The text below is a translation of the French article below (Journal de Montréal, January 9, 2020):
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/01/09/toujours-la-faute-de-loccident
“Yes, Donald Trump is untimely and unpredictable.
Yes, he probably only did what he wanted to do, without consulting anyone, on the pretext that one does not need to consult anyone when one is a genius.
Yes, in geopolitics, you have to think about the long term, predict the next 10 moves of your opponent and calculate the consequences of each of your decisions, like when playing chess.
Yes, we have every reason to criticize the United States.
But why don’t we be as harsh on Iran?
Reading what is written these days, one has the impression that the American government is more dangerous than the Iranian regime!
ALL IRANIANS ARE CRYING?
“Yes, but we must not excite the Iranian regime,” we repeat.
Do you think he needs Trump to get excited, the Iranian regime? To shed blood?
It’s always the same thing: when the West reacts to the provocations of its enemies, damn! we blame the West.
“We must act with caution, restraint, and above all not pour oil on the fire …”
And the ayatollahs? Do they act with prudence and restraint?
As far as I know, if you don’t want to add fuel to the fire, there is a fire in the first place, no?
Can we ALSO blame those who turned it on?
Concerning the demonstrations of anger of the “Iranian people” against the United States and their president …
Could it be that many Iranians support Trump?
Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad wrote in the Washington Post on Monday that she is overwhelmed with messages from Iranian citizens who welcomed the death of the “general” (“terrorist” or “war criminal” would be a more appropriate term) Qassem Soleimani.
“I have more than four million subscribers on social media, and I have received thousands of messages from Iranians who are happy that Soleimani is dead.
“Do not believe the propaganda of the Iranian regime. The government ordered merchants to close the doors of their shops and forced students to go and demonstrate. In addition, in elementary schools, they force young people to write messages of condolence …
SELECTIVE INDIGNATION
Of course, you have to criticize Trump.
But it takes two people to dance the tango.
It all reminds me of Charlie Hebdo.
What did writers John le Carré and Michael Ondaatje say after the January 7, 2015 massacre?
That Charlie Hebdo journalists “had brought it upon themselves” by “adding fuel to the fire.”
What did those who currently criticize Donald Trump say when Qassem Soleimani and his Revolutionary Guard massacred their enemies?
Nothing.
As they don’t say a word when the ayatollahs hang homosexuals and imprison feminist activists.
The self-righteous have selective indignation.
It is present when the time comes to criticize the West.
It is absent when the time comes to criticize Islamist regimes.
Same old song…”
