National Iranian-American Council support Israel’s right to exist. Dr. Parsi is not a lobbyist for the Iranian government. Far from it, he has been very critical of the Iranian government. It amazing how negative is the reaction of the extreme Jewish right wing to any logical argument. What is the difference between the Muslim voices of extreme and the Jewish voices of extreme we hear on these talk backs? I dare say none…

nough said

They chant "Death to America, Death to Israel " at the opening of Iranian Parliament ??? NO cultured and civilized country in the world starts their Parliament opening session like that !! So, this is PROOF that they are uncivilized and uncultured. WHAT happened to the Iranians ? ONCE, long time ago, they were known as the great Persians -- and now they have FALLEN so low. Like the barbarians. The Iranians MUST feel shameful.

I would not call Ahmadinejad 'monkey', but... He speaks a lot. But has he ever any real influence in Iranian policies? The real mullahs behind him are silent and powerful. It suits them today to brag all over the world. But tomorrow they may easily disown Ahmadinejad and turn the policy the way suits them best. So one should learn to see deeper into the matter. Thank you for your question.

Current and former Israeli cabinet ministers and Prime ministers include; Avigdor Liberman, Benny Elon, Effie Eitam, Eli Yishai, the good Persian Shaul Mofaz, Yisrael Katz, Arik Sharon, Yitzak Shamir, Mehachem Begin so on and so forth… Of course all the above were and are doves of peace. Thanks for proving my point… I hope we all sing Shir LaShalom in not too distant future.

Exactly. The irony of reading all this indignation against Iran written by people who call Palestinians 'Palis' and say that there is no talking with Arabs because they are all 'terrorists'. How can you call all Iranians extremists and only interested in the destruction of Israel when for the past sixty years israel has made a pretty good job of destroying the Palestinians?

I wonder why no one is complaining about Israel's nukes. They haven't signed the NPT, no international inspections (in fact America under JFK stopped sending their nuclear expert to inspect Israeli sites so that they can claim ignorance, should anything happen) and no complaints. And don't give me that bollocks of "poor little Israel in a sea of Muslims" cuz we all know who has the most advance army in the region. And if Israel were to be defeated in a land war it would launch it nukes before they surrendered. Still, no complaints, even with a track record of 'defensive' wars (like killing thousands of Lebanese with illegal cluster bombs is defensive!). What right does Israel have to nuclear weapons that Iran, or any other nation, doesn't? That its a "peace-loving democracy"? My ass it is. That's why Israel has never formally put forward any peace plan, but merely rejected the Arab ones, while touting some ambiguous 'concessions', whilst stealing yet more land. Ridiculous hypocrisy.

Mike, you are absoulutely right in saying why you should trust me.Well,DR has been braging about USA attack on Iran for the last 11 to 12 months.I am absolutely tired of reading that and becoming more certain of the fact that USA will be able to do NOTHING. USA knows and understands the consequences of any such fullish move.Let Bush take his option which he has kept together with him when he leaves the Whitehouse.Wil that do for the time being,Mike??

Thank you Mr. Trita Parsi for a timely and precise analysis of the current conundrum. It is not surprising that once again your logic is only met by irrational screaming of the far right ideologues and those who have bought into their arguments where personal attacks and name-calling becomes the normal response. Ahmadinejad is a token player in a complicated system that uses very similar tactics as current Israeli administration, along with Likud and their even further right wing allies to rule under terror (be it from internal or external, imaginary or real enemies) while abusing some of the most basic rights of their citizens and ignoring international demands for change. For that matter, there is little difference between Khamenei, Olmert or Bush and the often forgotten victims are some of the most oppressed and ordinary people of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel and its occupied territories, with often secular and/or non-political viewpoints and many varying religious beliefs. Thank you again.

matches too. The house might burn down son. Let's not tell you that it makes sense to leave the matches alone. Everyone will think your parents are crazy. Lets not confront the serial killer at his hearing....you'll look crazier than he. Even though you aren't cutting up a human when you make your abrupt sermon to the clown that killed your kid. If the writer wants to be a mamby pamby wimp in the publics eyes then so be it. Don't preach to the choir about letting another mass murderer get a free ride in the public media. You are a weak and pathetic individual who will end up on this guys plate dead. He wants the Jews dead.....there isn't any middle ground. You either confront him or die knowing you were to weak to do so.

advance his ideology... stabing Bush in the heart. The worst thing that Bollinger could do was do exactly what he did. 1. attack Ahmadinejad , was a gift to Iranian president.. it diverted attention from real issue, iranian intransistance with state sponcered terror by superficially stating what is already known, America has profound issues with Iranian theoracy 2. the manner in which bollinger attack Ahmadinejad was meant to achieve two things, first it deflected popular opion that iranian should not even speak at Columbia by taking a strong stance however as I'll state shortly it set the stage for the evening the weakest of weak issues democratic western govts have with iran, that of homosexual rights. Bollinger likely was playing a strong hand knowing that the student question period would raise the homosexual context. This achieved the greatest part of Iranian president success in speaking Columbia for the home audiance back mid-east. Here is the jist of my thinking... western interests are seeking to spark a democratic revolution in mid-east as an alturnative to fundementalism islam. how easy is it for muslims to say, democracy equates to the debasing of islam. so instead of bollinger following up his statement, back with student inquiry into how iranian model of islam republic based on no separation of church and state is a core disagreement most western liberals could identify with, and the belief that iranian thoracy seeks to undermine such secular govts in mid-east as a matter of policy what the iranian president went home with was a clear victory in that america scorns islamic values and in a nut shell ammunition that western attempt to plant democracy in mid-east needs to be fought since the connect the dots conclusion is democracy opens the pandora box on liberal additudes on tolerance to social elements that directly confront islamic values. Bollinger did this as part of the process of hamstringing American foreign policy in region purely to undermine President Bush. If i was an israeli i would look closely at American Democractic Party involvement in turn of the century Atlanta following the election of wilson, northern liberal democrats made policy statements to win inregard of south, and apon winning took positions directly leading to the riots in altanta. I'll make it clear bollinger is a WASP.

