Juan Cole on reports that Iran is requiring religious minorites, including Christians and Jews, to wear color-coded identifying badges: "The whole thing is a steaming crock."

The "news" is getting plenty of pushback. Bloomberg quotes Maurice Motammed, a Jewish member of Iran's parliament: "'Such a bill was never introduced in the parliament.'"

Cole on the methodology in use: "[P]sychological operations campaigns that they begin with a plant in an obscure newspaper that is then picked up by the mainstream press. Once the Jerusalem Post picks it up, then reporters can source it there, even though the Post has done no original reporting and has just depended on the National Post article, which is extremely vague in its own sourcing."

Comments

[Roch101]

Check this out, from ThreatsWatch:

"Whether or not it is true - it is believable and that alone is troubling."

Translation: "Because I'm gullible, this is troubling."

Hmmm, okay.

[Bubba]

"Translation: 'Because I'm gullible, this is troubling.'"

Gullible in what way?

[Ed Cone]

Maybe "credulous" would be a better word, i.e, willing to take at face value a thinly-sourced report from an unlikely news-breaker when said report feeds into one's existing political worldview.

[Bubba]

On the other hand, this sounds more credible to me. The details are more fleshed out than the previous piece.

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/68837.htm

http://www.nypost.com/commentary/68850.htm

Given the recent past history, I am not surprised. And I am not quite sure there are too many "world views" that would argue otherwise.

[Bubba]

More from Forbes.....

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/05/20/ap2760881.html

[Ed Cone]

Right...the original report, credulously repeated as fact in some quarters, appears to be false, and corrected versions are appearing, although the NY Post seems to be having some trouble letting go of the original storyline even in articles that pretty much admit it's not true.