This one is very important. From the very knowledgeabe and excellent Juan Cole *Informed Comment*.
| Those of you who care about what is left of the First Amendment in this country should read this article at Democracy Now on Ashcroft's threats to imprison and fine any of us editors who dare edit a paper for publication from a scholar in Iran (also Sudan, etc.). Someone remarked that the legal penalties for most rapists are probably lighter! It is ridiculous that editing a paper by an Iranian contributor in any way is an economic transaction or harms national security. This step, like most of Mr. Ashcroft's Draconian moves, disgusts me. Let the eagles fly, indeed. (He can't sing, either.)
I actually edit a journal, The International Journal of Middle East Studies, that receives scholarly submissions from Iran. Unfortunately, so far none of them has gotten past the referees and so none are scheduled for publication. Some editors are planning civil disobedience. This matters. Next we won't be able to write about Iran. And then gradually we won't be able to criticize the decisions of John Ashcroft. I had my newspaper articles censored occasionally when I was in Lebanon by the Baath under Hafez al-Asad. I've been censored by the best, and I am not afraid of some yahoo from Missouri. Whenever the Justice Department has been directly challenged on these sorts of illegal steps, it has rapidly backed down. Send protest email to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov. |
And again - I apologize for Missouri's offering of this excuse for a human being. (Although his singing is far and away preferable to his politicking.)
Remove Ashcroft from Office
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