Ah, interpretation.  There's the rub.

"The Book" and in fact all faiths have devotees, no two of them alike, but indeed, all related.  So zealots face off, not seeing the logs in their own eyes.

And I thought tolerance was a Virtue.

P.S.   On the cross-pollenization tip, I'm thinking really hard about where I either read or heard a long discussion on Khomeini and Plato earlier in the year, but I'm having trouble remembering... was it NPR?  Some segment on C-Span Radio?  The Atlantic?  NYRB?  Anyone?

I never thought of him, Khomeini, as much of a "person of the book," dunno why. A hard, calculating philosopher and politician; none of that "shining faith" in a one true religion--I didn't see it. Saw him as seeing evil in the Shah's way, that's all. No interest in humanity, only ideas. Not too spiritual, either. Sure knew how to rile young utopianists and inspire righteous anger. (I've been using the "d" word too often, so I'll pass this time--plus, as a matter of fact, I'm not so sure he knew how to do that that well...the time was just ripe for him.)

P.S. re: I find inter-cultural cross-pollenizations such as this absolutely fascinating. Moi aussi. Is what drew me to art and cultural history. Nothing better

"Michael Fischer notes that Khomeini was never able to cite textual bases for the concept of velyat-e faqih, largely because it was derived essentially from The Republic rather than from the Quran."

Farabi, Miskawayh, Tusi, and Ghazali, among others, might dispute this claim.

However, on the other hand, perhaps that is what Fischer intends to communicate by the graceful phrasing of "largely because it was derived essentially from."

"Largely because it was derived essentially from..."

The Persian puzzle, or the CIA's?

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

TEHRAN - The Persian Puzzle is the name of a new book by Kenneth M Pollack, author of The Gathering Storm: The Case for Invasion of Iraq , widely regarded as a main justification for Iraq's illegal invasion last year. Pollack, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst now at the Brookings Institution, seeks to explore the roots of problems between Iran and the United States over the past quarter-century. In so doing, however, Pollack unfortunately proves incapable of breaking free from a CIA school of thought that, in addition to denigrating Iran's national character, consistently predicts the imminent demise of the Islamic regime in Iran.

more http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FL03Ak01.html