Is the Middle East Preparing for War?

Heck, they are always preparing for war, but I mean sometime real soon? This article from Newsmax.com seems to think there are many signs that say yes:

Source: U.S. Strike on Iran Nearing

[...] A number of signs indicate that, contrary to the belief President Bush is a lame duck who will not act before he leaves office, the U.S. is poised to strike before Iran can acquire nuclear weapons and carry out the threat of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to “wipe Israel off the map”:

According to intelligence sources, the administration now rejects the National Intelligence Estimate report issued in December that asserted Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003.

The French daily Le Monde reported in March that newly surfaced documents show that Iran has continued developing nuclear weapons. In late 2006, U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted a phone conversation in Iran’s Defense Ministry in which the nuclear weapons program was discussed.

The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, resigned in March amid media reports that he broke with President Bush’s strategy on Iran and did not want to be in the chain of command when the order comes down from the President to launch a strike on the Islamic Republic.

Democrats suggested he had been forced out because of his candor in opposing Bush’s Iran plans, and Esquire magazine contended that Fallon’s departure signaled that the U.S. is preparing to attack Iran.

According to a Tehran-based Iranian news network, Press TV, Saudi Arabia is taking emergency steps in preparing to counter any “radioactive hazards” that may result from an American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Saudi newspaper Okaz disclosed that the Saudi government has approved nuclear fallout preparations, and the Iranian network reported that the approval came a day after Cheney met with the kingdom’s high-ranking officials, further stating that the U.S. “is now informing its Arab allies of a potential war.”

The American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has stepped up criticism of Iran, telling Congress last week that Iranian support for Shiite militias posed the most serious threat to Iraq’s stability. He told senators : “Iran has fueled the violence in a particularly damaging way.” Last week, the U.S. said Iran was providing insurgents with missiles that were killing Americans and hitting targets within the U.S. occupied Green Zone in Baghdad.

MSNBC Commentator Pat Buchanan said Petraeus’ remarks to Congress lay the groundwork for a U.S. attack on Iran.

President Bush said in a speech at the White House on April 10 that Iran, along with al-Qaida, are “two of the greatest threats to America.”

He said Iran “can live in peace with its neighbors,” or “continue to arm and train and fund illegal militant groups which are terrorizing the Iraqi people … If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners.” [...]

These are just some of the reasons given, there's more details in the article. I've seen articles like this before though. It's easy to speculate, but harder to predict what actually will happen. Much depends on what any of the players do. The potential is certainly there. I've also read arguments about why it won't happen, but I don't think it's a certainty either way.

Ahmadinejad has been preparing for war for years, and has many reasons for wanting it to happen, based on his strong apocalyptic religious beliefs. As long as he is in power, war seems likely sooner or later. If Iran gets Nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia will want them too, and Turkey will feel compelled to have them as well, etc etc. If war happens THEN, it will be much worse than anything that happens now. If war is going to happen sooner or later, there may be advantages to having it sooner. It could be the lesser of two evils.
     

Ahmadinejad continues his Lunatic agenda

Iran's insane president Ahmadinejad visits Iraq, tells the US to get out of the Middle East, claiming that our presence there has brought only destruction and division. He should talk. Through Hezbollah, Iran funds Hamas and other terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, with tentacles spreading even further.


Even now Iran is backing and supplying arms to Hamas for the current rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, just as it arms Jihadists in Lebanon, all via Hezbollah. His visit to Iraq has nothing to do with peace and everything to do with Iran's pressing needs and Iraq's vulnerability.

Ahmadinejad has plenty of people in Iran worried, even members of the Iranian government. So they should be. Ahmadinejad is a nut-job who believes that a massive war and it's attendant bloodshed is actually needed to bring about the return of the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam.




The situation with Iran today is the direct legacy of Jimmy Carter, which was further abetted and supported by Bill Clinton. The Democrats just make us weaker and more vulnerable each time they're in charge. Shall we put another Democrat in the White House, so they can finish us off?


Related Links:

THE MULLAHS' TERRIBLE VISION

Is it time for regime change in Iran yet?

Hizbullah TV in Lebanon, courtesy of Iran

Iranian Internet users face blockage during coming election
     

Ahmadinejad; The Left's New Best Friend

From Neal Boortz this morning:
HITLER .. BUT NOT THE ROTC

Columbia University has rightfully been under fire for inviting Iran's President to speak to its student body. Now Columbia's Dean is not only defending the decision, but says that Columbia would offer a platform for Hitler to come and speak if he were alive and in America.

