Report: Cheney Rejected Iran Concessions
London (AP) - An Iranian offer to help the United States stabilize Iraq and
end its military support for Hezbollah and Hamas was rejected by Vice
President Dick Cheney in 2003, a former top State Department official told
the British Broadcasting Corp.
The U.S. State Department was open to the offer, which came in an unsigned
letter sent shortly after the American invasion of Iraq, Lawrence Wilkerson,
former Secretary of State Colin Powells chief of staff, told BBCs
Newsnight in a program broadcast Wednesday night. But, Wilkerson said,
Cheney vetoed the deal.
We thought it was a very propitious moment to strike a deal, Wilkerson
said. But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to
the vice presidents office, the old mantra of We dont talk to evil ...
reasserted itself.
A spokesman for the State Department said Thursday he wasnt aware of any
letter from the Iranians to the U.S. government in 2003.
Far as I know, theres never been an offer from the Iranian Government on
those kinds of concerns, said Tom Casey, the state departments deputy
spokesman.
Wilkerson said that, in return for its cooperation, Tehran asked Washington
to lift sanctions and to dismantle the Mujahedeen Khalq, an Iranian
opposition group which has bases in Iraq.
Iran also offered to increase the transparency of its nuclear program,
according to Wilkerson.
Wilkerson has been a frequent critic of the Bush administration in general
and Cheney in particular, holding the vice president responsible for the
mistreatment of detainees and the failure of Iraqs postwar planning.
WIPED OFF THE MAP - The Rumor of the Century
By Arash Norouzi
Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic
implications. According to legend, Irans President has threatened to
destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, Israel must be wiped off the
map. Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made, as the
following article will prove.
BACKGROUND:
On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall
in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a
speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled The World
Without Zionism. Large posters surrounding him displayed this title
prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international
press. Below the posters title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass
containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the
United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glass narrow
neck and crashing to the bottom.
Before we get to the infamous remark, its important to note that the
quote in question was itself a quote they are the words of the late
Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution. Although he quoted
Khomeini to affirm his own position on Zionism, the actual words belong to
Khomeini and not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been
credited (or blamed) for a quote that is not only unoriginal, but represents
a viewpoint already in place well before he ever took office.
THE ACTUAL QUOTE:
So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in farsi:
Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv
shavad.
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a
bell: rezhim-e. It is the word Regime, pronounced just like the English
word with an extra eh sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to
Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is
a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.
Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the
specific phrase rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods (regime occupying Jerusalem).
So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want wiped from the map?
The answer is: nothing. Thats because the word map was never used. The
Persian word for map, nagsheh, is not contained anywhere in his original
farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the
western phrase wipe out ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Irans
President threatened to wipe Israel off the map, despite never having
uttered the words map, wipe out or even Israel.
THE PROOF:
The full quote translated directly to English:
The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of
time.
Word by word translation:
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e
(occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of
time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
Here is the full transcript of the speech in farsi, archived on
Ahmadinejads web site
www.president.ir/farsi/ahmadinejad/speeches/1384/aban-84/840804sahyonizm.htm
THE SPEECH AND CONTEXT:
While the false wiped off the map extract has been repeated infinitely
without verification, Ahmadinejads actual speech itself has been almost
entirely ignored. Given the importance placed on the map comment, it would
be sensible to present his words in their full context to get a fuller
understanding of his position. In fact, by looking at the entire speech,
there is a clear, logical trajectory leading up to his call for a world
without Zionism. One may disagree with his reasoning, but critical
appraisals are infeasible without first knowing what that reasoning is.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the Wests apparatus of
political oppression against Muslims. He says the Zionist regime was
imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure domination
of the region and its assets. Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the
Islamic worlds struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have
repercussions for the entire Middle East.
Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of Americas powerful grip on the
region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but reminds the
audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible empires
have disappeared and now only exist in history books. He then proceeds to
list three such regimes that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all
within the last 30 years:
(1) The Shah of Iran the U.S. installed monarch
(2) The Soviet Union
(3) Irans former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces their mention with
Khomeinis own words foretelling that individual regimes demise. He
concludes by referring to Khomeinis unfulfilled wish: The Imam said this
regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement
is very wise. This is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and
distorted so famously. By measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to
be calling for regime change, not war.
THE ORIGIN:
One may wonder: where did this false interpretation originate? Who is
responsible for the translation that has sparked such worldwide controversy?
The answer is surprising.
The inflammatory wiped off the map quote was first disseminated not by
Irans enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic News Agency, Irans
official propaganda arm, used this phrasing in the English version of some
of their news releases covering the World Without Zionism conference.
International media including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time magazine and
countless others picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines out of it
without verifying its accuracy, and rarely referring to the source. Irans
Foreign Minister soon attempted to clarify the statement, but the quote had
a life of its own. Though the IRNA wording was inaccurate and misleading,
the media assumed it was true, and besides, it made great copy.
