation is demanded by Persian culture. After the '53 coup and our 25 year cliency relationship with the Shah/SAVAK, we helped Saddam kill ~600K Iranians from 1980-88 and maim hundreds of thousands more with regular CW use we condoned and supported..., then, for the grand finale, the USS Vincennes blew Iran Air #655 out of the sky while illegally in Iranian teritorial waters attacking Iranian shipping on th side of Iraq--killing 290 innocent civilians--and lying through our teeth about it to congress and the UN.

"READ!":

http://alt-f4.org/img/seaoflies.html (Who threatens whom?!?)
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/ (docs on Iraqi CW and our complicity/support)

Yet I digress again....look, this is a fucking can of highly nuanced, detailed, and often conflicted/contradictory worms... throw in "objective" analysis of the "facts" as we know them (LOL) and the context here on ePlaya and this will just go 'round and 'round. I actually love such dialogue... hence the whole job thing... but I can't sustain it here for much longer without collective and varied readings, face-to-face discussion, and an understanding that the audience and participants have the tools (i.e. background knowledge/reading) and interest to make this a useful effort. Likewise, y'all don't know me for shit, and I would MUCH RATHER be known here as Mosin the sweet bunny-guy with the otter pops than an a-hole professor know it all dickhead....

In closing and in short, let's require some international and state-state dialogue and genuine diplomacy before we accept a bogus idea that it is OK (or even inevitable) that Israel or the US bomb and kill Iranians in "defense." Let us also please be careful to check our sources before making Bushesque statements about Iranian nuclear "weapons" facilities. Remember that pinche laptop that supposedly had the plans for warhead development? That was more "Curveball" than Curveball... provided by MOSSAD to the NCRI... and on to Doug Feith's Office of Special AIPAC Favors. OK, I made that last part up about the name of Feith's office, but the "smoking gun" was as real as that memo from Cheney drawing a link between Saddam and al-Qaida. If hard evidence ever emerges to prove Iran has a nnuclear weapons program, the situation changes. Until then, let's work for a peaceful outcome and seek actual, physical proof before waging war again.

OK, just 'cuzz I'm procrastinating and already have come off a dickhead.... another quick lesson for any, ah, lurkers who find this more interesting than the Club Exclusivo thread (?!?) or Playa Lube Tips. Did you know that all Jews on earth do not hold monolithic views/beliefs and do not share the same views on the state of Israel? Really!! Yes, even Zionism and Israelis are incredibly complex. "READ!!" (which was, btw/ the first command allah is believed by Muslims to have imparted to Muhammad.. and how the Qur'an got its name...the reading r recitation )

http://www.nkusa.org/ (these guys must be anti-semitic!!)
http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/ (no doubt ay-rab terr'ists!!)

One more thing....Badger, I went off on several digressions, most of which have no linear relationship to what you stated/asked, so forgive me if I ascribed anything to you that is not your view. I fucking type with two fingers so this takes a while and several revisions... in my post-burn mindset it is sure to be disjointed.

Hey, how about that crazy Burning Man thing that went down? I heard it was epic! Thoughts?

XO

Dr. Mosin

PS Again, throw eggs... it might bring on some bacon.

[Mosin]

Anyway, there's both a video and a download pod link at the following:

http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/colloquiu ... ?year=2007

Grab a glass of wine and enjoy.

Read the abstract... can't disagree with any of that...looks like a nice Shirazi is in order...

Thanks!

[Mosin]

More koolaid please!! Man, that was excellent... should be required viewing for any American interested in understanding the present concerns and hypotheses regarding a potential Iranian NWP, and rational, viable diplomatic steps/carrots to achieve stability and maintain peace. Sagan not only knows his shit top to botttom, but as far as I can tell he talked without reading his notes, which is a tall order when discussing something so complex and controversial. I hung on every single word up until ~50:00 (too bad no audience/question mic) and noted how he didn't utter a single phrase that was not accurate to what he was describing in any given context, or leading/innuendo. I did have several small issues with particular points...but for the most part in terms of hierarchy of causes/concerns (i.e. where emphasis should be placed) than anything factual or hypothetical that he offered. I guess I'm a bit more radical (y'all down south in and around the Farm are more conservative...) so I had to laugh when he proposed (loosely paraphrased) that it is a concern that the same entities that organize Iranian terrorism are also in control of the nuclear program... shouldn't that arrangement be familiar and perhaps comforting to us? It's how it's done in every nuclear armed nation... US of A and Israel included. Alas, at least our nuclear-armed religious freaks in control of state-sponsred terrorism are more sane than their might-someday-potentially-be nuclear-armed religious freaks in control of state-sponsored terrorism!!

