It bears mentioning that Amir Taheri is an affiliate of Benador Associates, the same firm that brings you the wit and wisdom of such neocon worthies as Meyrav Wurmser, Jim Woolsey, Michael Ledeen, Victor Davis Hanson, etc. They call themselves “a highly qualified cadre of inspiring, knowledgeable speakers,” I would devise a less charitable characterization.
At any rate, the curious thing about Benador is that, as the site says they are “the only public relations firm in the United States that doubles as international speakers’ bureau for the experts we represent.” I have no idea if they’re actually the only firm that does this, but it’s certainly on odd set-up in that normally we pundits are just assumed to be speaking our minds on the issues of the day. People who work at PR firms, by contrast, are doing paid advocacy for their clients, which is a different kind of thing. Did somebody hire Benador to push this story?