Amid heated wrangling over Irans nuclear program, and months of continuous,
unfounded accusations against Iran in an attempt to rally support for
preemptive strikes against the country, the imperialists had just been
handed the perfect raison djtre to invade. To the war hawks, it was a gift
from the skies.
It should be noted that in other references to the conference, the IRNAs
translation changed. For instance, map was replaced with earth. In some
articles it was The Qods occupier regime should be eliminated from the
surface of earth, or the similar The Qods occupying regime must be
eliminated from the surface of earth. The inconsistency of the IRNAs
translation should be evidence enough of the unreliability of the source,
particularly when transcribing their news from Farsi into the English
language.
THE REACTION:
The mistranslated wiped off the map quote attributed to Irans President
has been spread worldwide, repeated thousands of times in international
media, and prompted the denouncements of numerous world leaders. Virtually
every major and minor media outlet has published or broadcast this false
statement to the masses. Big news agencies such as The Associated Press and
Reuters refer to the misquote, literally, on an almost daily basis.
Following news of Irans remark, condemnation was swift. British Prime
Minister Tony Blair expressed revulsion and implied that it might be
necessary to attack Iran. U.N. chief Kofi Annan cancelled his scheduled trip
to Iran due to the controversy. Ariel Sharon demanded that Iran be expelled
from the United Nations for calling for Israels destruction. Shimon Peres,
more than once, threatened to wipe Iran off the map. More recently, Israels
Benjamin Netanyahu, who has warned that Iran is preparing another holocaust
for the Jewish state is calling for Ahmadinejad to be tried for war crimes
for inciting genocide.
The artificial quote has also been subject to additional alterations. U.S.
officials and media often take the liberty of dropping the map reference
altogether, replacing it with the more acutely threatening phrase wipe
Israel off the face of the earth. Newspaper and magazine articles dutifully
report Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel, as do senior
officials in the United States government.
President George W. Bush said the comments represented a specific threat
to destroy Israel. In a March 2006 speech in Cleveland, Bush vowed he would
resort to war to protect Israel from Iran, because, ...the threat from Iran
is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel.
Former Presidential advisor Richard Clarke told Australian TV that Iran
talks openly about destroying Israel, and insists, The President of Iran
has said repeatedly that he wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
In an October 2006 interview with Amy Goodman, former UN Weapons Inspector
Scott Ritter referred to Ahmadinejad as the idiot that comes out and says
really stupid, vile things, such as, It is the goal of Iran to wipe Israel
off the face of the earth . The consensus is clear.
Confusing matters further, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pontificates rather than give
a direct answer when questioned about the statement, such as in Lally
Weymouths Washington Post interview in September 2006:
Are you really serious when you say that Israel should be wiped off the
face of the Earth?
We need to look at the scene in the Middle East 60 years of war, 60 years
of displacement, 60 years of conflict, not even a day of peace. Look at the
war in Lebanon, the war in Gaza what are the reasons for these conditions?
We need to address and resolve the root problem.
Your suggestion is to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth?
Our suggestion is very clear:... Let the Palestinian people decide their
fate in a free and fair referendum, and the result, whatever it is, should
be accepted.... The people with no roots there are now ruling the land.
Youve been quoted as saying that Israel should be wiped off the face of
the Earth. Is that your belief?
What I have said has made my position clear. If we look at a map of the
Middle East from 70 years ago...
So, the answer is yes, you do believe that it should be wiped off the face
of the Earth?
Are you asking me yes or no? Is this a test? Do you respect the right to
self-determination for the Palestinian nation? Yes or no? Is Palestine, as a
nation, considered a nation with the right to live under humane conditions
or not? Lets allow those rights to be enforced for these 5 million
displaced people.
The exchange is typical of Ahmadinejads interviews with the American media.
Predictably, both Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes and CNNs Anderson Cooper asked
if he wants to wipe Israel off the map. As usual, the question is thrown
back in the reporters face with his standard Dont the Palestinians have
rights?, etc. retort (which is never directly answered either). Yet he
never confirms the map comment to be true. This did not prevent Anderson
Cooper from referring to earlier portions of his interview after a
commercial break and lying, as he said earlier, he wants Israel wiped off
the map.
Even if every media outlet in the world were to retract the mistranslated
quote tomorrow, the major damage has already been done, providing the
groundwork for the next phase of disinformation: complete character
demonization. Ahmadinejad, we are told, is the next Hitler, a grave threat
to world peace who wants to bring about a new Holocaust. According to some
detractors, he not only wants to destroy Israel, but after that, he will
nuke America, and then Europe! An October 2006 memo titled Words of Hate:
Irans Escalating Threats released by the powerful Israeli lobby group AIPAC
opens with the warning, Ahmadinejad and other top Iranian leaders are
issuing increasingly belligerent statements threatening to destroy the
United States, Europe and Israel. These claims not only fabricate an
unsubstantiated threat, but assume far more power than he actually
possesses. Alarmists would be better off monitoring the statements of the
ultra-conservative Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds the most
power in Iran.
