To be an Israeli leader is probably rarely fun, but at this moment it may be less fun than ever. And I’m not talking about Olmert’s possible corruption. I’m talking, of course, about Iran – to bomb or not to bomb, that is the question. Were Israeli’s recent military exercises in the Mediterranean a scare tactic or the real thing? Do they know themselves?
Given the tragedy of Jewish history, what Israeli leader would not take Ahmadinjead, Khameni, et al, seriously? And yet from afar the Iranian leadership often seems like delusional religious maniacs or con artists doing a monumental job of exploiting their own people. It’s hard for the Western mind to think they actually believe all this Mahdi nonsense. It must be a joke, right? Meanwhile they’re on the brink of nuclear weapons.
UPDATE: Speaking of Iran, on PJM this morning, Sheryl has an absolutely mind-blowing report on a jaw-dropping prevarication by that “great historian” Pat Buchanan.





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10 Comments
1. saus:Hi Roger, you have overlooked the connundrum for us the electorate. We have 10% approvals for our government, but we don’t know the intelligence and we don’t get to sit in the security cabinet. We are torn, do we dump these fools or slog on, if we dump them do we risk being in transition & chaos over the next few months that may be critical to the State of Israel? Or do we hang on with this lame duck govt with a track record of failure and risk being ill led during the next few months.. that may be critical to the State of Israel.
Jul 1, 2008 - 9:43 am 2. j green:The Islamic Republic wants nuclear weapons to fulfill the desires they themselves have stated to the world–to wipe Israel off the map.
If a criminal wants to buy a gun, you know its not to waive it around, its to use it to extract something from you by force.
Regarding this Mahdi business, the Mullahs say that the Mahdi has been hiding for roughly 1,200 years and he will reveal himself again during the end times. There is some dispute amongst the Mullahs on precisely who among them is currently in communication with the Mahdi, but many of them make that claim.
Nonetheless, by causing a global disaster, they hope to bring the Mahdi out of hiding. Their religious doctrine dictates disaster.
These Mullahs execute innocent people and say, if they were actually executed ny accident and not really guilty, that they did the victim a favor since he goes straight to heaven. How do you negotiate with people like these, how, as a part of their religion, do “taghieh”, which means to lie to save one’s self?
Jul 1, 2008 - 10:34 am 3. Lightnin' Hopkins:There simply is no question about what needs to be done. The only question is who (Israel or the U.S.?) will perform the task, and precisely when it will happen.
The gutless Left, in the West as a whole, will never be able to process the fact that what the Iranian regime and all of its (no matter how loosely, or tightly connected) partners in so-called “jihad” want is dead Jews and infidels – and plenty of them. They state their objectives and then act upon them, without mercy or soul-searching.
Buchanan is an idiot and a bigot (yeah, I said it, go ahead and try to defend him). Iran has never stopped committing acts of war on the West, from interests in the Middle East to Buenos Aires and beyond. Subjugation of their own people, the people of Lebanon through their Syrian puppets, and of course, financing terrorism against Israel and providing weapons and assistance to the villainous scum who attack our forces within Iraq.
They ARE at war with us already. They WILL use the weapons they are developing. They do not care about human life, including their own.
Iran’s nuclear facilities will be attacked – most likely by Israel, with our support – and hopefully their oil refining capacity as well, in order to cripple their economy and bring to a boil the counter-revolution that is already underway below the Mullah’s radar.
The media will howl and the Democrats will posture and hyper-ventilate, but it will be done. Book it.
By the way, if people want to call the President a lame duck and a fool, that’s their right, but if Obama is elected, mark my words: you will pine for the halcyon days when that “fool” protected you and yours from evil.
Ingrates.
Jul 1, 2008 - 2:36 pm 4. Lightnin' Hopkins:Apologies to Saus – until I clicked on your site just now I had assumed you were refering to the U.S. and not Israel’s leadership. I’ve heard so many people rip Bush from all sides here in the States for so long I sometimes leap before I look. We also have some dismally low approval numbers, so please pardon my confusion. Be glad my finger’s not on the button — Iran and Syria should be, that’s for sure.
Jul 1, 2008 - 2:51 pm 5. ricpic:The annihilation of the Jews is at the very heart of Islam. It is imbibed with mother’s milk — by millions. You better believe they mean it. Israel must act. This year.
Jul 1, 2008 - 4:06 pm 6. Terrye:I would certainly understand why Israel would feel threatened by the mullahs. Scarcely a day goes by without some insane and genocidal outburst from the Islamic Republic. However, I also think that a lot of people are afraid of the blowback. The west is afraid of the collapse of the world economy if oil hits $400 a barrel and Israel is afraid it might precipitate the very attack it is trying to prevent. I have no idea what the answer is.
Jul 1, 2008 - 5:14 pm 7. j green:So I heard today that Ahamdinejad was going to pray among many Islamic Republic officials and the people asked where the prayer leader was. The reply from Ahmadinejad “shush, the Mahdi is here, don’t you see him standing right there,” pointing to an open area.
Also, Ahmadinejad leaves a table place setting, (i.e. plate, fork, knife, etc.) for the Mahdi at dinner. He insists that he is always in contact with him, to the ire of other mullahs, each of whom also contend they speak to him…
Jul 1, 2008 - 5:28 pm 8. markus:I understand the fears expressed given Jewish history, but acting on the basis of them leads to otherwise intelligent people actually believing screwy things, like “the annihilation of the Jews is at the very heart of Islam,” or the idea that Iranian government actually believes that “Mahdi” or whomever would protect them from getting bombed back to the Stone Age by an Israeli counterattack.
Ben-Ami and Parsi have a mostly non-delusional article on how counterproductive an Israeli attack would be right now. Their only delusional moments are when the speak of the need for a “non-nuclear Middle East” which is just not gonna happen, even with a comprehensive Middle East peace, as long as Pakistan has nukes:
Jul 2, 2008 - 8:54 am 9. ricpic:http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0702/p09s01-coop.html
Why don’t you read the Koran, markus delusional, before you mouth off.
Jul 2, 2008 - 12:58 pm 10. saus:no worries Lightnin, well ok some.. But not in regards to your post
Jul 2, 2008 - 1:49 pm