Some Say They're Full of Shit

"Some say" is a phrase that reporters, Fox News, and the current Republican administration have honed to an art form. It is used to present an argument that no one has actually made in order to place the seed of doubt in the minds of the media listener's, reader's, and watcher's. It paints a non-existent picture and presents it as fact. It is the height of dishonest journalism. I invite you to scruitinize the following article that pulls this exact stunt. I've linked it below, in the meantime here are some of the highlights starting with the title:

Some Say Iran's Weapons Come From Russia

Apr 4, 2:56 PM (ET)

By LEE KEATH

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Iran has unveiled with great fanfare a series of what it portrays as sophisticated, homegrown weapons - flying boats and missiles invisible to radar, torpedoes too fast to elude.

But experts said Tuesday it appears much of the technology came from Russia and questioned Iran's claims about the weapons' capabilities.

...[snip]...

The Hoot torpedo - the name means "whale" - closely resembles the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, the world's fastest known underwater missile, developed in 1995, said Ruslan Pukhov of Moscow's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

The Shkval attains high speeds by coating itself in a cocoon of air bubbles, reducing friction, and Pukhov said its technology was too sophisticated for the Iranians to produce themselves.

"Hypothetically, they could get access to the Shkval technology, but if so, I don't think they got it through Russian channels," he said.

Pukhov noted the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan once had a Soviet torpedo testing center on the remote mountain lake of Issyk-Kul. And he said that in the turmoil that followed the Soviet breakup, Kyrgyz authorities sold Shkvals to the Chinese, a major importer of Iranian oil.

Kanybek Tabaldiyev, a senior official with a Kyrgyz company that makes torpedo and other military hardware at Issyk-Kul, denied his company transferred sophisticated technology to Iran. He said it was possible weaponry had been acquired through other means. (all bold emphasis mine)

No where in that article is even one expert, let alone one person or even 'some' people, quoted as saying Iran aquired weapons from Russia. I challenge you to find it! As a matter of fact, an "expert", a Mr. Meir Javedanfar, and the only expert in the entire article to boot, is quoted as saying that he didn't think they were aquired through Russian channels. Dishonest journalism. That damn liberal media is setting up the prelude for the invasion of Iran. (wink)

Some Say Iran's Weapons Come From Russia