Rhetoric From Iran

In a pair of stories off of Drudge, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad raised the stake again today.

From YNet:

Iran is now a "nuclear power," its President, Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, delcared Wednesday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

During a speech delivered in the Western Iranian province of Javanroud, Ahmadinejad said: " The Islamic Republic of Iran is now a nuclear power, thanks to the hard work of the Iranian people and authorities."

The announcement of Iran as a "nuclear power" is bound to significantly escalate tensions between the West and Iran, and marks a dramatic stage in the Islamic Republic's nuclear campaign.
In recent days, the US military has begun to build up forces around the Gulf, in what is being seen as as a warning to Iran.

Ahmadinejad was also reported to have announced that "Iranian young scientists reached the zenith of science and technology and gained access to the nuclear fuel cycle without the help of big powers."

The Iranian president began the speech by saying that "the powerful Iranian nation resists bullying powers and will defend its rights, including the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology," the IRNA said.

In a clear rejection of all diplomatic attempts to prevent Iran from going nuclear, Ahmadinejad added in his speech that "the Iranian nation will continue in its nuclear path powerfully and will celebrate a nuclear victory soon."

Also, in comments picked up by Breitbart, he promised that the United States, Great Britain, and Israel would "vanish:"

"The oppressive powers will disappear while the Iranian people will stay. Any power that is close to God will survive while the powers who are far from God will disappear like the pharaohs," he said Wednesday, according to Iranian news agencies.

"Today, it is the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime which are doomed to disappear as they have moved far away from the teachings of God," he said in a speech in the western town of Javanroud.

"It is a divine promise."

Ahmadinejad's comments were the latest salvo by the deeply religious president against the West and Israel. He has repeatedly predicted that Israel is doomed to disappear.

You simply must love how this man seems to put his foot in his mouth at just the wrong time. We are enhancing our naval presence in the Persian Gulf as a warning to him that we are not messing around with him. While people may say that this is a diversion from Iraq, I would like to point out that the majority making this excuse now were the same people demanding to know why we did not deal with Iran before going into Iraq. Now that we are sending a clear intention to them that the time for games are done, the critics are already backpeddling.

Ahmadinejad is a liar and a charlatan. He does not desire peace nuclear power. He prefers iron-fisted power, similar to the tactics he uses to control Iran, on this time he wants nuclear fingertips. Israel is clearly in his crosshairs, and now he has made his intentions known to the world that the UK and the United States are right there with Israel. For those keeping score, this makes the second time he has directly declared war on the United States. The first came in his closing comments to President Bush

in the letter he sent to him. This marks declaration number two. I do hope the eggheads in DC are paying attention to this.

The interesting thing to note is the first story. He claims that Iran is now a "nuclear power." For those that do not quite fathom that, it usually refers to a nation that has nuclear weapons. For the record, I am not syaing that he is saying he has them. However, notice that he neither confirms nor denies that he does. He uses a generic term to describe what thinking people would buy as an admission. Yet, if that were true, even he does not know if it is a working one. No buclear tests have been detected in Iran, and even if it were a small test, like the one conducted by North Korea earlier this year, it would be detectable.

So, what I can deduce, and rather amateurishly at that, is that he is close. He would not boast about such a thing unless he were. Late last week, a top Israeli intelligence offical spoke before the Knesset and said that Iran would have a nuclear weapon by 2009 or 2010. What if he is wrong, and they are much further along than anyone would have guessed. After all, what do we really know about the business dealings they have had with Russia and China; for that matter, there are the remnants of the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling group that are still active.

Granted both stories evoke a tremendous amount of supposition, and lend more to suspicion rather than confirmation. But we are aware of Iran, their intentions, and their vocalized plans. This is not a nation we want going "nuclear." If that happens, the idea of terrorism on a grand scale just got ratcheted up a few notches.

Marcie