More Belligerence From Iran
And this time it’s not just Ahmadinejad. The head of the Revolutionary Guards:
“You can start a war but it won’t be you who finishes it,” said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime’s most powerful figures.
“The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.
And, disturbingly, the real power in Iran:
Iran’s turbaned supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also accused the United States of seeking to place the entire region under Israeli control.
“The plots by the American government against Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon aimed at governing the Middle East with the control of the Zionist regime will not succeed,” Khamenei said.
There can be no doubt that this an intentional ratcheting of rhetoric. Whether Iran is seeking the knee-jerk approval that attaches to America- and Israel-bashing in most of the Middle East, or whether they seriously believe their inflammatory statements, I’m not prepared to say. Perhaps a bit of both…
I know I’ve been covering this pretty heavily, but it is quite disturbing, and increasingly so. I seriously fear for the future, as I have no illusions about the tight spot a war with Iran will put us in, diplomatically, yet I see little hope of peace at this point…
Comrades,
I would love nothing more than to see this situation dissipate and go away, but I do not for a moment believe that that will happen. I’ve seen the pointy end of the spear. I don’t want war. No one ever does, except, it seems, some imbeciles in the Middle East.
Listening to the rhetoric coming from Iran is hauntingly familiar. It reminds one of the screeches and promises from Germany in 1939. Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. Iran promises to remove Israel from the map. Iran refuses to negotiate in good faith with anyone. That’s not a comforting situation. It’s a harbinger of war, and it is to be wondered exactly how well informed the Iranian people are of the pronouncements and political actions of their leadership.
As a veteran, I understand the need for both diplomacy and decisive military action. As a father, I pray for peace and for the safety of my children, that cooler heads will prevail. As an educated man, I can see where we are headed, and frankly, it’s my own belief that the longer this situation is drawn out, the longer we hold off, the greater the resulting bloodshed will be.
Iran is stalling for time to finish it’s weapons. When they are finished, it will be a whole new ballgame. Make no mistake, Iran will use these weapons. Having developed them, and set out on a course of fiery threats of annihilation, it will have no choice.
Pray for peace and prepare for war. This Easter I’ll celebrate with my children, thank God for the many blessings he has given all of us, and then go upstairs and check over our emergency and survival supplies.
Respects to all,
Gwedd
Rather than stalling for time, it looks like Iran is deliberately baiting the US and Israel into carrying out air strikes. It does not behoove us to rise to the bait. Time is on our side – it give us the ability to build up the strength to invade on the ground.
I tend to agree with DJG on this point – regimes that are well – equipped to repel an invasion rarely bluster and talk about it endlessly. They doth protest way too much.
Somehow I just have a feeling that Israel will take care of it all.