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January 14, 2006
Plutonium Hugger Ahmadinejad Glows or So He Says
'Divine mission' driving Iran's new leader
By Anton La Guardia
(Filed: 14/01/2006)
As Iran rushes towards confrontation with the world over its nuclear programme, the question uppermost in the mind of western leaders is "What is moving its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to such recklessness?"Political analysts point to the fact that Iran feels strong because of high oil prices, while America has been weakened by the insurgency in Iraq.
But listen carefully to the utterances of Mr Ahmadinejad - recently described by President George W Bush as an "odd man" - and there is another dimension, a religious messianism that, some suspect, is giving the Iranian leader a dangerous sense of divine mission.
In November, the country was startled by a video showing Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September.
When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: "What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."
The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.
One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad's government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.
All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour - denied by the government but widely believed - is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.
Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.
He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.
This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.
Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.
The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?
The 49-year-old Mr Ahmadinejad, a former top engineering student, member of the Revolutionary Guards and mayor of Teheran, overturned Iranian politics after unexpectedly winning last June's presidential elections.
The main rift is no longer between "reformists" and "hardliners", but between the clerical establishment and Mr Ahmadinejad's brand of revolutionary populism and superstition.
Its most remarkable manifestation came with Mr Ahmadinejad's international debut, his speech to the United Nations.
World leaders had expected a conciliatory proposal to defuse the nuclear crisis after Teheran had restarted another part of its nuclear programme in August.
Instead, they heard the president speak in apocalyptic terms of Iran struggling against an evil West that sought to promote "state terrorism", impose "the logic of the dark ages" and divide the world into "light and dark countries".
The speech ended with the messianic appeal to God to "hasten the emergence of your last repository, the Promised One, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace".
In a video distributed by an Iranian web site in November, Mr Ahmadinejad described how one of his Iranian colleagues had claimed to have seen a glow of light around the president as he began his speech to the UN. "I felt it myself too," Mr Ahmadinejad recounts. "I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there. And for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink…It's not an exaggeration, because I was looking.
"They were astonished, as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."
Western officials said the real reason for any open-eyed stares from delegates was that "they couldn't believe what they were hearing from Ahmadinejad".
Their sneaking suspicion is that Iran's president actually relishes a clash with the West in the conviction that it would rekindle the spirit of the Islamic revolution and - who knows - speed up the arrival of the Hidden Imam.
Wild Thing's comment............
I think this idiot, this deranged person does relish confrontation with the West. He is really asking for it. They claim to have seen a "glowing light" around their president? Give me a break! There might yet be a bright glow around him, but not quite what he was thinking.
This is a dangerous man. Even more troubling, this is a dangerous man in a position of some power. I have to wonder this. After they watched what happened to Saddam the only thing that would seem to make them so bold is hidden nuclear weapons that we aren't aware of.
Mr Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly last September. The UN General Assembly is a podium for the worlds nitwits.This jerkoff Ahmadinejad, Chavez , Mugabe , Morales , and a host of others , should be totally banned and not allowed to come anywhere close to US airspace. If the try to anyway, shoot them down.
Posted by Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 11:55 AM
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Comments
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is dangerous, but he's being supported in his madness by Vladimir Putin, who openly supplies the means to build his nuclear arsenal. Chernobyl didn't teach the world much about the long term dangers of Plutonium or the hazards of a runaway chain reaction, nor was Chernobyl Russia's first 'accident'. This nut case Ahmadinejad wants to destroy Israel, which is a sure way to guarantee a nuclear war. I can expect a French leader selling out their soul to the Islamists but not a Russian, unless that Russian has embraced Islam as his own.
Posted by: Jack at January 14, 2006 12:16 PM
It appears that this sleazebag horrifies most of the neighboring countries, too, and quite possibly some of the clerics in Iran. Do Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others like the prospect of a nuclear exchange within driving distance of home? I doubt it, and I think there's a lot happening we don't see.
Posted by: Rhod at January 14, 2006 01:18 PM
I think there is a real chance that the Iranian government will be overthrown by their people.
There have been massive demonstrations against the Iranian government during the past two summers. The last elections showed that Iranian government had the support of a 12% of the people, the rest boycotted the election. Iranians are greatly encouraged by Bush's speeches over the last 3 years and the elections in Iraq.
Everyone in Iran remembers the war with Iraq where over a million Iranians died. Now they are facing nuclear war where ten's of millions could die. It is hard to believe that the Iranian dictators can stay in power much longer.
Posted by: Jake at January 14, 2006 01:18 PM
Hi Jack,your right. I just don't get why Russia. Russia just does not seem like a country that would cater to Islam. Other then they do not like America.
Thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 01:52 PM
Hi Rhod, "sleazebag horrifies most of the neighboring countries ,too"......... I would think so too. I would not want to be a neighboring country to that madman.
Thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 01:55 PM
HI Jake, I have been reading that many in Iran do not like what is happening, being said etc. They are not for this vile President. It would be something if they would raise up and stop this President. What a think that would be.