Anyway, tremendous! Many thanks for an excellent instructional piece. You have no idea how much it helps to have a shorthair whiteboy non-freak (with all due respect and love to my shorthair whiteboy non-phreek hermanos) like Sagan do the talking/powerpoint for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This combines three different readings I would have suggested... as if most students are going to actually dig them up and read them. Guess this thread is actually saving me time/work, so I should procrastinate at ePlaya as much as possible.

btw/ a few developments recently could be added to various sections of the talk which would underscore some of Sagan's points and extend/enhance others. For example, Khatami's potential relection next summer, or a Larajani presidency. Or the Georgian crisis and Bush Admin response to Russia (vis-a-vis Poland and/or Azerbaijan) which could hasten sale/deployment of the S-300 SAM system... Iran already has the TOR M1, which could put a major hurt on a low level conventional attack.

OK... as a seque back to the Burn, I hereby proclaim my intention to visit Terminal City in 09 wearing only my sacred bunny ears and a pink G-String that has "TOR-M1" crotch-emblazoned in faux-cyrilic black felt. Tune in to see if the hurt will be placed on my, um, ah... conventional low level attack... We'll call it Mission Implausible...
(hey, isn't that the Playa?! Poor skydivers...IMHO Deathguild has gone too far.)

[Mosin]

Wait... I like Mosin Implausible better! Sorry if the TOR-M1 playa/skydivers/Deathguild vid leads to coffee-infused keyboards. Swallow first... then hit the youtubes.

[gyre]

Iran not attack first?
Haven't they gone after many people already including the usa in Lebanon and elsewhere?

Their threats seem blatant and clear.
I find it hard to think of any reaction to that as unilateral, though I'm sure that is the face they would like to present.

Iran has already decided one usa election.
It seemed peculiar that they would prefer republicans in office until Reagan/Bush kissed their ass every time they did anything.
I have felt that we were in a state of war with Iran since then.
Reagan/Bush sold our longtime security out to do what?
Stay in office?

It has been suggested that escalation since then is the predicted result of caving to terrorism.
I think paying ransom then has cost americans abroad their security and far more lives than the 9-11 events.

[gyre]

I'm not here to debate Iranian history or US foreign policy in the Middle East... this is what I do for a living, so it wouldn't be a fair or interesting dialogue...

Being so informed of the inner political machinations of Iran then I'm sure you can appreciate the absolute disgust and searing contempt that many hold towards a country that allows its government to hang young, underage boys caught having consensual sex with each other. Or, that has in the past celebrated New Years day by publicly stoning queer men to death.

Certainly a flag I wouldn't mind wiping my faggot ass with and then tossing on a fire.

I'm not sure it's fair to say Iran discriminates against gays.
They are also hanging teenage female rape victims too.

And for those that don't know, hanging is not by a drop, but a slow lift with a crane.

[Mosin]

I think paying ransom then has cost americans abroad their security and far more lives than the 9-11 events.

Right... if we were just tougher on those evildoers we could vanquish terror (?). Howzabout we stop supporting/enabling Saudi and Egyptian dictatorships/oligarchy and Israeli occupation/aggression with billions of dollars in aid, exchange and/or military cooperation/hardware? You think Chamoun and the Gmayels were champions of democracy?! How about a foreign policy that actually reflects the values we supposedly espouse, rather than those that make a mockery of them? Whether Americans see it or not, our foreign policy/ies are rife with brutal, deadly contradictions (realpolitik to some...haters IMHO). Anybody here remember where the Sept. 11th hijackers came from? <pin> Wellll, think of the only two places in the Middle East we have not threatened with the sweet boot-heel of Freedom (TM,R) to... our buddies the Saudis and Egyptians (hugs/kisses). Funny you mention Reagan.... when we had Reagan the Egyptians had Mubarak. When we had Bush the Egyptians had Mubarak. When we had Clinton the Egyptians had Mubarak. Under GW... you know the tune... MUBARAK. The guy wins 97% of the vote every time!! Imagine that. Those Egyptians must really love him,. Just like the fucking Shah of Iran. I'm too tired to run through the Saudi narrative... and clearly you have not read or understood my detailed posts above re. Iran or checked out Sagan's lecture (and/or checked out the text links and educated yourself with documents and analysis) thus, Immortal Technique has a reading assignment for you at the end of his erudite, succinct lecture:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4719421053

I really wanted to talk more about Mosin Implausible '09 and my TOR M1 package!! Oh well

[gyre]

M-Nagants are selling for $75 retail on tgs right now.


The amount of small text I can read on a monitor v paper is limited, but I have some familiarity with Israel's issues, including their destruction of a US intelligence ship with machine gunning of lifeboats, etc.

If the recent stories of mass production of detonators in Iran for use in Iraq are true, then why should one feel more at ease with Iran?
Is it not true that Iran now has more centrifuges than allah?

[Mosin]

M-Nagants are selling for $75 retail on tgs right now.


The amount of small text I can read on a monitor v paper is limited, but I have some familiarity with Israel's issues, including their destruction of a US intelligence ship with machine gunning of lifeboats, etc.

If the recent stories of mass production of detonators in Iran for use in Iraq are true, then why should one feel more at ease with Iran?
Is it not true that Iran now has more centrifuges than allah?

