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Same reason they invest in Fox News—aim the weapon at your enemy, like Iran. It’s no coincidence the media is always screaming about Iran, who is actually more

Same reason they invest in Fox News—aim the weapon at your enemy, like Iran. It’s no coincidence the media is always screaming about Iran, who is actually more moderate than our supposed ally Saudi Arabia. It’s a way to buy themselves a free pass from criticism.

SubiculumCode 9y ago
Iran may be moderate, but they are also aligned with Russia. I'd like Iran to align with the West, but too many sides are in their trenches.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  > "Iran may be moderate, but they are also aligned with Russia." Why is that a problem? The Cold War is over. The Russian influence on the world stage is not what it once was (China has definitely superseded it), and it's a capitalist society so their interests are mostly aligned with capitalist societies elsewhere.
  - forapurpose 9y ago
    > [Russia is] a capitalist society so their interests are mostly aligned with capitalist societies elsewhere. Clearly their interests are not aligned with most capitalist societies, including the ones in Europe, East Asia, and the U.S. Russia overtly calls these nations their enemies, those nations see Russia as a threat, and Russia regularly threatens them militarily and interferes in their domestic politics at an extreme level (short of war).
    - ZenoArrow 9y ago
      Which countries in East Asia are you referring to? As for the EU, the 'enemy' status is over a battle for control of Ukraine, and the trade sanctions that happened as a result of Russian invading Ukraine to stop Ukraine becoming a member of the EU. More detail about trade sanctions: https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu-sanctions-against-russia-over-ukraine-crisis_en https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu-sa... The US has also imposed trade sanctions for similar reasons: https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/ukrainerussia/ https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/ukrainerussia/ In my opinion Russia is in the wrong here, I'm just pointing out the reason behind that 'enemy' status. In countries that conduct business with Russia, that enemy status is far less pronounced.
      - forapurpose 9y ago
        > As for the EU, the 'enemy' status is over a battle for control of Ukraine Ukraine is a continuation of and part of a much larger struggle. Russia is interfering in European countries' elections and domestic politics; they also annexed, unofficially, part of Georgia; they are pushing countries to abandon or not join the EU; they are working against European countries in other regions, including in the Mideast; they are trying to divide NATO by building an alliance with Turkey ...
- diogenescynic 9y ago
  So are the Saudis: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-saudi-terror/russia-saudi-arabia-cement-new-friendship-with-kings-visit-idUSKBN1CA1QU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-saudi-terror/russi...
smsm42 9y ago
Yes, they very moderately chant "death to America", very moderately openly promise to wipe Israel from the map, very moderately openly finance and arm terrorist organizations, and so on. All very moderately. And of course their nukes that they'll get pretty soon will be also completely moderate.
erikb 9y ago
Funny how this gets so many downvotes just for saying Iran may be more moderate than Saudi Arabia. If you really compare both countries it's really hard to say who's "better". Both disagree completely with our values. It may improve somewhat under Mohammed. But you know, starting from almost 0% it's really easy to improve and still be far, far away from 100%.
- sampo 9y ago
  In Iran, the government is more conservative than the populace. In Saudi Arabia, the populace is even more conservative than the government.

SubiculumCode 9y ago

Iran may be moderate, but they are also aligned with Russia. I'd like Iran to align with the West, but too many sides are in their trenches.

ZenoArrow 9y ago
> "Iran may be moderate, but they are also aligned with Russia." Why is that a problem? The Cold War is over. The Russian influence on the world stage is not what it once was (China has definitely superseded it), and it's a capitalist society so their interests are mostly aligned with capitalist societies elsewhere.
- forapurpose 9y ago
  > [Russia is] a capitalist society so their interests are mostly aligned with capitalist societies elsewhere. Clearly their interests are not aligned with most capitalist societies, including the ones in Europe, East Asia, and the U.S. Russia overtly calls these nations their enemies, those nations see Russia as a threat, and Russia regularly threatens them militarily and interferes in their domestic politics at an extreme level (short of war).
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    Which countries in East Asia are you referring to? As for the EU, the 'enemy' status is over a battle for control of Ukraine, and the trade sanctions that happened as a result of Russian invading Ukraine to stop Ukraine becoming a member of the EU. More detail about trade sanctions: https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu-sanctions-against-russia-over-ukraine-crisis_en https://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu-sa... The US has also imposed trade sanctions for similar reasons: https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/ukrainerussia/ https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/ukrainerussia/ In my opinion Russia is in the wrong here, I'm just pointing out the reason behind that 'enemy' status. In countries that conduct business with Russia, that enemy status is far less pronounced.
    - forapurpose 9y ago
      > As for the EU, the 'enemy' status is over a battle for control of Ukraine Ukraine is a continuation of and part of a much larger struggle. Russia is interfering in European countries' elections and domestic politics; they also annexed, unofficially, part of Georgia; they are pushing countries to abandon or not join the EU; they are working against European countries in other regions, including in the Mideast; they are trying to divide NATO by building an alliance with Turkey ...
diogenescynic 9y ago
So are the Saudis: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-saudi-terror/russia-saudi-arabia-cement-new-friendship-with-kings-visit-idUSKBN1CA1QU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-saudi-terror/russi...

smsm42 9y ago

Yes, they very moderately chant "death to America", very moderately openly promise to wipe Israel from the map, very moderately openly finance and arm terrorist organizations, and so on. All very moderately. And of course their nukes that they'll get pretty soon will be also completely moderate.

erikb 9y ago

Funny how this gets so many downvotes just for saying Iran may be more moderate than Saudi Arabia. If you really compare both countries it's really hard to say who's "better". Both disagree completely with our values. It may improve somewhat under Mohammed. But you know, starting from almost 0% it's really easy to improve and still be far, far away from 100%.

sampo 9y ago
In Iran, the government is more conservative than the populace. In Saudi Arabia, the populace is even more conservative than the government.