Completely lame.

While I can appreciate Penn's desire to go to Iran and see for himself what it is like, I don't understand how this is portrayed as a 'journalistic' event. If the point was to get more information out to the American public about Iran, the Chronicle should have sent someone more informed about Iranian culture, history, language and politics. Elaine Sciolino is a good example of an informed journalist who has devoted much of her career to Iran and the Middle East.

There are so many inaccuracies in his reporting that it does little more than reinforce the misjudgements Americans already have of Iran. He refers to the agents accompanying him to his interviews as "Siths." This is offensive, and portraying them as somehow less than human, if not "evil" as the "Siths" in the recent Star Wars movies.

He talks about women covering their faces--women rarely do that in Iran. He talks about all the women on the plane being transformed by the all-encompassing chador before they disembark. Less than a third of Iranian women wear the chador. Most wear a scarf and simple coat, called a manteau. He sounds as if he is the one bothered by the required coverings because he is no longer able to gawk at a woman's midriff.

If he wants to educate the "American public"--aided by his celebrity status--then he should cut the sensationalist garbage that he uses to spice up his writing. If he is there to inform, he has a responsibility to get his facts straight.

I am an American woman that lived in Iran with my non-Iranian children for 6 months in 2002, while I conducted research on Afghan refugees living there. I will be contributing my experiences to an American audience when my material is ready (hopefully soon). I think Penn's approach is irresponsible. God help the Iranian people if they meet the same fate as the Iraqis after Penn's visit.

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