Iranians expanding the Photoshop Gap
posted at 9:26 am on April 22, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Haaretz has discovered why the Iranians spend a miniscule amount of money on national defense, as Barack Obama once claimed during the presidential campaign. Instead of building actual systems, they just copy photos of other nations’ weapons and claim them as their own. Tehran’s official news agency announced the release of a new drone, but it bears a very, very, very close resemblance to someone else’s — and you’ll never guess who:
Iranian state-run news agency Press TV ran a story on its website this week praising the unveiling of an Iranian-made drone, that according to the Israeli daily Maariv bears a striking resemblance to an earlier photo taken in Israel of an Israeli-made drone.
In an article run this week on the Maariv website, the photo used by Press TV of the Iranian drone is shown above a remarkably similar photo from Israel Aerospace Industries of the Heron 1 Israeli drone. The two photos appear to be exactly the same, with the angle of the shot and the clouds in the background identical in appearance.
What a breakthrough! Iran hails Israeli military technology! Peace is closer at hand than ever!
Haaretz reminds its readers that Iran has had some adventures with official photographs before. A photo from a rocket test last November was doctored to show more rockets firing simultaneously and to cover up a misfire. Agence France-Presse got suckered by that one, and had to issue an apology and a retraction. This time around, Iran had to withdraw the photo after it became clear that Press TV had published the picture of the Heron.
Supposedly, the Iranians will launch their own drone this week. Maybe they plan to use a big picture of the Heron and turn it into a paper airplane. Omri Ceren notes, though, that not everything Iran does is a fake, and that drones won’t be the big threat, real or not.
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somewhere an incompetant little man is consulting with an even smaller little leotard wearing man about how they can learn from iran’s vastly superior propoganda efforts
gatorboy on April 22, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Next week Iran intends to reveal proof of their breakthrough technology in a revolutionary new dancing hamster army.
DrAllecon on April 22, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Add a swastika and the Iranian copy will be complete.
forest on April 22, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Darn, meant to include this as proof
DrAllecon on April 22, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Darn, now that I’ve completely killed the joke with my own incompetence, http://www.webhamster.com/
DrAllecon on April 22, 2009 at 9:35 AM
Funny. Stupid is as stupid does.
The next time Iran will see this UAV is when it’s taking-out their nuke facilities
JoeAvg on April 22, 2009 at 9:37 AM
You beat me to it.
Said one Iranian to his fellow Iranian,
“Hey look up there, isn’t that one of our newly developed drones?”
fogw on April 22, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Now that’s just sad.
Mommypundit on April 22, 2009 at 9:40 AM
That is nothing. You should see their new aircraft carrier that resembles the island of Okinawa.
Limerick on April 22, 2009 at 9:41 AM
When the mushroom cloud appears over Qum I wonder if they will try to photoshop that to appear over NYC?
Kuffar on April 22, 2009 at 9:42 AM
And BHO has an army of lemmings also known as ACORN.
jgapinoy on April 22, 2009 at 9:43 AM
They’ve also got a picture of one of Iran’s 3,000 centrifuges
gatorboy on April 22, 2009 at 9:43 AM
My hunch – obviously not something you want to base policy is – is that they’re exagerrating their nuclear program too especialy how far they’ve advanced with enrichment processing, cascading centrifuges, et cetera.
I think we have more time than is reported.
But more time doesn’t mean a long time.
SteveMG on April 22, 2009 at 9:44 AM
And, apparently, Israeli clouds too.
JetBoy on April 22, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Delusional people who may soon have a nuke.
We must, with extreme haste, begin negotiations with them, with absolutely no preconditions necessary. Time is of the essence, before they manage to photoshop an ICBM with a warhead. What could possibly go wrong with that?
“The adults are in charge, so send in the clowns, cons.”
(getalife won’t be up till 10 AM so I thought a preemptive post was called for… ;-) )
Note: We need a photoshoped depiction of getalife.
Yoop on April 22, 2009 at 9:49 AM
LOL. Good one.
…… but you can’t fool us, we all know that’s an Iranian Miracle Home Warmer 5000.
fogw on April 22, 2009 at 9:54 AM
Like Saddam bluffed to keep Iran from attacking, Iran will do the same for Israel.
getalife on April 22, 2009 at 9:57 AM
This isn’t so far from what our own Dear Leaders is doing. He has a group of behavioral scientists that help him craft what he does so he can hoodwink the ignorant American people.
