"In an era of transparency, countries that close themselves off from the flow of information should lose the benefit of the doubt about their intentions," writes Gordon Crovitz today in the Wall Street Journal. He draws an important connection between the way the international press covered the rise of Nazi Germany and the way it covers the Islamic Republic of Iran today. There were many foreign journalists stationed in Berlin in the 1930's; most of them failed to recognize the rising danger. Today, there is a significantly smaller foreign press corps presence in Tehran, moreover, "unlike in Berlin, the State Department hasn't had ears on the ground in Tehran since 1981, when the U.S. Embassy hostages were freed."  What makes us think that we are any better at divining the intentions of Iran's leadership today? 

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