I have to say that I was extremely disappointed with Koppel's reporting on Iran. While I found it mildly illuminating, Koppel's erstwhile solid journalism here reflected only a marginal understanding of a very complex country and its socio-religious realities. I found the report to be superficial and decidedly guarded in its attempts to present any kind of illuminating perspective on current US-Iranian non-political perceptions. My fear is that this report will only serve to fuel stereotypes of ordinary Iranian citizens as extremists to those who have absolutely no background knowledge of Iran or its history. To me, Koppel's report almost seemed to advocate aggression towards a country that, if allowed to evolve on its own terms, would pose little or no threat the the security of the United States. True, certain factions within the country could be considered dangerous, but the same could be argued about elements within our own country, which is an issue we as a nation should address before exporting our brand of "democracy" to another culture in the region. As we have seen over the past 3 1/2 years, our ideological exportation has proven disasterous. It frightens me to think that so many naive Americans truly and honestly believe that their worldview is the single alternative facing the Earth today. It is an ideology which looms ominously and can only bring the extinction of the human race that much closer.

Thanks for a thought-provoking post. I encourage you to post some more of your ideas and observations about Iran in some of the other discussion threads devoted to the subject. (You might find some interesting reading there as well.)