The Devil We Know

Sarbazan and Janbakhtegan
Organization for Support of the Families of the Unsung Hero's Members of the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces - http://www.sarbazan.com/, Private: shneshat@aol.com, Office: sshneshat@yahoo.com, and primmortalguard@yahoo.com. P.O. Box 16166 Beverly Hills, CA 90209, US
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IN THE NAME OF MY FATHER
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Saturday November 22nd, 2008 - Book Review
Book title: The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower- Published: 2008
Publisher: United States by Crown Publishers
Author: Robert Baer ; This author made below remarks which makes his credentials as a Central Intelligence Agency officer questionable.

1. This author on prologue section page 1 claimed that in 1978 he was 24 years old young man and was on his way to India, as he had short stop in Iran, Tehran during Marshall laws. This author alleged that “the kamikaze taxi driver who drove me into Tehran from the airport that night taught me my first lesson: Iranians can't drive. The way he swoop and darted between the army patrols, I was convinced he was trying to draw fire. And was it legal to drive down the sidewalk to get around traffic?” Input: This sidewalk needed to be wide enough as well as accessible for a moving vehicle to drive on it because there is a big gap between road and sidewalk, and the author's statement would be impossible to do so since there is no such a sidewalk in Iran. 2. This author on page 55 alleged that “in October 2000, Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini's successor as supreme leader-the only real executive power in Iran-made it clear what the victory in Lebanon meant for Iran. It was during a secret address to Iran's National Security Council. After the usual long preamble, larded with quotations from the Koran, Khamenei put both hands on the conference table.” Input: Since he is an intelligent officer, he is required due to nature of his work to be detail orient, and should know that Khamenei's right hand is immobile. As a result, there are cloud of doubts looming on the book as how truthful is this author with his readers. This author contradicts himself on major points as follow.
1. This author on page 10 asserted that “and it wasn't as if the Iranian government could not close down the opium dens if it wanted to. Iran is a police state. Every day I drove around Tehran, or walked around the streets and bazaars, I was stopped and my papers checked.” On page 77 this author claimed that “Iran is not a totalitarian state run by “Islamofascists” who believe they're in some quixotic war with the West.” Input: Police state and totalitarian state shared same meaning as a state controls every fabric of a society, as this author experienced in Iran under rule of the mullah in Iran.
2. This author on page 207 claimed that “since 9/11, without any evidence, these people have tried to make the case that Muslims intend to infiltrate the United States, bring down from inside, and convert us to Islam.” On page 230-231 this author was talking with Muhammad British-Pakistani born who made a remark about 7/7 which was the way to go and “accept Allah's law,” he said. “End of story. Accept Allah's law and I think you'll have a peaceful life.” In other words, we either convert to Islam or die.” Input: There is a reality that Muslims are planning to convert Western nations to Islam or they have to die. Author's theory frame work for the cleric regime in Iran:
1. This author was working on theory of green belt or green crescent which was orchestra by former democrat president Jimmy Carter to contain communism in the region. As this author claimed that the cleric regime in Iran has infiltrated in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq and the regime in Iran was in charge of the situation in the region. Also, Turkey was under spill of the regime too but not as strongly as other region. As a result, the cleric regime in Iran is a superpower. This author lacked understanding the term superpower which means a state is in leading position in the international system and has ability to influence on international events. Current regime in Iran is not able to control international event, and has been struggling about its nuclear programs. The regime in Iran is not a great power either which would have economic, military, diplomatic and cultural strength. The current regime in Iran is a rouge state, which is an authoritarian regime, absent of human rights, and seeking weapon of mass destruction.
2. This author was claiming that the regime in Iran is no longer relying on terrorism to advance its interest. However, the cleric regime has been targeting Iranian dissidents and have been murdering them around the world.
3. This author on page 15 claimed that the US do not understand the regime in Iran because of Iranian dissidents are lobbying the White House and the White House does not have clear understanding of Iran. According to the record, so far element of the cleric regime on individual base or as a council like National Iranian American Council had opportunity to meet senior staffs and elected politicians, and to mislead the White House and not Iranian dissidents.
4. This author is working on fear tactic that price of oil on rise and on page 198 this author says it is in best interest of the US to negotiate with the regime in Iran. However, he does not provide any information or strategy how to negotiate with the regime in Iran. Author was bias toward Iran: 1. On page 9, this author claimed that there was no moral police officers in Iran. However, the regime has moral police officers who are enforcing Islamic dress code in Iran. 2. On page 104, this author wrote “the Iranians understand perfectly that the only reason we care about that miserable body of water called the Persian Gulf.” Input: This author is hostile toward Iranian identity.
3. This author claimed that during Iran-Iraq War youths were not given keys to paradise and asked to rush at enemy front and die. The key was a symbol of martyrdom. However, the regime gave the youth the keys and told them that these were keys to paradise. Validity of information: This author used, on page 143, statics about unemployment rate in Iran, and other data that it was unclear where the numbers were extracted from. Last, he alleged when in 1700's England's warship moved to Persian Gulf, this body of water was called Gulf and not Persian Gulf. The above claim was not reference from any source of information. The bottom line, this book does not have any kind of academic merit, and it tries to claim that the regime in Iran is a superpower and the US needs to negotiate and accept the regime in Tehran as a power. However, this author's theory lacks understanding proper meaning of political terms that the regime in Iran is a rouge state and not a superpower.
Payandeh Iran/Long Live Iran
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