I imagine readers of this blog know the name Walter Duranty – the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Moscow correspondent who notoriously lied about Stalin’s forced starvation of millions of Ukrainians. Well, the NYT has a new Duranty and, no, it’s not the pathetic Jayson Blair.
It’s Roger Cohen – the op-ed columnist whose articles excusing the mullahs read like an embarrassment now. I attended a discussion at a LA synagogue a couple of months back at which a number of Iranian Jews and Bahais confronted the Times man about the brutality of the Islamic Republic, which they had experienced personally, but Cohen did not back down.
Then….
Of course now is another matter. Defending the mullahs and the “openness” of Iran in the wake of what we have been witnessing seems pathetic. So Cohen rushed to the fore today with a column. It begins with a lot of arty nonsense aimed at establishing his Iranian bona fides and masking the mea culpa he knew he had to make. Finally (in paragraph 14!) he gets to it:
I’ve argued for engagement with Iran and I still believe in it, although, in the name of the millions defrauded, President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.
I’ve also argued that, although repressive, the Islamic Republic offers significant margins of freedom by regional standards. I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness.
Underestimating? I’ll say! But to tell the truth it wasn’t at all hard to know the brutality of this regime. Ten minutes on YouTube shows you everything, if you’re interested. Five minutes on Google images. There are some pretty good ones of homosexuals being hanged and women in hijabs dangling from telephone poles. Or just look up Akbar Mohammadi, the student leader murdered in Evin Prison by the regime. I met his brother Manoucher whose face looked like a Picasso from the beatings he took in the same prison. But Cohen didn’t really want to know. He had his “vision” to give the readers of the New York Times.
One other thing, Cohen writes “President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.” Until when? Another group of students are beaten to death or thrown from their dormitory windows as they were at Tehran University in 1999? Do you really think “outreach” will solve that? Good boy, Roger. You’ve figured it out.
APROPOS IRAN: Those following the ongoing situation on Twitter should search under: #iranelection, #stopAhmadi, #CNNfail (love that last one!)
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49 Comments
1. zefal:“President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.”
I’m guessing when the blood stains no longer look like blood stains. Or however fast the msm can sweep Iran’s actions under the rug and make the public forget.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:03 pm 2. Barry Dauphin:Iran held hostage–Day 1.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:33 pm 3. hermie:Obama has already praised the elections process in Iran while his State Department and VP try to perform damage control with their mealy-mouthed statements.
The Iranian election was stolen and the opposition leader jailed. Iranian citizens have been beaten and killed while the Won plays nice with the regime which is murdering its own people.
But the MSM is even worse. It’s coverage of this travesty has been typical since they carried water for Obama during the election. They are waiting for him to tell them what to print and to broadcast.
Pravda’s founders would be so proud of their students.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:53 pm 4. Barry Dauphin:The Administration channeling Rumsfeld?
Via Tapper: “We have to deal with the Iran that we have rather than the Iran that we wish we had,” says the official.
Jun 14, 2009 - 7:55 pm 5. California Dreamer:Cohen’s column is just more pitiful, disjointed jibberish from the Senile Old Gray Lady. Even when he is attempting a mea culpa he can’t get the words right to tell a coherent story. His pseudo-man-on-the-street voice fails to paint a picture of the state of the opposition. Are they organizing? Are they getting any messaging from Mousavi via Paris as ABC is reporting?
The only “decent interval” I’m waiting for is the one between the NY Crimes closing its doors and Cohen appearing at the NYC unemployment office.
Jun 14, 2009 - 10:06 pm 6. Aubrey:When reality doesn’t match the narrative, you get denial. You will see a lot of it in the next few days.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:01 am 7. noxmix:4) Exactly so, more diversionary tactics this am by CIA director Leon Panetta says it’s almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney would like to see another attack on the United States to prove he is right in criticizing the President.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:39 am 8. noxmix:This BS is now routinely delivered by the Administration and MSM.
Revise 4) to 6)
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:40 am 9. David Thomson:This is what you must understand concerning Roger Cohen and all the other “serious” New York Times columnists: they only have to essentially keep Pinch Sulzberger happy. The subscribers rate a distant second on their list of priorities. And they are amply rewarded by their very left-wing publisher. It is rumored that each and everyone of these chosen few earn a minimum of $250,000 annually! You can take it for granted that Cohen’s contract would not be renewed if he is perceived to have turned “neo-conservative.”
