Christopher Hitchens Confused by Obama's Iran Policy
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- Complete video at: fora.tv/2010/09...
On the eve of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's most recent address to the UN, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens marvels at the confusion that characterizes the Obama administration's policy regarding Iran.
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This debate, moderated by political writer and analyst Peter Beinart (The Daily Beast), features Christopher Hitchens and George Packer.
The panel discusses America's position in, and relationship to, the rest of the world under Obama -- and whether or not his foreign policy has been effective. - CUNY
Christopher Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England and worked in Britain as book reviewer for the Times, and chief foreign correspondent for the Daily Express. After emigrating to the United States in 1981, he wrote the Minority Report column for The Nation.
Since 1992, he has been columnist and contributing editor at Vanity Fair and, at different times, Washington editor and columnist for Harper's magazine, American columnist and correspondent for the Spectator, the New Statesman, the Times Literary Supplement, Sunday Today, and the Sunday Correspondent.
Hitchens writes regularly for the Atlantic Monthly and Slate, and is the author of God is Not Great, Letters to a Young Contrarian and Why Orwell Matters.
The events surrounding Iran from when Hitch made the speech to the present uprising shows what a forward thinker he was, as an Iranian, with good knowledge of Iranian politics and the nature of the Ayatollahs' regime, I can't agree more with everything he said and predicted. Even recently Obama admired and regretted his mistakes in handling the Iranian Islamic regime. With current world attention on the Russians aggression, the Ayatollahs are closer than ever to possessing nuclear bombs with all the dark consequences that would bring about.
You sound brainwashed. Regime this, regime that. MSM parrot. That's all you'll ever be.
Wow, Hitch looks and sounds really great here! We're all pulling for you, sir. Keep fighting the good fight and never give 'em an inch.
Wah wah wwwaaaaaaaahhhh
:(
@@HIMYMTR :(
:(
@@joeld9101 don’t be *too* classy, mate…
he looks like hes coping well.
i know his chances arent good, but i hope he makes it through this.
:(
...
How I wish this was true :(
I'm sorry, brother, but here we are.
im sad about it but ive changed my mind about hitchens in a lot of ways. he was a neocon. the main source of hatred and evil in the world is the foreign policy of the US he defended.@@theindianzone4989
Oh Christopher we bloody miss you ;(
It's sad to never see him again. We all miss him dearly.
Beautifully put and it still resonates all these years later. Women life freedom.
I hope we can have 10 or even 20 more years of Hitchens!
too bad
Oof
😅😂😂😂😂😂
I have such anger towards Hitchens. Not because of what he said, but because how badly we needed him in this political climate. Needed him to bring balance, and possibly bring the two sides together. 😢
Came in contact with Hitch through his anti-theism - as most people have done - but now I'm scouring CZcams for his contributions on international policy. Such a great mind, armed with immense knowledge also about the important details in foreign affairs.
Please find his Michael parenti debate. Hitch tried to hitch slap Michael but Michael bounced hin around like a tennis ball.
Prior to this video, I've just witnessed a Scientology advertisement - I don't think the great man, Hitch, would have approved!!!
What a tremendous loss to not have had his vast intellect and insight employed as a consultant to gov't policy.
Absolutely correct & true!👌 RIP Christopher 🙏
has i look at him i remember the time where he was at his best and i now see him throw his sikness still standing up for what he always belive and still fighting to wake up us to freethinking what a man he his he deserve my best regard and respect
@CelestialEmbodiment: Congress authorized the removal of Saddam from power through military force. Under the Constituion, the Congress has the power to pass legislation and authorize wars.
we need more intellectuals like that, that teach critical thinking by, very publicly, voicing their own
still relevant in 2014
scottclaudet 2015
scottclaudet well said, I think Douglas Murray will continue his wonderful work.
+scottclaudet 2016
Especially relevant in 2018 given Trump's withdrawal of the Iran Nuclear Deal and the Iranian Congress' reaction to it: "Death to America!". Seems like the Iranian government to this day prefer nuclear power over economic prosperity for the Iranian people. Nonetheless, they will still be seen as perfectly moderate and (potential) allies of the U.S. by Obama and the majority of the MSM. After all, this is just another example of the U.S. acting as the imperial bastards that they are, right?
@@TheGreatIndoors1979 "U.S. acting as the imperial bastards that they are, right?"
It is. It's about the oil. Trump ran on committing war crimes and tried to gain access to both Venezuelan and Iranian oil.
@susanyana Well, I don't mean to split hairs with you, but nobody diagnosed with cancer ever really "gets over it." They can succesfully recover from it, but they live with the fear, however small, that it might well come back, and I say this as the son of someone who recovered from breast cancer and took every possible means to prevent a relapse, including having a mastectomy. Even after all of that, she and I both realize that there are no guarantees.