So, there you have Dean John Coatsworth of Columbia University was on Fox News late last week telling the world that Hitler would be invited to speak at Columbia, were he available. Wonderful. But how do you square this against the decision by Columbia to un-invite the founder of the Minutemen? How do you square this with Columbia's refusal to allow the ROTC on campus? Hitler is OK, but a man who founded a group to monitor illegal activity along our borders is not? Hitler is fine, but young men training to be officers in our armed forces are not? [...]

(bold emphasis mine) The ROTC and the Minutemen are worse than Hitler?

The Left is often fond of saying Bush is worse than Hitler. Here we have a prime example of Bush Derangement Syndrome. From the Gay Patriot Blog:

Left-Wing Lesbian Has Crush on Ahmadinejad?!?!?!

When Hugh linked this post on the DailyKos where a Jewish lesbian, confessed having A Little Crush on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I quickly e-mailed Bruce, telling him that this was “beyond parody” and that I couldn’t find the words to express my stupefaction. Once again, I was rendered speechless by the far left. Yeah, the writer “sallykohn” does acknowledge that the anti-Semitic supporter of terrorism would “probably have [her] killed.” She even notes that there “are certainly many things about Ahmadinejad that I abhor.” All that notwithstanding, she gets “turned on” by this guy’s “frank rhetoric” because he’s “calling out the horrors of the Bush Administration and, for that matter, generations of US foreign policy preceding.“ [...]

Read the Whole thing... hard to believe, but all too common. This was typical of the kind of crap I heard repeatedly from gays in San Francisco, right up to the time we moved away 4 years ago. Lesbian "Christian" Ministers denouncing Bush, America and capitalism from their pulpits, and offering up Islamic Prayers to Allah in support of basically ANYONE in the Middle East who hated Bush, regardless of their track record for murdering gays and lesbians, and regardless of their atrocious treatment of women. And God help you if your tried to confuse them with the facts!

9-11 really brought the deranged thinking of the American Left to the forefront, forcing to me examine a lot of sympathy I used to have for many left wing views. When people so blatantly see only what they want to see, you have to start questioning the validity of their entire world view. That's exactly what I did, and I found it sadly wanting; quite unsupported by facts and reality.

It's emotional thinking at it's worst. They may believe that the enemy of their enemy is automatically their "Friend" But with Friends like Ahmadinejad and other Islamist tyrants, who needs enemies? And if your gay, you should choose your friends more carefully, if you want to stay alive.


Related Link:

www.columbiasupportsterror.com
A spoof that illustrates what should be obvious to any THINKING person.
     

Is it time for regime change in Iran yet?

Some people seem ready for change. In reaction to the sudden rationing of gasoline with just 2 hours notice, riots have erupted, people are setting gas stations on fire and shouting "Death to Ahmadinejad". This is more than just a few isolated instances. Some reports say as many as 50 gas stations have been burned. Yikes! It's yet another crack in the fragile egg shell of Iran's theocracy. We need to keep the sanctions pressure on.

Turmoil in Tehran

There’s rioting over gas rationing in Iran. Bloggers covering the turmoil here , here, and here. Iran is blaming–who else?–the U.S. for the unrest.

Meanwhile, human rights groups are paying attention to Iran’s execution of minors [...]

Visit the links for more photos and information. And not long before this, the fashion police were at it again, publicly torturing young men for wearing Western cloths and hair styles, by beating them and making them suck on cans used in toilets:



The human rights outrage in Iran…and a challenge to Rosie O’Donnell and her ilk

[...] Question: Will these photos be blared across the front pages of the international media with as much disgust and condemnation as the photos of Abu Ghraib or the manufactured Gitmo Koran-flushing riots?

Answer: Fat chance.

Question: What do leftist apologists for the Iranian regime have to say about the brutal, appalling, and escalating crackdown on human rights? Yeah, you, Rosie.

Answer: Nothing.

Question: Will the same moral cowards who sat silently while Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, advocated executing gays during a Harvard lecture stand up now against this barbarism?

Answer: Of course not.

The latest wave of repression has been going on for months. No one, not even Khatami himself, has been spared scrutiny. Now, the New York Times [...]

Visit the link for more disgusting photos of vicious brutality. The "policemen" in these photos, with the masks over their faces, are supposedly enforcing "morality". Do they wear masks over their heads because they are so proud of what they are doing? Or is it because they need to hide their identity in case the Iranian people want retribution against them later?

The Iranian government wants these photos of policemen at work to be publicized widely within Iran, to instill fear in the people; the only problem they see is keeping the photos out of the Western press. Our MSM seems to be working with the Iranian government on that.



This is just the tip of the iceberg. Iran has a lot of problems with no end in sight:


Demographics and Iran's imperial design

The riots are just another symptom of a decay that has been festering for some time:

Iran, under the surface... is it crumbling?