I gotta look into that more (the Iran/Allah balance of power! ) but yes indeed, the USS Liberty heroes/victims/families are still waiting/hurting.... www.ussliberty.org Glad somebody remembers...supporting the troops should be consistent/persistent rather than a bumper sticker fad IMHO.

As for $75 Mosins, those Combloc Cougars multiply faster than bunnies...only several million left in Ural warehouses I would imagine! <sniffle> If they still allowed firearms the M-44 would rock the DBSR as well as offer radical illumination to the masses. Get 'em while they're hot kids!! Free cosmoline! Which brings us full circle to Terminal City Lube Tips....

[lurker]

Of course I've been 'killfiltered'. When you cannot debate, the preferred tactics, for you and your ilk, is to stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and go 'lalalalalala'---of course, that's the best case scenario.

PPS I just gotta add, ask the persecuted Bahai's/Babis if they consider themselves "Muslims" or ask Muslims if they consider Bahai's to be Muslims. The answer is an unequivocal NO. Hence the often brutal treatment and discrimintion imposed on these generally loving, gender egalitarian, ANTI-CLERICAL, apolitical peoples.

Duh. I did NOT say they were Muslims--I stated the FACT that they are an offshoot of Shia'a Islam--which they are. And it is no secret how the devout react to apostacy. But none of this has ANYTHING to do with the fact that they are not yet in real competition with--or a sucessor to--the big three. They are a small persecuted faith.

And, brutal treatment? Not from the Muslims you credited with such tolerance, surely?

First this--

PPPS What "weapons facility" you fuck? Clearly all you read is NCRI/Mossad talking points... there is not a SHRED of evidence that Iran has, or wants a nuclear WEAPONS program. Like I said, analyzing this info, including US GOVERNMENT ANALYSIS (read the latest Intel Estimate?) is what I do for a living. Hence... why I am not going to turn ePlaya into another class. Take one if you want to educate yourself, apeman.

Then this---

I am VERY GLAD you asked me that Badger. From my decades of studying Iranian history and traveling in Iran, and interviewing Iranians, and writing books/articles on Iranian nationalism, I THINK Iran probably does have a secret nuclear WEAPONS adjunct to their civilian nuclear program

So, it's okay for YOU to think they have a weapons program, but when I do it I'm a neo-con, likudnik asshole? Wow.

And I've gotta ask--while you're 'lalalalaing' away, what is your problem with jews?

Badger, you seem to have the patience of Job, so I'm going to ask you this--

I've said something truly horrific, I've said that I know how horrific it is, I've said that one of the worst things about it is that it makes logical sense.

And I've said that I don't want it, that I think it would scar us horribly.

And I've said that it appears to be looming in our future.

My tone is designed to warn, to scare, is it too much?

You seem to see 'the shadow growing in the East'. You seem to see that something horrible is trying to crawl over the horizen...and yet, you don't get shut down, why?

Sometimes I think I'm shut down because I have the temerity to point out that this is asymetrical warfare--that the 'enemy' really doesn't have a chance. I think Mosin shut me down because he felt I was taking the Israeli side.

But again, why? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Mosin]

The amount of small text I can read on a monitor v paper is limited...

PS Gyre, another cool thing about the link that Badger posted above is that you can just listen to Sagan's lecture, which is fully comprehensible even without his powerpoints (which are essentially redundant with the talk if one is listening closely). I have a feeling you will appreciate Sagan's tone/clarity... it is no-nonsense analysis of what we know and what we don't. Perhaps most importantly...what the sane, viable options are in different scenarios.

Cheers,

M

[Teo del Fuego]

Mosin

I have a hard time beleiving you looked but did not see the Iranian flag. It was close to the top, in the middle, next to the Iraqi flag. I very clearly saw it and I'm not a purported Middle East Expert (tm).

None are so blind as those who look but will not see.

[Mosin]

What can I say? I didn't see it. To be quite honest, I still can't make it out from the photo that was provided, but I am not doubting that it was there if others here confirm it. I am color blind and probably need glasses. With that said, I rode around the man several times on two different occasions looking for it, and neither myself, my wife (who is not color blind, does wear glasses, and knows the iranian flag as well as I) or my friends saw it. Hence the post. Sorry we're such lamers.

While on the subject, if anyone has a clear photo depicting the Iranian flag on the man I would love to see it.

And last, as per some of the comments above I hope Ehud Olmert is blasted for his clearly anti-Semitic, freedom hating, pro-Iranian observations...

Olmert Says Israel Should Pull Out of West Bank
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world ... lmert.html
"He also dismissed as 'megalomania' any thought that Israel would or should attack Iran on its own to stop it from developing nuclear weapons, saying the international community and not Israel alone was charged with handling the issue." ... “Part of our megalomania and our loss of proportions is the things that are said here about Iran. We are a country that has lost a sense of proportion about itself.â€