The Folly of Attacking Iran National Tour with Stephen Kinzer, 2008 All the Shah's Men book tour

The Folly of Attacking Iran National Tour- 2008

22 City U.S. Tour: February 7-March 6, 2008

For the new edition of his 2003 bestseller All the Shah's Men, chronicling the coup which overthrew Dr. Mossadegh, author Stephen Kinzer has added a timely new introduction, "The Folly of Attacking Iran". Rather than just embark on a typical book tour to promote it, however, Kinzer sought a platform through which he could "barnstorm across the country with a Paul Revere-style, wake-up-America message." Kinzer envisioned a nationwide speaking tour/rally/call to action to prevent war with Iran, with the 1953 coup as the historical object lesson of previous follies.

An array of organizations and groups (The Mossadegh Project among them), have been working on the tour planning since October 2007. In the meantime, the freshly released NIE report caused many to relax about the possibility of a US attack on Iran.

Yet since then, accusations against Iran have continued unabated, President Bush has persisted in his harsh, confrontational rhetoric (including in his final State of the Union address), and there was a tense naval standoff in the Strait of Hormuz which nearly resulted in disaster. With thousands of American soldiers occupying Iraq next door, Israel's constant sabre-rattling, and the menacing presence of heavily armed U.S. battleships and aircraft carriers circling the Persian Gulf, there is always a chance that violence—intentionally or not—could erupt at any moment. Even if war has become less likely, the peace movement should fully capitalize on this newfound leverage from the NIE to make certain the chance of conflict is zero.

The Folly of Attacking Iran Tour will hit 22 U.S. cities from February 7-March 6, 2008, beginning in Los Angeles, CA and culminating in a climactic Washington DC event. In addition to NY Times reporter Stephen Kinzer, who will be at every tour stop, there will also be many other distinguished speakers. Participants will also be guided in ways to take personal action to promote U.S. dialogue with Iran and prevent another disaster, which, as the CIA's Paul Pillar has recently warned, would poison US-Iran relations for at least another half century, just as the ghosts of the 1953 coup atrocity haunt us today.

For more information, visit www.follyofattackingiran.org

The Folly of Attacking Iran Tour Schedule:

Join Stephen Kinzer, longtime New York Times correspondent and author of the book All the Shah's Men, as he travels across the nation to make the case against a U.S. attack on Iran and for real diplomacy. The tour coincides with a new publication of his book with a new foreword on "The Folly of Attacking Iran."

The tour starts February 7, 2008, in Los Angeles and end in Washington, DC on March 6th. The schedule includes:

February 7: Los Angeles, CA
-12:30 pm at Occidental College Office of Global Affairs
-5:00 pm at UCLA in Dodd Hall 121

February 9: Portland, OR
-2:00 pm Town Hall Meeting with Congressman Earl Blumenauer at Portland State University in Hoffman Hall

February 10: Sacramento, CA
-1:00 pm at the SEIU-UHW Hall

February 11: San Francisco, CA
-7:00 pm at Grace Cathedral in the Nave

February 12: Seattle, WA
-8:00 pm at Seattle University in Campion Ballroom

February 13: Albuquerque, NM
-7:30 pm at University of New Mexico Conference Center

February 15: Columbia, MO
-7:00 pm at the University of Missouri in Middlebush Auditorium

February 16: Peoria, IL
-4:00 pm Town Hall meeting at the Gateway Building

February 17: Champaign, IL
-3:00 pm at Latzer Hall, University YMCA

February 18: Omaha, NE
-7:00 pm, details to be confirmed

February 19: Chicago, IL
-6:30 pm at Northwestern University Chicago Campus in Thorne Auditorium

February 20: Columbus, OH
-7:00 pm at the Columbus Metropolitan Library Downtown Main Auditorium

February 22: Atlanta, GA
-7:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation

February 25: Miami, FL
-6:00 pm at Books & Books

February 26: Tampa, FL
-6:30 pm at the University of South Florida College of Public Health

February 27: Philadelphia, PA
-2:00 pm at Haverford College Center for Peace and Global Citizenship
-6:00 pm at University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center

February 28: New York, NY
-Details to be confirmed

February 29: Long Island, NY
-1:55 at the Center for Civic Engagement at Hofstra University
-7:30 pm at the Great Neck Library

March 4: Concord, NH
-7:00 pm at Concord High School

March 5: Baltimore, MD
-7:00 pm Johns Hopkins University in Shriver Hall

March 6: Washington, DC
-6:30 pm at the University of California, Washington Center

For more information about the tour, including exact locations, event details and additional speakers, please see www.follyofattackingiran.org or email tour@justforeignpolicy.org