Apocalypse Now? National Review on August 22

National Review ^ | August 10, 2006 | Joel C. Rosenberg

[Rutles4Ever]

For let’s be clear: should Iran go nuclear on this president’s watch, all the gains made to date in the War on Terror will be wiped out overnight. That is not a legacy this president wants, nor one this nation can afford.

Ahmadinejad is an evil mad genius. He's going to get his nuclear weapon ane he knows it. Personally, I think this 8/22 hysteria is just that - hysteria. The only kind of cataclysmic even Iran can trigger at this time would be a hand-carried atomic weapon smuggled into a place like Tel Aviv. Given the extraordinary success the IDF has in arresting would-be-terrorists with belt bombs before they get to their targets, I'm going to venture that no one is going to be able to just waltz into Israel with a nuke.

[GOPJ]

... I think this one is different because this one is an evil man trying to create the apocalypse on August 22, rather than God.

Good point. So, the real question is, will he attack to save face and keep the mo going? Maybe...

[ANGGAPO]

I am sure that there are a few missiles aimed at Iran as insurance against that nut-job doing something.

[GOPJ]

...Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic objectives could lead to a “cataclysmic” attack on August 22. Lewis observed that there it is not possible to say with any certainty that such an attack is planned, but he felt compelled to explain to Americans just how dangerous Ahmadinejad’s thinking is, especially in light of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian “end times” theology, such as the “War of Gog and Magog” and “Armageddon.” How, Lewis asked, can you negotiate with a man who believes it is his religious duty and mission to bring about the end of the world?

We have a problem ...

[DarthVader]

I'd say there is a whole bunch of resources at the ready to reduce Iran to ashes if the nutball trys anything.

[krunkygirl]

save

[Rummyfan]

The simple answer is you can't negotiate with him. Pre-emptive action is all that is available to us.

[HawaiianGecko]

I read  What Went Wrong fairly soon after 9/11 and The Crisis of Islam a year or so later. I have returned to both of them several times in the last 5 years as Bernard Lewis is without a doubt the foremost academic authority on the Middle East.

What Went Wrong was already in page proof prior to September 2001. And although it was modified some to reflect 911 before it hit the print shop, it still is a book without slant due to the WTC/Pentagon attacks.

Upon reading Lewis it is completely clear this man has NO axe to grind. He is purely academic and brilliant in his thought and conclusions. He doesn't come to conclusions based upon reading the works of other authors, this man actually goes to archives, mosques, churches and other sources to reads things such as letters of introduction of emissaries between governments, debriefings of ambassadors, letters among family members and so forth to get to an understanding of the mindset of Muslims or at least their leaders in the past.

I found it stunning to find that the Muslim rejection of science and modernity is in his opinion the largest stumbling block of Muslims and he lays out a logical case that I have yet to see refuted.

 

[beancounter13]

The only kind of cataclysmic even Iran can trigger at this time would be a hand-carried atomic weapon smuggled into a place like Tel Aviv.


..or Dallas, Los Angeles, or New York. Why think "small"? If the Iranian nut wanted to bring about the end of the world, why would he worry about Israel? His proxy army stocked with nukes is enough for the "Little Satan" --he can focus his attention on the "Great Satan".

Only time will tell, but I will not be surprised if we see multiple detonations both here and in the Middle East. I have long ago concluded that he has his nukes --his rhetoric is more than just a bluff.

[Elsiejay]

What do you think counts as "success" in the mind of the Iranian madman?
Why do you believe there would be a response in kind, a response that would wreak devastation on the people of Iran, by Israel and/or the U.S.? Since a threat (unstated but imagined) of such a response will not deter Ahmadinejad, what would be its purpose?
I am hard pressed to countenance the possibility that any U.S. president would nuke Iran for any reason. The people of Iran are, in large part, helpless pawns of radical Islamic clerics they did not elect, for whom their "president" serves as a willing front man.

[bassmaner]

What do you think counts as "success" in the mind of the Iranian madman?

Like I stated: a premature ceasefire in Lebanon and a U.S. bugout of Iraq. Such a turn of events would allow Iran to claim a sphere of influence across a swath of the Middle East from Afghanistan to the Mediterranian Sea, which they could spin throughout the Muslim world as a huge victory over the infidels.

I am hard pressed to countenance the possibility that any U.S. president would nuke Iran for any reason.

I don't think we would need to nuke Iran (unless they nuke us, which I believe is very unlikely). But it's clear that we have lost our nerve to act pre-emptively to prevent Iran from obtaining nukes. The American Left, starting with Jimmy Carter, bears much of the blame for this. If (God forbid) Iran gets the bomb and uses it, our wannabe Stalinists in the DemonRat Party will have the blood of millions on their hands.

[ClaireSolt]

Yes, Lewis is interesting. It needs to be seen in conection with that Harvard gal's (Jessica Stern?) analysis that "humiliation" motivates terrorists. She probably counsel's appeasement. I think "ocupation" is their big gripe, and they hafe been ocupied since Alexander the Great. They have developed huge pathologies during all that time of oppression. However, that is all beside the point. Either they learn civilized ways or they cannot participate imn the world community. In fact, there are lots who have read Lock and Rousseau as our founders did.

Right now I am reading Kaplan, Imperial Grunts. It is very interesting on special forces fighting the war on terror all over.

[Dajjal]

Some prelates have taken "Gog and Magog" to mean "the Communists and the Capitalists." Osama Bin Ladin has taken credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union after the fighting in Afghanistan depleted their treasury and their will.

He and other terrorists think that the next logical step is to cause the downfall of the Western Capitalist nations.

Since the Hadith predict that the Mahdi will be victorious against Gog and Magog, they believe their is no chance of them losing. And since there is No Future anyway, why not go out as a suicide bomber in the Mahdi's army.

Many prelates even teach that if nuclear weapons are used, Allah, who can do anything, will bend the laws of physics so that only infidels will die, and all Muslims will survive. Even the architecture (e.g., Dome of the Rock), they say, would survive a nuclear blast, so the post-Armageddon Muslims could live happily under the world-rule of the Mahdi.

For serious information about Muslim End-Times beliefs, go to my FR homepage and my links page.

[SJackson]

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I'm going to have a good dinner August 21 just in case. Who knows what will happen on flying horse day. Wonder if the horse was a virgin?

[Quix]

There are lots of scenes/Acts in the END TIMES play. I don't think anyone has it all figured out, yet.

[Quix]

An interesting question is . . . how many . . . of such forces are

AIMED WITH US

VS

AIMED AGAINST US.

[Quix]

The simple answer is you can't negotiate with him. Pre-emptive action is all that is available to us.
= = = =

I tend to agree a lot.

[gathersnomoss]

..."If so, what should the U.S. do to protect Americans and our ally?"

Get an E'fing grip on reality...NOW!

[Quix]

I have long ago concluded that he has his nukes --his rhetoric is more than just a bluff.
= = = =

I agree. He only wants to increase his production capacity so he can control how many he has, himself.

[gathersnomoss]

Bush had better be ready to convert the Middle East into a glass donut, now. This is not 9/10!