Do You Want This Man To Have The Bomb?
Because, from all indications, he’s getting pretty close:
President Mahmoud Amadinejad of Iran provoked fresh anger yesterday when he denied that the Holocaust took place and mockingly called for a Jewish state to be set up in Europe.
His comments came weeks after he declared that Israel should be “wiped off the map”, drawing widespread international condemnation.
But the Iranian president seemed undeterred when he returned to the subject of Israel and Jews in comments yesterday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Amadinejad argued that Israelis had “no roots” in the Middle East.
He said: “Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces and they insist on it to the extent that if anyone proves something contrary to that they condemn that person and throw them in jail.
“Although we don’t accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, our question for the Europeans is: is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?
“If the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe -like in Germany, Austria or other countries – to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe.
“You offer part of Europe and we will support it.”
The comments were rightly condemned by most of the world:
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, quoted by AFP agency, described the remarks as “an outrageous gaffe, which I want to repudiate in the sharpest manner”.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Iranian leader’s comments “further underscore our concerns about the regime”.
“And it’s all the more reason why it’s so important that the regime not have the ability to develop nuclear weapons,” he said.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: “I condemn [the comments] unreservedly. They have no place in civilised political debate.”
Mr Ahmadinejad’s stance was also condemned by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who were meeting in Berlin.
Unsurprisingly, Reuters can’t quite come out and say that the Holocaust is a proven fact (contrast their cautious stance here with their claim of scientific evidence backing global warming as the cause of the recent hurricanes and tsunami, a far more dubious proposition):
Historians say six million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust. Regarding this widely-accepted view…
It’s time to take off the kid gloves:
German Jewish leaders called for political sanctions against the Islamic republic over Ahmadinejad’s remarks. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany.
“Once again Ahmadinejad has shown that he not only a Holocaust-denier but a rabble-rouser,” Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement.
“Political instruments ranging from political and economic sanctions to expulsion from the United Nations must finally be seriously looked at and used,” he said.
Michel Friedman, chairman of the German chapter of the international Jewish organisation Keren Hayesod, said Germany should begin by severing diplomatic ties with Tehran.
“A few weeks ago he said Israel should be destroyed. Now he denies and relativises the Holocaust. This can no longer be tolerated diplomatically. I call on the government … to sever diplomatic ties with Iran,” Friedman told N24 news television.
Germany is the biggest exporter to Iran.
Indeed, if the UN continues to accept a member nation that calls for another member nation to be wiped off the map, of what use is it to anyone?
No need to get antsy…
Delivery systems being what they are…
They don’t have much going for them. IF they use it, they die.
If the European’s actually do start strong sanctions, it will destabilize their middle class, and Iraq WILL fall from within. I have seen where they have acquired a ton of delivery tech from Russia-but Russian tech isn’t close to what it once was…
A theoretical Iranian defense plan?
Given that they are in their position-no true allies, limited delivery tech, unable to mass produce nukes- the only viable plan they have going is to assemble 4-10 nukes, they don’t have to be large, and get them inside various world cities.
They could chose to detonate one, or better still, tell the country that has one placed, where to find it…demonstrating their capabilities and explaining that there are more scattered around the world.(The best way for them to proceed-only tell the authorities of the various countries-if word got out that there were metropolitan cities with a nuke planted inside them, the exodus from urban areas and world financial crash would decimate life as we know it without a single bomb exploding…
They would want to use their best tunnelers-people who have been working on the Israeli border with lots a digging experience. They smuggle the devices by pieces into the country, rent/buy an apartment, dig a hole 20 feet down, and assemble the device as/when needed.
One of the factors in the actual size of the device is keeping it safe, and having a detonation system that won’t blow up until the person gets away. Not so with a ’suicide-nuke’…also the size is irrelevant compared to the terror it would cause-you don’t need size, just an actual explosion.
The Iranians are faced with mutually assured destruction, but as they climb closer to the edge… they have limited options.
For all his rhetoric that is to scare the world, Ahmadinejad’s words are scaring his own people. He doesn’t have the police state that NK has…
and if Iraq goes well, the Iranians are going to be wanting more as well.
We have time, but not more than two years. IN the past I would have been more optimistic about the CIA, but given the ‘critical’ loss of Valerie Plame, super-spy, I don’t know what we could do.
Good thing Joe Wilson and the dems are sure that yellowcake was never smuggled out of Niger…those silly Brits.
Anyone seen any hints of what we plan to do (unilaterally or otherwise) about this possibility??
Other than trying to get the Europeans and Russia all on board for sanctions…no…perhaps there will be more impetus now…
mark, stop taking the naive pills.
the blueprints are in cyrillic.
the scientists are russian.
russia is supplying the uranium.
the contracts to build the reactors and/at nine(9) different facilities, that we know of, were with mother russia.
russia helping with sanctions?????
you can’t be serious.
i agree mostly with “mtl”…….
except if the CIA was not so busy discrediting our own president they would realize that iran is the enemy here.
the UN is a non-item.
i would contact the massoud(sp) or MI5(?),
and do what was done to arafat, to the mullahs.
no elected official in the US has the balls to do what needs to be done.
and with russia and china firmly behind iran, who have no reason to hesitate once they give the device to hezbollah(sp), and they will, we have a very short fuse here. does anyone view china as friendly to the US?
does anyone view russia as friendly to the US?
blowing NYC away will only give putin more air time to state once again that “we stand with you and are here to help you.”
the one thing about “mtl” comments on delivery systems and sneaking a bomb into a country reminds me of the story cirulating in the ’60s about russia develping a suitcase nuke. the then effective CIA, sent a spy into russia to try and effect whether or not the claim was valid. after an extended absense the spy emerged from behind the iron curtain to proclaim that “yes” the russians had developed a nuke that would fit inside a suitcase. it was to be deployed as soon as they worked out the “bugs” in the suitcase.
Watch the Israelis take it out before it becomes fully operational. Yes, everyone claims that most of their facilities are underground and cannot be reached by warplanes, but a good guess would be that they’ll use a bunker – buster bomb or something akin with that capability.
International incident? We’ll just yawn privately, while everyone else gets hysterical over the evil Joooos…
dmac-
I hope you’re wrong.
Granted, they’ve got every right to do it — definitely an IMMINENT threat, but I’d rather see a more permanent solution, preferably involving truly free elections in Iran next year.
I don’t know, dmac. While I don’t doubt that the Israelis have the backbone to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, I don’t think their air force can operate at that range.
Unless, of course, we give them a little help, say with mid-air refueling.
one more thought.
i’ll bet the person watching this the most/closest is hugo chavez.
one hint of hesitation/weakness on the US side and he will need his source of peaceful energy generation.
think the rooskies will turn him down on a contract?
louielouie, you’re correct that Putin’s Russia is no friend to freedom…but our options appear pretty limited, at the moment…
The breaking point for Russia is 2008.
Putin is in his final term, but could likely and successfully rewrite the constitution with his supporters and establish an unlimited term for himself.
I am sympathetic to Putin in that once you are no longer leader of Russia, history would tell you to get out quickly, but if he circumvents and does break thew idea of term limits, it would be a grave step back. US policy is geared towards making sure he will not become the next czar, destroying their ‘representative’ government.
This just in – Rep. Eric Cantor (R, Va.) just wrote a letter to Rice, outlining the reasons why Israel has the right to take out the facilities. Looks like the beginning of an official endorsement process here.
dmac, I’m about to do a followup post…