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:00 am 10. glenn:Mr. Cohen is like all those good lookin’ girls in HS that hung out with the bad boys. It’s cool.
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:00 am 11. Lightnin' Hopkins:I erred in underestimating the vacuity, nay, the utter stupidity of NYT columnists such as Mr. Cohen. Wait a minute, no I didn’t — I fully expect drivel like this from them.
For the entire MSM it follows thusly: heads + sand + mindless chirping about “engagement” = blissful ignorance.
Jun 15, 2009 - 9:58 am 12. Instapundit » Blog Archive » ROGER SIMON IS HARSH: Iran: NYT’s Roger Cohen is the new Walter Duranty….:[...] ROGER SIMON IS HARSH: Iran: NYT’s Roger Cohen is the new Walter Duranty. [...]
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:17 am 13. Paul A'Barge:Roger Cohen: quisling.
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:31 am 14. No there:I answered questions on a telephone poll – hope they don’t hang me.
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:34 am 15. The UnPatriot:12. Instapundit
“ROGER SIMON IS HARSH”
Unfortunately, he is also correct.
–The UnPatriot
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:39 am 16. rivlax:When he referred to “the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness,” my first thought was that he meant the Obama administration.
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:59 am 17. William:Where is Mrs. Clinton? After all, aren’t foreign relations the business of the State Department? Obama must have confiscated her FBI files.
Jun 15, 2009 - 12:05 pm 18. buddy larsen:Didn’t Jimmy Carter jump out there right away and ‘certify’ the Ahmgonnaneedajob “election”? Just as he did in Hugo 1 ? So, now that this one –unlike the other one –has crashed faster than a Habitat-for-Humanity roof (onto the humanity units below, but that’s another story), will Jimmy Go Away ?
And (oh, pleeeease) Stay Away ?
Jun 15, 2009 - 12:30 pm 19. Adjoran:“President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.”
Sure, let’s delay the nonsense of this futility (every single Administration from Carter in 1979 on HAS “reached out” to the Iranian theocracy through back channels, with nothing to show for the efforts) until the Iranians have The Bomb.
Let their own bad actions interfere with even a diplomatic whiff at stopping their nuke program. Brilliant!
Of course, with the removal of Dennis Ross from Hillary’s Iran desk, we can surmise the military option has been taken completely off the table (if it ever was on the table in the first place in this Administation). Never fear, though: Obama will condemn the mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv in the harshest possible language before resuming his “outreach” to the Muslim world.
Jun 15, 2009 - 12:35 pm 20. Insufficiently Sensitive:Of course, with the removal of Dennis Ross from Hillary’s Iran desk, we can surmise the military option has been taken completely off the table (if it ever was on the table in the first place in this Administation).
What did Dennis Ross ever have to do with military options? He’s a blatherer, a peace-processer, an expert at trading Israeli territory for false promises of the end of Palestinian violence. Obama sent him to Tehran to bill and coo, but they were too busy with their sham ‘election’ to bill and coo back.
Jun 15, 2009 - 12:41 pm 21. Crusader:Appeasement rocks!
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:29 pm 22. Godzill:This New York Times article by Keller seems very misplaced, given the scale of protests in Iran. It doesn’t seem to me that DinnerJacket has consolidated anything yet. Assuming that Keller is rational, the only thing that makes sense is that he is (quite blatantly) providing cover for Obama to meet with DinnerJacket.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:14 pm 23. Ed Driscoll » Tell Mistah Kurtz — CNN, It Brain-Dead:[...] hasmark on Twitter, they’re not the only Epic Fail in old media. Roger L. Simon writes, meet the new Walter Duranty — he’s at the same newspaper as the old Walter Duranty. Filed under: Oh, That Liberal [...]
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:16 pm 24. Terrye:Fox has a poll out today that states more than 60% of the people think Obama is too easy on North Korea and Iran…and that was before this socalled election.
Who did people think they were voting for? Obama will do whatever he thinks is expedient. Screw the people of Iran…and if he had his way this is exactly the kind of thing that would have been happening in Iraq too.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:59 pm 25. Brian G.:There is really no difference between the Bush/Cheney regime and Iran, except that Iran’s leaders were legitimately elected while Bush and Cheney were selected by the right-wing Supreme Court. Plus, the brazen way that Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Rice, and Gonzales shredded the Constitution would make Iran’s leaders blush.