With enough pressure from the outside, the present regime could collapse from within. Now is NOT the time to ease up on Iran, but rather to increase the pressure.
     

Iranian Theocracy prepares the Iranian people for the "Return of the Mahdi"

No, it's not a new Star Wars episode; it's what the Iranian government leadership believes and is preparing for.

True believers dial messiah hotline in Iran

[...] Paving the way is a renewed commitment to "Mahdaviat" beliefs by the ultraconservative government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lives so modestly that declared assets include only a 30-year-old car, an even older house, and an empty bank account.

These ideologues see the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and efforts to rekindle its revolutionary ideals, as critical to paving the way for the Mahdi's return.

They say that return - which they believe will happen soon - will prompt a global battle between good and evil (not unlike biblical "Armageddon" interpretations), and herald an era of justice, peace, and the ultimate triumph of Shiite Islam.

The Bright Future Institute is preparing the ground, a leaflet explains, by developing the "true culture" of waiting for the Mahdi, "reject[ing] wrong ideas and preparing scientific answers to respond [to] superstitions," while working to "accomplish an ideal society which Imam Mahdi wants."

[...]

Started in 2004, the institute is the eighth of its kind in Iran to study and even speed the Mahdi's return. But it is the largest and most influential, with 160 staff, a growing reach in local schools, children's and teen magazines, and unlimited ambition to spread the word.

The blend of modern technology and ancient prophecy echoes efforts of US evangelicals who use 45 categories - from liberalism to natural disasters - to predict the "end time," when holy people will experience "rapture" and go to heaven. For them, the "Rapture Index" (www.raptureready.com) is at 151; anything higher than 145 means "Fasten your seatbelts," because of what they deem a high level of prophetic activity.

In Iran, theologians say end-of-times beliefs appeal to one-fifth of Iranians. And Jamkaran mosque east of Qom, 60 miles south of Tehran, is where the link between devotees and the Mahdi is closest.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's cabinet has given $17 million to Jamkaran. Staff at the Bright Future Institute downplay his interest, arguing the amount is just $2-3 million, and that their effort is privately funded. They claim that former President Mohammad Khatami also spent "a lot" on Jamkaran.

[...]

Shiite writings describe events surrounding the return in apocalyptic terms, similar to those used in Revelations, which some Christian evangelicals believe predicts a final world war during which Jesus returns to win and reign for 1,000 years.

In one script, forces of evil would come from Syria and Iraq and clash with forces of good from Iran. The battle would commence at Kufa - the Iraqi town near the holy city of Najaf (and home to the anti-US Iraqi cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr).

The evil commander named Sofiani and the anti-Mahdi known as Dajol (comparable to the Christian antichrist), would both be killed. The forces of good would be led by a "man from Khorasan" - a province in northeast Iran.

The Mahdi would return at Mecca, and fight. His victory would bring a government of God for a period of "seven," according to one reading. Seven months, years, or millennia is not clear.

[...]

"The Imam of the Age will have victory, and all the world will support him, except some regimes and governments that are racist, like Zionists," says Poursayed-Aghaie. The result will be global dominance of Shiite Muslims. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Even though only one fifth of the Iranian population believes this literally, they are the ones in charge of the government, and this belief in the Mahdi is their guiding principle.

In this article they talk about peace, but they believe peace will only be possible in an Islamic world, ruled by the Mahdi. And the Mahdi will only return after great war, death and destruction.


#1288 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: As Soon as Iran Achieves Advanced Technologies, It Has the Capacity to Become an Invincible Global Power.
9/28/2006 - 00:07:34


#1314 - Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Commander Yahya Safavi: We Have Thousands of Martyrdom-Seekers; We Can Give Missiles to Friendly and Neighboring Countries.
Al-'Alam TV (Iran) - 11/5/2006 - 00:03:31

The Revolutionary Guards are the ones killing our soldiers in Iraq. On a website, one of their leaders spoke of striking Americans with nuclear bombs on American soil. The Democrats think we just need to talk with them.

#1241 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The U.S and England Are Not Worthy of Security Council Membership. Those Who Want Good Relations with the Iranian People Should Bow and Surrender to its Right and Might.
IRINN (Iran) - 8/13/2006 - 00:03:21

Bow and surrender? These are the people the Democrats think we should be "talking" with? Ahmadinejad himself has said we have nothing to say to them.


#1321 - Iranian Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai: America Destroyed All Our Enemies in the Region.
Iran Ch.1 - 11/11/2006 - 00:04:08

Good news for Iran. Unfortunately. Removing Saddam got rid of Iran's biggest enemy in the region. Iran just needs to get rid of the US influence in the region now, so they can annex Iraq and it's oil to fuel their war machine and fund their global ambitions.

