Iran crash
2003-02-20 16:57:39+00 by
Dan Lyke
1 comments
I didn't link to the news about the 302 killed in the crash in Iran, including the 284 Revolutionary Guards, because large deaths happen overseas all the time, and my impression of Iran's Revolutionary Guards is that "it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of guys". Robert Scoble wonders why webloggers are ignoring the crash while confirming my impressions (several times). I guess I didn't link to it initially 'cause I had nothing to add to the conversation. Still don't, but maybe Scoble does.
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#Comment made: 2003-02-20 20:43:23+00 by:
petronius
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Reasons this isn't getting the coverage Scoble thinks it deserves:
- As you say, planes crash all the time, sad but true. All the reports I saw mentioned bad weather, so its just a more or less average accident.
- Scoble complains that there are few mentions of what creeps the Republican Guards are. Since they were not involved in harassing Americans when they crashed, so who cares?
- I do think that there is an attitude abroad in the land that Iran is best left to its own devices right now. We haven't heard much about what they think about the imminent Iraq attack, and we would just as soon they sit on their hands and not bother us. I also think that we may not want to give the ayatollahs any extra ammunition in fighting an incipient republican revolt that may be stirring over there. If we plaster the web with headlines like "284 Stinking Revolutionary Guards Meet Well-Deserved Painful Death" we might play right into their hands by cutting down on US support. In his SOTU speech Bush gave the forces of democracy an atta-boy, and then prudently shut up.
4)As to the embargo forcing them to rely on aging Russian planes, this is baloney. They may not be able to buy Boings, but they can certainly buy new Airbus or Ilyushins.