New heights in hypocrisy

As we anxiously ponder the Iraqi government’s alliance with the Mullahs in Iran, let us remember Michael Rubin’s warning and prediction in April of last year:

Iraqi democrats feeling sidelined
By Michael Rubin, Los Angeles Times (April 4, 2004)

British overtures to [the Islamic Republic] set allies at odds
By Alec Russell, The Telegraph (April 15, 2004)


Regarding Scheer’s article, there is an interesting circumstance connected with it, as remarkable as the article itself.

Although Scheer clearly portrays the Islamic Republic as a threat, his article has also been published by very Islamic-Republic-friendly websites on the net; that is, websites which regularly dismiss that threat! To name but two: Antiwar.com and Commondreams.org.

This strange circumstance lends itself to two explanations. Either the Mullahs’ Western supporters have suddenly, overnight, changed their position or, they published the article solely on the basis that it represents an indictment of the Bush administration.

Supposing we do not readily dismiss the first as nonsense, it’s safe to say that neither explanation puts individuals behind such websites in positive light. More likely, these websites will continue to support the Islamic Republic unless doing otherwise should prove yet another chance to condemn the Bush administration. Self-contradiction, apparently, hardly enters their calculations.