A dispatch from Washington in the international section of today's New York Times reports, "American businesses have virtually no dealings with Iraq, Iran or North Korea, by law."
On the page of the New York Times directly opposite that news article is a full-page, four-color advertisement from an American business called ABC Carpet and Home, which is a frequent advertiser in the Times. The ad lists for sale an "Iranian Kashmere" rug, "red/blue," at a price of $6,999. It lists for sale an "Iranian Kerman" rug, "dark blue," at a price of $9,999. And it lists for sale a "Persian Isfahan" rug, "beige/wine" and roughly 20 feet square, at $109,999.
In a March 17, 2000, speech, then-Secretary of State Albright announced that America was easing restrictions on imports of Iranian carpets, caviar and pistachios. According to a December 4, 2001, report by Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service, "Iranian carpets are being sold in the United States, estimated to be a $100 million per year market." The New York Times news department may consider $100 million a year in carpet imports to be "virtually no dealings." But $100 million can go pretty far when it is used to buy explosives for suicide bombers to use against Israel. Or when it is used to issue payments to the families of "martyrs" who kill themselves in terrorist attacks. Or when it is used to pay nuclear weapons experts from the former Soviet Union to help Iran build an atom bomb. So one might call the Times news article "virtually" inaccurate.
Note: The next update of Smartertimes.com will be Tuesday morning, February 26, 2002.