Yeah, America has a historical tendency to do things like that.
How many divisions/ships/warheads does the Secretary General have?
3 QUESTIONS 911 TRUTHERS DON'T WANT YOU TO ASK THEM:
If NORAD was told to “stand down” how do you explain F-15 fighters ordered to intercept the high-jacked planes 6 minutes after WTC 1 was hit?
How can Dick Cheney order NORAD to “stand down” if he was never in charge of NORAD?
If WTC 7 was destroyed via controlled demolition, how do you explain firefighters predicting the building's collapse 3 hours before the actual collapse?
Objecting to some of Israel's policies doesn't make you an anti-Semite. Nuzzling up to Hezbollah does. So also trying to gloss over or justify Iran's policy towards Israel, or so many of the statements made by their senior leaders in regards the "Jewish question".
You're trying to peddle your own agenda in here while claiming otherwise. I'm telling you that I'm not interested.
@OneApostate btw, who is advocating for burning homes? killing people or destroying the govt.???? i have never heard anything like that.......
Agree with everything but how do you speak about the threat of Iran without even mentioning Israel ?
@Bellantoni what exactly is the family of nations? it's first time I hear of this concept. I know there's UN, and Iran is a member of UN
"Complicity in extreme violence up to and including assassination and bombing."
That sounds familiar, in fact with the possible exception of, "Issuing death threats against novelist living in England," everything Hitchens describes as being bad about Iran sounds an awful lot like standard U.S. (and even Israeli) foreign policy.
Obama's Iran policy is pretty much Bush 2.0. Slightly less saber-rattling but we will still only agree to talk if Iran agrees to everything we want before hand.
So?
Didn't say they never existed, however your question is posing as if a country that doesn't exist might do something....as in present tense
Michael Jackson was killed in an avalanche at 4:19 P.M. Pacific Time, Thursday, 13 September 2001. In the 6 months that followed look-alike/sound-alike brother Marlon Jackson endured 34 plastic surgical procedures. Fifty-three weeks following Michael's death, Marlon Jackson emerged from a self-imposed 53-week Sabbatical as "Michael Jackson." The impersonation ended at 12:17 P.M., Thursday, June 25, 2009, thirty-four minutes after Marlon's deliberate overdose of sedatives.
Hitch is looking "marvelous" ... he is! He's making a come back. And he looks great WITHOUT hair. You go, Hitch! We love ya, buddy!! By the way ... there is no better debater on this entire planet than Hitch. I mean fucking no one!
He's describing Iran and it sounds to me like a perfect description of the US. How peculiar
How does that sound like the US lol
So the US is a religious autocratic dictatorship?
@@feonor26 Is it? Doesn’t seem that way to me. Maybe now it is under Biden
@@brandongiorlando6284 I was asking a question to OP, not making a statement.
@@feonor26 and I answered by saying I don’t think it is. Clearly your question holds what you think of the US so it’s not far fetched of me to ask you about that.
Oh so noowwww you are calling them a tyrant regime? You were full of support for them before, and how Russia was there to defend us.
No, did you see me defending UK/US meddling in 50s/60s/70s? In fact UK meddling began in the 19th century.
@CelestialEmbodiment: I'm paraphasing Hitchens from memory here, so this is going to be a little off, but: The very people who argued that the sanctions were killing countless children in Iraq were the same people who argued that the sanctions were working and should be kept so that we would not have to invade. Hitchens supported the removal of Saddam, which was the only way the sanctions were going to end.
I'm sorry, but I can't even concentrate on what he is saying. The bald look is just too fucking hilarious hahahah
lol its a heavier version of the real life mr. xavier from the x men
@stesta90
i think you missed my point, I love Hitch but he belives that religion is behind all evil and "poisons everything". If that's true, than how does he explain the atrocities commited by Communists? He never answers this and quite frankly, neither have you. As far as it being a "private matter" in the Soviet Union, you're "sugar coating" their policies
@randomartist01 I was thinking the same thing. He looks a lot better than a couple of months back. I love this guy for his courage more than anything else.
Congress cannot abrogate its powers, and the Constitutional powers of future Congresses, to anyone: not the Chief Magistrate, not the judiciary, not the U.N./N.A.T.O. The citizens must have permission from the government to complain about the government. Corporate science seeks control through consolidation of power.
Policy should be to mind our own business.
That "Death to America" annual holiday might have something to do with it. Mind, we also don't fancy the sort of people who think shooting women in the head who don't vote for your faction as "being Number One in Democracy". Or have you forgotten Neda Agha-Soltan so soon?
