HAMMER TIME!!!
Posted on 04/17/2006 8:51:09 AM PDT by robowombat
The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb By Amir Taheri (Filed: 16/04/2006)
Last Monday, just before he announced that Iran had gatecrashed "the nuclear club", President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disappeared for several hours. He was having a khalvat (tête-à-tête) with the Hidden Imam, the 12th and last of the imams of Shiism who went into "grand occultation" in 941.
According to Shia lore, the Imam is a messianic figure who, although in hiding, remains the true Sovereign of the World. In every generation, the Imam chooses 36 men, (and, for obvious reasons, no women) naming them the owtad or "nails", whose presence, hammered into mankind's existence, prevents the universe from "falling off". Although the "nails" are not known to common mortals, it is, at times, possible to identify one thanks to his deeds. It is on that basis that some of Ahmad-inejad's more passionate admirers insist that he is a "nail", a claim he has not discouraged. For example, he has claimed that last September, as he addressed the United Nations' General Assembly in New York, the "Hidden Imam drenched the place in a sweet light".
Last year, it was after another khalvat that Ahmadinejad announced his intention to stand for president. Now, he boasts that the Imam gave him the presidency for a single task: provoking a "clash of civilisations" in which the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the "infidel" West, led by the United States, and defeats it in a slow but prolonged contest that, in military jargon, sounds like a low intensity, asymmetrical war.
In Ahmadinejad's analysis, the rising Islamic "superpower" has decisive advantages over the infidel. Islam has four times as many young men of fighting age as the West, with its ageing populations. Hundreds of millions of Muslim "ghazis" (holy raiders) are keen to become martyrs while the infidel youths, loving life and fearing death, hate to fight. Islam also has four-fifths of the world's oil reserves, and so controls the lifeblood of the infidel. More importantly, the US, the only infidel power still capable of fighting, is hated by most other nations.
According to this analysis, spelled out in commentaries by Ahmadinejad's strategic guru, Hassan Abassi, known as the "Dr Kissinger of Islam", President George W Bush is an aberration, an exception to a rule under which all American presidents since Truman, when faced with serious setbacks abroad, have "run away". Iran's current strategy, therefore, is to wait Bush out. And that, by "divine coincidence", corresponds to the time Iran needs to develop its nuclear arsenal, thus matching the only advantage that the infidel enjoys.
Moments after Ahmadinejad announced "the atomic miracle", the head of the Iranian nuclear project, Ghulamreza Aghazadeh, unveiled plans for manufacturing 54,000 centrifuges, to enrich enough uranium for hundreds of nuclear warheads. "We are going into mass production," he boasted.
The Iranian plan is simple: playing the diplomatic game for another two years until Bush becomes a "lame-duck", unable to take military action against the mullahs, while continuing to develop nuclear weapons.
Thus do not be surprised if, by the end of the 12 days still left of the United Nations' Security Council "deadline", Ahmadinejad announces a "temporary suspension" of uranium enrichment as a "confidence building measure". Also, don't be surprised if some time in June he agrees to ask the Majlis (the Islamic parliament) to consider signing the additional protocols of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Such manoeuvres would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director, Muhammad El-Baradei, and Britain's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to congratulate Iran for its "positive gestures" and denounce talk of sanctions, let alone military action. The confidence building measures would never amount to anything, but their announcement would be enough to prevent the G8 summit, hosted by Russia in July, from moving against Iran.
While waiting Bush out, the Islamic Republic is intent on doing all it can to consolidate its gains in the region. Regime changes in Kabul and Baghdad have altered the status quo in the Middle East. While Bush is determined to create a Middle East that is democratic and pro-Western, Ahmadinejad is equally determined that the region should remain Islamic but pro-Iranian. Iran is now the strongest presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, after the US. It has turned Syria and Lebanon into its outer defences, which means that, for the first time since the 7th century, Iran is militarily present on the coast of the Mediterranean. In a massive political jamboree in Teheran last week, Ahmadinejad also assumed control of the "Jerusalem Cause", which includes annihilating Israel "in one storm", while launching a take-over bid for the cash-starved Hamas government in the West Bank and Gaza.
Ahmadinejad has also reactivated Iran's network of Shia organisations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen, while resuming contact with Sunni fundamentalist groups in Turkey, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. From childhood, Shia boys are told to cultivate two qualities. The first is entezar, the capacity patiently to wait for the Imam to return. The second is taajil, the actions needed to hasten the return. For the Imam's return will coincide with an apocalyptic battle between the forces of evil and righteousness, with evil ultimately routed. If the infidel loses its nuclear advantage, it could be worn down in a long, low-intensity war at the end of which surrender to Islam would appear the least bad of options. And that could be a signal for the Imam to reappear.
