Comments on: General Panic

By: El Cid

El Cid — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:23:47 +0000

NO, NO! A Zuniga administration would now be in the process of handing this General back to the Persians. That is what IT wants. You see this way no Persian secrets of how Persia wants to destroy Israel and throw this world into complete conflagration.THE ultimate Holocaust. Now that would please IT. World's problem solved, Israel in cinders, the U.S. humbled and IT growing a beard, be IT a he or a she. Of course if IT is a she, the burka would hide the beard. HEYYYY!. I have an idea, why don't we send Mr. Joe Plame over. He can solve this.

By: Asgari Cooperating According to U.S. Intelligence Official « Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:12:41 +0000

[...] Great news – if this is not a defection I don’t know what is. That being said, it seems that he wasn’t involved in Iran’s nuclear program… he was however, deeply involved in building up Hezbollah. [...]

By: saltydog

saltydog — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 07:23:29 +0000

Rote script number 3. The scripts seem to be rather limited in number.

The reactions from Iran as reported in the Washington Post article lead me to believe the defection is real. They range from “the guy isn’t really important,” to “he’s nuts,” to “he was kidnapped by the Great Satan…the Little Satan…both Satans.” In their panic, they just can’t seem to settle on any one excuse.

By: RebeccaH

RebeccaH — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:57:35 +0000

You don’t really read the online news services, do you, Alf? Is it the big words?

By: alphie

alphie — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:16:41 +0000

I thought all the phony propaganda about Iraqi generals defecting and “greet us like liberators” before the Iraq war were more convincing that this tale.

I guess the really good spinners have jumped ship from the sinking Bush admin. and we’re stuck with reruns.

By: The Apologist

The Apologist — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:58:55 +0000

Also at Hot Air is a story on a fight between Assad and Xerxes Pt.2.

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/03/07/heart-ache-assad-screams-at-ahmadinejad-in-phone-call-blowup/

Might this be a part of the larger breakup coming here?

By: Bill's Bites

Bill's Bites — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:14:49 +0000

Top Iranian General Defects? — Update

See previous: Top Iranian general dies? disappears? defects? kidnapped?Panic in Tehran PJM in Tel Aviv The disappearance and possible defection of former Iranian deputy defense minister Ali Reza Asgari has the Iranian government deeply worried — and …

By: The Apologist

The Apologist — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:55:38 +0000

Allah at Hot Air points out Ken Timmerman’s piece at Newsmax:

http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/7/142758.shtml?s=sr

Lot’s of details I really hope are right. Very cool if this stuff is true. Wish there was some source on Iran I could really trust to only report what they knew to be true instead of what they hoped was true. Where’s Drudge on this?

By: The Apologist

The Apologist — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:24:49 +0000

It might be instructive to look back at what Hizb’allah has been doing, or rather not doing [re: the vaguely threatened coup], in Lebanon for the last month. Remember those stories about Nasrallah being depressed? Is this why he went so quiet?

How does this reflect on Iran’s shorter than scheduled meeting with the Saudis? Did we tell Saudi Arabia we had this guy to prep them for their talks with the Iranians? Is that how the Saudi funded newspapers got this story in the first place?

And what does this tell us about all those stories of dissension between the Supreme Council and Achmadinejad? How long have those stories been trickling out? Do they preceed the defection? Was the defection a consequence of the dissension? Or was the dissension a consequence of the defection?

I expect a well written, well researched, and well thought out report tomorrow, Jules. Get to work. ;)

By: postpolitical » The Asgari Angle Round-Up

postpolitical » The Asgari Angle Round-Up — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:03:55 +0000

[...] Stratfor, by way of Jules Crittenden is reporting panic in the ranks of the IRGC, describing a Asgari turn as a potential “deathblow”: Iran appears to be operating on the assumption that Askari might have been compromised. While the true scope and pertinence of his knowledge is known only to Tehran (or was, prior to Feb. 7), the damage he could do to Iran is almost certainly significant. Reports that dozens of IRGC members working in cultural centers and embassies in the Arab world and Europe have been called back to Tehran, for fear that their identities will be disclosed, lend credence to the utility of the information Askari might offer. Some sources have characterized his possible defection as a “deathblow.” (Jules) [...]