We also remember that the people of Iran are growing increasingly unhappy with their president. They are and should be as fearful as the Jews in Israel. Yes, the people of Israel are fearful, but an attack based on fear alone could result in global warfare. This author is not alone in calling for restraint. We remember the fate of the distinguished media icon Helen Thomas who gave voice to the opinon that perhaps the Palestineans really are the indigenous people, and the Israelis would do well to travel to a new land. Helen Thomas took an unscheduled retirement. Her stated plan is absurd, and the Jewish people would never stand for it. But it would in that unlikely reality put an end to what may be the greatest and final war of world history.
Ahmadinejad calls Zionists "the most detested people in all humanity"; he calls the infamous Holocaust "a myth," and a bid to extort sympathy for Israel from European governments. Iranian leaders have held anti-Zionist conferences with lectures and exhibits questioning the facts of the Holocaust.
The stated goal of that nation’s nuclear program is to generate electricity, thus retaining her plentiful oil for sale abroad. A secondary goal has to do with supplying fuel for medical reactors. The question remains, would Iran use modern weaponry to attack her enemies, or would that weaponry serve to deter attacks against the center of Islamic culture? We need to consider that Iran struggles to be on an equal basis with global leaders, and has been thwarted on all sides by the powerful West.
In November of 2011, the United States and Europe imposed sanctions against oil exports from Iran in response to perceived hostility. Iran made counter-threats to shut down the oil transporting Strait of Hormuz. Iran can hardly ignore daily threats from Israel, backed by the U.S. to unilaterally strike the Iranian nation. On August 1, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta stood side by side with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and implicitly threatened an American military attack if Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon. Panetta was reaffirming the hard line stance of Mitt Romney, candidate for the American presidency. There is concern within the American administration that Israel may strike Iran as early as this coming fall.
Discipline and restraint are mandated; if we believe their booming rhetoric, the Republican policy makers may be short or lacking in both areas.
Photo: The Telegraph, UK
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