There have been attempts by important figures to clarify and bolster US-Iranian talks. Flynt L. Leverett, a former CIA official and advocate for friendly, productive relations with Iran got his OpEd piece to be printed in the New York Times cleared by the CIA but subsequently blocked by the Bush Administration for compromising National security.

Non-sense. I can't believe the puppets that will eat up anything dished out to them about Iran. Makes you wonder. 

Iran wants the US government to formally recognise the legitmacy of Iran as an Islamic Republic. This is something Bush, as a very junior member of the likud party with lots of commitments and constraints, cannot accept. Or his marionettes will not allow it. Not that he has an opinion one way or the other on anything. Bush is afraid of Iran for this reason. 

Sharon tried to soften the likud. Look what it got him.

Good coverage on the slanted politics with Iran here

While it is true Ahmadinejad's power in the Iranian government is limited, I think it is absurd to simply dismiss Iranian actions as "Zionists propaganda".

Iran is spending a considerable amount of money arming and training Hezbollah and Hamas, even as tens of millions of Iranians face malnutrition and the rest face crippling inflation.

As far as the Holocaust Denial conference, Nazi Cartoon contest, calls for Israel to be wiped off the map, "Death to America, Death to Israel" mandatory student/army marches, etc... there isn't a secret cabal of Zionists out there forcing Iran to make these statements day after day. They are doing it completely on their own.

Finally, Iran has an insanely large supply of cheap clean natural gas. Everybody knows why Iran is so intent in spending every last resource pursuing Nuclear energy... its not so they can have access to an energy source 10x more expensive than what they use today.

For some reason, it is still easier to believe to there is some type of hidden Zionists conspiracy than to accept the obvious facts on the ground. More fun too.

This Sunni Shiite thing, aka takfir, has been abrogated in recent statements by some major Muslim clerics. According to one source, the only Islamic school of thought that wants to maintain this practice is Saudi Wahhabism.

The signers of this document include:

"In accordance with the fatwas issued by the honourable and respectable Grand Imam Sheikh Al Azhar.

The Grand Ayatollah Al Sayyid Ali Al Sistani, the honourable and respectable grand mufti of Egypt, the honourable and respectable Shiite clerics (both Jaafari and Zaydi), the honourable and respectable grand mufti of the Sultanate of Oman.

The Islamic Fiqh Academy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the grand council for Religious Affairs of Turkey.

The honourable and respectable grand mufti of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the respectable members of its National Fatwa Committee, and the honourable and respectable Sheikh Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi;

And in accordance with what was mentioned in the speech of His Majesty King Abdullah during the opening session of our conference;

 Note Sistani's name. I wonder whether recent moves by Saudi Arabia to head off Iran and support hardline Sunnis in Iraq are not related to this statement in some way. IE the Saudis are scared that any consolidation of ties between Iran and Iraq will undermine their own interpretation of Islam.

first of all, i dont operate due to 'beefs' - that imputes a dogmatic position that i do not ever subscribe to

second of all its not a sunni shia thing b/c im quite warm to a lot of shia ideas (you should go into my old blog archives and see my writings about sunni traditionalists and their views towards shia)

start here

(at the risk of starting another debate on my views on sunni traditionalism)(which is unnecessary b/c we've arleady had it)

finally, i think ahmedinejad is a classic muslim cultist - he is not champion of the average man - and if i do have a 'beef' about anything, it is about people who provide absolutely nothing but rhetoric. he is a gas bag and his people are dying (and may die in large numbers).

finally, iran is a dynamic nation b/c it has done what the sunnis haven't done yet -- assign divinity to the State (now you know a part of my forthcoming book) 

The problem with you, Dave, is you haven't walked a mile in Ahmadinejad's mocassins. Try it! Seriously, can you see it from their side?

When America gets bombed, citizens killed, whole countries get invaded. Whether they had anything to do with the Sept 11 attacks or not. Collateral damage piles up, who cares, right?

Israel engages in death denial constantly. Do we care that more than 1000 civilians were killed in S. Lebanon? Rarely mentioned. As an zionist, you can hardly whine about Holocaust denial and then mute your aggression on civilians, deny or justify the attack on innocent peoples property, services and lives. That is primo, grade a hypocrisy.

And Britain and the USA are indeed failing super powers. That is not even an astute observation, that is openning up the papers and reading about the US failing to get it done in the middle east. Blame Bush, not Ahmadinejad.

Sorry, your comments don't make the cut. I'm looking for real criminal actions. Like lying to your people about an unjust war and spending billions or dollars and thousands of lives on a lie. That kind of thing.

True, Khatami was not that bad of a guy, even had a sense of humour. He was unfortunately, fairly powerless. His reforms while meaningful, were fought tooth and nail by the council and many of his supporters wanted him to resign in protest.

That being said, I am sure everyone is missing him now.