Right-wingers are up in arms because the Iran police had to use force to stop riots but never said a word when Bush lets thousands of people die after Katrina because Bush didn’t want to interrupt his annual 8-week vacation at his dude ranch. Plus, Iran hasn’t attacked anyone, yet Bush attacked two countries and killed thousands of women and children. Right-wingers act like Iran is worse yet they haven’t done anything to any other country. All they want is nuclear power like anyone has a right to, yet the wackos on the right want everyone to think they plan to nuke Israel, because the Israel lobby controlled Bush and the right wing. Now no one cares about Israel so they have to make up imagined threats to their existence, which is really illegitimate and has been from day one. Israel and Bush are the cause of all the problems in the Middle East, not Iran. Stop scapegoating them and anyone who dares not to follow the company line.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:10 pm 26. lefroy:Cohen is one of those cosseted, delusional scribblers who could only make a living at self-admiration societies like the New York Times. He propagates his absurd views (eg Iran is actually quite a tolerant place for jews) not because he really believes them – he couldn’t – but because it makes people take notice, and nourishes his personal vanity.
Memo to Roger Cohen: an Iranian “reformist” politician (of the kind approved by the Guardian Council) is one who thinks cameras should not be allowed at public stonings.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:38 pm 27. Godzilla:Re: Brian G., the sorry thing is that the Jewish community in the U.S. solidly pulls the lever for the same candidates as he does. The guy’s so full of hate that all he can do is mishmash together asinine equivalences that downplay the Iranian election fraud and the murdering of protesters. The final blurt…it’s all Bush and Israel’s fault. How do you reason with someone like that?
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:43 pm 28. IcePilot:Brian G. – Wow, I’ve rarely read anything quite so disconnected from reality as your post.
/fisk on
“right-wing Supreme Court” – zero basis for this, zip, zilch, nada. BTW, it was a 7-2 decision.
“shredded the Constitution” – you were arrested when? Perhaps you were just interrogated. Please cite time and place. Or perhaps YOU weren’t arrested or interrogated, so just provide information about someone you personally know….
“Bush lets thousands of people die after Katrina” – thousands you say? This is simply false – I challenge you to cite a single newspaper article that claims that “thousands” died because of Katrina. Apparently, in your world, the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of LA have no responsibility at all.
“Iran hasn’t attacked anyone” – Again, apparently, in your world, the training and funding of proxy agents (Hamas and Hezbollah) who kill American soldiers don’t count as an “attack”.
“Right-wingers act like Iran is worse yet they haven’t done anything to any other country.” – see above.
“Israel lobby controlled Bush and the right wing.” – ah, yes; the Jooooooooos did it.
“Now no one cares about Israel” – Don’t project. The fact that you don’t care doesn’t mean that others don’t. Like Obama and the majority of Americans.
“their existence, which is really illegitimate and has been from day one.” – So, perhaps like the holocaust, the three wars Israel has had didn’t exist either?
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:53 pm 29. arf:Iran’s stolen election? BHO sez, don’t sweat it- its just like Chicago!
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:43 pm 30. Lightnin' Hopkins:Brian G.
Wow.
The BDS, it burns!
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:54 pm 31. Lightnin' Hopkins:“All they want is nuclear power like anyone has a right to…”
Great. So we can build some new nuclear plants here in the U.S. then, yes?
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:59 pm 32. Harry:I hear that Obama (praise be his name) is now ‘…troubled…’ by the Iran Election. Or was it ‘…concerned about the events …’. Maybe it was ‘…concerned about the troubling events…’
In any event, after a couple of days, Obama is rapidly (vapidly?) moving from his ‘…robust debate…’ position, to a far more fierce position of ‘concern’.
Yay, Obama. No meek Carter, he. Instead, he is “The One”!
Jun 15, 2009 - 5:32 pm 33. Class Clown:Brian G.
Yes, I remember those terrible days of Bush-Cheney. The women hanging from lightpoles, the gunfire in the streets, the tortured execution of gays in hellish prisons. The threats to nuke Canada… not to mention the creation of a democracy in Iraq. The list goes on and on.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:13 pm 34. john ransom:Can you IMAGINE if Bush had uttered the feckless “robust debate” comment. The MSM would have burned this comment above a scene of Iranian protesters being beaten. Heckuva job hillary!