Like, people have trouble putting large numbers in context, so let’s just say that $8 Billion is a little number and $100 Million is a big number.
kirkill on April 22, 2009 at 9:58 AM
It is sad. They could have at least spent a little time (like about 20 seconds) doctoring the photo to change the background or something.
At least the world can now see how weak and incompetent the Iranians are. Kind of like what Obama is doing to the US.
*sigh*
UltimateBob on April 22, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Appearently the Associated Press and Reuters instruction manual of military manipulations has filtered into the Mullacy. Jamil Hussein could not be reached for comment.
Rovin on April 22, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Maybe they meant to say Iranian clone.
heh
jdflorida on April 22, 2009 at 10:05 AM
See, y’all! The Iran/Iraq war neva happened. Our middle east expert says so.
Perhaps when Iran actually sees one of these things up close, they’ll see how it’s used…. (if you get my drift)
mjk on April 22, 2009 at 10:06 AM
somewhere an incompetant little man is consulting with an even smaller little leotard wearing man about how they can learn from iran’s vastly superior propoganda efforts
gatorboy on April 22, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Chris Matthews and B. Hussein Osama?
Jerricho68 on April 22, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Their need to lie about their capabilities is a sign they are weak and afraid.
When I was young, I met many bright Iranians studying hard in advanced degree programs. Then, the Islamic Revolution took place. And now, Iran can’t even competently Photoshop their fake weapons programs.
Loxodonta on April 22, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Jeez, they aren’t even very good at photoshopping, how the hell can they expect to do something complicated like building a nuke?
t.ferg on April 22, 2009 at 10:08 AM
What is at the heart of all this is the muslims envy and hatred of the superior Jewish culture. islame has a fake god, a fake prophet, and now fake drones. The kabbah is a pagan shrine at the Jewish built and founded city of Mecca. Ackmadenijob has a rather advanced case of penis envy.
Jerricho68 on April 22, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Jeez, they aren’t even very good at photoshopping, how the hell can they expect to do something complicated like building a nuke?
t.ferg on April 22, 2009 at 10:08 AM
May I offer a competing opinion? Perhaps there is something deeper here, a deliberate attempt to make themselves seem inept so the west say exactly that, the Iranians can’t possibly make a nuke if they can’t even do a decent photoshop.
I like the idea of believing the Iranians are capable of pretty much anything and acting accordingly.
Bishop on April 22, 2009 at 10:16 AM
scalleywag on April 22, 2009 at 10:27 AM
oops, misplaced my quote. Anyway, it reminds me of the cat who likes to bat at the mouse and chase it around a while before it goes for the kill.
scalleywag on April 22, 2009 at 10:29 AM
It’s the copy and paste defense.
mchristian on April 22, 2009 at 10:29 AM
They’re not the same – the Iranian one is obviously bigger (and more powerful) since the tail got clipped off in the photo. As for the clouds looking the same, clouds drift. The cloud in the background probably just drifted east.
DarkCurrent on April 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Lest you forget, Iran is a teeny little country and is no threat to the great big United States. Let’s invite them over for a slumber party and a therapeutic apology session.
ExcessivelyDiverted on April 22, 2009 at 10:34 AM
This is the result of the laziness that comes from a completely government run media. There’s no need for them to do a good job of lying to their own people, because there’s no alternative information sources in Iran.
That’s what the Fairness Doctrine is all about; the MSM in this country is tired of trying to do a good job of lying about this government; they want to go back to the good ol’ days of total control over information.
Dan Rather would still have a job if this were Iran.
cruadin on April 22, 2009 at 10:35 AM
The photos aren’t up anymore on the link.
scalleywag on April 22, 2009 at 10:36 AM
The Iranians need to go get themselves a real drone of their own
DarkCurrent on April 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM
I wish I could laugh at that, but…I’m a high school teacher. I hear stuff like that every day. It’s a wonder I have any hair left.
Bob's Kid on April 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Dan Rather approves of these pictures.
seven on April 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Seriously Yoop, you must explain to all of us how one can photoshop a mental disorder.
And this is your audacity of hope. What exactly is Obama planning to do—set up a teleprompter and talk them into submission?
