Mediocrity Watch: Professor Robert Patman The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 11 September 2013 Noelle McCarthy, Tino Pereira, Simon Pound
Anybody who listens regularly to Radio New Zealand will know that it has a small list of commentators it uses to “discuss” questions about “the middle east”. Almost without exception these commentators are right wing, reflexively pro-Israel and uncritically pro-American. These substandard pundits are a grimly uninspired lot, including Liat Collins, Irris Makler, Simon Marks, and the gruesome Professor Steve Hoadley. Unbelievably, though, they are not even the worst: just last week the race-baiting fanatic Daniel Pipes was given a respectful, uninterrupted hearing on Nights.
Today, long-suffering listeners to The Panel were inflicted with another of these go-to “experts”—Robert Patman, the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago. Unfortunately for Prof. Patman, this grand-sounding job-title fails to cover up the poverty and partiality of his “analysis”. In a comically inept attempt to sum up Russian and U.S. policy towards Syria, Patman told a silent and unquestioning Noelle McCarthy that Hezbollah is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime.” McCarthy failed to challenge that piece of nonsense, and neither did Simon Pound nor Tino Pereira. A minute later, Patman frothed about “the Assad regime, this GANGSTER regime” and sneered that Putin was “a master of bluff.”
Of course, Professor Patman did not use such prejudicial and incendiary language to describe the regime that has used chemical weapons in Southeast Asia, and which also stood firmly beside its protégé Saddam Hussein after he used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians in 1988. But of course, if he did have the nerve to speak plainly and honestly, he would never have become the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago.
I don’t think Patman is actually saying anything that controversial about Hizballah though. He may be overstating it slightly but Hizballah’s own original Manifesto (An Open Letter: Hizballah’s Programme) openly acknowledges its links to Iran. The English translation of the first paragraphs:
“We are often asked: Who are we, the Hizballah, and what is our identity? We are the sons of the umma (Muslim community) – the party of God (Hizb Allah) the vanguard of which was made victorious by God in Iran. There the vanguard succeeded to lay down the bases of a Muslim state which plays a central role in the world. We obey the orders of one leader, wise and just, that of our tutor and faqih (jurist) who fulfills all the necessary conditions: Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini. God save him!”
The translation of Faqih as “Jurist” is a bit clumsy as there is no real equivalence in English – the Islamic concept is kind of combined expert scholar/warrior(in the Jihadist sense)/religious leader. Faqih also has a special significance in Twelver Shia’ism.
Fair comment, Greg, in that Hezbollah is a Shi’ite party, and there are of course affinities with Iran and the Iranian revolution. However, Hezbollah was and remains a Lebanese organization, formed for the purpose of fighting the Israeli army. When Patman uttered his astonishing claim that it is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime” he was distorting and exaggerating for a purpose: to amplify and reiterate standard U.S. and Israeli propaganda. Patman is either a dutiful liar or unfeasibly ignorant; either way he is not a serious or credible commentator.
It was formed from the Lebanese Shia community (roughly 40 per cent of the population) in 1982. It’s a Lebanese organization, which Patman no doubt knew perfectly well when he uttered his ridiculous statement.
Certainly fighting Israel was one of its purposes but it’s other purpose was described by Nasrallah as having:
“two main axis: firstly, a belief in the rule by the just jurisconsult and adherence to Khomeini’s leadership; and secondly, the continued need to struggle against the Israeli enemy.”
You can’t ignore the religious dimension of Hizballah’s raison d’être however – and its desire for an Islamic Revolution that institutes Velayat-e faqih (Islamic Government with Guardianship by the Faqih or the “Jurist”). Certainly although one of its original goals was the creation of a Lebanese Islamic Republic it always had in mind the wider goals of the Iranian Revolution to create a wider Islamic Shia State. (Although recently it has modified its political stance for a more nuanced approach to be inclusive within the Lebanese Political system). It’s close links to Iran and the Iranian religious leadership are fairly clear though – “creature” perhaps not – very, very close ally – definitely.
“Just about all of the many calls I’ve had in support of Grant have talked mostly about David. ”
This is a very telling line from Mike Williams writing about how he came around to voting for Cunliffe.
Grant, you and your crew just can’t help yourselves.
Next week go away from your normal Wellington milieu for a few days. Do some thinking about why Jones, of all people, gets more public support. That is not a true reflection of your relative decency and prospects.
You have sold yourself short. You are better than this.
“The Vote” TV3 now………Jesus I broke my rule…….here I am watching this shit. On housing affordability and your mesmeric “young couples” first home-buyers.
