The Latest from Iran (7 November): The Week of Dangerously Missing the Point

See also Iran Special: Decoding Ahmadinejad --- Did He Just Declare the "Final Confrontation" Within the Establishment?
Iran Analysis: The Week in "Objective" US Journalism --- War, War, Secret War, Future War, War
Iran Feature: Explaining the Israeli "War Talk" --- Look to the Domestic Politics...And Who Wins
The Latest from Iran (6 November): Beyond the Israeli Diversion

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2015 GMT: The Battle Within. Reports in the Iran media today that the Supreme Leader has ordered his aides to review the "faults" in the Constitution --- is this another signal of a move to a Prime Minister chosen by Parliament, rather than a President chosen by the people?

1945 GMT: The Ahmadinejad Speech. MP Emad Afrough, a former Ahmadinejad supporter, has criticised the President for attacking the judiciary, saying that Ahmadinejad apparently believes that his sensational approach is the only way to stay in power.

Afrough added the jibe that the President seems to "believe that running around, physical presence, and scandalous speeches are 'work'".

Journalist Mehdi Mahdavi-Azad offers the analysis that Ahmadinejad has challenged the Supreme Leader and attacked the Larijani brothers --- one the Speaker of Parliament, another the head of judiciary --- intimidating them with claims of the files of a huge land robbery.

Mahdavi-Azad parallels our analysis when he assesses that, when Ahmadinejad had control over Iran's intelligence services, he sorted out large amounts of secret files about his political opponents and is now using the information to contain them.

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Iran Analysis: The Week in "Objective" US Journalism --- War, War, Secret War, Future War, War

We are watching an international media which is captivated by the chatter about an Israeli attack on Tehran and about a supposedly doom-laden report on Iran's nuclear programme. Indeed, some in that media are on the point of irresponsibility stoking confrontation, even armed confrontation.

The number one culprit is David Sanger of The New York Times, who uses the exalted podium of a "Week in Review" piece to declare that War may be the only option, "The big hitch in...containment strategies is that they are completely useless if Iran ever slips a bomb, or even some of its newly minted uranium fuel, to a proxy — Hezbollah, Hamas or some other terrorist group — raising the problem of ascertaining a bomb’s return address."

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Iran Special: Decoding Ahmadinejad --- Did He Just Declare the "Final Confrontation" Within the Establishment?

Over the last 48 hours, reports have emerged of an extraordinary speech by President Ahmadinejad to a group of his backers, the Supporters of Islamic Revolution Dialogue, in Tehran.

Our initial reaction was "Did he really say that?" And that as the reports built in their detail, we began to consider, "If he did say that, what does it mean for the conflict inside the Iranian system?"

For --- if the reports are true --- the President's speech was no less than a proclamation of all-out political conflict with his rivals, including a possible showdown with some in the camp of the Supreme Leader. That would explain why "mainstream" Iranian outlets only published parts of the statement, leaving out the most provocative challenges.

We are still cautious. Did the pro-Ahmadinejad website, <em>Dolat-e Ma</em>, which has published the transcript of the speech, get it right through its reporter on the scene? Is there exaggeration for effect, perhaps to scare Ahmadinejad's opponents?

Then again, no one from the President's office or amongst his media backers has denied the remarks. So we assess the significance of Ahmadinejad's declaration of a "final confrontation"...

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Bahrain 1st-Hand: Protests, Tear Gas, and Night Marching (EA Correspondent)

The night sky in Sitra as people chant, "Down, down Hamad"

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An EA correspondent was present yesterday in the mass march in Bahrain that was dispersed by security forces --- he sent us a brief message, "Am fine after inhaling some tear gas." Once he had settled into his home --- or thought he had settled --- he e-mailed these reports:

9:20 p.m.: Just got back home, took a round in Sitra as usual before returning.

Sitra looked like a ghost town, especially as it's raining today, giving the whole place a very creepy appearance. Roads are totally dark, expect for the blue lights coming from  security forces' jeeps which are still driving around after attacking the protests across seven villages today.

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Syria Video Special: The Protests of Eid Al-Adha

Deir Ez Zor in northeast

Syrian military in the Damascus suburb of Douma

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Launch of an Opposition?

A woman with a Bahrain flag and then other protesters defy security forces, who respond by firing tear gas

See also Syria Video Special: The Protests of Eid Al-Adha

Syria 1st-Hand: A Motorcycle Ride to Homs
Syria Video and Transcript: The Speech by Opposition Leader Ghalioun
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Running Down a Protest

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2040 GMT: A special video from Syria today, with tens of thousands of people turning out for a protest rally in Jebel el Zawiya in the northwest:

1720 GMT: Activists have raised today's death toll at the hands of Syrian security forces to 11 --- nine in Homs, one in Hama, and one in Idlib Province.

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The Latest from Iran (6 November): Beyond the Israeli Diversion

1650 GMT: Bank Fraud Watch. The Central Bankhas restricted the activities of money-lending co-operatives to their specific area.

In the recent $2.6 billion bank fraud, Iranian institutions issued Letters of Credits to companies who operated across Iran and allegedly moved funds abroad.

1630 GMT: The Battle Within. President Ahmadinejad's Thursday speech, made to the Supporters of Islamic Revolution Dialogue, continues to escalate in possible significance.

Absar News has these choice extracts. The President offered this defence of his embattled aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, "If Rahim-Mashai had stolen 1 rial (about 1/100th of a cent), 'they' would have executed him."

Ahmadinejad then implied that responsibility for the $2.6 billion bank fraud engulfing Iranian politics lay with people connected to the Supreme Leader.

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Syria 1st-Hand: A Motorcycle Ride to Homs (Schwartz)

It all began on a pleasant motorcycle trip I took last month from Beirut, Lebanon, to Tartous, Syria, that ended up becoming a semi-surreptitious probe of Hama and Homs, the twin flashpoints of the Syrian uprising. As an English professor at the American University of Beirut, armed only with a rare visa obtained over the summer at the Syrian Consulate in Houston, Texas, and a modicum of Arabic, I managed to pass muster at a series of military checkpoints and gain entry into these two besieged cities.

Once inside, I was able to meet and talk with protesters and see first-hand evidence of President Bashar al-Assad's violent crackdown on the demonstrations that have been rocking the country since March. More than 3,000 people are believed to have been killed over the last seven months, most of them peaceful protesters, according to international rights groups and Syrian activists.

This is the story of what I saw.

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US Politics Feature: Those Wacky Presidential Challengers --- From 2012 Back to 1936

It occurs to me that history is repeating itself. Once there was an election where a popular incumbent faced odd-ball challengers as the American economy was suffering, when unemployment was rife and when those who did have jobs could hardly afford to keep themselves and their families.

From 2012 back to the 1936 Presidential campaign. By the end of 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt had turned away from big business with the declaration, "They hate me and I welcome their hatred.” It was the politic thing to do, a vote winner. 

As for the alternatives, voters were given choices such as “The Radio Priest".

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Iran Feature: Explaining the Israeli "War Talk" --- Look to the Domestic Politics...And Who Wins (Zilber)

Israeli posturing is for the benefit of the international community, to increase pressure on Iran.  The only difference this time is the heightened intensity of the internal debate within the Israeli security establishment, which is leaking out in torrents.

The benefits to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak of this media campaign are immense, and are not just limited to the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency report and potential UN Security Council action

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