What could the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) possibly have in common? CAIR founders had close ties to Hamas, Palestinian Sunni Islamic extremists. NIAC and its main spokesman, Trita Parsi, have become apologists for the regime in Tehran, which exports a rival Shiite brand of Islamic extremism. Sunnis and Shias. We all know the story. They hate each other worse than Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. Right?
Well, no. As I pointed out in Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran, Sunnis and Shias get along just fine when it comes to killing Americans and killing Jews. Similarly, CAIR and NIAC get along just fine when it comes to opposing the Bush administration policies in Iraq, Iran, and the greater Middle East. But they share much more than just an ideological affinity. They also share publicists in the redoubtable David Fenton.
Fenton Communications has repped the likes of Cindy Sheehan, moveon.org, and CAIR. And now, they have added NIAC to their client list, as this recent NIAC press release shows.... -———”Intimidation Campaign” by (NIAC) Iran Mullahs’ Lobby in US
Persian Journal ^ | 8/26/07 | Persian Journal
David Fenton of Fenton Communications.
See #21 post in this earlier FR thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383259/posts#comment
I read on another thread that Limbert is a former US Embassy hostage (remember them?) who went native during the experience and now has an Iranian wife and is a known Iranian sympathizer. Bizarre story.
Dennis Ross may be a Clintonian, but I find myself agreeing with him when he is interviewed. He is very knowledgeable about the Middle East and he does not appear to have a liberal bias.
It was a year ago that I remember “middle-of-the-roaders” explaining/rationalizing their vote for Obama with the excuse that “he won’t do all the bad things he promised.” And among their rationalizations was that he had surrounded himself with bright centrists such as Warren Buffett, Paul Volcker, and Dennis Ross.
I know Buffett still tacitly supports Obama, but you don’t see him pitching Obama’s policies. Paul Volcker hasn’t been heard from — and in a recent interview with Maria Bartoroma (sp?) of CNBC, he basically stopped the interview and escaped apparently for fear that he might say something truthful that would offend the Obama economic team.
And now we have the sacking of Dennis Ross. I wonder what role, if any, Hillary played in this. More and more, I expect to see Hillary planning the quit the State Department and announce her campaign for governor of NY. Maybe she’ll wait until Christmas to be sure that no health care bill will emerge from Congress. If that’s the case, then she’ll realize that Obama’s presidency is toast and she might as well begin her re-entry to politics and campaign for president in 2012. I’m sure she believes America will embrace her after this sad chapter with Obama.
Yep. I wonder how that ‘govern from the middle’ thing is working out for them?
What is the National Iranian American Council?
The Council is widely considered the de facto lobby for the Iranian regime in America. It opposes sanctions on Iran, soft-pedals any controversial events in Iran, and counsels "patience" regarding Iran's stance towards its nuclear program. The NIAC has been at the forefront of lobbying against continued congressional funding of the Voice of America Persia service, Radio Farad, and grants for Iranian civil society.
Ping
The list, ping
ping
Pattern recognition is a valuable skill when considering this Administration. The pattern one resolves is not a pretty picture.