Quote by Christopher Hitchens
As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what he said was true enough, just as some of it was arguably less so. (Edward incautiously dismissed 'speculations about the latest conspiracy to blow up buildings or sabotage commercial airliners' as the feverish product of 'highly exaggerated stereotypes.') took as its point of departure the Iranian revolution, which by then had been fully counter-revolutionized by the forces of the Ayatollah. Yes, it was true that the Western press which was one half of the pun about 'covering' had been naïve if not worse about the Pahlavi regime. Yes, it was true that few Middle East 'analysts' had had any concept of the latent power of Shi'ism to create mass mobilization. Yes, it was true that almost every stage of the Iranian drama had come as a complete surprise to the media. But wasn't it also the case that Iranian society was now disappearing into a void of retrogressive piety that had levied war against Iranian Kurdistan and used medieval weaponry such as stoning and amputation against its internal critics, or even against those like unveiled women whose very existence constituted an offense?
Summary
This quote highlights a discussion about the accuracy of Edward's defense of a book in the 1980s. The quote acknowledges that Edward made valid points about the shortcomings of Western media in understanding the complexities of the Iranian revolution and the power of Shi'ism. However, the quote also questions whether it is accurate to believe that Iranian society is regressing into religious extremism, using brutal tactics against its own people. It raises the point that the situation may not be as black and white as Edward portrays, suggesting that there might be nuances and complexities in Iran's sociopolitical landscape.
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