Consensus: The Leveretts Are Wrong

In one of the most poorly researched and biased op-eds the New York Times has published in quite some time, Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett label the notion that the Green movement is significant force inside Iran as a "misguided idea." I won't waste time summarizing their arguments, but suffice it to say, the Leveretts have come under enormous criticism for their piece.

This is the same couple who questioned claims that the presidential election was rigged when they authored an op-ed with regime apologist Seyed Mohammad Marandi, the Tehran Professor who has embarrassed by Fareed Zakaria when asked if he worried he would be "seen in history as a mouthpiece for a dying, repressive regime in its death throes." As they wrote back in June, “The protests that broke out in Tehran following Iran’s presidential election on June 12 are, predictably, dwindling….To this day, there is no hard evidence of electoral fraud.” In their latest op-ed, the couple literally use state-propaganda figures to estimate the the size of both opposition and state-sponsored rallies.

Among those who have responded to their absurd claims:

• Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Policy Magazine: "The Leveretts seem to be cherry-picking their protest numbers -- which makes me seriously doubt the objectivity of the rest of their analysis."
• Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic: "It seems to me that when analysts have a proven track record of being wrong, their next statement - in line with their previous demonstrably false take - should be viewed skeptically."
• Scott Lucas, Enduring America, Professor at the University of Birmingham: "To bolster their argument that the Obama Administration has no choice but to engage with Ahmadinejad, the Leveretts throw out a confetti of unsupported assertions."
• Muhammad Sahimi, Tehran Bureau, Professor at the University of Southern California: "The hallmark of the Leveretts' articles and opinions is their buy-in to the propaganda of Iran's hardliners in order to promote their own agenda for dealing with Iran, which involves ignoring human rights issues and the brutality suffered by Iranians fighting for democracy under the current regime."
• Mahmood Delkhasteh, The Huffington Post: "[The Leveretts'] case is not only divorced from facts on the ground, but based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the present crisis." 

Abbas Miliani's piece in The New Republic, however, merits special praise for its meticulous break-down of the Leveretts' many logical fallacies. He concludes, quite accurately, "In the past, every time the United States has listened to the Leveretts of the day, it has reaped nothing but the wrath of the people and a loss of influence. The same would happen this time."

(h/t Iran Unfiltered).