In Iran, the 22nd has come and gone...
Yes, all paranoia aside, the 22nd has come and gone in Iran and Lewis, Spencer, Debka, and all the others who KNEW something dastardly was going to happen in a sneak attack tied in to the Islamic holy day (one which is not the main one even celebrated by Shiites on this day) thankfully have not had their scenarios come to pass.
This in a way, reminds me of the furor about the Bermuda Triangle that swept the country when I was younger. People gathered information, statistics, build story after story on earlier stories, often highlighting and spinning them so they seemed more true and believable. But it all was based on one poorly researched article in Argosy magazine, and everything was piled up on that.
In this case, I believe the root might have been Bernard Lewis' speculation, followed by a few articles that took his speculation and ran with it. These in turn, captured the imagination of the blogosphere and others, and spread like wildfire among those who track this sort of thing.
This is another case of how one can make what looks like a probable case seem solid if it fits your expectations and preconceptions.
I will not downplay the fact that Iran is a major player in the events taking place in the middle east, but some people see the Iranian president as the boogie man, and paint him like some Persian Dr. Moriarity instead of looking at facts and figures, and their own very human desire to fit everything into neat catagories and expectations. The reality is, as usual, more complicated and less gothic than our hearts would like to make it.
And that in itself says something interesting about us all.
This in a way, reminds me of the furor about the Bermuda Triangle that swept the country when I was younger. People gathered information, statistics, build story after story on earlier stories, often highlighting and spinning them so they seemed more true and believable. But it all was based on one poorly researched article in Argosy magazine, and everything was piled up on that.
In this case, I believe the root might have been Bernard Lewis' speculation, followed by a few articles that took his speculation and ran with it. These in turn, captured the imagination of the blogosphere and others, and spread like wildfire among those who track this sort of thing.
This is another case of how one can make what looks like a probable case seem solid if it fits your expectations and preconceptions.
I will not downplay the fact that Iran is a major player in the events taking place in the middle east, but some people see the Iranian president as the boogie man, and paint him like some Persian Dr. Moriarity instead of looking at facts and figures, and their own very human desire to fit everything into neat catagories and expectations. The reality is, as usual, more complicated and less gothic than our hearts would like to make it.
And that in itself says something interesting about us all.
posted by Knitting a Conundrum at
8:14 PM
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