Hello Steve,

>SA>Iran and Armageddon

>SA>Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist

>SA>WASHINGTON - Lest you get carried away with today's good news from
>SA>Iraq, consider what's happening next door in Iran. The wild
>SA>pronouncements of the new Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have
>SA>gotten sporadic press ever since he called for Israel to be wiped off
>SA>the map. He subsequently amended himself to say that Israel should
>SA>simply be extirpated from the Middle East map and moved to some German
>SA>or Austrian province. Perhaps near the site of an old extermination
>SA>camp?

>LL>The Zionists of the 19th Century wanted the state of Israel to be
>LL>located in present-day Uganda.

SA>Interesting, I wasn't aware of that. It seems that it was proposed as
SA>a temporary refuge (British Uganda Program) that would not affect the
SA>ultimate aim ... a Jewish state in Israel.

That is basically correct.  But there were two different approaches.

There were actually two groups of Zionists - "Practical Zionists" and
"Political Zionists".  "Practical Zionists" wanted to
settle in the land
of Palestine and then develop a Jewish state from within.  "Political
Zionists", led by Theodore Herzl, wanted to get European powers to
establish a Jewish state, ultimately in the land of Palestine.  After
Herzl died in 1904, the "Practical Zionists" took over.

>SA>Except that there were no such camps, indeed no Holocaust at all, says
>SA>Ahmadinejad. Nothing but "myth," a "legend"
that was "fabricated ...
>SA>under the name 'Massacre of the Jews.' "

>LL>Roughly 11 million people were slaughtered (or died prematurely)
>LL>under the Nazis.  Of those 11 million, roughly 6 million were Jews.
>LL>And not all of those Jews died as a result of being gassed to
>LL>death.  Some died of disease, others of starvation, etc.  In any
>LL>event, 4 out of 5 European Jews died prematurely as a result of
>LL>Nazi rule.

SA>I have the figures for each nation in a book here, but I will accept
SA>your "4 out of 5" as about right.

Some Jews managed to flee Europe altoghether, going to Palestine or to
other places.  Other Jews somehow managed to survive while not leaving
Europe.  When one is trying to survive, one does what one has to do.
Even if those means are illegal.  :)

>SA>This brought the usual reaction from European and American officials,
>SA>who, with Churchillian rage and power, called these statements
>SA>unacceptable. That something serious may accrue to Iran for this
>SA>- say, expulsion from the U.N. for violating its most basic principle
>SA>by advocating the outright eradication of a member state - is, of course,
>SA>out of the question.

>LL>There are only two religious states in the world recognized by the
>LL>United Nations - Israel and Vatican City.  Of course, Iran is also
>LL>a religious state.  But that's beside the point.

>SA>[...]

>SA>Everyone knows where Iran's nuclear weapons will be aimed. Everyone
>SA>knows they will be put on Shahab rockets that have been modified so
>SA>they can now reach Israel. And everyone knows that if the button is
>SA>pushed, it will be the end of Israel.

>LL>Nah.  Just the end of Tel Aviv.  And Tehran.

SA>If God is to be believed, no weapon formed against Israel will prosper,
SA>and that would include nuclear weapons ... Tehran may well be destroyed,
SA>Damascus will be a ruinous heap.

Syria is weaker than Iraq was when Saddam was in power.  Iran is a
bit stronger.  But neither Syria nor Iran is a match for the US of A.
However, the war in Iraq is not popular with many Americans.  And if
America pulls out of Iraq...

>SA>But it gets worse. The president of a country about to go nuclear
>SA>is a confirmed believer in the coming apocalypse. Like Judaism and
>SA>Christianity, Shiite Islam has its own version of the messianic return
>SA>u the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam. The more devout believers in
>SA>Iran pray at the Jamkaran Mosque that houses a well from which, some
>SA>believe, he will emerge.

>LL>Like the American president, the Iranian president wants to bring
>LL>about a self-fulfilling prophecy.  ;)

SA>I don't know about self-fulfilling, but certainly fulfilling Ezekiel 38.

Christian Fundamentalists want to bring about the Second Coming of
Christ.  In order to do that, the stage has to be set for Armageddon.

Islamist fanatics want to bring about the coming of the Mahdi.  In
order to do that, the stage has to be set for Armageddon.

>SA>When Ahmadinejad unexpectedly won the presidential elections, he
>SA>immediately gave $17 million of government funds to the shrine. Last
>SA>month, Ahmadinejad said publicly that the main mission of the Islamic
>SA>Revolution is to pave the way for the reappearance of the Twelfth
>SA>Imam.

>LL>Somebody has to make it happen.  ;)

>SA>And as in some versions of fundamentalist Christianity, the second
>SA>coming will be accompanied by the usual trials and tribulations,
>SA>death and destruction. Iranian journalist Hossein Bastani reported
>SA>Ahmadinejad saying in official meetings that the hidden imam will
>SA>reappear in two years.

>LL>For the Mahdi to appear, so too must the Dajjal.  As is well-known
>LL>in fido circles, I am he.  ;)

SA>But in Islamic circles, the finger of dajjal-hood is firmly pointed
SA>at Mister Bush ... according to google results, at least. :)

Darn!  Does that mean I have to wait until Bush leaves office?  :)

--Lee


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