Iran Opinion: Myth and Reality About Nuclear Ambitions (Osborne)

An interesting push-back in The New York Times on Saturday against the hyperbole and soundbites that can dominate the "news" about Iran's nuclear programme. The newspaper's specialists on intelligence matter, James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, outlined, "U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb".

Meanwhile, Matt Osborne takes apart last week's fraught headlines, amidst tension between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Tehran and defiant announcements by the Supreme Leader, to assess the Iranian "threat".

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Media Matters asks exactly the right question: why has Iran been “just months away” from developing thermonuclear weapons for so many years?

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US Opinion: Are We Suffering from "Drone Hysteria"? (Osboune)

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta justifies the killing by drone in Yemen of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen

See also: US Opinion: Do Drones Undermine Democracy? (Singer)

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Anyone who decries a “new surge” of military interest in drones is just admitting they never paid attention before, that they don’t know what they’re talking about, and that they are riding on the word “drone” because it’s trendy and scary. Such opinions should carry exactly as much weight as a paper airplane, because they aren’t really about drones at all but war in general. There is nothing a drone can do that could not be done up close and personal, though at greater risk. A drone merely removes risk from the attacker — which is what warriors have been doing since the invention of the bow and arrow.

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Arab Spring/Iran Special: Is This a Music-Driven Revolution? (Osborne)

Advisory --- Some of the images in the video are graphic

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Throughout the last 11 months of the uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East --- and, before that, the protests in Iran --- we have noted the intersections between activism and music. We learned about rapper El General in Tunisia, and there were the images of the Egyptian Revolution, set to a song by Kanye West.

Now Matt Osborne, writing for Crooks and Liars, goes farther into the dynamics of music and protest....

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Libya Analysis: Explaining the Uprising --- "Libyans Have Written Their Own Epic" (Osborne)

Photo: ReutersTwo myths should be put to rest. First, the idea that Libya’s war originated as anything but a native conflict is nothing but paranoid speculation. Indeed, freedom fighters have systematically ignored international sanctimony and calls for a cease-fire. Libyans fought, and appear to have won, their own war, following their own plan. That they had help — from the sky, or via Egypt, or by sea — does not detract from the sacrifices of Libyans who refused to stop fighting and dying. They own their victory.

Second, the image of “ragtag revolutionaries” is also false. Freedom fighters have in fact been consistently clever and creative. While still undisciplined tactically, they have demonstrated good operational discipline and planning, and in fact have done a very good job of coordinating with air power despite the challenges. Never wavering in determination, Libyans have written their own epic, and it is a good one. All the allies did was help.

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Libya (and Beyond) Special: Paradigm Shift --- What the Experts Get Wrong Tells A Much Bigger Story

There is a larger problem with the way the West is approaching this issue. The old power structures still exist, but all evidence points to them fading. Regimes are falling apart, though remnants remain. Tribalism is giving way to unity, though old divisions still threaten that unity. Al Qa'eda, in almost 20 years, has failed to do what the Arab Spring has done in 250 days. Iran, Israel, weapons of mass destruction, Western imperialism...all of the old bugbears have proven false alarms. They still exist, but their importance, and influence, is fading quickly.

Problems persist in Tunisia and Egypt, and questions remain about Libya, but what is unquestionable is the dedication and spirit of the youth of these countries, a brave and defiant youth that will not sit down while the old powers hijack their revolutions. Perhaps there are still forces that wish to co-opt the Arab Spring, but the indications are that these forces are weaker than their predecessors. Yes, these movements are rooted in a new way of thinking, or at least a new embodiment of an old way of thinking --- through the persuit of equity, freedom, democracy, and unity, the people will triumph, not the power- hungry.

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