I respect Reza Aslan as a scholar, I really do, but predictions are for amateurs. Anyone who is predicting what may come is simply talking for the sake of talking. There is absolutely no way to predict what’s in store and there’s no point in playing the “If this happens, then that” game because it’s an endless, well, game.
For instance, two days ago, Reza Aslan wrote: “The Green Movement’s leaders are calling supporters to the streets, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is rallying his side with nuclear brinksmanship—and the clashes expected Thursday for the Islamic Republic’s 31st anniversary could spell civil war.”
When the civil war he prophesized failed to materialize, he attempted damage control today by extending and renewing his prophecy: “If the mullahs and the merchants begin joining forces with the protesters, even as the Revolutionary Guard becomes more entrenched in the political sphere, a civil war may be inescapable.”
Reza Aslan doesn’t even have one of his degrees in political science or history or anything relating to middle eastern affairs. His “expertise” if one can call it that is in religous studies and thats shaky at best. Dabashi calls him an overnight Islamic scholar in his book Iran interrputed. Aslan just speaks on Iranianin politics because he happens to be Iranian and media outlets like CNN like the way he looks (being “presentable”). No joke. Most of what he says about Iran does not sound like someone grounded as an expert in Iranian history and politics like Abhramian or Dabashi Aslans farsi is also very very shaky.
http://www.goftamgoft.com/?Pn=view&id=710
Claims made by Reza Aslan and the other so called Iran experts over the past 8-9 months should be compiled in a book. It would sell almost as well as the books on Bushisms.