As Irans U.N. Press Officer, M.A. Mohammadi, complained to The Washington
Post in a June 2006 letter:
It is not amazing at all, the pick-and-choose approach of highlighting the
misinterpreted remarks of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October
and ignoring this months remarks by Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, that We have no problem with the world. We are not a threat
whatsoever to the world, and the world knows it. We will never start a war.
We have no intention of going to war with any state.
The Israeli government has milked every drop of the spurious quote to its
supposed advantage. In her September 2006 address to the United Nations
General Assembly, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accused Iran of
working to nuke Israel and bully the world. They speak proudly and openly
of their desire to wipe Israel off the map. And now, by their actions,
they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective to imperil the region and
threaten the world. Addressing the threat in December, a fervent Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert inadvertently disclosed that his country already
possesses nuclear weapons: We have never threatened any nation with
annihilation. Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel
off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring
to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?
MEDIA IRRESPONSIBILITY:
On December 13, 2006, more than a year after The World Without Zionism
conference, two leading Israeli newspapers, The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz,
published reports of a renewed threat from Ahmadinejad. The Jerusalem Posts
headline was Ahmadinejad: Israel will be wiped out, while Haaretz posted
the title Ahmadinejad at Holocaust conference: Israel will soon be wiped
out.
Where did they get their information? It turns out that both papers, like
most American and western media, rely heavily on write ups by news wire
services such as the Associated Press and Reuters as a source for their
articles. Sure enough, their sources are in fact December 12th articles by
Reuters Paul Hughes [Iran president says Israels days are numbered], and
the APs Ali Akbar Dareini [Iran President: Israel Will be wiped out].
The first five paragraphs of the Haaretz article, credited to Haaretz
Service and Agencies, are plagiarized almost 100% from the first five
paragraphs of the Reuters piece. The only difference is that Haaretz changed
the Jewish state to Israel in the second paragraph, otherwise they are
identical.
The Jerusalem Post article by Herb Keinon pilfers from both the Reuters and
AP stories. Like Haaretz, it uses the following Ahmadinejad quote without
attribution: [Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not
exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out, he added]. Another
passage apparently relies on an IRNA report:
The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union
was, and humanity will achieve freedom, Ahmadinejad said at Tuesdays
meeting with the conference participants in his offices, according to Irans
official news agency, IRNA.
He said elections should be held among Jews, Christians and Muslims so the
population of Palestine can select their government and destiny for
themselves in a democratic manner.
Once again, the first sentence above was wholly plagiarized from the AP
article. The second sentence was also the same, except He called for
elections became He said elections should be held...
It gets more interesting.
The quote used in the original AP article and copied in The Jerusalem Post
article supposedly derives from the IRNA. If true, this can easily be
checked. Care to find out? Go to:
www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0612134902101231.htm
There you will discover the actual IRNA quote was:
As the Soviet Union disappeared, the Zionist regime will also vanish and
humanity will be liberated.
Compare this to the alleged IRNA quote reported by the Associated Press:
The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union
was, and humanity will achieve freedom.
In the IRNAs actual report, the Zionist regime will vanish just as the
Soviet Union disappeared. Vanish. Disappear. In the dishonest AP version,
the Zionist regime will be wiped out. And how will it be wiped out? The
same way the Soviet Union was. Rather than imply a military threat or
escalation in rhetoric, this reference to Russia actually validates the
intended meaning of Ahmadinejads previous misinterpreted anti-Zionist
statements.
What has just been demonstrated is irrefutable proof of media manipulation
and propaganda in action. The AP deliberately alters an IRNA quote to sound
more threatening. The Israeli media not only repeats the fake quote but also
steals the original authors words. The unsuspecting public reads this,
forms an opinion and supports unnecessary wars of aggression, presented as
self defense, based on the misinformation.
This scenario mirrors the kind of false claims that led to the illegal U.S.
invasion of Iraq, a war now widely viewed as a catastrophic mistake. And yet
the Bush administration and the compliant corporate media continue to
marinate in propaganda and speculation about attacking Iraqs much larger
and more formidable neighbor, Iran. Most of this rests on the unproven
assumption that Iran is building nuclear weapons, and the lie that Iran has
vowed to physically destroy Israel. Given its scope and potentially
disastrous outcome, all this amounts to what is arguably the rumor of the
century.
Irans President has written two rather philosophical letters to America. In
his first letter, he pointed out that History shows us that oppressive and
cruel governments do not survive. With this statement, Ahmadinejad has also
projected the outcome of his own backwards regime, which will likewise
vanish from the page of time.
Arash Norouzi is an artist and co-founder of The Mossadegh Project.
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