A Stop-the-Presses Alert from Iran Focus, with thanks to JE:
Tehran, Iran, Jun. 08 – The Supreme Commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic sought to become the top power in the region within the next two decades, the state-run news agency ISNA reported....Safavi said that the IRGC was actively working to transform the Islamic Republic into the “number one power in the region” within the next 20 years....
“As a military commander I believe that the world’s energy security is dependent on the Middle East and Iran”, he said.
Yes -- unfortunately. And that is because no one in Washington has the guts or foresight to do what it takes to change this situation.
Apparently Bush and Co. will only think of acting when Iran has reached the peak of its power...where have we seen this before?
(On a side note: Is it true that Persia was renamed to Iran, meaning Aryan, in order to curry favor with the Nazis?)
Well, Iran made similar bids for regional hegemony back in the 6th-5th centuries B.C. and the 1st-6th centuries AD, too. While Turkish and Farsi are very different languages, the two peoples share much of a common culture, so the era of Turkish hegemony in Islam might also be seen as that of Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau.
Agent Orange,
Yes. The name iran is rendered from Aryanam, the land of the Aryans.
Agent Orange:
Yes, it is true. The last Shah's father wanted to give the Brits the finger by selling oil to the Germans instead, plus, he was also an anti-Semite who probably wanted to do the same to Iran's once substantial and vibrant Jewish community.
It made me gag when Ahmadinejad started his crap about the unfairness of "making Palestinians pay" for Europe's crime against the Jews that never happened. I don't have the numbers, but there are a lot of Persian Jews living in Israel, two of whom rose to very high government positions: Shaul Mofaz, the former general and current Minister of Defence, and Natan Katzov, the former President. If only someone could take the little cretin aside while he's in Germany and present him with that fact and suggest that, just maybe Iran should cede some land for the few hundred thousand Persian Jews who live, primarily in Israel and capture the event on video!
(On a side note: Is it true that Persia was renamed to Iran, meaning Aryan, in order to curry favor with the Nazis?)
Yes, absolutely true. In point of fact, virtually every Moslem nation was directly aligned with the Nazis. Eichmann, the architect of the Final Solution, was raised in Jerusalem. All of the various Caliphs and Grand Muftis of this and that were Nazis. Pictures still exist of many of them shaking hands with Hitler.
"Yes -- unfortunately. And that is because no one in Washington has the guts or foresight to do what it takes to change this situation." Posted by Robert
You hit the nail right on the head. They can't do anything that might upset muslims, regardless of what muslims do to us.
Re: “As a military commander I believe that the world’s energy security is dependent on the Middle East and Iran”, he said.”
While Sweden has come under criticism for past and present policies, this is one that I applaud. I don’t know if it’s feasible, but here’s hoping:
Sweden aims to end oil dependency by 2020
"The environmentally progressive Scandinavian nation has announced one of its most ambitious goals yet: to completely end its dependency on petroleum — and do it in the next 15 years."
“Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020,” said Mona Sahlin, the minister of Sustainable Development."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11221015/
http://environment.about.com/od/renewableenergy/a/oilfreesweden.htm
iranian officials have an unattained wishlist, more likely many of them will be glowing in the dark before this is all over.
With China, India, Russia, and Communist bloc countries, and possibly the European Union in Iran's pocket (and lining it with carloads full of filthy lucre) Washington is going to require more than just guts to reverse the mullahs of Iran's accession to regional hegemony---and nukes.
Might be a good idea to already BE a top power before one begins to pick fights.
Pythagoras,
I have told you on several threads that your books are around 100 years backwards of reality. What is the 'communist block' friend ? Update your books.