Just listening to the bluster of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is vexing enough. Indeed, if he were simply a second-rate, globetrotting political pariah, posing no serious threat beyond the bounds of his mendacious rants, “vexing” would suffice as an appropriate nomenclature. If that were the case, we could deal with his pugnacity by tuning him out, passing over the stories of his bombast with a roll of the eyes and chalk it up to the presence of yet another pandering populist in a world of plenty. Good riddance. We could afford to ignore him and move on with our lives. The truth is, beyond the faux-smiles, slick charm and media polish, Ahmadinejad is a man who poses a grave threat to world order. In saying that, I’m not talking about simply rocking the boat inside the rarefied halls of the increasingly irrelevant UN Security Council or General Assembly. The reach of Ahmadinejad is not just the business, and mess, of diplomats and politicians. No, every American stands to lose through his dark machinations.
But who is this wily Iranian leader? He pops up here and there, making assertions, one more incredulous than the last. Yes, Ahmadinejad calls into question the severity and extent of the holocaust’s horrors. Yes, he claims that within the borders of his tightly controlled nation, the “phenomenon” of homosexuality does not exist (maybe because homosexuals are simply executed by the state, “problem” solved). And yes, he thunders against Israel, calling for its destruction, and he wows the international crowd at the UN with lofty prose about his own role in hastening the arrival of the Twelfth Imam and the end times. After his characteristic litany of absurdities, the average person can only shake his head in disbelief and then proceed on with the far more relevant minutia of his daily life. Talk is cheap, he’s not worth the attention. Does Ahmadinejad’s outrageous drivel really make him a dangerous man or merely a delusional one…or perhaps both? I’ll cut to the chase by answering in the affirmative. He is a very dangerous man who needs to be taken seriously. And I’ll up the ante by suggesting that leaders of the West, President Bush in particular, had better start taking concrete steps toward bringing Ahmandinejad’s nefarious pet projects to a grinding halt. “Talk is cheap” cuts both ways and to give credit where credit is due, Ahmadinejad understands this. It’s clear that the tough talk fired by the West in recent months has failed to vitiate Iranian intrigues on at least two fronts that effect the security of the United States: First, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and second, its poisonous meddling in Iraq that has unquestionably resulted in American deaths.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal piece, Iran, back in 2006, had already “mastered the technology of enriching uranium in a ‘cascade’ of centrifuges. Many nuclear analysts consider this the point of no return toward a bomb. Intelligence reports also suggested that Iran had designs for casting uranium into hemispherical shapes…for marrying a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile.” How has the United Nations responded? By passing feckless resolutions promising tougher action down the road. Sound familiar to anyone? And then there is the pressing issue of Iran’s involvement in destabilizing Iraq. Last February, President Bush said the following: “I can speak with certainty that the Qods Force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated IEDs that have harmed our troops.” And the same Wall Street Journal piece asserted that “Administration officials tell us that Iranian-backed militias using Iranian-supplied arms now account for 70% of U.S. casualties in Iraq.” Iran’s destabilization interventions are not limited to Iraq. NATO’s senior commander in Kabul averred that “it would be hard for me to imagine that they [the insurgents] come into Afghanistan without the knowledge of at least the military in Iran.” There are reasonable sanctions that could be implemented in the search for a remedy. Quite often, those advocating a tougher stance on the Iran issue are accused of reckless bellicosity and “saber rattling.” But war is always a last resort, less drastic measures, at least for now, are still on the table and are worth a try. Former State Department counterterrorism official Michael Kraft has suggested an embargo against Iran Air by refusing to allow any landing space for Iran’s state airline in Western airports. Says Kraft, “The boycott would further increase the Iranian public’s disenchantment, particularly among the middle class and commercial sector, with Mr. Ahmadinejad’s failure to improve Iran’s economy.” The tightening of the noose on Ahmadinejad’s economy may jolt the average Iranian concerned about the future of his nation to act in concert with his fellow citizens to decipher ingenious ways to effect a regime change, sans recourse to all-out war.
This is just an overview of a number of serious problems that need to be addressed, and soon. Words are only words, but Ahmadinejad has shown us something more. He’s not intimidated by the toothless harrying of the United Nations. And, truthfully, why should he be? He has learned from recent history not to be worried about UN-manufactured threats. The one man he conceivably fears is President Bush, a leader who has shown that he’s not going to be cowed or hamstrung by the ne'er-do-wells at the UN. But to date, Ahmadinejad has been able to evade the talons of a distracted Bush. The Iranian president is testing how far he can go and is pushing, while the world keeps falling back, only to draw a new line in the sand. He pushes again and again…
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