In a speech June 3rd, Ahmadinejad spoke of moving towards Jerusalem, with the Iraqi people, and the destruction of Israel:

Ahmadinejad: The Countdown To The Destruction Of Israel Has Begun; We Hope To Move Towards Jerusalem

The guy makes no secret of his intentions; he says we have nothing to say to him. What is it we need to talk to him about?

Here is a page showing this post, and below it all of my prior posts about the Mahdi.

And this, from Iranian Blogger/Journalist Azadeh Akbari:

Which religious beliefs Ahmadynejad has
     

Iran's pressing needs and Iraq's vulnerability

#1460 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: America Is Like a Battery Running Out. They Are Done For.
Iran Ch.1, Esfahan TV (Iran) - 5/24/2007 - 00:06:42

[...] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: With the grace of God, we have almost reached the end of the path where we can take complete advantage of all nuclear capabilities. We are very near the summit. The resistance of the enemies grows weaker every day.

[...]

Now they are mustering all their power, in order to cause some commotion – some resolution, some pressure, some uproar... But let me tell you that with the help of God, they are done for. Like a battery about to run out, they muster the remainder of their power but Allah willing, nothing will happen. We've passed that. Wait one month, two months, three months... Allah willing, as soon as possible, we will pass that. Their situation is much worse than one can imagine. Their foundations are shaking. Nobody is with them. They though that if they used threats, people here would withdraw voluntarily. When they used threats nobody withdrew. When they used their fist – it boomeranged back at them. What's left for them to say? A few months ago, they threatened us militarily. Do you remember? They specified the date. They said: "On March 27, at 5 a.m., we will bomb these 20 sites." From this position of making military threats, they've got themselves to the point where they want to have talks with us, and they say: "It wasn't us making threats."

(bold emphaiis mine) Talks? Even Ahmadinejad believes we have nothing to say. I think it's because of the Democrats that we are now having "talks" with the Iranians. A waste of time for us, it buys time for Iran, and lends them the veneer of credibility. Small wonder that they want to invite Nancy Pelosi to Iran. I don't see that any good will come of it.

As for the analogy of a battery running out, perhaps Ahmadinejad is confusing us with his own country? Here is a bit of economic news from the Memri blog:

Economic Shocks in Iran

Randa Taqi al-Din, columnist for the London daily Al-Hayat, reviews the economic shocks being experienced by the Iranian economy. Iran, the second largest exporter of oil in OPEC, is in economic crisis, caused by the shortage of gasoline for cars, which Iran imports in large quantities. Iran is suffering from a soft economy, 11% unemployment, and rising inflation.

Iran’s economic shocks are the product of state control over the economy, stifling bureaucracy, and poor management. Iran’s foreign policy and the provocative statements of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have had their impact on the Iranian economy as well.

In order to revive Iran's oil sector, $100 billion is required, but no foreign investments are currently available because of the sanctions.

The Iranian leadership is blaming U.S. President Bush for its mismanagement of the economy.

Iran’s rush last year to provide economic aid to the Lebanese while failing to provide aid to a city that suffered an earthquake was widely criticized by local papers.

Ms. Taqi al-Din concluded that the Iran has only itself to blame for its economic woes, because it could be doing much better had it focused its energies on the internal front.

Source: Al-Hayat, London, June 6, 2007

(bold emphasis mine) Someone's batteries are running out. They need 100 billion in investments, or new resources to draw on. Where can they find new resources? From their neighbors, the Iraqis:

Baghdad Accuses Regional Fronts Of Seeking To Destroy Its Ports, Oil

The Iraqi government has accused unnamed "regional fronts" of targeting Iraqi oil installations and Iraqi ports.

U.S. officials have identified the "fronts" as a cell connected with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, June 6, 2007[...]

(bold emphasis mine) The Iranian theocracy has a strong interest in seeing Iraq's government fail.

There are many family connections and religious ties between the Shia Muslims in both countries. If the Americans leave before Iraq's government stabilizes, Iran could precipitate a civil war, where the Shia would most likely win and dominate. Then the Shia in both countries would unite, and Iran's oil problems would be solved... and everyone else's would begin. And the Iranian Government would also have new revenue to fund their terrorism, and grow their war machine. Ahmadinejad has made no secret of what he intends to do with that:

Ahmadinejad: The Countdown To The Destruction Of Israel Has Begun; We Hope To Move Towards Jerusalem

If we isolate Iran, their internal problems will increase and the regime may collapse from within. But if we pull out of Iraq and abandon it to Iran, we will see troubles much worse than what we are facing now.