Rovin on April 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Irainian spokeman Tommy Flanagan explained:
“We made it look like the inferior Israeli drone on purpose…to uh…fool the IDF into not shooting it. Yeah, yeah. And the reason the sky looks the same is because the picture was taken while we flew it over Israeli airspace! Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
DamnCat on April 22, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Iranians are good, they even copied the clouds…
right2bright on April 22, 2009 at 10:47 AM
With the lyrics in Farsi?
unclesmrgol on April 22, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Only to those two or three people who never saw the thing in its heyday.
unclesmrgol on April 22, 2009 at 11:14 AM
looks like they figured out the ’sharpen’ filter at least.
negentropy on April 22, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Blame it on the Jews!
Johan Klaus on April 22, 2009 at 11:32 AM
http://www.iue.it/Personal/Researchers/malamud/Alfred%20E.%20Neuman%20milk.jpg
Yoop on April 22, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Me too. Just like the kid who robs a store with a fake gun & gets shot.
If you wanna play with the big boys, then you are also setting yourself up for the ultimate consequences.
So if Iran really doesn’t have anything & they get nuked, too bad.
I do get amusement out of these Muslims not knowing a damned thing about the real world, however.
Badger40 on April 22, 2009 at 11:35 AM
I’m sure Alfred would take offense at this comparison.
Even he has standards.
Badger40 on April 22, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Are you implying that the Iranian nuke program is toast?
Better them than Tel Aviv…
Maybe the Iranians took a photo of one centrifuge, set it up in a room with mirrors on both ends to make it look like many centrifuges in a long room, then sent it to the CIA.
But only Hans Blix knows for sure. Better send him to Iran to count centrifuges, now that the “bostid” Bush is out of office. /sarc
Steve Z on April 22, 2009 at 11:45 AM
I think I can say with some certainty that I’m better at Photoshop than the Iranian government. Which makes me giggle.
“Iranian Photoshop Job” may well become my new term for crappy graphics.
TheUnrepentantGeek on April 22, 2009 at 11:47 AM
All Israel has to do is quickly put Iranian ID on all their drones, aircraft and missiles. Then flood the internet with photos of all the new Iranian hardware.
The Iranian defense forces won’t know whether to fire on any of the above, because they will not really be sure if they have any of them, or not.
Might fool Obama, too. “The Iranian government, in a show of peaceful intent and a move toward mideastern coexistence, bombed their own nuclear installations today.”
Yoop on April 22, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Love it!
Christian Conservative on April 22, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Iran just released a photo of it’s latest short-range fighter.
Crusty on April 22, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Those two pictures are clearly not the same! C’mon!! The one on the right has been cropped and the “sharpen” filter was overused.
Stop these LIES against the peaceful Iranians!
mankai on April 22, 2009 at 12:26 PM
North Korea announced it just launched “Project Death Star” to coincide with the Iranian advancement.
mankai on April 22, 2009 at 12:28 PM
The Shahab program is real. The nuclear fuel program is real. The ’space’ program is real. 1 + 1 + 1 = nuclear missile. This might be brilliant Iranian disinformation in that they do this over and over again with different systems. Make themselves look desperate and like the gang which couldn’t shoot straight, no threat at all really. Seems to be working here.
It’s not like anyone who knows def tech thinks Iran doesn’t have drones. They apparently do, though the military will neither confirm nor deny… yadda. .
Beagle on April 22, 2009 at 12:43 PM
And by “apparently” I mean Iran definitely has drones. If your client Islamic jihad organization (Hizballah – a wholly-owned creation of the Iranian Pasdaran) has drones, you have drones.
Beagle on April 22, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Uncovered footage of Iranian nuke test.
- The Cat
MirCat on April 22, 2009 at 1:26 PM
If I were Mossad, I would slap an Iranian flag on that drone and point it towards Tehran.
IRANIAN DRONE DESTROYS TEHRAN
film at 11
gordo on April 22, 2009 at 1:43 PM
I loved the comment on the main article page that contends it was the Jews who stole the Iranian drone picture as their own.
I’ll have to also remember that all beaten wives are probably masochists who asked for it in writing.
emerson7 on April 22, 2009 at 2:07 PM
My suggestion for a getalife image.
Maquis on April 22, 2009 at 2:12 PM
And that’s EXACTLY what’s gonna happen if cowboy Reagan keeps up his harsh rhetoric against our friends in the Soviet Union!
Vote Mondale ‘84… or we’re doomed!
mankai on April 22, 2009 at 2:13 PM
You must really suck at poker.
jdkchem on April 22, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Priceless!!!!
jdkchem on April 22, 2009 at 5:27 PM
These are not the drones you seek. *waves hand*
Onus on April 22, 2009 at 7:26 PM
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