Will We Go To War Against Iran?
The answer appears to be we must:
The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was “heading toward annihilation,” just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a “permanent threat” to the Middle East that will “soon” be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.
“Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation,” Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a conference in support of the Palestinians. “The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm.”
Ahmadinejad provoked a world outcry in October when he said Israel should be “wiped off the map.”
On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: “If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?”
The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, “will be freed soon.”
He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: “Believe that Palestine will be freed soon.”
“The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat” to the Middle East, he added. “Its existence has harmed the dignity of Islamic nations.”
Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Ahmadinejad is talking about nuking Israel? If so, I suggest a course in reading comprehension.
Now, I’m fully aware that there are those who say ah, don’t worry about it, because (a) Ahmadinejad is a figurehead with no real power or (b) out of lack of concern over the fate of Israel. I find (b) totally unacceptable, and as for (a), I don’t hear any of the leading clerics condeming Ahmadinejad, and until I do, I assume he speaks with their blessing.
The choice appears to be narrowing, and words do matter, particularly words that threaten another nation with annihilation. Either someone shuts this guy up, and condemns his actions and words, or…well, let’s just say that a peaceful solution appears to be a fool’s dream at the moment…
Let us cool our jets for a minute and consider the back-story. Ahmedi-nejad may be president of Iran, but his real power is virtually nonexistent. The country is run by Khamenei and his pet clerics, who have been very silent on the subject of foreign policy. They are using Ahmedi-nejad as a chained pit bull – lots of barking and easy to silence when the time comes. Iran’s most likely strategy is to use the overheated rhetoric to scare the West into granting them important concessions, mostly having to do with its role in Iraq, at which point Ahmedi-nejad would be sacked. Most certainly, if developing nukes and using them on Israel were the real objective, Iran would very silent about them. Let’s review: loud rhetoric – simple posturing; silence – actual intentions.
djg, I certainly hope you’re right – unfortunately, the rhetoric is spreading beyond Ahmedinejad – see my latest post for more widespread belligerence…
Mark, no doubt that was an intentional effect of heated rhetoric. I would be very concerned if we overreacted by mounting air strikes. I have previously illustrated the general undesirability of such a course. To talk we must respond with talk of our own while isolating Iran on one hand and engaging it in secret discussions on the other. I sincerely hope that this is what is going on.
There is no doubt that we will eventually have to go to war with Iran. Its not a matter of if, but when. Ahmedi-nejad believes that he is the chosen one to usher in the messiah, an heir of Muhammed. His ultimate goal is to completely destroy Israel. He publicly has stated that Israel needs to be wiped off the face of the earth and he publicly has stated that the holocost was a myth. This is real evil we are dealing with on a Biblical scale.
check this out
http://hauns.com/~DCQu4E5g/koran2.html