At the same time, not to forget the task of hastening the Mahdi's second coming, Ahamdinejad will pursue his provocations. On Monday, he was as candid as ever: "To those who are angry with us, we have one thing to say: be angry until you die of anger!"
His adviser, Hassan Abassi, is rather more eloquent. "The Americans are impatient," he says, "at the first sight of a setback, they run away. We, however, know how to be patient. We have been weaving carpets for thousands of years."
• Amir Taheri is a former Executive Editor of Kayhan, Iran's largest daily newspaper, but now lives in Europe
In every generation, the Imam chooses 36 men, (and, for obvious reasons, no women) naming them the owtad or "nails", whose presence, hammered into mankind's existence, prevents the universe from "falling off". Although the "nails" are not known to common mortals, it is, at times, possible to identify one thanks to his deeds.
Remember when Imajidahmad gave the speech at the UN and tried to claim that when he was speaking, a white halo of light appeared above his head. This guy is beyond delusional and obviously believes he's one of the nails.
So he thinks himself a nail? Fitting.
Um, I thought it was only "peaceful" nuclear energy they were after. Is there a direct quote out there of Hassan Abassi saying this?
If I had a direct line to Pres Bush I would send him this article.
"Nail meet Hammer. Hammer meet Nail.
Bold talk from someone who's vulnerable on two land fronts and one sea front by a vastly superior military.
And Tehran is a mere 300 miles from very US-friendly Kurdistan.
And a growing student democracy movement.
Why does Iran want a bomb? So they can use it: against Israel, against Europe, or against us. When do we drop the hammer on these lunatics?
CAMEL WALK, Baby, would you eat that there snack cracker, in your special outfit for me, please? owwwwwWEEEEE!!!!! Yo, ye pharoahs, let us walk through this barren desert, in search of truth in some pointy boots and maybe a few snack crackers. OWWWWWEEE baby, you make me wanna walk, like a camel! OWWWWWEEE, walk! Who's in charge here, where's my captain's wafers? Don't go 'round hungry now, the way you eat that oatmeal pie, makes me just wanna die, baby, OWWWWW! You make me wanna walk, like a camel! OWWWWWEEE, walk! Say, you don't think there's anyway I could get that quarter from underneath your pointy boot, do ya? All I want is just one more oatmeal pie. OWWWWWEEE, Little Debbie, Little Debbie I'm a comin' on home, baby 'cause you make me wanna walk, like a camel, OWWWWWEEE!!!!! Original song, Camel Walk by Souther Culture On The Skids (1995). Check out Amazon.com and have a sneak listen.
Wrong ... we don't hate to fight, we hate dying. That's why an all out war with Iran would be a 'win - win' situation.
Ahmadinejad is the most extreme relious fanatic ever to lead a country and he is acting on his delusions of grandeur and hatred, to the death, of the West and Israel.
The return of the "Hidden Imam" is believed to then herald in an era of "peace and justice" where Shias will lead all of Islam also, over the Sunnis. His goal is nothing less than world domination with himself named as the "13th Imam".
He is straightaway nutcase all the way and is beginning to frighten many Iranian mullahs. Sunnis are beginning to wake up to him but Ahmadinejad is still the "golden child" of Islam for now due to his posturing against the "Great Satan" USA.
Historically we are at a point of escalation where Hitler was, after occupying the Ruhr valley and remilitarizing Germany. Ahmadinejad is far more dangerous and agressive now than Hitler, who could have been more easily stopped at the time.
Ahmadinejad is also less rational than Hitler was in the early 30's.
Hmmm, substitute "Mahdi" with "Anti-Christ" and "Hidden Iman" with Satan and the apocalyptic prophecies may just apply to the circumstances.
The bomb is today's get out of war card. The more a country has the safer it is. Or so it has been reported.
Oooooooo! I'm soooooo scared! They may weave a mean carpet, but I don't think that's the same as our carpet-bombing capabilities.
Oh hell yes, lol, forgot about that one! But no doubt, little Ringo is mighty fond of his humps, so Camel Walk came to mind. Good to know I'm not the only SCOTS aficianado, otherwise people might just think I'm loony. You can see Ahamdinejad in his shorts with a pair of pointy boots two sizes too large, though, can't ya'?
Gives new meaning to the phrase, "dead as a doornail".
Cordially,
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