@TheMotherEagle
How can you say Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons? There's absolutely no proof of that. Unless you're sitting with info nobody else has.
He's better on politics than religion.
Not really - equally knowledgeable.
Religion is tied to politics. Religion stakes claims on how one should be governed and what those laws should be. I don't think Hitchens was wrong as far as religion relates to government especially since religion claims to be the government of governments, as its 'king of kings' rules from the sky. Is it wrong to denounce such an idea for which there is no evidence? Something for which there is no evidence should not hold such sway over our lives, in which case, I don't see how Hitchens was wrong.
InSingularity No, he’s the best on religion
He was quite shit on some politics. He knew what the NIE reports say, no nuclear weapons program.
Ahh was waiting for the "< person I disagree with > was actually shit on politics, because I'm a millennial contrarian." I see the same said of Chomsky on his videos and the statement holds about as much credibility there as it does here, pure tripe.
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Spot on.
@clickswitchh A man following his pashion is a big idol, and a great source of motivation regardless of whether his pashion is right or wrong. Tyvm.
Hitch looking healthy, that is great to see.
@0mla1 In Sura 71:16 claims that Allah placed the moon as a light.
Its not a light, it reflects light
The words "Hitchens" and "confused" simply do not go together.
Knowledge on the subject of Obama's policy toward Iran would be useful. America does not need another war.
Radiation causes radiation-sickness yet it is extremely profitable for physicians in ineffectually treating the chronic metabolic disease known as cancer.
@shanestrange
He has answered the question ad nauseam.
And, if we would have just let Iran allone back in the 50`s, we wouldnt have had this problem now.
the complete video is not available at the provided link.
we dont know most of the things that the state does, even when we think we do
I wanted to know his opinion now. After they gave up their activities. The sanctions flew towards them
@YourUTubeMonitor: I'm an atheist but i believe in the rule of law and absolute morality. Law and morality would be meaningless if they came from faith and not reason.
why not just google it for yourself?
... Huh? Not exactly clear. The last part of the clip is the most interesting part.
@ColonelAli And oil.
@boxingaddict25 He can be an incredibly intelligent thinker and speaker and still be wrong. And I'd say he fits the neo-con role somewhat, if not perfectly.
I know who you're talking about. That isn't why Iran became an Islamic Republic though,which is what you said in your initial comment. I've been reading about Mosaddegh and he was indeed overthrown by a CIA/MI5 coup, but it is unrelated to the country becoming what it is today.
Of course that kind of interference in a democratic government is reprehensible, so good point.
@TheFabdulla
Your analogy squeezes my mind grapes.
"The Trilateralist Commission is international...(and)...is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United States. The Trilateralist Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power - political, monetary, intellectual, and ecclesiastical." - Barry Goldwater (1909-1998), U.S. Senator
What do you say about Youcef Nadarkhani, the Iranian sentenced to death for converting from Islam?
@kyuss4me
The United States made the mistake of using 2 nuclear weapons during WWII. Since that time nuclear weapons have been manufactured on a massive scale. Fortunately, over the last few decades the 2 largest manufacturers of nuclear weapons (Russia & the United States) have worked on dismantling their weapons & on ensuring that other states do not acquire them. It is NOT an issue of Iran creating nuclear weapons but an issue of having NO more weapons than we have now. If possible have less
@piip4 I think the bit where their leader came out and accidentally admitted it. And started test firing up missiles designed to carry Nuclear warheads.
@ColonelAli @ColonelAli sorry Ali I didn't mean to make it seem like it was directed at you. I'm lending support to your point. I put in the example of attack because there are many that are so awed by Hitchen's brilliance they miss that some of the premise he starts with isn't necessarily agreeable.
I wonder when will he condemn the izraely nukes, wich really exist ???
Iran doesn't have any bargaining; Russian/Chinese support is all they can rely on, since they are isolating themselves with their politics.
when hitchens speaks, you need to constantly adjust your volume.
Because you posted that comment a month ago.
@cristop5 yes...he actually equates the flotilla activists to the "american friends of north korea movement" and says that the 9 murdered people on the boat were "posing" as activists.....this is not supporting palestine....it is a clever way of discrediting any moves to hep innocents in palestine with people who are secretly supporting hamas.....this idea does not exist in my head....it is from his own mouth....etc....
@0mla1 The Quran claims that Allah made the stars (Sura 37: 6-8) as a protection against demons and Djinn, so they couldn't listen in on the heavenly assembly. One can only conclude that Muhammed literally thought that heaven had to be above the Stars. Nowadays we have rockets and we went into outerspace, guess who wasn't there...
Misleading headline. I think it's much more a condemnation of America's enemies (we tried to reach out, they snubbed us) than a blanket condemnation of Obama's foreign policy. At worst he's saying Obama seems to be winging it, and he can't find a spokesman to consult on what his overall plan is, vis-a-vis Iran and similar countries.
