I worried over the summer that Iran had nuclear plans about to unfold. I was wrong but I was in good company. Was the rumbling just a little premature rather than wrong?
This writer thinks Iranian religious doctrine as interpreted by Ahmadinejad is reason to fear the spring:
Anticipation of the imminent arrival or “illumination” of the Islamic messiah has been steadily intensifying inside Iran since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged as president of the country in June of 2005. An Iranian television series called The World Towards Illumination has been running since last November to help answer the many questions Iranians have about the end of the world as we know it. The series explains the signs of the last days and what to expect when the Islamic messiah arrives. The program also says that Jesus is coming back to earth soon as a Shiite Muslim leader and it denounces “born again Christians” for supporting “the illegal Zionist state of Israel.” An Israeli news site was the first to pick up the story and its significance to Israeli national security, noting that the mahdi will soon “form an army to defeat Islam’s enemies in a series of apocalyptic battles” and “will overcome his archvillain in Jerusalem.”
Some intelligence analysts are growing concerned by Ahmadinejad’s announced plans “to hold the big celebration of Iran’s full nuclearization in the current year.” Iran’s calendar year ends on March 20, which is the usual date of the spring equinox. Is Ahmadinejad signaling that Iran will have nuclear weapons by then? Is he suggesting that a messianic war to annihilate Israel could come in 2007, perhaps as early as this spring or summer? It is not yet clear, though Ahmadinejad today vowed to “humiliate” the U.S. and Israel soon.
And it does seem that Iran might have bigger objectives for the region even if the apocolypse is not on order by Ahmadinejad. The writer seems to support this view, too:
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website says the world is now in its “last days.” It claims that the mahdi will first appear in Mecca, and then Medina. He will conquer all of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, destroy Israel, and then set up a “global government” based in Iraq, interestingly enough, not Iran.
Of course, they are not mutually exclusive possibilities. And shoot, Iran already has Syria as a nice poodle, has a hand puppet in Moqtada Sadr in Iraq to exploit, downtrodden Shias and Sunni jihadis in Saudi Arabia that might be supported, and perhaps a nuke for the one-bomb state, Israel. Could Iran think a conventional offensive on Iraq could hurt us and inflict such damage that we sue for peace?
I wrote that Iran might have set their sights on more than Iraq. We need to be ready for a major escalation on the part of Iran which may try to wage an offensive war across the Middle East.
And then there is this little tidbit. Ahmadinejad has written yet another letter:
Pope Benedict XVI received a letter Wednesday from Iran ‘s hardline president about the recent U.N. Security Council U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against Tehran for refusing to compromise on its nuclear program, Iran‘s state-run news agency reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s letter was delivered by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki after the pontiff‘s general audience at the Vatican‘s Paul VI hall, the Vatican said.
No word on the contents. Having sent letters to President Bush and the American people demanding our surrender and holding a nice Holocaust denial conference, is Ahmadijehad setting the stage for justifying war? Whether or not it includes nuclear weapons?
Is this letter to the Pope another in the chain of justifications being built by Ahmadinejad? To the head of the Catholic Church (and thus the Crusaders)? Perhaps the last one before going to war?
Heck, is all the talk of a surge of American troops to Iraq really just a cover story for a defensive reaction to what might be a pending Iranian attack? Or even an excuse to position a land force for an attack on Iran to support a revolution or coup?
Iran is up to something. I hope we are up to something better--and first.