Thank you for commenting.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 01:56 PM
Jakes raises an interesting subject. Russia. Mark Steyn has pointed out that Russia is a dying country, with 115 deaths per 100 births, a dramatic decline in health and average life expectancy, corruption in every corner, internal problems with radical Islamists, and serious problems with China over contested territories in the east.
I wonder if its possible to find rational explanations for Russian foreign policy. Their only hope lies with economic and cultural arrangements with the Western world, and not ones which use energy policy as a hammer on Western Europe.
Posted by: Rhod at January 14, 2006 05:59 PM
I hope Rhod and Jake are correct in their theories. I sure want to agree with them. My worry is just how crazy a few of these islamofacists and communists are. The rest of the World needs to get off its' ass and start functioning. America cannot paying the World's police bills alone
And Wild Thing-add Vincente Fox to your list of nitwits. He is a sneaky, worthless bastard,. I had great hope for him to change Mexico's corruption. Instead, he is just another bandito.
Posted by: TomR at January 14, 2006 09:13 PM
Rhod makes a good point, but I have to ask, is that 115 deaths per 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 births? I'm sure that the 100 is a typo.
There are explanations, I'm not too sure about them being rational. From my research I've found that Russian foreign policy revolves around the following;
1. For economic reasons, Russia wants relations with the West, (vital for its economic well-being and development), but is continuing the Soviet-era policy of external arms, technology transfers and aid to rogue states and countries.
2. Russia's inability to secure large investments from the West is influenced by it's internal problems as Rhod pointed out. The economic shortfall here then provides an incentive for Russians to argue that they need to sell weaponry and dual-use items to states like China, India, Syria, and Iran as legitimate trade operations.
3. The rationale for these connections is not solely economic. Moscow is promoting its own network of alliances, to offset current U.S. unilateralism and strengthen its position as a leading global player.
Posted by: RightToCarry at January 14, 2006 09:39 PM
Rhod, interesting info from Mark Steyn. Thank you.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 11:20 PM
Hi Tom, good idea. I will add him. Thanks so much. Vincente Fox is all you said.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 11:22 PM
Hi RightToCarry, I have had the feelig of this.. your #3 ...."leading global player" concerning Putin for a long time. When he visits Bush there is that feeling of his wanting to be even more powerful then Bush aka America and that his even being around Bush (since it represents the USA) is something he puts up with but is not one to partner up as an equal. Jealousy maybe of America's power throughout history or just my gut being off and maybe I am wrong.....not sure.
Thank you for your post.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 14, 2006 11:27 PM
Harry Belafonte needs to be put in the nut house
Posted by: Robert at January 15, 2006 01:47 AM
Hi Robert, he sure does. Thanks for commenting.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 15, 2006 02:35 AM
Did anyone verify the actual color of this alleged glow? I'm wondering if it might just be the covert gen-eng-ops starting to kick in. Shouldn't be much longer until it's too obvious to hide.
All kidding aside, I think the Iranians look at Iraq -- especially the internal quagmire US politicions have imposed on themselves -- and don't see US victory yet, even though it is certainly within reach. I don't think they believe anyone will stand up to them. I pray they are wrong. (Well, I know one country will stand up, and I hope it won't be alone).
Posted by: AbbaGav at January 15, 2006 05:06 AM
Short and sweet. This will fix the problem with Iran.
Posted by: BobF at January 15, 2006 09:34 AM
RighToCarry:
According to Steyn the ratio was 115 to 100, which (unless I miss something statistically) indicates that 115 people expire for every 100 who are born. Now, there are distribution issues, of course, and curves and whatnot, but I think the numbers make sense. Have I missed something?
Polipundit had an interesting link recently to a financial mag (forgot which one), which described the perilous condition of the five major Chinese banking institutions. Estimates are that about 50% to 70% of their loans to State Owned Operations are non-performing. Of course, it means that the Chinese, who save about 40% of their incomes, are essentially broke, and a day of reckoning is inevitable.
None of the outcomes is very appealing, with one of them being a military coup, others being separation of restive provinces and a financial collapse.
One thing is certain. Whatever happens of major importance in the world will be a surprise.
Posted by: Rhod at January 15, 2006 09:48 AM
Hi AbbaGav,hahaha your glowing photo. Those poor piggies.
I agree I hope we stand up to them. I would love for us to stand side by side with Israel.
Thank you for commenting.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 15, 2006 10:25 AM
Bob, I love it! Is it just me but I get goosebumps when I see our Military in action like that. Goosebumps up and down and such a feeling of pride and an overwehelming feeling of gratitude for each one of them.
Awesome video Bob thank you.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 15, 2006 10:28 AM
Rhod, sorry my mistake, I was confused. You are correct.
Wild Thing, I think you are correct in your assessment of Putin. He is very much old school Soviet era in his actions and words. He took a very hard line with the Ukraine gas pricing issue, very threatening, Soviet era approach.
Posted by: RightToCarry at January 15, 2006 02:19 PM