Notice the teams – Sam the Sham, Le Bouffant, and (Woody Allen) Botox Banks. Fuck what a team !
On the other side Winnie, Metiria and Twyford.
Been trying to get hold of a close mate of mine who’s reasonably close aiga of Sam’s. No answer. Man, that guy (my mate) is just dying to get a hold of his nephew’s ear.
And isn’t that Garner a Gooner ? Phil Twyford anticipating what Labour will do and the plump, rugby boy, cheapie Gooner triumphantly fires at him – “Will you stake your political career on that ?” Will you, will you……? Studied looks of horror all around by Gooner.
Faarrk ! What a man in a suit under the lights !!!
Would loved to have been Twyford and fired back – “Will you stake your career on me being wrong Mr Gooner ?”
Yeah i am not one to watch ‘the vote’ either but seeing as it was about housing i tuned in for what was quite entertaining and enlightening on a number of levels besides housing affordability for the children of the middle class where incidentally National are in big big trouble if that audience was a relative cross section of middle class Auckland,
Small wonder Nick Smith the Minister chose not to show up for what would have shown Him to be as empty a suitcase as Sam the Patsy from National’s back bench they threw to the wolves to be eviscerated, turned out to be,
It’s interesting to watch a program like that and see Winston working in conjunction with both Labour’s Phil Twyford and the Green’s Metiria Turei and i have to wonder(foolishly perhaps)whether a Government could quite conceivably be formed out of all 3 Party’s,
Banks, the political corpse of ACT that refuses to go quietly to it’s grave looks every part an expensive piece of Botox awaiting a District Court conviction to put Him out of His misery,
Wasn’t the ‘Hairdo’ in fine spitting form tho, outright nastiness emanated from Dunne which i suppose is where you have to go when ‘sensible’ just don’t cut the mustard anymore, Wee Petey showed all the venom and lack of grace and judgement of a man who’s very life-blood as a politician is being slowly undermined by a serious underground campaign in the Ohariu electorate to unseat Him…
“Ms Turei’s now being attacked by all sides of the political spectrum after telling more than 1 million Kiwi homeowners she wants to reduce the value of their biggest asset.”
Is this at all an accurate description of Turei’s performance?
[It’s there now – the result appears to be; 72 opposition to 28 government, though it doesn’t mention sample size, or representativeness to voting population. I guess I should endure the swill to see for myself.]
Nah that was a large Strawman constructed by Garner where Garner claims that the Labour/Green housing plan will cause the prices in the Auckland market to collapse,
Garner is an economic illiterate, building a swag of affordable housing in Auckland is unlikely to effect the market in any way in the short term, in the medium to long term tho if enough houses are built then obviously people wanting to sell what they have bought at the height of the price bubble are going to have trouble selling at those prices,
My view is that there will be a ‘high end’ market that will maintain it’s current price structure around the current level no matter what and it will be only the short term ‘speculators’ who are likely to be seriously burned as the Government build takes away the ‘demand’,
My view is that Labour and the Green’s need a set of rules around their housing proposals where those put into the houses government build have to hold the house for 10 years or sell it back to the Government at fair value based upon the price the Government sold it for,
Doing this would put a stop to these houses being used for speculation and stop the sale of them from acting to collapse the current house prices…
Thanks bad12. I only got as far as the; meet the teams snippet, and then the “voting” instructions before being distracted by various papers I had been meaning to get onto for weeks. The prospect of an hour show with; Banks, Dunne, Gower & Espiner; making up half the voices just drains me of the will to live. Still – enough procrastination; sooner started, sooner finished!
Welcome, the point that i don’t quite get across in the comment above is that Labour/Green plans target specifically ‘first home buyers’,
The rest of the market is still going to be there with people in it constantly wanting to do the ‘upwardly mobile’ thing and buy a bigger/better/flasher place so prices will hardly collapse and if like i suggest the Kiwibuild is restricted from going into the market that’s already there then such can have little bearing on current prices…
I Seem to have trouble leaving comments on Red-Alert blog. Ordinary comments just seem to disappear. I realise it is moderated but is it now being censored as well? And honestly it was not critical of a certain MP from Dunedin South
Tooooo true. Mallard is in San Fran so Claire and some of Robertson’s Victoria groupies have their hands on the tiller, the same prats whose rudeness at meetings drove votes to Cunliffe.
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 11 September 2013
Noelle McCarthy, Tino Pereira, Simon Pound
And honestly it was not critical of a certain MP from Dunedin South