Iran - Madness or a Scheme
Week of January 6, 2006

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President continues to fuel the fire he ignited. It began with his call to “wipe Israel from the map” and continued this harangue by declaring the holocaust a myth. In response to European condemnation, he then called upon Europe to provide land for Israel on the continent. Call Ahmadinejad a tyrant, madman or another Hitler or whatever else you wish, a question of greater significance remains. Why is he stirring the pot?

Demagogic and despotic rulers were in the past quick to substitute hate and national honor in place of food. What other possible reason could explain his irrational behavior? Some might argue that he is courting favor with the rest of the Islamic world but he must know that ninety percent of the world’s Moslems are Sunni who care little for the Iranian Shia and would sooner see the end of the Shia than Israel. This leaves us but one conclusion; he is creating a smokescreen as Iran continues to develop its nuclear weapons. Some say he is digging his own grave, but this is wishful thinking.

The Shia fanatics who rule Iran are losing their grip of the country’s masses. Iran is the Persia of old and as in ancient times, the Persian national ego clamors for world leadership and importance. The Ayatollas have from the very beginning of their revolution against the Shah played back the old record. In times before the Common Era, Persian rulers spread their tentacles from “India to Ethiopia”. Nuclear weapons, the Ayatollas teach could give today’s Iran it former stature and were Iran to successfully destroy Israel, the Shia would attain the power of leadership of the Sunni majority. In a word, there is reason in Ahmadinejad’s madness.

With all the theories and articulations of the problem, the fact remains that if something is not done soon, Iran will successfully have a nuclear arsenal. These weapons of mass destruction will be aimed towards Israel and objects of American interest. Let no one forget what today’s rulers of Iran did on the day they took power from the Shah. They imprisoned all the Americans in our Teheran Embassy. Americans became the hostages of the revolutionary fanatics in Iran. They humiliated the world’s most powerful country and caused the defeat of its President Jimmy Carter was humbled and so were the American People.

President Bush cannot be indolent. Iran must not be permitted nuclear weapons and delivery systems. As a nuclear power, Iran will be able to partner with its brother Shia across its border in Iraq. If this should happen, Americans will curse the day we deposed Saddam Hussein only to be replaced by a tyranny that could eventually hold the whole world hostage for fear of nuclear devastation.

American forces should not be removed from Iraq in the near future, if for no other reason than to prevent any alliance between the now empowered Iraqi Shia and Iran. Our President needs to convince England, France and Germany to become more assertive in their opposition to Iran’s nuclear objectives. Iran needs to be economically cut off. The Europeans could easily blockade Iranian imports and exports from the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. Iranian products should be prevented from reaching markets in Europe or the Western Hemisphere. Yes, there will be a price to pay; Iran’s major export is oil. The resulting difficulties would be insignificant when compared to a nuclear armed Iran.

There are those who say that in light of Iran’s nuclear activity, Israel should openly declare that which has been known for many years, its possession of a nuclear arsenal. This would be a mistake. A public admission would give the Iranians justification on the world’s propaganda battlefield for their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

Shabbat Shalom