Comments on: Jeremy R. Hammond, or Chief Inspector Clouseau in Iran

By: Dr. Evan Siegel Responds to ‘The Case of the ‘Fatwa’ to Rig Iran’s Election’ | Jeremy R. Hammond

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:00:31 +0000

[...] in Mathematics from the City University of New York Graduate Center and has an impressive resume), writes in his blog “Iran Rises” (complete with a green banner background, presumably in the [...]

By: Jeremy R. Hammond

Jeremy R. Hammond — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:42:45 +0000

Still waiting on the evidence…

By: admin

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:12:21 +0000

Thanks for posting the link. I suspect that the guys on your Marxism list need some fact-based reporting.
I think you have the right diagnosis, mechanical anti-imperialism. Interesting that people who had no problem supporting Polish Solidarity–like our conservative Hammond and some of the people on your Marxist list–which was openly supported by the Americans suddenly get all apoplectic over the ghost of an indication that the Americans just might support the reform movement in Iran.

By: Louis Proyect

Louis Proyect — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:18:55 +0000

I have been hammering away at clucks like Hammond for a couple of months now on my own blog. Just click the “Iran” category on the right of the page. He really reflects the shallowness of many of the commentators like Edward Herman and James Petras who approach the events in Iran as if they began in June. The truth is that the opposition is rooted in social, cultural and economic contradictions going back to the early 80s. Neither Petras, Hammond nor Herman are interested in this history since it would undermine their mechanical anti-imperialism. Of most interest is the student revolt of 1999 which arose during reformist rule. The students protested a closing of a reformist newspaper but eventually the struggle grew into a generalized one against clerical despotism. When it threatened to get out of hand, the reformist government cracked down on the students.

Anyhow, I just posted a link to this blog over on the Marxism list and hope that it draws a crowd. Good luck!

By: admin

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:10:01 +0000

Well, Cyrus, now I’m going to have to go and read what you wrote seriously instead of glibly dismissing it.
Anyway, let me know when you’re in town. Come on by and we’ll treat you to a lavish Persian dinner.

By: Cyrus

Cyrus — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:54:42 +0000

PS — I was wrong I did mention press Tv however in those cases nothing Press TV said was particularly controversial. Karrubbi did in fact admit to taking money from Jazayeri, this is a fact. THe Guardian Council did report that “over voting” in some districts was due to normal population changes — and the NY Times also used the same quote. Just because Press TV says the sky is blue doesn’t mean it isn’t.

By: Cyrus

Cyrus — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:48:16 +0000

Hi Evan
Thank you for thinking of me as intelligence however I don’t believe that Iran needs a “Strong Man” etc. nor am I a particular fan of Ahmadinejad (or anyone else.) In fact AN would hardly qualify as an Iranian strong man! I did not use Press TV as a source except for 1 time, and backed that up from other sources (Stratfor.) I didn’t answer Amir’s claims because they are rants and opinions, mostly citing rumors and engaging in rhetoric which cannot by their nature be disproven in any debate, nor am I in the habit of debating commentators to death. I did however try to address his sailient points. Leverett’s dismissal of one of the statistical studies is not based on the TFT poll — it is based on the fact that the author of the Catham House poll was comparing “apples to oranges”, and the Mebane study too is faulty (according to the Carter Center, the statistical method used — Benford’s Law — is not applicable to electoral results.) Also, I specifically addressed the question of why th regime would respond with force to election-related demonstrations (the regime may be brutal, but that doesn’t mean the elections were stolen.) And while it is true that others dismissed the straight-line graph, it was nevertheless widely cited as proof of fraud, and so I had to mention it.
Incidentally, I visit John Jay regularly nowdays — perhaps I may run into you there? Cheers- Cyrus

By: admin

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:43:15 +0000

Sorry, I’ve read the blog and I’ve know the blogger for years. He fails to convince me on even a minimum level. He is an extremely intelligent man, but believes that Iran needs a Strong Man to lead it, and that Strong Man is going to be Ahmadinejad.
All from Western sources? Press TV is his most common source. It’s an arm of the Islamic Republic. (Full disclosure: I was a guest on it.)
I could go into details, but each of the counter claims have in turn be debunked. Leveret is a joke methologically. He based his results on polling data done at the dawn of the elections when Musavi was a total unknown and fifty percent were undecided and projects that to election day. The Silver statistics (about the straight-line graph) were decisively debunked in its own comments page. Read my comments there, as well as about a dozen others who made the same rather obvious points. And I could go on.
I’m actually agnostic about exactly what happened on election day. But it seems clear to me that the elections were stolen. I’m sincerely willing to be convinced. And I mean it. But… only by facts.
But suppose they weren’t stolen. The kids who protested had a right to peacefully request their questions be answered, according to the Islamic Republics’ own constitution. They were brutally assaulted by the basijis. If the elections were fair and square, how come the government was acting like it was stealing them and resorted to police-state tactics to demonstrators who showed a strong commitment to peace and discipline?
I give Cyrus major props for allowing open discussion on his blog. Most of the comments are useless and makes their authors look like idiots. But read Amir’s comments. Cyrus doesn’t try to answer them.
Anyway, thanks for dropping by. You’ll notice I’m all for debunking reformist lies as well as Ahmadinejad lies. At least you might find that material a good read.
And thanks for turning me on to Hammond. My blog about him has been a huge draw.

By: hass

hass — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:03:10 +0000

Evan, you’re plain wrong about the Iran elections. The blogger at IranAffairs.com has listed each election fraud claim, and matched it with a counter-claim (all from WESTERN SOURCES) and none of the claims of fraud withstand scrutiny. See IranAffairs.com for the details. There is no evidence of election fraud in Iran, sorry.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:56:38 +0000

Thanks for the comment and the moral support.
And… sorry about the links. I’ll get to work on them.