@ThingsTerrestrial Maybe you could request his opinion?
I'm not bold enough to make an assumption about Hitchens' choice posthumous...
not so sure he would have much respect for someone who thought they could.
Then again who am I to say.
That's the first time I saw Hitchens with his head shaved. Quite a shock!... oh, yeah and Iran should... etc.
@0mla1 Let me ask you one question: I have heard that the Quran is a PERFECT scripture, then why is it necessary to add the interpretations of the prophet?
@takotheoktopus Saudi Arabia gets nearly as much military aid as Israel.
Ted Bundy saved a drowning girl and brutally murdered 100 young women. Should we not judge him for his one act of heroism and for the many lives he saved as a counselor on the suicide-prevention line?
Apparently not in the next month, LOL!
If you can' t find the crooks ... you can't catch them. ;)
Love Hitch.
@YourUTubeMonitor: You dont have faith that the sun will rise, you can reason it will rise. You can reason that the tides will ebb & flolw, that amalgam filings will last another year, that the mortar that binds the bricks of your house will maintain their integrity. If it was a matter of faith, any of those things would be just as equal to not happen. Would you live in a house that had a 50% chance of crumbling? I wouldnt. I only use reason, not faith.
Iran is not in the world community today because they are not with the United States. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic monarchy, with absolutely crazy laws on the treatment of women, yet they are a part of the world community. As a matter of fact, they are one of the biggest customers for US military hardware, saturated with everything fom assault rifles to F-15E Strike Eagles. It has nothing to do with Islam. It has to do with the attitude towards America.
Atheism is synonymous with barbarism, with jungle law, with anarchy. The inquisitors who subjected their brethren to the rack and the iron maiden were emulating the game a house cat plays with a rodent: slow torture till death.
Oh in a perfect world the nationalizing of Iran's oil would have been great. It's a nice idea but the reality is that it certainly wasn't good for his people.
He most likely would have supported Romney, because Hitchens was a fan of human rights and prosperity. And under Obama, prosperity has been short-lived and hard to come by. Romney, despite his less-than-ideal religious beliefs, makes a stronger case for the proliferation of prosperity than Obama has or will. And Obama's apathetic policies towards corrupt middle-eastern regimes is a sad track record to stand by, especially in the eyes of Hitchens.
If Hitchens was confused by your policy it probably wasn't good.
@twooffour You felt the need to reply to my comment that IRAN HAS NOT ATTACKED A SINGLE COUNTRY IN MORE THAN 300 YEARS with 'Iran attacks its own people' as if they are alone in such murderous action.
and the Cuban missile crisis was a frustrated soviet jihad.
@MikeEmery9 I've never heard it used. He usually says "quasi-intellectual". Which is acceptable, since it's Hitch.
How ironic.
Oh dear...
The body language of the guy on the left says he's bored.
@Nyquirk *cont. If you don't get the question imagine, you live in iraq or pakistan... even if you could find 10,000 supporters of whatever anti american movement, now launch a sucessful attack on the US from across the Atalntic, with no hardware.
@0mla1 I didn't say Islam is a racist religion, I said Muhammed was a racist and I gave you the hadith's to look up yourself. So look them up yourself instead of calling me a liar.
He sounds like a neo-con for sure.
did you see any of the footage of Iranians denouncing Russia, denouncing Hezbollah during the 2009 elections? Do you think an everyday Iranian actually supports Russia and the Arabs?
And before you try and go for the obvious retort I have seen you use before... I am an Iranian
@whackthedog To answer some of your silly questions. If you study the Prophet's life you will notice that very shortly after he became the prophet, he released his slave and encouraged others to do so.
Islam is not a racist religion, very well known fact. Millions of Africans, Arabs, Europeans, etc. stand shoulder to shoulder when they go for pilgrimage every year and there is compassion for each other.
@TheFabdulla Thank you for your nice comment. I really appreciate it. I have obviously felt that your attacking me a bit so i do apologise for being rude at times and can honestly say that you seem like an honest peace loving person too. You might be right that you don't need religion to be a good person as your an example of this. But i see Islam as the truth and in my mind it wouldn't make sense to ignore it, that's all. If i could i would like to share this too, but that's difficult to do.
Iraq in the 80's had medical staff that had equal expertise and fame as in the West, just an example. And before you use your persian nationalism here, I need to wake you up, I myself come from a dictatorship supported by the West; difference NONE!!! A person who ordered the slaughtering of 1000's upon 1000's! Every country has the oppurtunity to develop properly if the government is willing to stimulate its people, something we apparently have in common...