Said, you said :"... killing thousands of Lebanese with illegal cluster bombs ...". During the Second Lebanon War, which started on 12 July 2006 till 14 August 2006, lasting for 34 days -- 600 Hezbollah militia and 850 Lebanese citizens got killed. And you are speaking of "thousands killed" -- how did you come to THAT number ?? Have you been using some forbidden drugs lately ? Said, you said :".. stealing yet more land ". That is sad. Israel, which includes Judea and Samaria, nowadays known as the West Bank, is the Jewish Homeland since 1320 B.Chr. -- given to them by Yahweh, the Supreme Lord. SO, when Israelis inhabits their God-given land -- that is NOT called stealing. So Said, stop being envious of the Jewish People !! Enviousness is a quality of snakes.

i THINK THE FATAL MISTAKE THE AUTHOR MAKES IS IN MIXING BETWEEN THE IRANIAN AMBITIONS ( MIX OF PERSIAN NATIONALISM AND REGIME SURVIVAL INSTINCT), AND POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY-LIKE ISRELIS ARMS IN THE 80s) .tO LEVATE SUCH QUANDRY TO STRATEGIC IS NAIEVE THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS.

Nobody's complaining about Israel's nuke becos Israel is not threatening anyone with it. Of cos Israel would use nuke before surrender. What would you do if someone tries to kill you and you have a gun. You use it, don't you? Stupid I love to see green flags flying over Big Ben and you have to stick yor @ss up 5 x /day

God given land? What baloney. Whose God? and who are you to speak for God. Are you his spokesperson? I doubt it. Why does this God have any authority over any other God? If you all stopped talking about 'this being God's land' etc then the problem might be easier solved.

You write :"Why does this God have any authority over any other God ?" THIS sentence of yours shows that you ARE quite an ignorant person. THIS sentence of yours shows that you do NOT know what God is. SO, Invicta, if you want to know God, i.e. the Supreme Lord, you HAVE to do some study. WITHOUT study -- NO subject matter can be known. IF you are really interested in understanding God, i.e. the Supreme Lord, than it will be advisable to do some serious study about God, i.e. the Supreme Lord. IF you know God -- you can NOT be a fool. BTW life is NOT meant to remain a FOOL. BTW Yahweh, the Supreme Lord, in 1320 B.Chr. DID give the Jewish People a Homeland called Israel, which includes Judea and Samaria, nowadays known as the West Bank.

eh-hoop, you try to make your comments seem intelligent, and yet you clearly have no clue! At least find out who Dr. Trita Parsi is before spewing the same hateful language as most of the others on this board! He is a man! It's amazing to see how the posters on this site seem to repeatedly want to say 'don't confuse me with the facts.' You rightly condemn Ahmadinejad for his twisted comments, and yet almost all the comments on this board are either blatantly or mildly racist and one-sided, not to mention sickenignly self-righteous.

The more I read these comments, the more angry and disgusted I get. While almost all of you want to scream "anti-semite" at the drop of a hat and with any remote hint of criticism of Israel, you surely have no qualms about making disgustingly racist and downright stupid comments about Persians, Arabs and muslims in general. May I suggest a little introspection here? As they say...physician heal thyself!

sounds like Supreme leader (They have one in Iran)! So other Lords are minor! More people in history have died /been killed in tne name of GOD than any other causes, Why? It's sad that we all talk about GOD who supposedly is good, but are willing to do so much bad in his name. Every religion's God had promised them something. It's interesting how Bush, Ahnmadinejad/the mullas, and Israeli leaders talk about their own GODs and think what they do is right no matter what happens to others. I think Trita Parsi's article is interesting and looks at the problem from a different angle, but most main stream media/poiticians wouldn't dare talking about it.

You write :"More people in history have been killed in the name of God ...". EVERYONE is a son/daughter of the Supreme Lord -- all Americans (North, Middle, South), all Europeans, all Asians, all Africans, all Australians and all Islanders -- are sons/duaghters of the Supreme Father. SO, when the sons fight with each other ; when the sons kill each other -- you can't blame the Father for the killings. IF you want to blame -- you SHOULD blame the sons for the killings. BTW Supreme Lord means that NO one is equal NOR higher than the Supreme Lord. BTW every living entity, which includes all human beings, all animals, all trees and plants -- are all children of the Supreme Lord, i.e. the Supreme Father.

You write :"More people in history have been killed in the name of God ...". EVERYONE is a son/daughter of the Supreme Lord -- all Americans (North, Middle, South), all Europeans, all Asians, all Africans, all Australians and all Islanders -- are sons/duaghters of the Supreme Father. SO, when the sons fight with each other ; when the sons kill each other -- you can't blame the Father for the killings. IF you want to blame -- you SHOULD blame the sons for the killings. BTW Supreme Lord means that NO one is equal NOR higher than the Supreme Lord. BTW every living entity, which includes all human beings, all animals, all trees and plants -- are all children of the Supreme Lord, i.e. the Supreme Father.