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:34 pm 35. NeoConCabal:The Iranian people, millions of them in the streets, are inspired…INSPIRED, I tell ya, by The Bamma’s plain spoken words of support and encouragement. Moving, inspiring, uplifting and tough minded, by gum. One is reminded…welllll…of the hairy-chested BrianR…What a Guy.
These twaddle-hearted lefturds, tepid twits, are an inspiration in these Vast Historical Moments. Baa-Daa-Bing. Know’whatta’mean.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:40 pm 36. Captain Hate:Brian G has to be a parody poster; nobody’s that stupid in real life.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:06 pm 37. Barry Dauphin:Hey, everybody, Brian G. knows how to use hyperlinks. He wins a cookie.
On more serious issues, the president was jawboning MDs into losing income and having their concerns dismissed as fictions or fear-mongering. Nary a word on Iran except getting rid of Dennis Ross as not acceptable to Iran.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:40 pm 38. john m e:if you can court geotge soros why not the iranian….or any other scofflaw for that matter.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:40 pm 39. DavidN:I think Brian G. is just upset that Hitler got stopped before he finished his job, with the Jews. I mean really, the existence of the country is illegitimate? It’s been very strange discovering that anti-Semitism is alive and well on the left, now that it’s been pretty much purged from the right. Just weird.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:43 pm 40. MNBubba:Guys, get a grip and click thru on Brian G’s links.
His rant is a parody of moonbattery.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:46 pm 41. Roger L Simon:Hmmm…. a little bird told me that someone may have added those links. [You?-ed. No, you.]
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:48 pm 42. Barry Dauphin:Obama finally responds, and it would have been better for him to remain silent. He basically legitimizes the elections. He gives no hint that these elections were phony. He gives cold porridge to the protesters, saying in the usual unemotional mode that the world is inspired by them no matter how the process turns out.
Obama has a very masculine delivery, a deep voice and a confident presence. His words are Carteresque though. Carter’s presentation was decidedly not masculine and strong. He came across as wimpy. It will take some a while to realize how weak Obama is in foreign policy, around the time Iran has a bomb aimed at Israel.
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:15 pm 43. California Dreamer:Kudos to #17 for “Where is Mrs. Clinton?” Straight or sarcastic, the comment works beautifully either way!
I like contrarian positions especially when they come from sources I respect, so here is StratFor’s take on the election:
I think StratFor meant the Upper East Side, but we can all identify with their G’town analogy. The Journal also has a nice take on the Israeli reaction in today’s edition:
You betcha.
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:57 pm 44. Class Clown:Roger Cohen can’t criticize Iran. If he did, he would lose his access to the country, which is the only thing his career is actually based on.
Right now, he is being gently critical of A’jad and the gang. He will switch back if and when things cool down. After all, he can’t afford to offend the Mullahs. While he may be in no personal danger, if he didn’t have insider access to the Iranian government, he would lose the only card he has to play.
He would have to switch to being a gossip columnist. Not that he would be any good at it….
Jun 16, 2009 - 12:14 am 45. Micha Elyi:“NYT’s Roger Cohen is the new Walter Duranty.”
It’s always a long line at the NYT of people waiting their turn to be the paper’s new Walter Duranty. Cohen finally got to the head of the line and this week it’s his turn. Last week it was somebody else and next week the NYT will have yet another somebody else to carry on their Duranty tradition of lies, deceit, and being a stooge for oppressors of the people.
Jun 16, 2009 - 12:19 am 46. DemoCast:45-days after Akbar’s death, his sister demonstrated outside the US State Dept’s welcoming ex-Pres Khatami to speak at the National Cathedral.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMBZDtcKFE
Jun 16, 2009 - 2:41 am 47. Ryan Waxx:One thought for the Iranians:
Boy, did you guys pick the WRONG administration to get murdered during!
Of course, it might not be coincidence that purges are happening while people are sure America won’t intervene, no matter how brutal it gets. Anyone want to lay odds on a fresh Tibeten bloodbath?
Jun 16, 2009 - 1:42 pm 48. Jim:Perhaps the Iranian Government pays Roger Cohen to say nice things. The money would be tax free as well since I doubt he would report the payment to IRS.
Jun 16, 2009 - 2:42 pm 49. 22 Years’ Worth of Research on Liberal Media’s Enabling of Communism:[...] [...]
Nov 5, 2009 - 5:06 pm